I’m not a believer, and I consider myself among the impartial, without an axe to grind. The, “Oh we were so close” Spring preview and comments, I’m just not buying. Last season, I think we stole one due to a hurricane, beat up on some chumps, didn’t win many of the toss ups, or games we needed to win to push upward, and lost to a miserable BC team. We were physical against Clemson, but that game could’ve just as easily been a loss by 3 scores or more, probably closer to the spread, than a win with a made FG. Tigers moved the ball at will all day long; Watson threw an uncharacteristic pick-6, something I don’t think he did his entire career, and they coughed it up inside the 10 at least twice if I recall. I’m all for celebrating the positives, and you’ve got to start somewhere, including being in a position to win (If I”m the coach, I’m talking about how close we were, too!), but a little objectivity is in order.
Defensively, our pash rush was slow out of the gate for a D-line that was billed among the best last year. We didn’t get great pressure until began bringing a fifth or more, and I don’t think Hux is dedicated to pressure. Without it, I don’t think our backend holds up. For the record, I’m not saying we can’t win more than 7. I’m saying, we won’t.
