The jury is still out on Nardo, especially when we lost the core of our defensive backs due to NFL/transfers. One thing he has seemed to do well is make adjustments in the second half, at least against inferior opponents when behind. Obviously we miss Knowles but he’s currently getting beaten by Michigan every year.
Bowman was doing exactly what we needed to do when both Ollie and the OL were pristine…keep the defense honest with some capable pass plays and not turn it over. Now that Ollie is practically driving down the field using a Rascal, Bowman’s shouldering a bigger load and his back-foot passes are causing alarming amounts of interceptions. Our WR room has been decimated hence a former DIII dude catching for 100+ a game with regularity.
So the defense is 2011’ish in that it relies on turnovers more than 2021-style tight coverage.
The offense is back in the 2008’ish “run your bell cow until he’s hurt and try to throw some competent passes” but there’s no mobile Zac Robinson there to zone read it down the field…and no Spencer Sanders to balance on the knife edge between brilliance and injury/turnover city. Not a big fan of Dunn as OC, though a great WR coach
Special Teams is unusually off this year, though rain has presented issues in several games…won’t be a problem in Jerry World but it’s not a strength in general this year.
Gundy seems pretty chill, which is a plus…and we aren’t playing OU where he typically clams up. He’s obviously a good coach and has to live with new coordinators as successful ones constantly jump ship, but outside of Ollie this isn’t really even an above average roster for him…benefit of a good schedule, some luck, great coaching adjustments and a standout RB.
Obviously y’all should steam roll us. You’re built to defend the concepts we rely on, have 2+ notches higher in your QB, and higher talent across the board. However that’s why you play the game, this osu team has surprised most of us, and if they play loose with a few lucky bounces…it’s possible to make a game of it. Will see.