I mean it was certainly an improvement from our previous performances, but that bar was incredibly low.
Maybe it was a moral tie?
I say we take a baby step and just win a game against a team that has a winning record.
And QB.
Yeah, I would settle for beating a top 100 team. (For reference, the current Sagarin ratings, which combine FCS and FBS schools, have Richmond at #195 and Charlotte at #201. Cal is #77, and we almost got them.)
I don’t think beating Stanford or QB-less Syracuse would do anything for me. Syracuse would at least be on the road, but still.
I'm doubtful of anything good coming from our current regime but beating any 2 of the teams you listed, except probably Stanford, would constitute major improvement over what we saw early in the year, and therefore at least some reason for optimism. Not saying those teams are great but they are at least real, credible football teams who have beaten other decent teams.
I wonder if that Cuse rank is based on metrics from back when their QB1 was playing.
Maybe they can beat Stanford and somehow get one from either Wake or Syracuse.
I think that’s a realistic best case scenario, which is just sad. I worry that if we go 4-8 and get blasted by our rivals to close the season then the staff is going to have a very hard time convincing good players from the transfer portal and assistants from other teams to come here for next season.
Even if UNC miraculously wins 4 more games this season to end up 6-6 (4-4), I doubt any skilled assistants come here to join a soon-to-be 74 years-old head coach.
If the team can be competitive in its remaining games and win a few, there will at least be a story that Bill can sell. If Cal proves to be a fluke and we go back to TCU/UCF/Clemson football, then it will be very, very difficult to turn the ship around. It will be like this:
