[lex24]

Agree. There is a synergistic aspect. Good post. Only nit - defense was down more than Reid. Cotton Alfieri Holder. I think Robinson went down during the game. 

Good ideas.

For those who point to TOP as the "one reason" as to why we lost, I think that TOP only tells part of the story. Was the defense tired? Totally. But that wasn't merely because the offense wasn't staying on the field long enough. We did win the TOP battle by a margin not unlike games we win. Of course there were times in the game when we did not have a typical long drive, and I do think the offense was not as productive at crucial times (especially late) as it could have been. (Seems we were effective in the red zone, though!) But another reason the defense was on the field so much was because they couldn't stop TCU; a good way to get off the field is to stop the other team on third down. Did injuries play a part? Of course. But, again, I am less eager to point to that as the "one reason." Injuries happen ALL THE TIME in football, and elite teams have to find a way to keep going. Are we less good when Justin Reid goes out? Yes. He's awesome. If our defense goes from being good to being bad based solely on him, we're in trouble. It seems that a defensive backfield of Murphy, Meeks, Edwards, Simmons, Butler, Antoine should be fine, no? One player is not the reason for TCU just gashing us. It contributes, along with us getting zero pressure on the QB and not stopping the run after 1Q and insufficient coverage by several players.

Lots of reasons why we lost. But I think we are not very talented or deep at some critical positions, I think some of our key players underperformed or made critical mistakes, and I think some of our playcalls were questionable. I wonder about how ready we were? But TCU has something to do with all of these things, of course. They were better.

I could be wrong about any of this. I'm still bummed about the loss.

-m.

[lex24]

Agree. There is a synergistic aspect. Good post. Only nit - defense was down more than Reid. Cotton Alfieri Holder. I think Robinson went down during the game. 

Good ideas.

For those who point to TOP as the "one reason" as to why we lost, I think that TOP only tells part of the story. Was the defense tired? Totally. But that wasn't merely because the offense wasn't staying on the field long enough. We did win the TOP battle by a margin not unlike games we win. Of course there were times in the game when we did not have a typical long drive, and I do think the offense was not as productive at crucial times (especially late) as it could have been. (Seems we were effective in the red zone, though!) But another reason the defense was on the field so much was because they couldn't stop TCU; a good way to get off the field is to stop the other team on third down. Did injuries play a part? Of course. But, again, I am less eager to point to that as the "one reason." Injuries happen ALL THE TIME in football, and elite teams have to find a way to keep going. Are we less good when Justin Reid goes out? Yes. He's awesome. If our defense goes from being good to being bad based solely on him, we're in trouble. It seems that a defensive backfield of Murphy, Meeks, Edwards, Simmons, Butler, Antoine should be fine, no? One player is not the reason for TCU just gashing us. It contributes, along with us getting zero pressure on the QB and not stopping the run after 1Q and insufficient coverage by several players.

Lots of reasons why we lost. But I think we are not very talented or deep at some critical positions, I think some of our key players underperformed or made critical mistakes, and I think some of our playcalls were questionable. I wonder about how ready we were? But TCU has something to do with all of these things, of course. They were better.

I could be wrong about any of this. I'm still bummed about the loss.

-m.