I don't blame anyone.
Golden called a bad game. He did. Dude was also put in a very VERY compromising position, down what? 4-5 of your best players on defense against what has the be the most dangerous and hottest offense in CFB right now? Yeah, that ain't a great situation to be in.
We look back to 2012. Alabama was dynamic. They had Amari Cooper, Eddie Lacy and TJ Yeldon. Ohio State had 3 Amari Coopers out there. Georgia and Penn State had weapons, but we could manage them. Ohio State had too many weapons to manage with how shorthanded ND was. This is a game where you need Mills, you need Botelho, you need Traore, you need Morrison.
Same for Gray. A day for forget for him. Can't knock him because he got them there, but it's definitely something for him to learn from. Just a lot of bad from Christian Gray in this game. Here's hoping that gives him a chip on his shoulder going into '25.
But man. Does the future look bright. The OL is going to be elite next season. Knapp should be back for spring. Jagusah looked good. In Spring, you need to find the best combination of 5 guys. Jagusah, Knapp, Schrauth, to me are the guys who are locked in. See what you have in Lambert. I think Coogan has done well this year. Kind of a weird situation, as Craig is likely not going to be back until fall. Wagner is gonna have to earn his spot. I felt he was good in the regular season, but I felt he was disappointing for much of the playoffs.
Greathouse proved he's a dude. He and Faison, plus bringing in Fields. That's a trio you can win these types of games with. A lot is going to come down to how the QB situation is resolved.
Defense, Botelho and Traore are going to be back, plus you get Burnham, Young and Junior back. Wouldn't shock me if one decides to move on. Love Junior and he earned my respect being thrust into the starting role after being #3 on the depth chart, but he was #3 for a reason. Just couldn't present a consistent pass rush. We missed that today. I really like Dawson and I think him, Rubio and Hinish can make a quality rotation, plus, you should get another dude from Sevillano, Vernon, Mukam, Houstan, Mullins. One of them will emerge. They always do.
Bowen, KVA and Ausberry are going to be dynamic. Hopefully Sneed is back, but wouldn't blame him if he moved on. Gray will recover and be a stud and Leonard Moore....as much as I thought Morrison was great, Moore might be even better. I'll miss Watts, but Shuler is the next great one.
I'm not concerned about Golden. I think Freeman has a good culture and his defensive philosophy is all over this defensive roster. Even if Golden moves on, they'll be more than fine, whether Mickens is the guy or they hire somebody else (I think Mickens would be the guy if that were to happen).
Overall, making the NCG with all these injuries is beyond what I expected. I hate the way it ended, but the team fought. They could've packed it up like Kelly teams have in the past, but they didn't.
