Contain Jared Curtis early

Starting a true freshman at quarterback is a risky move as a football team even if he was the No. 1 recruit in the country. For the Junkyard Dawg defense, it is crucial to eliminate any offensive production early in the game in order to keep the talented freshman from finding a rhythm and gaining much needed confidence in the daunting environment of Sanford Stadium.

‌Explode early offensively

As one of the most productive teams offensively in the nation, Coach Bobo’s offense has had no trouble up to this point with putting points on the board. However, noon kickoffs can often times lead to a stagnant start, quieter crowd, and almost a lull in production due to outside factors. With many of the nation’s top teams suffering early losses already this season in major upsets, it is vital for this offense to explode early and often with chunk plays, deep shots downfield, and create a rowdy environment that can travel through the entire stadium to fire up the crowd early.

‌Eliminate Mental Errors

With not very much to correct for this dominant start to the 2026 campaign, one main area of improvement would be this team’s penalty statistics. Ranked No. 37 in the country in penalties, the Dawgs cannot afford to continually allow unnecessary yardage along with free first downs to opponents. In addition to this, a simple holding call on a first down run play for this offense can entirely ruin a drive setting up Gunner Stockton and his plethora of weapons behind the sticks and in trouble.

‌Free Up Chris Cole

After an impressive performance Saturday with eight tackles and a sack, the junior linebacker has made it clear he intends to disrupt every single offensive snap for any opponent. With incredibly impressive chase down speed along with a nose for the football, Cole needs the entire defensive line to take on incoming offensive linemen in order for him to continue making his presence felt. Against a young, but talented, freshman quarterback, Cole can disrupt the entire offensive gameplan early with a simple quarterback pressure or tackle for loss. The entire Dawg Nation saw how rattled John Mateer became early this past Saturday, and the same fear needs to be imposed in order to continue this impressive streak of team dominance.

‌Set up Peyton Woodring for success

As the established kicker for this team, Woodring has continually come in clutch time and time again with helping this offense cap off drives and put points on the board. In a conference game, many drives may not end in the endzone, but any points at any moment establish the idea of offensive success and galvanize the fans along with the team in continuing their gameplan. However, a missed block, bad snap, or mis-hold can lead to the exact opposite effect for the opponents. Woodring faces intense pressure with many believing that special teams rely entirely on him, but in reality, it is a team effort just like any other play. He cannot complete his role if the entire unit does not do their job first, and in reality, he is simply the finishing touch of a successful string of minute details that are critical for the football to travel through the uprights.