Missing piece of the puzzle yesterday...

[EMik21]

Yesterday's game is a game that we should have won with the kids that played in the game, no doubt. However, Keenan Davis not being able to go was a key imo. He allows us to stretch the defense on both sides of the field, and helps create very favorable matchups based on down and distance with both himself and Marvin.

With only Marvin out there to stretch the field vertically, it allowed Minnesota to take him away when they wanted to, as James really only scanned one side of the field,especially on the 3rd and 3 with a 7 point lead. With Keenan, I think we still would have run as much as we did, but more of the playbook and mismatches he helps create could have been exploited in the passing game.

Let's hope that he is back this week and we can take advantage of Michigan's secondary the way Notre Dame and Michigan State did.

 

[BlackHawk]

Davis definitely would have helped, but we should have won regardless. We are the better team, with or without Davis, and we let one slip away.

 

[EMik21]

BlackHawk, I totally agree with you, see the first statement in my post. We took zero deep shots yesterday, and normally we take at least one per game with either Marvin or Keenan. That opens up routes underneath, but it did not yesterday as they were able to key on Marvin and sit on everything and everyone else underneath. We really missed him in the final drive. D-Coordinators can't be as ballsy when one can go deep and beat you and the other can run underneath on the same play and beat you.

 

[blkngoldUofI]

So any other team in the country that has their number two reciever down is supposed to lose to a inferior team............because the number two reciever is out?

It's called depth and letting young players play so you have depth.

 

[bkim24]

My problem is that I find it ridiculous that we really dont have a number 4 receiver. Is it Grant? Cotton? Shumpert? White? The first time any of these guys get any meaningful reps shouldnt game 8