The DL was going to be very inexperienced and potentially not very athletic/good.
The OL was going to be very good unless there were a few injuries.
The Secondary lost a lot of good players and might struggle against pass happy teams or in passing situations.

I feel like those were (generally) our Big Three concerns.

The DL looked good against what turned out to be a terrible Arizona team, surprised Utah (I honestly think they expected to come in and walk all over us b/c of "#10iscoming"), and ASU's OL had all kinds of problems against us (but in retrospect maybe that was not entirely due to the DL). Pretty much since 2nd quarter of USF game, the DL has looked exactly like what we thought they were going to be.

The OL looked really good until all of a sudden Pay had to be a full-time player instead of rotating with Tukuafu and then the younger Barrington was forced into action too. Now we can't seem to get any push or open any holes.

The DBs have been a mix of surprisingly good and surprisingly bad. Third and long has been an Achilles heel at times. Generally speaking, they've kept things in front of them and not given up the big play. However, there's been a lot of wide open guys at the sticks and coverage confusion.

But...the coaches suck. And if they don't suck at coaching then they suck at recruiting. Funk was a terrible addition, CB knows more than him about OL play. Tuiaki is just plain awful in all facets and it's solely his fault the defense doesn't get a three and out every time.

I mean, honestly, the performance by position has been almost exactly what we predicted but somehow we're still mad/surprised about it. There's plenty to be frustrated with but it seems like all we do is complain. We are still a very young team. It doesn't mean they aren't talented or aren't going to be good. Next year, we'll return basically the entire DL, one year older and better equipped to "do work" in the offseason.

Certainly, there are plenty of coaching blunders to go around. In addition, Katoa's disappearance has been notable and lack of any playing time for RBs outside of the top 2 is concerning (especially if Allgeier were to leave early). Hall's general aversion to running of late has allowed opposing defenses to key in on Allgeier too much (and he isn't getting spelled by Katoa nearly as much the past two games). The defensive philosophy has been all kinds of wrong: playing aggressive man coverage without blitzing is never a good idea; going conservative or aggressive at almost exactly the wrong times at all times.

But, in the end, our personnel weaknesses are exactly what we thought they were going to be, regardless of coaching effectiveness, or lack thereof. In a way, I'm glad it took until Boise for opposing teams to figure it out b/c it meant we got to be 3-0 against the P12. I'm hopeful coaches can adjust to cover those weaknesses now that they have been so brutally exposed. However, hope isn't faith/belief that they will, but I sure am excited about the next two games and the chance to right the ship against "lesser" P5 teams than Baylor.

I'm also pumped about all the young men we've got coming back next year. Another year under their belt, another offseason to prepare, and a great schedule to maneuver.