1. No matter how good other teams might be or how bad things might be for BYU, it doesn't mean BYU is done for.

I remember listening to Tom Holmoe speak to some Cougar Club members in Las Vegas circa 2005 (I can't remember the exact year). I love Tom, but I had to disagree when he asserted that Colorado State was the dominant program and we needed to be more like them. Colorado State had won or tied for the conference championship in three recent years. But I didn't see them sustaining it. They haven't won the conference championship since and this year is the first year they've had a really solid team.

I remember everyone lamenting Fresno State having passed up BYU and how Fresno State was the model to follow. They had the "anyone anywhere" motto that struck just the right tough guy image. They managed to pick up some good wins here and there (although upon closer examination, most if not all of their big wins were like ours against Texas this year). They began to peter out right about the middle to the end of the last decade. No one says we should be like Fresno State right now.

I remember everyone saying Boise State had taken over our spot as the outsider darling and we needed to be like them. They were the better program and we weren't going to catch them. Last year we laid a solid beating on them. They may beat us next Friday, but their program right now isn't where we want to be.

I remember feeling like BYU might not make it back to having solid, top 25 teams in 2005. We had a nice run from 2006-2011, finishing ranked each year between 2006 and 2009.

2. The college football landscape has changed dramatically and it may change dramatically in the near future. This creates uneasiness and uncertainty give BYU's current spot in the college football world.

The uncertainty is easy for people like Gordon Monson to prey on. He can cherry pick facts and choose his conclusions, having all of them be reasonable and scary. The thing is, the worst case scenario rarely plays out in life. In much the same way 2005 didn't mean BYU's days of national prominence were over, the first half of 2014 doesn't mean it either. The move to independence leaves us feeling uncertain, but one disappointing season won't relegate us to purgatory for the next 20 years.

Part of the change that is coming to college football, IMO, is that the playoff will expand to at least eight teams. At eight teams, BYU will always have the opportunity to play its way in. Regardless of conference affiliation or lack thereof.

3. I get the feeling some of the loudest complainers have never experienced a true, enduring setback in life. The kind where you can't just say, "I'm hitting the reset button." On that note, I think a lot have too much of the video game mentality. I suffer from it to some degree. If I play a game and it doesn't start out well, I'm tempted to end the game and start over. Life, unfortunately, doesn't work that way. Learning how to keep putting one foot in front of the other when the breaks aren't going your way is a valuable life skill. If BYU football is bringing you down and you need to take a break, fine. I certainly won't hold that against you. I'll welcome you back on the bandwagon when you're ready.

4. Related to the last sentence of #3, BYU football is entertainment for me. It isn't my life. It isn't my identity, as much as I might get confused on that point some times. For that reason, I choose to err on the side of optimism. Me trying so hard to be a realist that I dwell on every mistake into perpetuity would shift BYU football out of the entertainment camp and make me angry. I don't care to go there. If you do, that's your right.

5. I am amazed at how quickly the anti-Bronco momentum has gained steam.

I would have thought a 70% winning percentage would have bought some good will. It has with me. In 1995, BYU had a lot of great players on the team, a coach that had been around a long time, and a disappointing season. BYU finished 6-5 and failed to go to a bowl game for the first time in years in 1995. I began to hear calls for LaVell to step down. Had CB been around back then, I'm sure the same anti-LaVell intensity would have been in force. 1996 turned out to be an awesome year with many of those same players and the same coach.

I didn't think this year was going to be "the year." Maybe others who got sucked in did think that and that explains their angst. I always thought 2015 was the year. IMO, too much noise about firing the coach will hinder this year and get in the way of next year being "the year."

6. We have a shot at big things next year if we get some good luck in the injury department. On that theme, the 1996 team had almost no injuries, with the first notable one that comes to mind being Itula Mili in the WAC Championship game. Championship teams often have better than average luck with injuries. Even in the P5 conferences.

7. The last couple of weeks of CB have me wishing for "off season" CB. I never thought I'd say that.