I, Kia: Week 8

Micah Kia is out for the season with a torn right ACL.
But his mind still works and his mouth is still firing.
Hopefully, we can run this I, Kia feature every week, if things work out.
Here's what he has to say before Week 8:

"How close are we? That's hard to say - we could be as close as one week away or the end of the season. Mentally, we make ourselves as close as we can. But like I said before, this team has a lot of growing up to do. Realistically, we have all these games under our belts and (youth) shouldn't make a difference. I think we're getting better, and I don't think our record reflects how good a team we are.

The fact of matter is, we are extremely close to being a top tier team. It's very frustrating to see these last four weeks that the small things continue to ail us. Really that's all it is. We clean up the offsides, the holding, the dropped balls - small things. But they add up. They become a major pain in our side. It's frustrating to see it last for four weeks.

There's definitely a measure of frustration, but I think overall, mentally, we're still fine. Things haven't gone are way and guys realize this. But as a team, were doing a good job of keeping the faith, staying the course, any amount of finger pointing has been put to rest. The leaders on the team have done a good job trying to eliminate that. From the outside looking in, people might say my word doesn't mean a lot because I'm not playing. Fact is, I am an older guy on this team, I've been through the fire, and regardless of not having a very good season last year, we did come together as a senior unit. The way things have gone is regrettable. Regardless, myself and the other guys in my position have established the respect we've deserved in terms of being able to lead this team.

We don't need to have any kind of division on the team, and there really isn't. Nerves are built up, guys are a little frustrated and some regrettable things were put up. That's something we need to address internally. The issue has been taken care of.

The next step is eliminating the small things. It's the difference between being a mediocre team and a good team, a good team and a great team. Great teams don't make small mistakes. Good teams will make some, average ones make them consistently. We need to do away with that to take it to the next level. Our intensity in practice is good, our execution is good. But in order to make that next advancement, you have to eliminate the small errors. We have more than enough talent on this team to eventually compete for a national standing.

The strong start we had is still close at mind. I think it's going to be a great test to our team. Our foundation was shaken these past four weeks. It will really show how far along we've come if we can get out of this rut. Just gotta keep on grinding, as simple as that. The pieces are in place. The hard work has been put in. Sooner or later it has to break."