Totally agree with all of this. If we assume Stanford is a win at home, then I think that we have to find a minimum of 1 in the last 3 to get to 5-7, in order to feel like decent progress was made. I don't think we should feel good about 4-8, going into the offseason on a 3 game skid, and having lost to our three biggest rivals. So still lots to play for, which is something I wouldn't have thought would be possible 3 weeks ago.
I'm not sure why you are not counting Stanford as one of our remaining games. That is not a gimmie by any stretch (although we will be favored).
I disagree, given how bad this program looked in the beginning, short of a complete collapse going forward, I think there’s reasonable chance of a much better year next year. (I do hope that they can secure a better OC.)
Assuming that it’s like it was, the biggest benefit of lower-tier bowl games is the extra practice. That would be beneficial, especially considering that the program and players seems to be responding well to more practices.
Agreed 100%. And we could treat the game as preseason for next year. In particular, I'd like to see more underclassmen getting playing time moving forward. It was very encouraging to see Hall at left tackle last night, even though it was due to an injury to Lindbergh.
That's fair. I think where we differ is that I'm not willing to have lowered the expectations bar based on how horrific we looked for the first month of the season. That was completely unacceptable in every sense of the word and should be held against Belichick and staff when evaluating this season. But of course, the way that we are now playing should also be a legitimate credit to Belichick and staff. So the final book on this 2025 season as a whole is still yet to be written.
I think it really depends on how we look in those games and how good those teams really are. The TCU, UCF, Clemson beatings cannot continue. As with any team, the key is to see progress.
I guess my feeling is if we lose to Stanford at home, we likely lose the remaining games, and I don’t feel much different than I did prior to the Syracuse game. I agree it’s not an automatic win. But for me it’s a barometer of whether I think there’s a chance to be successful with BB or not.
Duke was beating Clemson 21-7 in Death Valley when I wrote this post. Duke is now down 28-21 to Clemson. So maybe I overestimated Duke.
They seem to be liking Gio’s play more lately.
I see no chance he is our qb next year. His play has improved, perhaps because he is healthier or maybe, dare I?, Is being coached up. As for the reason BB sticking with him, I think the coaches feel he is our best chance to win. I agree based on what I have seen.
There is definitely way more than “no chance” that he is our quarterback next year. They’ve invested multiple millions of dollars in him. It would take multiple more millions of dollars to go get a good portal quarterback this offseason, and there are going to be a lot of competitor suitors for what is likely to be not a deep pool of good portal QBs. They keep trotting him out even when Max Johnson is just as serviceable, if not more so. They say they have no intention on playing Baker or Newkirk, even though not doing so may well result in at least one of them hitting the portal. All of that tells me that there is significantly more than a non-zero chance that Gio Lopez is our quarterback next year. And for the record, I’m not even saying that is necessarily the wrong decision by the staff. Believe it or not, I don’t think that everything they do is wrong.
I don't know exactly how nil works. I assume case by case. The investment according to those on IC I trust is $1 million, not $2 million. I don't know what is committed for next year. I'll amend my comment to this. I see very little chance we got into BB year 2 with him projected starter.
If he’s on a yearly contract, or they can simply cut him and not owe him money, then it would free up his money to spend on someone else. Captain Obvi I know, but I mention it more so as a question about if anyone knows how his contract is structured.
Yeah I think that’s all totally reasonable. I do agree that it’s more probable that he isn’t our starting quarterback next year than he is.
I read by IC it’s around a million per year. But nothing about how it is structured.
That’s a great question, I would love to know as well! I’m embarrassed by how little I understand how all of this stuff works anymore.
Hey, hold up, it’s not on us not understanding, it’s on them (and every other program) for not being transparent!
Now 35-35. So the Duke game will be a good gauge of how much we’ve progressed since the Clemson game.