Here is what's on my mind after the last game.

Thoughts

1. The defense is just not able to cut it right now. I'm sure everyone else is thinking about it too, and it is a serious problem. It is starting to appear that OSU just doesn't have the athletes in the secondary to keep up. When our best db, Lance Mitchell, cannot keep up with a receiver on a slant and whiffs on two tackles, there are some real issues. This is something that will not get fixed easily, they are going to have to be smarter than the opponent if they are going to be able to defend. As a disclaimer, Kellen Moore is incredibly accurate, but the dbs had a chance to make a play on some passes still. Also, I felt the D played better than the other games, but not well enough.

2. The lack of killer instinct. The play that defines this was Brandon Hardin's whiff on Kellen Moore. He had him clean, unblocked and when he arrived he did not wrap him up. This is a recurring theme, last week I watched Paea get to the Louisville qb clean and then whiff there too. Numerous other plays like that have happened and it's becoming less of a coincidence and more of a pattern.

3. The Broncos got cheap. Two plays. Knocking out James Rodgers. Throwing a helmet-less Quizz to the ground. I was already livid when they hit James with a cheap shot, then watching them try to eliminate Quizz well after the play had ended pushed me over the edge. If ever a Boise State player deserved a shot to the jaw that was it. Excuse me for that, but that really got me fuming.

4. The best unit on this team is the return unit. They were great, if not fantastic. The punt return scored by James was great, the kickoff returns consistently broke past the thirty and even Poyer had great returns. Also Poyer was fantastic as a gunner.

5. I have trouble blaming the offense for that result. The Boise State defense was absolutely lights out. Katz started to look jittery and I do not blame him for the sheer number of hits that were delivered to him. They ran Quizz as much as they needed to, but there was absolutely no lanes for him to cut through. Kudos to the Broncos, they completely won this game.

6. Joe Halahuni is one of my favorite players on the roster. With the exception of his missed blitz pickup, I love the way he plays. When he rumbles down the field after a catch he is looking for contact. Downright awesome.

Ordinarily I'd try to find plays that could have helped the Beavers win it, but I don't think that OSU would have beaten the Broncos with how well they were playing. Still I'll do my best.

Gamechangers

1. The missed sack by Brandon Hardin, that let Boise State get out and set up an entire drive down the field.

2. Any turnovers? The muffed punt was the only one, and the defense needed to force one if the Beavs were to win.

3. The missed Kahut field goal. It might have helped, moreover it was embarrassing. This might have been just more of a thought.

4. The missed coverage by Hardin. Pushing Titus Young out of bounds and saying that the play was over was bad. It was horrifying to see.

5. That's all folks. This shouldn't be a numbered item, but really the Beavs got pretty much all the help they could have asked for and still lost.

Final Thoughts

I'm not sure what to make of OSU. I want to believe that this can be a great team, but they have slowly been eroding away the confidence I had in them. Another game where the defense is a liability. The Beavs also struggled on offense for almost the entire game, but I still believe that unit will improve. Also James Rodgers is the man. He gets knocked out, and once he's back up, they're unable to convince him to stay off the field, so they have to hide his helmet. That is a man's man right there, and he absolutely has to be my favorite player on this team. OSU might have a surprisingly tough time with ASU next weekend too, they played the Ducks tough and it should be a great game at Reser.

Go Beavs!