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My guess is this time next season we will have an excellent record and our viewpoint will be we are almost there.
I couldn't agree more with pretty much everything you posted.
I think we, as a fan base, are suffering from a few things:
1. PSSD: Post-Sumlin Stress Disorder.
Nothing like starting off 5-0 and ending up 7-5, right? Fortunately, Arizona now has that problem (started 4-1 then lost 7 straight). I think we're so used to ending up in a doomsday attitude that it's our natural response to adversity.
What's different this year? We were consistently inconsistent. Instead of WWWWWLLLLLLL, we were WLWLWLWWWWLL. To me, this is improvement. Yes, we lost to the ranked teams and won games where we should have. But, in the past we lost to the ranked teams AND to the teams we should have beaten.
2. Unrealistic Expectations
I started the season like a lot of us thinking, "So, let's say we DID beat Clemson... then our momentum would..." and before you know it, we're undefeated.
Did any of us really think we were the best team in the country? Hell, no. Then why would we expect to beat three different #1 teams?
Our other two losses - #8 and #4.
Most analysts figured we'd pull off one win out the four big games (Clemson, Bama, UGA and LSU). Quite frankly, I believe we would have beaten UGA if the SEC hadn't officiated the game as if it was in the best interests of the conference to make sure it had a chance to have two teams in the playoffs.
We are exactly where we should have expected to be.
3. Personnel
We lost key Juniors to the NFL:
- Trayveon Williams - SEC leading rusher (not Benny Snell, for the record)
- Jace Sternberger - Best TE in the nation
- Erik McCoy - anchor of OL and HUGE, HUGE loss
- Tyrel Dodson - would have been nice to have his experience
Our OL is horribad. I personally think Mond is a good QB. But, it's hard to be consistent when you're consistently on your ass. That kid has had the crap beaten out of him. A&M is tied at #108 in the NCAA in sacks allowed - 33. Triple that (or more) and we'll have a good idea of how many times he's been knocked down or hit. The fact he hits 61.3% of his passes is remarkable.
But, how many true freshmen are on our OL? Luke Matthews, Kenyon Green and Blake Trainor. And losing McCoy was (did I mention?) HUGE.
Other true freshmen on the roster? Isaiah Spiller, Demani Richardson, Ainias Smith, Tyree Wilson, Caleb Chapman, Jalen Wydermyer, Chis Russell, Brian Williams, DeMarvin Leal, Connor Choate and Caden Davis.
The only Seniors on the roster - Braden Mann and Colton Prater.
Quite frankly, I think we're in a good spot. Can you imagine how good Jalen Wydermyer is going to be in three years (when he's probably in the NFL early)? Or Ainias Smith? Or Isaiah Spiller?
Let's say Jashaun Corbin lives up to his potential and is in the backfield with Isaiah Spiller. Let's say Baylor Cupp lives up to his potential and is paired with Jalen Wydermyer at TE. 6-6/245 and 6-5/260.
I don't think we need to declare the sky is falling quite yet.
