QuoteAgree with everything you said. Gotta add that both sides had to deal with injuries. It did not help Wheaton when its star RB had to leave the game for over a quarter because he was banged up. Even though Weeks ran for over 100 yds, he couldn't make his jump cuts and cut backs with his hip injury. Nor could he accelerate to his sprint level speed.
While the Thunder will lose all their 5th and 6th year seniors, there are some (not all) 4th year seniors coming back for their lost COVID year, including some 2s on the defense, and what I'm hearing, at least one defensive starter. Add to the fact that there are 2 second string juniors on the defense, it may not be quite as bad as you predicted in a previous post where you thought only 1 or 2 on Wheaton's 2-deep were coming back. I think they'll have alot of talented starters, but not nearly the upperclassman depth Wheaton's been blessed with the past 2-3 years.
It will certainly be interesting to watch the Thunder in September 2022. The defense has been fortunate enough to have very impactful D1 transfers (e.g. McCrae, O'Connell, Corey Kennedy) over the past few years, so perhaps the Portal will yield some new gems. I'm also curious to see what happens at QB, since I believe that Luke Anthony and Jeremiah Tucker both have eligibility remaining (not sure if both/either are planning to return), as well as Ben Thorson, WKU transfer/brother of Clayton. IIRC TJ Williams may have eligibility left, but I'm not plugged in to know if that ship has sailed (just daydreaming about a Weeks/Williams 1-2 punch).