Step back from your keyboard and go touch some grass on a football field somewhere.
Saturday was U-G-L-Y. We all know that. We all watched it. But let's take a step back and look at a few things that plagued the offense and reactions.
SLOVIS SUCKS BENCH HIM
If this is you, thank you or the litmus test. Not only is that an extremely irrational response to somebody who completed 60% of his passes and didn't turn the ball over, but also imagine how portaling for a QB would go next off season if we benched Slovis after one game?
Yes, it wasn't great, and far from his best performance, but putting it all on him ignores that the OL played poorly, and you don't know whose fault was what - the receiver vs the QB, etc.
New Bodies, Everyhwere
Take a look at the lineup - 9 of 11 guys on offense were new.
QB: Slovis transferred in.
RB: 3 RBs got carries, true freshman LJ Martin and transfers Aiden Robbins and Deion Smith.
WR: Chase Roberts was HALF the returning starters on O. Kody Epps and Keanu Hill sat. Parker Kingston RS last year and didn't play. Darrius Lassiter and Keelon Marion both transferrred in.
HB: Mason Fakahua played sparingly last year, but is the guy at the FB/HB spot with Masen Wake hanging it up.
TE: Isaac Rex returning starter. Everybody behind him is new.
LT: Kingsley started on the other side of hte line
LG: Weylin Lapuaho transferred from USU.
C: Paul Maile transferred from Utah
RG: Connor Pay slid from C.
RT: Caleb Etienne transferred from Oklahoma State.
That is a ton of new bodies in new places. They struggled. It was out of sync. There were dumb penalties that killed half the drives. It was obnoxious. But we weren't outmatched. There wasn't a poor gameplan - the players just didn't make plays.
BUT COLORADO!
Yes Colorado dominated on Saturday. On offense. Their defense gave up 541 yards with 262 coming on the ground.
Oh and Shedeur Sanders played out of his damn mind wtih 510 yards in the air, but they only averaged 1.6 ypc on the ground - so it looks like their OL did well in pass pro, but struggled mightily setting up the run, sound familiar?
1/3 of Sanders yardage came on 3 plays - amazing, huge gains and that's what we were missing. We pop one huge play and win 21-0 and everybody is fine. If we had won 28-7, nobody would bat an eye. Scoring a 75 yard TD means the defense screwed up and tells you less about the offense than a long drive that methodically moves the ball.
So yes, TCU is better than SHSU (I think. Maybe the Bearkats will go 11-1 and win CUSA and finished ranked. That would be awesome. But it's not gonna happen), but just because Colorado won a shoot out doesn't mean they played perfect and we should draw comparisons to them.
However, you should watch Colorado every week beacuse Travis Hunter is incredible and you probably will never see a player like him again in your life.
So when do we panic?
The biggest jump a team makes all year will be between weeks 1 and 2. If the offense is sluggish against SUU then we will have valid worry. If the offense is still struggling by October, Jake Retzlaff will start at home against Cincinnati.
You can practice hard and get reps there all you want, but nothing can replace those game reps together with your guys to get going. We saw it with Jaren Hall in 2021 where he was pedestrain vs Arizona, tehn played much better vs Utah (his legs being a game changer, those his passing was about the same). It just takes time for QBs to feel comfortable. Sometimes they pop off week one like Sanders did, but most of the time they don't.
And Slovis will be fine. And the offense will be fine. The line will get in their rhythm (LOL DID YOU SEE HOW BAD BAYLOR PLAYED?) and the receivers will get in their spots. A-Rod and Fesi Sitake have controlled the passing game in Provo for the last 5 seasons and I don't see any reason to think season 6 will be different.
The OL has played extremely well the last 2 years and with all 5 being in new spots or new bodies vs last year, the reps will come. Take away the penalties and we have more yards, points and continue to ho hum our way to a decisive victory. Instead, we went up 14-0 and milked the clock to get out of the building because we knew what needed to be fixed and can get to practice this week. That's just how week 1 ends up sometimes.