[Treebound]

YoungStanford,
You mentioned a key word in my opinion - "Contain!"    I think our front three will do a very good job of clogging up the middle, but we absolutely need to keep contain on the corners given their speed.  We need to make Thomas pay when they run the spread option and have someone in position to tackle the pitch man at the corner before they turn it up.  They burned us on this play too many times last year. 

The other defensive key will be the inside screens.  They have a small, but quick line so we need to recognize the screen and disrupt it.  We have been burned on this play a number of times due to over pursuit.    Masafilo had a great blocked pass on a screen at OSU.  I hope to see at least a couple of those on Saturday.

If we win the turn over battle, we win the game and I think our D is up to the task, especially with Howell back!

[Treebound]

YoungStanford,
You mentioned a key word in my opinion - "Contain!"    I think our front three will do a very good job of clogging up the middle, but we absolutely need to keep contain on the corners given their speed.  We need to make Thomas pay when they run the spread option and have someone in position to tackle the pitch man at the corner before they turn it up.  They burned us on this play too many times last year. 

The other defensive key will be the inside screens.  They have a small, but quick line so we need to recognize the screen and disrupt it.  We have been burned on this play a number of times due to over pursuit.    Masafilo had a great blocked pass on a screen at OSU.  I hope to see at least a couple of those on Saturday.

If we win the turn over battle, we win the game and I think our D is up to the task, especially with Howell back!