lack of familiarity by only having a few perennial opponents, and the grueling travel are both challenges of independence that the program hasn’t found great formulas for.

I’m encouraged by the offense, seeing a team that is finding ways to finish drives and finding an identity. We also have most key pieces coming back.

Meanwhile I’m losing faith in the defense. I just don’t see a sound philosophy on that side of the ball. It feels like they are designed to keep games respectable, which by definition is not a winning formula. Yet the talent is good enough to shine through and make a lot of great plays. Not sure what happened to the stout run defense we’ve fielded for years. Slow erosion of what Bronco built?