Clearly the two wins vs Texas the past two years are BYU's signature wins over the past several years. And admittedly, Texas was not very good in either of those years. But they were a name school with a great tradition. It could be argued that the two wins vs Georgia Tech in 2012 and 2013 are the two next best victories by the Cougars over that timeframe.

Going back a bit further, there were no impressive wins (in my opinion) in 2011. In 2010 BYU had a very impressive 3-game stretch against UNLV, Colorado St, and New Mexico, winning by 55-7, 49-10, and 40-7 respectively, but these were all mediocre teams that year at best. In 2009 the only impressive victory was the 44-20 pummeling of Oregon State in the Vegas Bowl. Going back to 2008, BYU had back-to-back shutouts over UCLA (50-0) and Wyoming (44-0). But other than those two games, BYU was pretty pedestrian. They got doubled up by the Utes 48-24 and sleepwalked through an embarrassing loss to Arizona in the Vegas Bowl (31-21).

So what are my takeaways from all of this?

1. The last three years have been pretty bad. Lopsided wins over a bad Texas, and a mediocre Georgia Tech, make us feel better about those years than we probably should.
2. BYU is VERY inconsistent. They'll occasionally come up with an impressive win, but they can't sustain it over the course of a season.
3. BYU has no killer instinct. There are many games over Bronco's tenure where BYU was clearly the better team where they either lost at the end, or eked out a win, but the score was a lot closer than it should have been.

I'd love to see BYU pour it on against teams like Nebraska or Michigan who aren't nearly what they've been in years past. But all I can bring myself to hope for is a nail-biter that could go either way. Gone are the days where BYU is formidable at home. There was a time when a game in Provo against Boise St (or pretty much anyone else) would have been almost a guaranteed win. But over the course of Bronco's tenure as HC BYU has been embarrassed numerous times at home: 2014--USU (20-35), Nevada (35-42); 2013--Utah (13-20); 2012--Oregon St (24-42); 2011--Utah (10-54), 2010--Nevada (13-27); 2009--Florida St (28-54), TCU (7-38).

What do I ask for:
1. A team that plays hard every down.
2. A team that plays disciplined--no stupid personal fouls
3. A team that consistently executes at a high level--they run plays efficiently, they run good routes, they play sound assignment football
4. A team that finishes the job when they've got a team down--leave no doubt, don't let a team back into the game once you've got them down (see Nevada last year)
5. A team that when they lose, it's because the other team is just better--they don't beat themselves

Bronco talks about wanting to get into the P5 conference. He talks about wanting to compete for a national title. BYU has plenty of built-in challenges already (HC, missions, etc.), they don't need any additional challenges that are self-inflicted. It's time to not only talk the talk, but to walk the talk.