With Ship on the sideline and the best lineman a late scratch, the OL had its best day of the season. Coincidence? No. Just a superior athlete in the backfield making decisive cuts, plowing through holes with greater force, and not making a spectacle of himself with poor behavior. Don't like the late fumble, or the bad exchange on the pitch, but the team did enough to overcome that absent the constant distraction that is the Ship Show. Mafah is a winner. Keep feeding him the rock.
Congrats to Trotter, the defense, and Wes Goodwin on their big day. On the opening drive, it looked like we were in trouble. Then, the defense just got better and better, and after halftime, they were amazing. What a great job.
We were lights out on special teams. Aidan Swanson and Hamp Greene were huge. Did Dabo take over coaching the special teams unit this week? Where did this come from? Wow.
End of the day, we looked like a different team from an energy and cohesiveness perspective. Nice not having your "best player" making things all about him.