11-04-2017, 06:02 PM
Special teams was an underrated boon (Bailey punts, Scarlett kickoff returns...) and bane (12 men on field, letting Bailey's last punt drop into the endzone, early inability to catch Coug punts pinning offense deep) this game. That's been a bit of a yearlong story. There have been several great and mind-numbingly dumb plays this year. Overall, it rates out pretty well on the computer systems that track such things. But boom and bust is no way to run a railroad, and in its fashion it's a synecdoche for the whole team. Very inconsistent.
That's maybe understandable for the offense. It's the youngest on record in the Shaw era, by my calculations earlier in the year. More troubling is the defense, which is actually very experienced. While the defensive side of the ball has had some nice performances, on the whole, it's been pretty bland -- despite having many highly-recruited players. (Barton, Alfieri, Okereke, Perez, Robinson, Reid, Simmons, Buncom, Williams are all highly-touted recruits playing at least a marginal role on defense.) I know it's more fashionable to criticize offensive coaching than defensive, but I think you can make a solid argument it's the true underachieving unit this year.
That's maybe understandable for the offense. It's the youngest on record in the Shaw era, by my calculations earlier in the year. More troubling is the defense, which is actually very experienced. While the defensive side of the ball has had some nice performances, on the whole, it's been pretty bland -- despite having many highly-recruited players. (Barton, Alfieri, Okereke, Perez, Robinson, Reid, Simmons, Buncom, Williams are all highly-touted recruits playing at least a marginal role on defense.) I know it's more fashionable to criticize offensive coaching than defensive, but I think you can make a solid argument it's the true underachieving unit this year.