HFA has always been critical in the psu/mich games

but ironically I was texting w/a friend of mine during the game yesterday and early on when things were going well i kept telling my friend i had a bad feeling because this was playing out exactly like the psu game. where osu had multiple chances to put the game away early but either settled for fg's or the offense tightened up and stalled out on drives and as a result let psu stay in the game.

osu was up 10-3 early in the first half against psu and faced a critical 3rd and 1. if osu goes up 17-3 it's probably curtains for clifford and psu. they get stuffed because osu is the most awkward short yardage team ive ever seen, has no real offensive identity, and a qb who is unwilling to run for some tough yards. osu punts and psu busts a long td off a missed tackle and all of a sudden we have a ballgame.

osu was up 10-3 early again yesterday. they were controlling the game, running the ball well and from where I was sitting both sides of the line were really asserting themselves. osu drove down the field and had the ball in mich territory and they go for it on 4th and 2. low percentage pass play to the TE and they fail to convert. next drive you get 3rd and long and mich busts a td off a poor tackling effort.

all this stuff about 'softness' just feels like a lazy cliched talking point. but i will say that Day's osu teams have lacked a killer instinct and despite their large talent advantages are unable to put teams away early. their offense gets clunky with poor execution, play calling, and penalties. this goes back to 2019 in the playoff game against clemson when they had the chance to run clemson out of the building in the first half but missed on some huge opportunities and let the game slip away.