[fullmetal]

I think we've already been through most of our learning curve.  It's a matter of avoiding injuries and refining blocking right now, imho.  I think UW almost exposed us--they flow to the ball on run plays much faster than we were able to react, and I think only our explosive plays really made the difference (which exposed their defensive discipline and DC's chops).  Even on well-blocked run plays, I think I generally saw UW canceling out our "numbers at the point of attack" advantage with defensive speed.

The next-men-up for teams ravaged by injuries have more improvement to gain than we do, ceteris paribus.  However...since they are backups, their ceilings may be lower.  /shrug

(This overly-verbose post brought to you by sleepiness.)

[fullmetal]

I think we've already been through most of our learning curve.  It's a matter of avoiding injuries and refining blocking right now, imho.  I think UW almost exposed us--they flow to the ball on run plays much faster than we were able to react, and I think only our explosive plays really made the difference (which exposed their defensive discipline and DC's chops).  Even on well-blocked run plays, I think I generally saw UW canceling out our "numbers at the point of attack" advantage with defensive speed.

The next-men-up for teams ravaged by injuries have more improvement to gain than we do, ceteris paribus.  However...since they are backups, their ceilings may be lower.  /shrug

(This overly-verbose post brought to you by sleepiness.)