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One of the things I enjoyed most from this game was that we didn't come out flat or we didn't play with a nasty hangover from the week before. We looked inspired on offense and the defense was hitting and covering well. As in years past, the defense is our definite strong point and this excites me because defense wins you championships. Our d-line might be one of the best in the nation and add on top of that several other great players at positions.
But, one thing that can easily prevent a solid team from winning a championship is poor special teams play. Special teams are just as important as a good offense or defense. As a matter of fact, one might even think ST are more important.
How many times have you seen a game where everything comes down to a last second field goal, a punt on 4th in a tight game, or the coverage of kickoffs to prevent giving up good field position. All of these are crucial and they must be good in order to compete for conference or national championships.
Last night as an example, Michigan State was set to kick a field goal in OT for the tie. But they execute a nice field goal fake for the win in dramatic fashion. Or how about Clemson @ Auburn last night? This one also went to OT and Clemson kicked a field goal and made it but it was nullified due to a penalty. They had to re kick but missed wide left and lost the game.
Fact of the matter is, we need to get our special teams in order before we dig ourselves a hole we can't get out of. We had another kick returned for a TD (but thankfully it was brought back by a penalty) and a punt blocked -- which by the way, I don't like that punting formation. I think it gives the defense the advantage with a running/unblocked start to the punter.
Personnel or scheming... the coaches need to get this squared away immediately.
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