I'm not discounting the fact that they steamrolled our D, nor that we had such a miserable 1st half offensively, but allowing that very easy 4th down conversion with the fake punt on their 1st possession, Hornsey making a very rare mistake and kicking it low for a block and TD, and then Elliot having a long FG in windy conditions doink off the upright were 3 single plays that really hurt us today. I'm not saying they "cost us the game", but they certainly did their damage psychologically.

Of course, the complete non-functioning of the offense for a quarter and a half also served to tire out the D. I don't know if the problems are that we don't have the athletic skill/abilities to execute the plays; or the plays themselves are poor against those particular defensive alignments; or if players are making execution errors; or if the RS-FR QB doesn't have the experience to change into the proper/best check-off; or if it is "all of the above". Something is definitely wrong. We should not have so many completely inept series, 3 & out, going backwards. I mean, of course you're going to have some of those, and even 2 or 3 in a row, in every game, but 6, 7 in a row? Repeatedly, in multiple games? Something is definitely wrong.

The root of the problem might simply be the fact that we have so many new guys on the O-line. We have 2 SRs, some SOPHs, and Wellington is a JR, but a JUCO so it is his first year here. I think there are two other JUCOs that see playing time. Add to that the fact that one of our SRs is playing a new position this year, and you can understand some struggles. You would think that by the 11th game it would be better, but maybe we just don't have the correct athletic abilities for every position and have guys struggling to cover the holes. If we can get to the point of having guys play their natural position and get a full season of PT together, it will get a lot better.

This Dude will be playing on Sundays and tough for us to replace.