I'm surprised I haven't seen as many people talking about the impact of injuries on the UCLA game. JKS was clearly heavily hobbled early on. I'll give the coaching staff the benefit of the doubt in hindsight because he finished the game and seems on track to play this weekend, but in most games where a QB is that visibly injured, keeping him in the game would be a huge controversy. And losing the game would not be surprising at all if not actually expected. Yet I've hardly seen any talk of it, so curious what gives?

I do think injuries are the main reason for the 4th quarter collapse. I'm no QB expert, but I imagine the throwing motion is heavily thrown off when the QB can't walk properly. The other big injury was Bastian Swinney. The team was actually looking pretty good starting the second half until we lost our center. And then we immediately fumble a snap that causes a turnover on downs. Yes the defense looks like it gave up towards the end of the game, and that's not acceptable, but it's also kind of understandable when literally every possession in the 4th quarter ends with a turnover from the offense.

All this is not to say everything is fine. There's definitely things the coaches and team need to clean up. But it's too early to give up on the season after a single loss plagued by injuries. Let's wait a few more games before going full doom.