1. Exercising the Demons: Finally. Those three UW losses have hung over the program for the last two years, and you could tell this game was circled by the entire football operation. I’d contrast the way you saw our players and coaches address/play this game versus the way Ohio State handled Michigan. Ohio State, from their coach down, was tight and clearly more and more rattled as the game progressed. Despite a slower start through the first quarter, we played a dialed in  second and third quarter and left absolutely no doubt. After watching Ducks vs Them, you could tell the meaning behind this game, and Lanning once again showed there’s no better motivator out there.

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I remember watching Bryce run out the tunnel with the bat as a captain, and following the story behind that was pretty damn cool. After UW knocked us out of the playoffs the last two years, here’s hoping our performance against them sets the tone for the run we’re about to make.

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2. Offensive Breakdown: Pretty dang clean performance from the entire offense, but I think this one started with the OL. Still without G Marcus Harper, Dave Iuli got almost all the reps at Guard and this unit played possibly their best game of the season. Specifically, our run blocking was really good, and both James and Whittington put up great numbers on the ground. For a running game that was felt inconsistent at times, especially lately, this was a welcomed development heading into the big games. We allowed zero sacks and zero TFLs, and you can contrast that with the 10 sacks and 7 TFLs we got defensively. Hard to argue with 49 points, especially given two scoring drives were stopped by really uncharacteristic drops by Evan Stewart. It still feels the downfield passing game is a hair off, honestly since Maryland. From my untrained eye, Gabriel again looked a bit gun shy to let the ball go, as he certainly had the time and guys were open. I saw some of the same the last two games, and I’m not sure what changed in regards to our vertical shots. I do think this game was an improvement, and Tez’s return will certainly help. That said, these big time games, as you saw against Ohio State, require some explosive plays to win. It’s too hard to expect us to methodically drive the ball down the field against really good defenses and convert TDs the red zone. I would expect Penn State to try to take away our run game, so this is a great week to get this aspect dialed in.

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3. Defensive Breakdown: Man, our defensive line is really special. It’s the best group we’ve ever had, and I’d argue they are playing their best right now. Jamaree Caldwell basically destroyed the entire second quarter, and Amauri Washington gets off the ball faster than any IDL that I can remember. That’s not to mention your Big Ten sack leader Matayo, alongside a healthy Jordan Burch that dominates the edge like very college players can. With Bassa the healthiest he’s been all year, I love our LB rotation of Bassa, Jackson and Boettcher and Jacobs is probably one of the best 4th string LBs nationally. I like the matchup of this unit against almost anyone nationally, and the flexibility that a dominant DL gives us is huge moving forward. My one concern, which only a few teams can probably exploit, is our safety/nickel play. Brandon Johnson, Tysheem Johnson and Kobe Savage have played well all year, and they are super experienced and sound players. That said, they do lack ideal size and speed at the position and I could see certain matchups at TE or slot giving us some issues. Thankfully, few teams can do this, and with the play the best of the defense is playing, we can roll extra coverage to those spots.