No one outside of the rivalry will see that as embarrassing. We won the next 5 games after that, and aside from MTSU, those are against decent teams. The 10-point losses to Wisconsin and ND aren't embarrassing. They were on the road against better teams. The Idaho State win was expected. Though we only beat Nevada by 5, we did win, so maybe showing poorly in the bowl game left the bad taste in your mouth, as it should.

Was the rest of the season after the Texas game up to the potential they showed in that game? No. Did our team give us enough the rest of the season to show that with another year under their belts they could step it up? Yes.

I agree that Bronco and Anae have a lot to prove this year, but I have more reason to be optimistic than pessimistic.

Maybe before we expect the team to dominate every week, we should just expect more wins against quality opponents.