[81alum]

DenverCard, I concur with your assessment.  I think the UCLA game was incredibly draining--physically, mentally, emotionally--and some of our regular players who weren't technically injured were just worn out.  We looked slow, missed tackles, and just seemed to have a total lack of concentration/focus.  Hopefully, we will be ready for Wazzu next Saturday.

The UCLA game was indeed draining...but why?  It was draining because their defense found a way to stop our offense.  So this is the second game in a row that our offense has been decidedly sub-par, with the sole exception of a single two minute drive.  We knew our quarterback would be less experienced and would need to develop.  I think the greatest disappointment of the season so far has been the offensive line, which seems to have very serious problems with pass protection and has certainly dropped off on run blocking.

A pedestrian, plodding offense can still win games, though, if the defense is superior.  That was the greatest shock last night--not that our offense did not work well, but the depths to which our defense plummeted.  Our linebackers seem to be very poor pass rushers and very poor in pass coverage.  They are an obvious achilles heel and offensive coordinators are going to find any number of ways to exploit them until something changes.

[81alum]

DenverCard, I concur with your assessment.  I think the UCLA game was incredibly draining--physically, mentally, emotionally--and some of our regular players who weren't technically injured were just worn out.  We looked slow, missed tackles, and just seemed to have a total lack of concentration/focus.  Hopefully, we will be ready for Wazzu next Saturday.

The UCLA game was indeed draining...but why?  It was draining because their defense found a way to stop our offense.  So this is the second game in a row that our offense has been decidedly sub-par, with the sole exception of a single two minute drive.  We knew our quarterback would be less experienced and would need to develop.  I think the greatest disappointment of the season so far has been the offensive line, which seems to have very serious problems with pass protection and has certainly dropped off on run blocking.

A pedestrian, plodding offense can still win games, though, if the defense is superior.  That was the greatest shock last night--not that our offense did not work well, but the depths to which our defense plummeted.  Our linebackers seem to be very poor pass rushers and very poor in pass coverage.  They are an obvious achilles heel and offensive coordinators are going to find any number of ways to exploit them until something changes.