I am surprised at the number of people pointing their fingers at the defense. I will acknowledge that the defense did not play great. There were several missed tackles. At times, Bowen and McKenize seem to try to tackle by going for the shoulders and head. But, we need to keep things in perspective. This defense is basically starting 8 new players. We lost 4 starters in the offseason that was not expected. Berryman, Robertson, Smith and Taylor. That is a lot of talent to replace. Meanwhile, the offense returns basically everybody. Meyer is pre-season all Big 12, Blythe is the best receiver in the Big 12, etc. More should be expected of the offense. The only thing we heard in the off season was the explosiveness of this offense. They looked good in the first half and then fell apart again.
All you have to do is look at the 4th quarter to see who to blame. The offense went 5 plays punt, 5 plays punt, 4 plays turnover on downs. The defense gave up 3 plays punt, interception and then 9 plays for only 22 yards and a field goal. Twice the defense gave the offense the ball back with a chance to tie and they did nothing. I think the defense played well enough to force a tie in this game. Not well enough necessarily to win but at least to tie. The offense did not score the last 27 minutes of the game. That is why we lost.
Past history also shows this to be true. Think about the last few years, how many times has the offense continued to let this team down? Remember Cotton apologizing about how bad the offense was after a game? Remember the MU and KU games the last couple years? The defense has consistently gotten better under Skladany. The offense was good with Loney and Seneca but has been consistently bad since then.
All you have to do is look at the 4th quarter to see who to blame. The offense went 5 plays punt, 5 plays punt, 4 plays turnover on downs. The defense gave up 3 plays punt, interception and then 9 plays for only 22 yards and a field goal. Twice the defense gave the offense the ball back with a chance to tie and they did nothing. I think the defense played well enough to force a tie in this game. Not well enough necessarily to win but at least to tie. The offense did not score the last 27 minutes of the game. That is why we lost.
Past history also shows this to be true. Think about the last few years, how many times has the offense continued to let this team down? Remember Cotton apologizing about how bad the offense was after a game? Remember the MU and KU games the last couple years? The defense has consistently gotten better under Skladany. The offense was good with Loney and Seneca but has been consistently bad since then.