Good work on this.
No question that we all want better results. It's also reasonable to expect some changes (assistants.)
What your post shows is that you can't tell a great deal about how a rebuild is going by the record for at least the first couple years.
What your data doesn't give is a sense of what was happening inside the program. I know that with McCartney, with Barnett, with Cutcliffe there was a general sense of energy and enthusiasm inside the programs. People close to the programs felt like the programs were on the right track even if it wasn't showing on the scoreboards.
I feel that this team has improved so much. CSU is in year three with their Mac and doing good in their conference. ASU is a good team, and outside of spotting them 17 points in the first quarter, we played tough. Cal we knew had a huge amount of injuries last year on the d, yet even playing at home they needed two OT's to win. OSU had tons of experience at QB and is always well coached, yet took a couple bad reffing calls against CU to win.
Unlike the past few years when teams pulled starters in the third quarter (the bad teams) or the second quarter (good teams) and I remember Oregon pulling a few at the end of the first, starters are playing all four quarters. Unless we knock them out that is!
I would hope most people close to the team can see that if 1. Sefo stops throwing into triple coverage for those first quarter INT's, 2. The OL can just get us those 1 yard per down we need in tough situations, 3. The front 7 can get more solid against the run, and 4. Special Teams just be CONSISTANT, then we will start to win a lot of games.
And it isn't that we need all four. Just one of those four in each game, two at most and we could have 4 to 5 wins right now. If all four were solid and consistant we would be 6 and 0.
2011 and 2012 if we had all four consistant we still would have had 10 other areas lacking.
So I (channeling my MTN) see energy and enthusiasm in this program, like never before. I am moving back to season tickets. I am donating. I am excited to see growth. I personally love this coach. I love the kids and leaders that are emerging on the team. I love the facilities, beer gardens (and I don't even drink beer, but know what was sorely needed) and love our AD, which was not the case for many years.
I hope for either much more improvement in the next six games, or Mac making some changes on the staff during the off season.
I am looking forward to the last 6 games, instead of just praying for the season to be over like the last 4 years (not counting '13). I feel sorry for the glass half empty (and cracked) types here. I'd love more wins, but I am getting excited with the growrh I am seeing. If we can find a way to win two or three more this year, and get a couple more higher end quality recruits then I would be pleased as punch.
But then, I knew how destroyed this program was when MM arrived, and that the road back would be tougher in the Pac than what MM had to face in the MWC. I think some people didn't grasp the scope of the depths we were in. I do not see that as 'giving Mac a free pass'; I see that as 'I clearly understood how unsupported, talentless and lacking of fundamentals' this team was. Unlike previous years, where I had to pray I could see the possibility of growth, I see it now. I do not doubt.
Go Buffs! Keep on keeping on. Wins, bowls and top 25 rankins are on the way.
