All or Nothing
Pass or Fail
Right or Wrong
Good or Bad
Get it?
👍
The enigmatic Christian Watson had it working in the first half. 30 minutes is all it took for him to amassed one of the best receiving days in the history of the program. Not since Zach Vraa in 2013 had someone managed the sort of yardage that he racked up. But then, almost as quickly as he scored the first touchdown, the magic vanished & the chance to reset the record was shown to be a pipe dream. Perhaps the decision was made by the staff to rein in the explosive attack, or maybe a certain hit to the head had impact that a cognitive test wouldn't account for. We'll never know, but it still is the most deserving of the many positive takeaways today.
When the passing dried up Patterson used his legs to help keep the offense in gear. Luepke & Kobe Johnson were solid contributors in support but QP was yet again the most effective running option. Even at his Cam Newton-like size it's hard to imagine that's a sustainable model for a championship run. The horses are there to take the pressure off Patterson and now that he's shown he can do as much damage as he did over the last two games they need to get the backs back to work.
They may have given up the most points so far this season, while at times struggling to contain Theo Day, but the contention is that the defense had it's best performance so far. Five sacks that could have been 12 or more, one turnover on the second to last drive by UNI which included three total and most importantly, guys being pressed into action early than they are planned to but coming through without any major hiccups. That isn't to say that improvement can't happen but just acknowledging how well they did today. It's going to be a lot of fun watching the Mostaerts & Cole Wisniewski for the next few years!
When the officiating is the worst part of the game it typically means the team had a good day. If you've gotten this far you know that to be the case but even if the game had been more of the same as last Saturday it still would have gotten strong consideration for the worst part. The Christian Watson hit is the play that will be discussed for a long time, and rightfully so. But the roughing the passer against Eli Mostaert would barely have warranted mention in touch-football leagues. Now, I'm talking about two plays that ultimately proved inconsequential to the outcome but better should be expected so that in closer contests the outcomes aren't directly linked to those sorts of officiating decisions.
Also going to punt on every receiving option not named Watson today. They amassed 19 yards from six catches. It didn't prove to be a foil & they're 5-0 so maybe more isn't needed, but it sure would be nice to have other guys be consistent threats to spread out the defenses even more.