Opponents gash us for way too many yards:
We held Wyoming to 100+ yards less than their season average

We never get stops on third down:
Wyoming was 3-11

Opponents have the ball for long grueling drives (because we give up too many third downs):
We actually had more TOP than Wyoming, in spite of refs extending several of their drives and stalling several of ours.

Our secondary never covers anyone and people are wide open all the time:
They were 14-27, barely over 50% completion percentage. In addition we had several coverage sacks.

I’m not saying it isn’t frustrating at times, first quarter last night felt terrible. But the incessant hand wringing about basically every possession that we don’t get a three and out just gets old.

Football is a chess match and most games are not won and lost in the first quarter. The defense played great in the second half. This actually happens frequently where we stink for a quarter in first half and play much better in the second. I might argue our initial game plans seem to suck and teams never do what Tuiaki thinks they’re going to…but that’s a different discussion.

Last thought: we were down FIVE defensive starters last night and still, all in all, played a solid overall defensive game.