To me, this year matches well to 1998, TOB's second year and last losing season. That year,
- we started with three wins, lost 6 in a row (most of them by 17+ points), and finished 4-7
- we lost to 3-8 Navy getting outscored 22-3 in the 4th quarter (this would be the last loss to a non-BCS conference team until the Nevada bowl game in 2010).
- we lost to ND, getting stuffed 4 times in a row at the 1.
- we graduated most of the offense including Mike Cloud.
- I had no reason to think we were going to get better soon.
The next year? We started 8-2, (5 wins by 4 pts. or less, plus Northeastern).
This was the start of our 'golden years' , 7-8 years of .500 vs. BCS conference teams, padded by 3-5 wins a year vs. non-BCS teams. After that, we had our two glory years playing for the ACC championship.
I see BC heading in the same direction starting next year with a good shot at 4-0 OOC (all non-P5 teams) and a 3-5 or 4-4 league record.
That may not be the 'destination' most of the board thinks BC should be shooting for, but that's likely to be the reality of BC football. If so, it will be a team that in the past was ranked as high as #2 or it could be at this year's level.
I think about 80-90% of the current roster has 'arrived' at this level, such as the entire defense, etc. It appears it will only take experience for other areas to catch up, we bought a couple of years with 5-yr. transfers, etc.
Just my view.
- we started with three wins, lost 6 in a row (most of them by 17+ points), and finished 4-7
- we lost to 3-8 Navy getting outscored 22-3 in the 4th quarter (this would be the last loss to a non-BCS conference team until the Nevada bowl game in 2010).
- we lost to ND, getting stuffed 4 times in a row at the 1.
- we graduated most of the offense including Mike Cloud.
- I had no reason to think we were going to get better soon.
The next year? We started 8-2, (5 wins by 4 pts. or less, plus Northeastern).
This was the start of our 'golden years' , 7-8 years of .500 vs. BCS conference teams, padded by 3-5 wins a year vs. non-BCS teams. After that, we had our two glory years playing for the ACC championship.
I see BC heading in the same direction starting next year with a good shot at 4-0 OOC (all non-P5 teams) and a 3-5 or 4-4 league record.
That may not be the 'destination' most of the board thinks BC should be shooting for, but that's likely to be the reality of BC football. If so, it will be a team that in the past was ranked as high as #2 or it could be at this year's level.
I think about 80-90% of the current roster has 'arrived' at this level, such as the entire defense, etc. It appears it will only take experience for other areas to catch up, we bought a couple of years with 5-yr. transfers, etc.
Just my view.
