I really thought Braun and his assistants did a great job in preparation for OSU, and that the players gave a top notch effort. The 92 yard TD drive was, for me, the highlight of the season.
To my eyes, OSU did not overwhelm the Cats. The NU offense mounted sustained drives, and the defense registered stops at various times. I thought the Bucks won by making the plays at the limits of skill: perfectly thrown passes caught on fingertips, a half step of quickness on defense to make open field tackles, flawless, strong play at every position. They are very good.
I did think there were two key junctures that could have made it a much more interesting game had they gone differently. The obvious one was the double bad snap sequence leading to a blocked punt. The other, that was tantalizingly close, was on OSU’s first third down after NU’s TD at about the Bucks’ 17. Hubbard flat out beat the OT, and got within a whisker of batting the ball out of Howard’s hand as he was releasing it. It really looked to me like Howard had no idea Hubbard was so close. If Hubbard gets there, the rest of the half may well have played out differently.
I was really proud of how well the team played and really impressed by the Bucks. After watching them, I completely expect them to play for the National title.
To my eyes, OSU did not overwhelm the Cats. The NU offense mounted sustained drives, and the defense registered stops at various times. I thought the Bucks won by making the plays at the limits of skill: perfectly thrown passes caught on fingertips, a half step of quickness on defense to make open field tackles, flawless, strong play at every position. They are very good.
I did think there were two key junctures that could have made it a much more interesting game had they gone differently. The obvious one was the double bad snap sequence leading to a blocked punt. The other, that was tantalizingly close, was on OSU’s first third down after NU’s TD at about the Bucks’ 17. Hubbard flat out beat the OT, and got within a whisker of batting the ball out of Howard’s hand as he was releasing it. It really looked to me like Howard had no idea Hubbard was so close. If Hubbard gets there, the rest of the half may well have played out differently.
I was really proud of how well the team played and really impressed by the Bucks. After watching them, I completely expect them to play for the National title.
