[81alum]

Personally, I was quite happy with our offensive output earlier in the season. So many differences back then to where we ended up. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall after that USC game where everything changed.

I think you are right, BB.  However, everything changed a bit earlier--after the game at Cal--the one that Tara called the "root canal" game.  The fact that we barely won it I think concealed to many fans the seriousness of the issues.  We scored 90 points against Cal in December, but barely got to 60 in January, and Cal led with 3 minutes left in the game.  One week later USC took Cal's strategy and put it into the hands of more capable players, and we were held to a miserable 46 points.

But the best evidence that our offensive stats for the year were meaningless is Tara herself, in the final press conference, who acknowledged that offense was the problem.  Corroborating her view is Massey which computes us as the 3rd best defense in the nation.  My goodness, we held Ole Miss to 54 points, which should have been enough not only to win, but to win big.

[81alum]

Personally, I was quite happy with our offensive output earlier in the season. So many differences back then to where we ended up. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall after that USC game where everything changed.

I think you are right, BB.  However, everything changed a bit earlier--after the game at Cal--the one that Tara called the "root canal" game.  The fact that we barely won it I think concealed to many fans the seriousness of the issues.  We scored 90 points against Cal in December, but barely got to 60 in January, and Cal led with 3 minutes left in the game.  One week later USC took Cal's strategy and put it into the hands of more capable players, and we were held to a miserable 46 points.

But the best evidence that our offensive stats for the year were meaningless is Tara herself, in the final press conference, who acknowledged that offense was the problem.  Corroborating her view is Massey which computes us as the 3rd best defense in the nation.  My goodness, we held Ole Miss to 54 points, which should have been enough not only to win, but to win big.