What were you thinking.....honestly...

[TripletDaddy]

I have been reading, listening to, and participating in various discussions re: the state of BYU football right now and I was wondering how the pulse of CUF would answer....

Many seem to be in either panic mode or, at the very least, despair/shock over the team's current record. Admittedly, the outlook for this season looks dim at best.

I referenced before that SC fans are having a difficult time with the fact that the team is not competing for a national championship in the coming seasons, yet the writing was clearly on the wall.

I am seeing some similarities now amongst BYU fans. Everyone knew this was going to be a rebuilding year. Everyone knew BYU had lost the core and heart of the team....over the past couple of seasons, Max, Collie, Pitta, Unga et al... Everyone knew that Riley can't throw a deep ball and everyone knew that Jake Heaps was going to be a true Freshman.

So what were your honest expectations going into this season? Does the shock/panic indicate that many ignored the writing on the wall? Is 1-4 really that shocking? Is a 6 win season that unbelievable?

For my part, I knew we would not compete for a conference championship, let alone anything more glamorous than that. I hoped, yes...but I knew hope would be futile. I guess I did buy into the Kool-Aid a bit in that I assumed that we would NOT lose to teams like Utah State. Losing to FSU on the road I can understand, but I thought we would handle schools like Reno and USU. Granted, UNR is having a great and unexpected season, but that is not an excuse.

Having gone through the Matt Barkley drama, I can honestly say that I never expected Heaps to go undefeated, but I did expect him to lay a foundation for a solid future. True freshman generally can't win all your games for you. Thus far, I am actually really pleased with Heaps. He has a lot of work to do, but he has the tools.

I was thinking we would win approx 7 games. I was obviously off on that. I am thinking we will likely win around 5 games now. Interestingly, that may be enough to go a bowl this year...a sad commentary on the state of the college football bowl system.

[creekster]

I am thinking I want to know when BB season starts.

I was accused today of not being a real fan becasue I am not taking the poor BYU season personally. I guess I will take it more personally when they start paying me a cut of bowl game payouts. Until then, it is entertainment and while I am a committed fan, I cant imagine ever losing sleep or getting truly stressed about losing.

[TripletDaddy]

I am thinking I want to know when BB season starts.

I was accused today of not being a real fan becasue I am not taking the poor BYU season personally. I guess I will take it more personally when they start paying me a cut of bowl game payouts. Until then, it is entertainment and while I am a committed fan, I cant imagine ever losing sleep or getting truly stressed about losing.

I agree. But you must have had some expectations going into the season. Did your expectations align with today's reality or were they way too high?

ps you are definitely a hard core BYU fan if you are waiting for baseball to start.

[MarkGrace]

I was hoping for 8-4 (2-2 in the first four, then likely losses to TCU and Utah). At this point I'm praying for 6 wins and a bowl game because I think the extra prep time is crucial to a team as young as BYU. Not feeling good about getting to 6, however.

[Coach McGuirk]

I expected we would be 3-2 right now. 2-3 was a wheels feel off scenario. 1-4 was not in my line of thinking. I expect we lose on Saturday to SDSU and TCU putting us at 1-6. At that point, we have 4 winnable games based on history, but when you are 1-6 I can't see us doing better than splitting those 4. Then Utah. I know most would say toss up, anything can happen in a rivalry game and whatnot, but not this year, not with the way BYU is performing.

3-9 is what I see with my eyes, unless Bronco hold keys to the priesthood that we are unaware of. Anything 6-6 or better would be a manifestation of said power.

[RC Vikings]

I was thinking we would win approx 7 games. I was obviously off on that. I am thinking we will likely win around 5 games now. Interestingly, that may be enough to go a bowl this year...a sad commentary on the state of the college football bowl system.

Isn't six wins required for a bowl bid?

[creekster]

I agree. But you must have had some expectations going into the season. Did your expectations align with today's reality or were they way too high?

ps you are definitely a hard core BYU fan if you are waiting for baseball to start.

Well, I was Cal baseball fan, but you may have heard how that turned out.

My expectations were about .500 for the season. My hope was higher.

[CJF]

After the bowl game ended I looked at the roster and said I would be happy if this team won 8 games this year. Then Spring practice and some pretty happy/glowing team reports started to trickle out. I didn't pay much attention because that is normal, but I did start to think 8 or 9 with some luck. Unga leaves the team and I'm thinking 7 max. Fall practice and the talk about how the defense was improved and the OL would dominate, the WR's might be the best group ever and I started thinking 9 and maybe we catch lightning in a bottle again and win 10. Dual QB's named and I went back to 7. After watching the Washington game I felt like 7 maybe 8, but I hated the QB situation. AFA game didn't change anything, but I started to worry about the defense. FSU didn't change much but now I'm worried about the OL and the defense. Nevada, I'm thinking 6 is going to be tough. USU I'm thinking this is the worst team BYU has put on the field in my lifetime. The worst offense and a really terrible defense. I now hope they can win 4 games this year and I hope TCU and Utah don't beat BYU by more than 50 this year.

[Sizzle]

I felt like 7-5 give or take a game either way was realistic. I felt like starting 1-3 was likely although 1-4 was a bit worse than I was anticipating. There is a chance BYU ends up at 1-6 with a six game losing streak when the Pokes come to town. If that happens, 4-7 would seem like a minor miracle and I don't think anybody envisioned a 4-7 type season in their worst nightmare.

[TripletDaddy]

Isn't six wins required for a bowl bid?

generally yes but there was an article on FoxSports or somesuch indicating that this year there are so many bowls that there may not be enough 6-win eligible teams to fill all the slots, hence the need to grab a 5 win team. Did anyone else read this? It was pretty pathetic, actually. Can you imagine the attendance at a lower-tier bowl game featuring a team with a losing record? Free money, though, I suppose.

[Indy Coug]

I wasn't expecting to go 0-3 vs AFA, Nevada and Utah State where the average margin of defeat was 18 points.

[TripletDaddy]

I wasn't expecting to go 0-3 vs AFA, Nevada and Utah State where the average margin of defeat was 18 points.

This belongs in the "What were you NOT thinking" thread.

[SteelBlue]

I was thinking 7 wins but then we beat Washington and my expectations grew to unrealistic levels. I have written off this season and am at peace with it. I have always, and will always root for the Y, so I'm not one who will burn my gear or pick another team. When I was younger I used to take a season like this one pretty hard but now, as DDD is prone to say, I enjoy the ride when BYU plays well, and I endure the season when they don't. But I don't get worked up anymore. It's a spot I'm glad to be in.

[cougjunkie]

I expected to win at least 8 games. Thinking that WYoming, UNM, UNLV, Utah State, Colorado State, and SDSU were all gimmes. I thought we would be AFA, and Nevada. That would give us 8 wins and if we could somehow upset Washington we could easily get to 9 and then Utah and the bowl game were both tossups.

I still think we can beat SDSU on Saturday, then beat Wyoming, UNM, UNLV and Colorado State (man we have an awful home schedule remaining). That gives us 6 wins and we go bowling.

Oh and I stand by what I said, Jake will kill Utah. The defense however may not.

[USUC]

I was expecting a 7-5 season with losses coming to UW, FSU, TCU, and Utah with someone else sneaking one in. After what I've seen this year, I expect a 3 win season with maybe a 4th win if the offense can put something together. College football is a game of momentum. SDSU has it, BYU doesn't. SDSU will have to play an awful game for them to lose. Maybe it happens but I foresee us going 1-6 and then picking up a couple of wins from the bottom feeders (which we are now apart of).