Davidson;842370880 said:

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Committed when Teddy was coach and stayed committed when Sonny arrived

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Excuse me if I don't fall over myself with effusive praise for Sonny based on that.

Goff is a once in a decade Elite 11 QB.

Goff is an amazing talent and I think he is going to be a success in the NFL. However, Rubenzer is better suited to the offense Dykes and Franklin want to run. I think we're going to have a lot of fun with him at the helm. Think Peyton Manning followed by Tee Martin. (Not saying we will be that good or that Goff is the next Peyton Manning, before anyone says otherwise).

Goff alone is reason to see at lest a few Cal games. He's a Kershaw type player. Actually go see him play, don't just read about him.

gobears725;842370782 said:

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not sure where i said to fire sonny if he won 9 games. Im not on the hate sonny, fire sonny bandwagon. im saying look at what we have and what we may have coming back. we'll have the best QB imo hands down in the conference as Mariotta moves on to the NFL with the best receiving core in the conference, with an oline that returns most of its players. defensively right now the only loss i can think of would be lowe off the top of my head. This is a recipe for not just a good season (7-9 wins) but a great season. (10-11 wins and a major bowl). If you cant see the potential of that and would be happy with 9 wins thats fine, but i dont think that 9 wins is the best we can do next year if we can continue to build this year, mainly because of how good i think Goff is and QB is still the one position where if you are great can just carry your team

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This has been my concern with expectations once last year tanked. While the be patient folks don't think the negative people took the situation into account last year - and some haven't, I think some do not take the situation into account in looking at improvement. My "feared" prediction after last year was 4-5 wins this year (assuming the psychological/cultural issues were taken care of) followed by 8 next year. 8 wins next year would be a giant missed opportunity and would not set us up for the future. You will have Goff, Lasco, Muhammed, Treggs, Harper, Lawler, Powe, Moore, Borrayo, Cochran, and others on offense, many of whom will be in their third or fourth year of starting. You will have Sebastian, Jalil, Jefferson, Barton, Nickerson, Scarlet, and others on defense, many of whom with 2-3 full years of starting or substantial playing time. Honestly, you could see 2015 as an approaching high water mark even before last year. The main thing was we needed Goff or Kline to step up, and Goff has. And the other point is we are going to lose the bulk of those guys after 2015. 2015 is definitely an "if not now, when?" year. If people are just going to look at it as a "we went from 1 win to 5 wins to 8 wins, hooray we are progressing!" without looking at the combination of talent and experience that we have in 2015, they are likely going to be disappointed by 2016. As negative as I have been about Dykes, I believed all along that we were going to win 4 or 5 this year and 8 next year just based on talent and gaining experience.

I'm not for firing an 8-9 win coach and I wouldn't be for firing Dykes if he does that next year. But in my opinion, 8 wins next year would be a disappointment. Next year is a big opportunity for us to make some noise, accomplish something big, and parlay that into success in recruiting and future success down the line. It is 2004. Failing to capitalize is going to significantly hurt our ability to take the next step.

Their offense has hardly been impressive but it might look better against our defense. That they haven't found a way to run the ball effectively is a bit of a surprise. Certainly we look more able to compete with them than most imagined a couple of months ago but they may yet get untracked offensively. Their OL is stuffed with future NFLers, perhaps 3 1st rounders in 2015. Montgomery is a tremendous weapon and Cajuste vs our corners is a pretty scary proposition.

We winning more than 4 or 5 man. I know people flee in horror when they see UCLA on the schedule, but those aren't juggernauts man. All the teams on our schedule have weaknesses. Even Oregon this year, their OL is battered. We will see tonight how they do against Zona. Scooby wright to the rescue lol.

In addition to our development into 2015, several of the "haves": OR, LSJU, UCLA are likely to have heavy attrition. Maybe they'll be able to fill from carryover talent, but I see a big drop from Mariota, Hundley, and the Stanford studs to whatever comes next. USC probably continues to rise But what does OSU look like w/o Mannion? UW will lose much of their OL and the heart of their "D".