[Goose]

At the same time, our two losses to U$C and Ohio State's d.omination (My God, is there any word the board software doesn't change these days) of them in the Cotton Bowl shows how far we are away from the elite teams in the nation. I believe our goal is to be one of them, at least some of the time.

I agree completely with this evaluation of the year. We were a good team, but two levels removed from where we want to be. Partly, that just shows how difficult it is to be an elite team. Next year, assuming Love doesn't return, our offense has to somewhat "re-invent" itself. While that is a challenge, it is also an opportunity. The defensive side of the ball is where we will have even more issues. The DL will be a total question mark going forward, at least to us fans. What happens there is critical to our success next year.

[Goose]

At the same time, our two losses to U$C and Ohio State's d.omination (My God, is there any word the board software doesn't change these days) of them in the Cotton Bowl shows how far we are away from the elite teams in the nation. I believe our goal is to be one of them, at least some of the time.

I agree completely with this evaluation of the year. We were a good team, but two levels removed from where we want to be. Partly, that just shows how difficult it is to be an elite team. Next year, assuming Love doesn't return, our offense has to somewhat "re-invent" itself. While that is a challenge, it is also an opportunity. The defensive side of the ball is where we will have even more issues. The DL will be a total question mark going forward, at least to us fans. What happens there is critical to our success next year.