Right, but is it crazy to think that with fewer injuries (read: more of our 1s playing consistently) that we might have gutted out 3-5 more wins in those close games?
3 to 5 more wins?
Yeah I'd say that is crazy.
Here are our deceits:
NDSU- 20 points
KSU- 4 points
Baylor- 21 points (probably worse than it looks, 35-7 at halftime)
Texas-3 points
OU- 45 points (Started 45-7)
OSU-17 points (37-13 before a garbage time TD)
KU- 20 points (started out 24-0)
Texas Tech- 3 points
WVU- 13 points
TCU- 52 points
So realistically we're talking about KSU, Texas, and Texas Tech as games that could have been gutted out with maybe one extra player or so. But on average, would we have won all 3? Probably not. And definitely not 5 more in any universe. And if we replayed the Iowa and Toledo games again, those were close enough that they could easily have gone the other way even with a Bundrage added or something like that.
It's easy to just say, "Oh well with one more player we win those three close games, and of course we would still win the two close games we already won, and oh KU and NDSU should be wins if we had 5 other wins on the schedule, so those would be too."
Reality is we weren't even competitive in 5 out of 12 games, and even the rash of injuries doesn't excuse that.
Don't want to hate on the team, just saying that there was a LOT wrong with it last year. Coaches just saying chemistry is better will not be enough to save the season. A ton of guys are going to have to step up.
I was waving the flag for the past 7 years with Rhoads and convinced every year was going to be the year we breakout, but these past two leave me with little to no confidence. I'll be pleasantly surprised if we are good. Lot's of pieces look like they're in place, but no more so than any other year IMO.