Especially since they’re unlikely to get the cream of the crop.

We were pretty much down to Thomas and Gilliam after last year, added one NLI signee, Figuroa. We converted a wide receiver, he’s our #3 running back. Everyone behind Thomas and Gilliam is unproven and apparently the coaches are not ready to give them a try. It’s not how many are on the roster it’s more a question of how many are useable this season.

I think that’s right. We are too thin at running back, who knows how beat up Gilliam is, carrying most the load. I think not having more running backs we have confidence in leads to not calling run plays. Teams need to practice the skills to be good at them; if you don’t run much you’re not good at it when you need it.

I think it would be possible to continue the journey, but with a little more sense of urgency. I hope he’s having some blame with his staff, they’re letting him down. That was a pivotal game for the season, and we didn’t seem to be prepared first half.

Defense has to get the ball back.
In ND game one turnover, only made them punt three times, and stopped them once on fourth down. That’s five total stops entire game.

If we were ahead in games, Maier would have not have thrown some of those interceptions.
I think the biggest reason for the drop off defensively is that we had too much turnover at linebacker. Lost two starters to graduation, lost one to academic ineligibility, chose to move Anesi to a new rush position, moved Pat Miller to TE, moved Jamison to the bench, and played with some outside lbs small for the position two of whom were recruited as defensive backs. MLB backed up by JC walk-ons. Doesn’t sound like a way to stop a running game, and sure enough it isn’t.

Gould was an OK recruiter, but not a great one. He left the cupboard pretty bare at running back, and that was the position you’d think he could fill for sure.
Here is his 2015 NLI signing class. A very few contributors, one of whom transferred. Some good recruits, lots of misses. Bringing in a half dozen contributors isn’t enough.

NAME POS HT WT YR (2015) HOMETOWN HIGH SCHOOL/LAST SCHOOL
Will Allen DL 6-3 275 Fr. Gresham, Ore. Barlow HS
Nas Anesi LB 6-0 225 Fr. Bellflower, Calif. St. John Bosco
Quincy Bennett LB 5-11 243 Fr. Oxnard Calif. Westlake HS
Justin Clarkston WR 6-3 223 Fr. Moreno Valley, Calif. Citrus Hill HS
Majid Firoozi OL 6-3 250 Fr. Seattle, Wash. O'Dea HS
Tyshone Gaines DB 6-0 168 Fr. Oakland, Calif. Fremont HS
Charles Hays OL 6-3 261 Fr. La Quinta, Calif. La Quinta HS
Bransin Johnson DB 5-10 175 Fr. Fresno, Calif. Clovis North HS
Joshua Kelley RB 5-11 192 Fr. Lancaster, Calif. Eastside HS
Christian Leota QB 6-2 225 Fr. San Lorenzo, Calif. James Logan HS
Aaron Moore WR 6-0 175 Fr. Altadena, Calif. Cathedral HS
Ryan Parenteau S 6-1 195 Fr. Anthem, Ariz. Boulder Creek HS
Antonio Perez* DL 6-2 250 Jr. Sacramento, Calif. American River/Idaho/Sheldon HS
Dan Plum TE 6-3 226 Fr. San Diego, Calif. Cathedral Catholic HS
Vincent White DB 5-10 161 Fr. Lynwood, Calif. Lynwood

We don’t know if roster weights are accurate but Tehran’s best games were as a freshman listed at the 230 weight. What he actually weighed against Sac State in 2017, who knows? That was probably his best game.

I think it transcends motivation. We’re too small on D, except for D line, We seem so willing to give up 5 yards on first down. How many times were they 1st and 15 after a penalty and the next play gain 5 plus yards?
On offense we have no go to plays that we can rely on to get 4 yards. We need some plays that work without relying on deception. We have a lot of plays that check down to throwing a pass for a two yard loss, and we have a lot of pass plays that even if complete don’t gain four yards, Net result is that we have difficulty putting a regular drive together converting third downs and moving the ball the old fashioned way.

On D, terrible first half and the return to our normal in second half, makes me think we weren’t prepared or couldn’t adjust without halftime. I don’t buy the offense ineptitude wore them out when you give up an 80 yard drive to open the game. The whole game impression is that they were prepared for us, and we weren’t prepared for them.
The thing that stands out to me is that once again a mediocre running team was too much for us to stop, e.g San Diego, Montana, and now this game.

On the other side of the ball. Gilliam alone isn’t enough.

North Dakota went through us like a knife through butter, while our offense looked like we were cutting steak with a spoon.

At least adding some bigger DBs was a focus of last year’s recruiting class; unfortunately those guys haven’t played much.
Both our linebackers and DBs are small and that is reflected in yards after contact.

KTHK stream is “live from Cleveland” with pathetic sports talk

We have a number of wide receivers who are three and two star recruits, higher regarded out of high school than Doss. How did Doss develop his skills? Did he figure it out on his own? We don’t have a coach who’s played receiver. And on the subject of player development, how is it that Doss increased some of his performance metrics like his 40 yard time after he got through playing for us?
We have to grow our own players. Take offensive linemen for example. Other teams routinely bring in players who are 6’5” - 6’7” and they bulk up. We’ve had one player who matched that description, added significant weight and that’s Colton Lamson who came in at 235lb and added 50lbs. We’ve had offensive linemen who’ve been highly regarded spend years here and never get big enough to earn playing time, sitting at 260 lbs.

if your offense suffers in year three of a rebuilding process because you lose one wide receiver, and return almost all other receivers, that’s sad.

Doss and Moe loss is no big deal. Simple percentages show most teams lose 25% percent of their starters every year, probably more than that due to seniors playing a bigger role than other classes. Good players yes, but neither was drafted, so it’s not as if they were extraordinary even for this school.
We’ll have a bigger issue next year with graduated players

We thought we would be better than this but each of these games is now a near thing. If we’re on an even keel like Hawkins preaches and we’re playing a team where we’re their focus for the year it’s tough.

I’m seeing a pattern, Weber in 2017, Eastern in 2018, Montana this year.
We get pushed around in big games. If we really are up for the game we can compete, but it’s a near thing, not much margin for error.

Their defensive numbers last week look good compared to ours

This is far from the first root sports broadcast and if they cant interface with Pluto one would think that would be a known fact.

For the second time this season our home game is not available to watch as a replay on the big sky site. It seems all the other home games of Big Sky teams are. Something to do with facilities?