On D, Blubaugh, Stewart, Rastas ALL should be RS's and NOT playing college football. That's not an excuse, that's truth. Now they are getting tons of minutes and they are not ready for it.
But I think these kids are playing hard, they simply are too small and dumb to know how to play. Blubaugh in a year will make that stop. Rastas is playing hard, but will best be known for allowing 200 pound QB's run over him. I think they are playing hard but they are NOT GOOD.
And momentum is important. We start ahead and like the other poster noted, the really bogus call on Tank doesn't occur, and maybe they get a bit desperate, play calling changes etc.
We can't make excuses, but we can't ignore injuries. Should Bubba have had greater depth after 3 years is the question, but to lose so many good LB's is really hard to put on him.
No one is asking for Schmidt to be canned as EVERYONE understands he does not have the personnel, but the D just flat out sucks now and Will Ratelle aint walking through that door.
I agree that Rudolph is NOT good, but ...
Poor O'line play means NO running game. The WR's are not speedy enough to get separation and the QB needs to learn to adjust quickly as the main WR is not open and that's NOT his thing. I think they could be more creative with Santiago in the slot (and NOT Olivera) but any OC coming in would be shocked at the lack of speed or our WR's/TE's
This D would have trouble stopping great HS running backs. I'm just worried about the recruits we had in from Wisconsin today. Will they come here? Or maybe it's a good thing-anyone on D will think they can come in and play next year as will anyone that is a WR or QB or O lineman.