[GK3]

I think Notre Dame definitely should have won and we got incredibly lucky to win but that's not what matters. We won and they lost.

Regarding the discussion of the rest of the season and possible win, this weekend bumped multiple games on to the Stanford slight favorite side of the ledger, at least for now. For what it's worth, on paper, Sagarin scopes out our schedule like this:

Colgate - WIN 

USC - LOSS

at Washington - LOSS

at Oregon - LOSS

Oregon State - LOSS

at Notre Dame - WIN

Arizona State - 58 percent

at UCLA - 25 percent

Washington State - 50 percent

at Utah - 13 percent

at Cal - 54 percent

BYU - 57 percent

Expected win total: 4.57 

That's a big one week bump up in expected wins, but still puts us squarely in 3-5 wins as the most likely result IMHO. What kills us is that Oregon State game. Hard to get to 6+ without it.

I will not/cannot abide anybody talking about a losing season as acceptable, especially not with the seniority and advantages of the 2022 roster. As I indicated in my Sunday morning thoughts post, I don't rule out a big building of momentum getting us to a 6-8 win season, though I think it's unlikely. But if we rally for 5 wins, people better not defend that. It's mediocre and we are pathetic losers if we start making arguments that we should have beat Oregon State and been bowl-eligible. Yeah, well Notre Dame should have beat us. Who cares?

This weekend always has been/should be bowl or bust.

Probably your best post ever.  We have a lot of talent, but also have a lot of weaknesses and have already had a lot of injuries.  Big thing was the team NEVER gave up.  The defense was given a brilliant game plan and executed it with passion and ferocity.  Luck is a hard thing to deal with in an athletic contest, sometimes you make your own luck, sometimes the referees make your luck.  We made a lot of our own luck, but also lost due to referees and the rules of the game.  
As I see it now, if we can continue to play defense with that kind of enthusiasm and run an offense that doesn't demand our offensive line hold blocks for any length of time or pass block effectively, we have a chance.  McKee has a great arm, but is not that evasive a QB.  With out current offensive line we have to stick with short quick passes as generality.  If we make him throw under pressure constantly, the interception is going to kill us.

[GK3]

I think Notre Dame definitely should have won and we got incredibly lucky to win but that's not what matters. We won and they lost.

Regarding the discussion of the rest of the season and possible win, this weekend bumped multiple games on to the Stanford slight favorite side of the ledger, at least for now. For what it's worth, on paper, Sagarin scopes out our schedule like this:

Colgate - WIN 

USC - LOSS

at Washington - LOSS

at Oregon - LOSS

Oregon State - LOSS

at Notre Dame - WIN

Arizona State - 58 percent

at UCLA - 25 percent

Washington State - 50 percent

at Utah - 13 percent

at Cal - 54 percent

BYU - 57 percent

Expected win total: 4.57 

That's a big one week bump up in expected wins, but still puts us squarely in 3-5 wins as the most likely result IMHO. What kills us is that Oregon State game. Hard to get to 6+ without it.

I will not/cannot abide anybody talking about a losing season as acceptable, especially not with the seniority and advantages of the 2022 roster. As I indicated in my Sunday morning thoughts post, I don't rule out a big building of momentum getting us to a 6-8 win season, though I think it's unlikely. But if we rally for 5 wins, people better not defend that. It's mediocre and we are pathetic losers if we start making arguments that we should have beat Oregon State and been bowl-eligible. Yeah, well Notre Dame should have beat us. Who cares?

This weekend always has been/should be bowl or bust.

Probably your best post ever.  We have a lot of talent, but also have a lot of weaknesses and have already had a lot of injuries.  Big thing was the team NEVER gave up.  The defense was given a brilliant game plan and executed it with passion and ferocity.  Luck is a hard thing to deal with in an athletic contest, sometimes you make your own luck, sometimes the referees make your luck.  We made a lot of our own luck, but also lost due to referees and the rules of the game.  
As I see it now, if we can continue to play defense with that kind of enthusiasm and run an offense that doesn't demand our offensive line hold blocks for any length of time or pass block effectively, we have a chance.  McKee has a great arm, but is not that evasive a QB.  With out current offensive line we have to stick with short quick passes as generality.  If we make him throw under pressure constantly, the interception is going to kill us.