No, I'm gonna enjoy the season and not be a damn Negative Nelly about everything.
Printable View
LSU was a 6.5 point favorite at home. That was not a sure loss. Nick Fitzgerald throwing 4 interceptions made sure it was a loss though. I am not here to say we are going to win the game. I am simply here to tell you that calling LSU at home with Ed roaming the sidelines a sure loss makes you look football illiterate. If LSU wins, that is still a really bad take. The only sure loss on our schedule is Alabama. It was that way last year as well. Just because you lose a game does not mean it was a sure loss going into the game.
7-5 is probably if Stevens is as much of a bust in this offense as Fitz was.
I think 6 wins is the absolute floor but 7 is my personal floor. I will be disappointed if we only win 6. I think our probable is 8 wins and anything above that is gravy. Now if Stevens is as good as the Senior Bowl guy says and our offense clicks then we have a shot at all of them but Bama. I think our D will be good enough to win most games and if the offense helps in the tough games (unlike last year) then we could be pretty damn good.
I think this is pretty cut and dry. If Tommy is less than 60% completion rate, we win 6 or 7 games. If he is 60%-67%, we win 8 or 9. If he's >67%, then it could get interesting.
This is assuming he doesn't run the ball 12+ times a game.
I don't think anything you're saying is that outrageous. If we fall back to 6th in the league in D, you're still talking about a top 20 Defense nationally which is incredibly respectable considering how much we lost. DT is a huge question, but what if the guys we play there are SEC average? Then the rest of your defense is top half, maybe better at DE, LB, and CB? Just have to wait and see there bc of the unknowns. I think the biggest question is the same one we had at the end of last season:Is Moorhead any good? Coaching is the biggest concern I have. If he coaches like last year, could be a 6 win team which would be a major disappointment.
It depends on how we get to 7. If we are barely scraping by against the crap teams and getting dominated by everyone else then I will probably be dissapointed. If we hang close with pretty much everyone and only lose to top 15 teams then that is a different story.
I will be disappointed with 6 wins almost anyway it shakes out. The floor to me is like a C, it is a passing grade but shows we need improvement. I would give last year a C+. Our losses were pretty much to the top 15 teams except Iowa who ended up ranked 25 (but we also should have beaten if Guidry does anything besides knock a TD pass into a safety's chest).
I do think 7 is the floor and the numbers back that up. ULL, USM, KSt., UK, Ark, Abilene, and OM all have 25% or less chance of beating us according to preseason numbers. 5 of those games are at home. 1 is a neutral site in NOLA vs ULL where we will likely have more fans than they do. The other is a road game against Arkansas who has a LONG way to go to becoming competitive in the SEC (we could've beaten them by 100 last year). The whole season rides on at Aub/at UT/LSU/ at A&M. You win 1 of those it's probably a successful year. You somehow split those 4 and you start to feel pretty good about JM again. 8 or 9 reg season wins with a chance to get 9 or 10 with a bowl game would be a great improvement from the lackluster 2018 season IMO.
There is no doubt that this could be an 8 win team in 2019. No doubt. Doesn't mean the team doesn't have concerns and question marks entering the season. 6 wins wouldn't surprise- 8 would be a good year. Anything past that and its been a really good season