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But I especially hate losing when we have a top tier football team with the experience of winning the big close game.

In the eyes of the haters, last night's performance was just the display of lack of execution they have been looking for to send us scurrying back to the land of obscurity.

Oh wait; this isn't last year's team? That's right, we graduated our entire defensive front, our consensus All American left tackle, a stellar defensive safety tandem, and a muscle hamster of a running back as well as the quarterback with the most victories in NCAA FBS history to the NFL.

Was I happy with the performance against Michigan State? No! Is the sky falling? No! Are all the negatives I've seen concerning our new players all justified? No! Are we on our way to obscurity? No! Do we have improvements to make? Yes!

The secondary stepped up and it doesn't look like we missed a beat with these guys. And to think they are all freshman and sophomores and only going to get better. This could get scary.

The pass rush showed they may develop into something special again this year and for a few years to come. We just need to get them along with the linebackers step up against the run. Improved tackling will also help, can't bottle someone up and then let them spin out of three tacklers for a 30+ yard gain.

The offensive front did a good job in pass protection and didn't allow a sack but they couldn't open any holes for the running backs. Every hole seemed to be plugged when the backs hit the line. But this is not a new problem as we were in the bottom half of the Mountain West Conference last year in rushing. We know what DJ can do in space; we just need to find a way to open the holes. And we do have to remember, Michigan State is one heck of defense but 37 total rushing yards is not going to get us to where we need to be. Opening up the running game has to be our first priority, everything else we do with all the motion plays off the run.

Quarterback play and decision making has to improve. This is not a knock Mr. Southwick, he will improve with time but against a defense as good as Michigan State, you have to know where your first down markers are and when NOT to force the play. I think Joe can be very good and we saw glimpses of that last night.

We didn't get the production out of our wide receivers we are used to but I can't fault the receivers. We couldn't sustain any drives and I point to the lack of a running game. It's tough when your offense is so one dimensional. Kirby Moore had a good game and Matt Miller made a great catch and Aaron Burks had a shot at a TD if not for the interference. And if Mitch Burroughs was just 5'11" who knows what the outcome may have been. We just need to open the running game up to take advantage of our great receivers.

Bottom line is I think we saw some real positives along with some real negatives. The Broncos have two weeks to make corrections and we all know Coach Pete will address what is necessary and if we have the right horses we will get the negatives turned around by then. The greatest improvement usually comes between game one and game two. Let's hope that's the case for our Broncos.

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