[Mick]

SC's insane defensive strategy played a strong role.

SC BRAINTRUST:

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR: So they're a great running team.
DBs COACH: Yeah.
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR: A good, not a great passing team.
DL COACH: You maybe question whether they'll be effective passing the ball thirty times a game.
LB COACH: Yeah, like, Hogan's a good quarterback -- but he's no Luck. Can he carry the entire offense?
DB COACH: It seems like a risk worth taking.
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR: So we're agreed? Six or seven guys in the box when they go into shotgun?
POSITION COACHES [in unison]: YEAHHHH!!!!!!!!

I actually wondered if it was an oddball sort of "prevent" defense, meaning that S  C's defensive coaches didn't want to give up the long run, so the plan was to concede mid-sized runs until we got close to the goal line -- and the plan didn't fail, at least in the first half.

[Mick]

SC's insane defensive strategy played a strong role.

SC BRAINTRUST:

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR: So they're a great running team.
DBs COACH: Yeah.
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR: A good, not a great passing team.
DL COACH: You maybe question whether they'll be effective passing the ball thirty times a game.
LB COACH: Yeah, like, Hogan's a good quarterback -- but he's no Luck. Can he carry the entire offense?
DB COACH: It seems like a risk worth taking.
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR: So we're agreed? Six or seven guys in the box when they go into shotgun?
POSITION COACHES [in unison]: YEAHHHH!!!!!!!!

I actually wondered if it was an oddball sort of "prevent" defense, meaning that S  C's defensive coaches didn't want to give up the long run, so the plan was to concede mid-sized runs until we got close to the goal line -- and the plan didn't fail, at least in the first half.