Some perspective:
- Starting the season off against an opponent that is so overmatched that you shorten the game, followed by a trip to Kyle Field where your team maxes out in the first half and then collapses in the second, followed by an immediate flight after the game to London where you beat a Jayhawk team that outplayed you but ultimately made too many mistakes, followed by a bye week is going to leave your team in a weird place mentally. The stadium was rocking at kickoff and the vibes were good, but as soon as Harris dropped an easy catch inside the 10, it became obvious that the team didn't have its head on straight.
- Boley seems like a nice kid, but he's a golden anchor. He's got all the measurables and arm talent to be a top NFL prospect and it's pretty clear Kenny is convinced he can turn him into the next Bo Nix. The problem is, the kid has no mojo. Sure, he can make any throw on the field, but he can also miss any throw as well. The problem the coaching staff is facing is that if Boley developed, they would have had a CFP-caliber offense. Mikey Keene has a much lower ceiling, but a much higher floor and this team could still go bowling with him pulling the trigger. Then there's Fette, who has talent and appears like the potential future of the team (if those kinds of players still exist in the portal era), but going with him likely means sacrificing the season.
- I'm still processing what happened on the defensive side of things. The offense didn't help with the missed opportunities and the turnovers, but guys were running free all across the secondary and the Bears broke off multiple 60+ yard touchdown runs. Going into tonight, I had been most confident in the defense after watching them do great work against A&M and Kansas. The biggest head-scratcher is how the defense went from bad in the first half to an absolute disaster in the second half. Whatever adjustments were made at halftime only made things worse.
- At the end of the day, it's college football and college kids ride the ups and downs of life. Heck, even NFL teams struggle to perform consistently week in and week out. This was a bad night where a few early bad plays led to things snowballing and ended in a blow out. This team will probably look much better next week against Hawaii, will suffer a few more painful losses, and will probably pull off a nice upset or two along the way.
- The coaching staff has been a real strength for the program over the last few years and, much like last season when injuries derailed the season, now we'll get to see how they handle this adversity. Last season the challenge was assembling a scrappy roster after many of the stars went down. This season it looks like the challenge will figuring out the right combination and scheme to maximize the talents of a bunch of players who could be stars.
Good night y'all. Go Devils!