Habits

An offense which often dramatically out gains their opponent, yet has a habit of kicking field goals in the red zone at a higher rate than the rest of college football.

A defense that is nails in the second half has a habit of giving up touchdowns on the opponent’s first two or three possessions, forcing the team to play from behind all day.

Special teams has a habit of being sub-optimal in general and frequently being the difference between a win and a loss in a bad way.

The staff has a habit of producing lackluster Septembers, which limits the upside of the team and demoralizes the fan base. 

You are a collection of your habits.

Efficiency

The starting offense had 8 trips into the UNLV red zone in 8 possessions and came away with 38 points. That was an improvement over the first two weeks when the offense found a combined 33 points on 8 trips.

So red zone performance isn't the bugaboo it was at times last season- the problem appears to be a lack of red zone trips. 

UNLV will probably be the weakest defense the team will face this year, so the offense will need to be very efficient at converting red aone trips, or discover some explosive play ability.

It was nice to overmatch a team early and put a game out of reach before halftime. Bravo

Outliers

Considering the offensive struggle of the 2021 team, perhaps we should contemplate that the 2020 team was an outlier.

The Cyclones got their best performances when it mattered, avoided major injuries, and played some teams when they were having COVID-19 issues. Human nature is to assume the current situation will remain constant, and change will happen at a steady pace and in the current trajectory.

It's hard to see the outlier in the moment- you can only spot it in hindsight. Would a 7-5 or 8-4 finish make 2021 a dissapointment? Yes. But it would also emphasize how special the 2020 season was.

It was easy to drink the Kool-Aid in the offseason with everyone coming back. But past performance is no guarantee of future returns. So far the offense has returned little.

Consistency

Perhaps we all need to make peace with the Cyclones being lousy in September as long as CMC is in charge.

The Russian judge hates it, but a win is a win.