If we're being entirely honest here, I'd say 4 - recruiting.

1) We do take some dumb penalties, but part of that is the nature of our defense. Our DBs are told to be physical, jam WRs, and keep a hand on their man down the field. Most of the time it forces refs to let things be a little more physical. Sometimes (ND game), the refs decide to get really loose with the whistle.

2) Kind of goes to the recruiting idea, but agree it could help. Then again, if our WRs weren't so inconsistent to this point, we might not think this a big need.

3) I do agree, but not entirely sure how to address it. Some of it is bad luck, some of it is bad playcalling. Our line is doing well, but isn't so good we can run on teams selling out to stop the run. Passing becomes harder in the red zone with less space needed to cover and the still unsure hands of our WRs. This I think will improve the longer Cook has to learn the nuances of his receivers.

The biggest problems are:

1) offensive line.
2) mediocre talent at TB and WR - lack of playmakers.
3) Offensive coordinator - don't like our chances in close games.

Thankfully our schedule is weak enough that there should only be a couple close games.

Agreed on penalties. I don't agree that it's part of the style of play because those penalties aren't the dumb penalties. It's the personal fouls that are more the problem.

Spartanmack said:

The biggest problems are:

1) offensive line.
2) mediocre talent at TB and WR - lack of playmakers.
3) Offensive coordinator - don't like our chances in close games.

Thankfully our schedule is weak enough that there should only be a couple close games.

Agreed on penalties. I don't agree that it's part of the style of play because those penalties aren't the dumb penalties. It's the personal fouls that are more the problem.

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I can live with holding or PI calls, not late hits. I understand being aggressive and wanting to hit someone but there has to be some level of control

I disagree on point 2, we have playmakers emerging at WR. folwer is making plays, Kings has been great for the last few weeks, and Lippet is finally playing to his potential. I'm surprised to see burbridge regress like he has, I thought he was primed for a big season. Langford made plays on Saturday, the emergence of delton Williams is a game changer too. not to get too high on Indiana, but PSU averaged 1.5 yards per carry against them, they don't have a great run defense but they're a good sparring partner I guess.

also, at this point of the season, Langford has as many TD's as Bell did at the midway point last year. TD's aren't the best stat but maybe that's just showing the offensive improvement as a whole

Sbee said:

I disagree on point 2, we have playmakers emerging at WR. folwer is making plays, Kings has been great for the last few weeks, and Lippet is finally playing to his potential. I'm surprised to see burbridge regress like he has, I thought he was primed for a big season. Langford made plays on Saturday, the emergence of delton Williams is a game changer too. not to get too high on Indiana, but PSU averaged 1.5 yards per carry against them, they don't have a great run defense but they're a good sparring partner I guess.

also, at this point of the season, Langford has as many TD's as Bell did at the midway point last year. TD's aren't the best stat but maybe that's just showing the offensive improvement as a whole

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They're improving (from a very low base) but I wouldn't call them playmakers just yet - they still make as many or more stupid mistakes as they do plays. And again, we haven't played anybody and it doesn't look to get much tougher for 3 weeks, maybe even 5 considering the product michigan is putting on the field this year.

As for TDs - they're not the best stat for an individual. What I think is more telling is we're 7th in the B1G in red zone scoring ~85% but wasy lower in TDs at 42%. And recall, at this point last year we had played OSU and a much tougher nd defense.

Spartanmack said:

They're improving (from a very low base) but I wouldn't call them playmakers just yet - they still make as many or more stupid mistakes as they do plays. And again, we haven't played anybody and it doesn't look to get much tougher for 3 weeks, maybe even 5 considering the product michigan is putting on the field this year.

As for TDs - they're not the best stat for an individual. What I think is more telling is we're 7th in the B1G in red zone scoring ~85% but wasy lower in TDs at 42%. And recall, at this point last year we had played OSU and a much tougher nd defense.

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red zone isn't always the best stat either, over the last few weeks we've had a number of explosive plays on offense for TD's. those haven't improved red zone % but that doesn't mean the offense isn't getting better.

Sbee said:

red zone isn't always the best stat either, over the last few weeks we've had a number of explosive plays on offense for TD's. those haven't improved red zone % but that doesn't mean the offense isn't getting better.

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it's a pretty good stat - and it's particularly telling when you rank 7th in the B1G ten. when you get to the red zone, you need to convert. We're not Oregon or Baylor - we can't bank on the big play to put TDs on the board. We only had 2 TDs against Iowa but zero in 5 trips into the red zone. That is definitely an indication that the offense isn't getting better...

Spartanmack said:

it's a pretty good stat - and it's particularly telling when you rank 7th in the B1G ten. when you get to the red zone, you need to convert. We're not Oregon or Baylor - we can't bank on the big play to put TDs on the board. We only had 2 TDs against Iowa but zero in 5 trips into the red zone. That is definitely an indication that the offense isn't getting better...

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right, we settled for too many fg's against Iowa. we were 3-3 against Indiana with a number of big plays

are you saying that the offense hasn't gotten better over the last few weeks?

Haven't read everything everyone has posted but Sbee how can you say that special teams are good? Saddler is great, kicking game is pretty good, but our punt returners are awful!!! I get nervous every time they call a fair catch. Butterfingers big time this season

LuciousGameWinner said:

Haven't read everything everyone has posted but Sbee how can you say that special teams are good? Saddler is great, kicking game is pretty good, but our punt returners are awful!!! I get nervous every time they call a fair catch. Butterfingers big time this season

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Kings has been pretty solid but the muff on Saturday is inexcusable. Of course he was looking right into the sun and lost it. I think he should have let it go. Overall st has been good, coverage on kicks has been good, geiger is solid, sadler is great, etc.

I'm just saying we don't have a glaring weakness that jumps out right now. You couldn't say that a few weeks ago.

Sbee said:

right, we settled for too many fg's against Iowa. we were 3-3 against Indiana with a number of big plays

are you saying that the offense hasn't gotten better over the last few weeks?

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I'm saying take the "improvement" with a grain of salt. Sure we're in the B1G season but so far the competition hasn't gotten that much better especially in terms of the defenses we have faced. When you make 5 trips into the red zone and don't score 6 on any that's really bad. Saying we scored 2 TDs on big plays is a sign of an improving offense is a bit of a stretch - they were more likely broken plays by bad defenses than well executed "go for the throat" big plays.

I do like that we're concentrating on running the ball more and have been more balanced last the two games.

Spartanmack said:

I'm saying take the "improvement" with a grain of salt. Sure we're in the B1G season but so far the competition hasn't gotten that much better especially in terms of the defenses we have faced. When you make 5 trips into the red zone and don't score 6 on any that's really bad. Saying we scored 2 TDs on big plays is a sign of an improving offense is a bit of a stretch - they were more likely broken plays by bad defenses than well executed "go for the throat" big plays.

I do like that we're concentrating on running the ball more and have been more balanced last the two games.

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Iowa had the 2nd best defense in the big ten statistically before we played them, not saying they're the best we will face all year but they weren't a weak unit. they have a strong front 7 and a weak secondary, I was shocked that we were able to take advantage of it. I kept asking myself "who are these guys?"

like you said, it's great to have the kind of balance that we have.

Sbee said:

Iowa had the 2nd best defense in the big ten statistically before we played them, not saying they're the best we will face all year but they weren't a weak unit. they have a strong front 7 and a weak secondary, I was shocked that we were able to take advantage of it. I kept asking myself "who are these guys?"

like you said, it's great to have the kind of balance that we have.

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Look at who Iowa played - NIU is the only good team they faced and they had 430 yards of offense (165 on the ground). they're not a strong unit.