1. Mike Sainristil is really an all-time favorite. To switch from offense to defense going into his 4th season, play at the level he did, and bring the level of leadership he did is just amazing. You can see how much his presence means to teammates, and he just steps up time and again when plays are needed.
2. JJ was 23/30 tonight. Of his 7 incompletions, 2 were egregious drops (one each by Loveland and Barner, each of which left points or potentially left points on the field) and 2 more were catchable balls that the receivers would probably tell you were plays they should make (one each by Loveland and Wilson.)
3. That said, this is 2 straight games now we didn't try a single "shot" play, and it's very clear JJ is coached NOT to throw into 1-on-1 coverage and trust his receiver to go make a play. That is Harbaugh's hyper-conservatism at work, and it remains a restrictor plate on the passing game.
4. We've beaten 3 of the top 10 defenses over the last 4 games. However... those defenses have managed to stop us. The offense did not have a single touchdown drive tonight; both touchdowns came after the defense/special teams gave them the ball with goal to go. And of the 6 touchdowns against OSU and PSU, 2 of those were short fields as well. Against those tough defenses, we've managed 4 touchdown drives in 3 games. These are battles we haven't won - the defense carried us to all three wins. The good news is, none of the defenses in the Playoff are as strong as Iowa, OSU and PSU. But the bad news is, their offenses are all bigger challenges than any we have faced thus far. If Harbaugh is worthy of the contract he's rumored to have coming his way... he'll figure out how to get our passing game back on the rails over the next 4 weeks so we can go up against Bama, Texas or Washington with the kind of balanced offense that might be able to win a higher scoring game than we're used to.
2. JJ was 23/30 tonight. Of his 7 incompletions, 2 were egregious drops (one each by Loveland and Barner, each of which left points or potentially left points on the field) and 2 more were catchable balls that the receivers would probably tell you were plays they should make (one each by Loveland and Wilson.)
3. That said, this is 2 straight games now we didn't try a single "shot" play, and it's very clear JJ is coached NOT to throw into 1-on-1 coverage and trust his receiver to go make a play. That is Harbaugh's hyper-conservatism at work, and it remains a restrictor plate on the passing game.
4. We've beaten 3 of the top 10 defenses over the last 4 games. However... those defenses have managed to stop us. The offense did not have a single touchdown drive tonight; both touchdowns came after the defense/special teams gave them the ball with goal to go. And of the 6 touchdowns against OSU and PSU, 2 of those were short fields as well. Against those tough defenses, we've managed 4 touchdown drives in 3 games. These are battles we haven't won - the defense carried us to all three wins. The good news is, none of the defenses in the Playoff are as strong as Iowa, OSU and PSU. But the bad news is, their offenses are all bigger challenges than any we have faced thus far. If Harbaugh is worthy of the contract he's rumored to have coming his way... he'll figure out how to get our passing game back on the rails over the next 4 weeks so we can go up against Bama, Texas or Washington with the kind of balanced offense that might be able to win a higher scoring game than we're used to.
