If we’re nitpicking the D on a Monday
1) It starts with the base 4 DL not getting pressure. That said, it didn’t seem like they were asked to do anything exotic. That was as vanilla as it gets on the DL. I think someone said this in the game thread but it really felt like OSU could have dialed up the “sack the QB” play anytime it wanted, so not much concern here. This is a really strong unit and better when they free up lanes for blitzing LBs (or CBs).
2) Middle pass coverage. Washington had a couple of these and Illinois exploited it too between LBs and deep safeties. That’s tough for any D if a QB has time and can make those throws - I know a couple times the TV angle looked like guys were wide open, but then you see behind the QB and realize some of those are pretty tough windows. Altmeyer dropped some in and got his guys crunched. And if that wasn’t open, he was smart to dump it to his RB underneath. Tough spot for the LBs to cover both. Also…Beau Atkinson somehow ended up dropping into LB coverage on one play. Scrap that.
3) Devin Sanchez - let’s put this out there. Plain and simple the freshman got picked on and lost his individual battle making the whole D look “bad”. It happens, playing CB is tough. He’ll be fine.
Also, the tempo was a little concerning but a new test for this group.
Really starts with the DL and getting pressure (duh). I think if Matt P or Day felt more threatened things would have looked different. As it stands, they got a solid win vs. a good veteran QB without exhausting much effort or game film.
