[Goose]

Costello is more decisive, is a quicker athlete, is a more accurate passer, plays with passion that inspires his teammates, and when he played, he proved he was better than Chryst.

I mostly agree. But that doesn't mean he is better than the guy from SDSU. It also is somewhat damning with faint praise. While I can't claim that I favored Costello over Chryst at the start of last season, I am certainly on the record with an abundance of caution about Chryst going into the season. I have better expectations for Costello, but I also saw him have some problems last year. Every player does, at times. He hasn't yet played a full season. Let's see what we get before we anoint him.

He's only going to get better.

I hope so. But that certainly didn't apply to our last two candidates. Burns started out pretty good and went straight downhill. Maybe not his fault, but that is what happened. Chryst was considered by some to be "the answer" last year, and I would argue he got worse as the year went on. So, the idea that more opportunity always improves a player is clearly not universal. Hopefully, in Costello's case, that happens. But, I am not yet taking it to the bank.

And for the record, I also believe Davis Mills is better than Costello.

So noted.

You don't get any mulligans in college football. Game 1 is just as important as any other game if you want to pursue a National Championship. I will concede that winning by a smaller than expected margin isn't the end of the world in terms of chasing one. But losing absolutely would be.

True. No one loss PAC-12 team is going to get into the NC race unless everybody else has two losses.

[Goose]

Costello is more decisive, is a quicker athlete, is a more accurate passer, plays with passion that inspires his teammates, and when he played, he proved he was better than Chryst.

I mostly agree. But that doesn't mean he is better than the guy from SDSU. It also is somewhat damning with faint praise. While I can't claim that I favored Costello over Chryst at the start of last season, I am certainly on the record with an abundance of caution about Chryst going into the season. I have better expectations for Costello, but I also saw him have some problems last year. Every player does, at times. He hasn't yet played a full season. Let's see what we get before we anoint him.

He's only going to get better.

I hope so. But that certainly didn't apply to our last two candidates. Burns started out pretty good and went straight downhill. Maybe not his fault, but that is what happened. Chryst was considered by some to be "the answer" last year, and I would argue he got worse as the year went on. So, the idea that more opportunity always improves a player is clearly not universal. Hopefully, in Costello's case, that happens. But, I am not yet taking it to the bank.

And for the record, I also believe Davis Mills is better than Costello.

So noted.

You don't get any mulligans in college football. Game 1 is just as important as any other game if you want to pursue a National Championship. I will concede that winning by a smaller than expected margin isn't the end of the world in terms of chasing one. But losing absolutely would be.

True. No one loss PAC-12 team is going to get into the NC race unless everybody else has two losses.