Your three takaways describe BYU football through all generations of time and throughout their entire football history.

Let me share some eternal truth with you: BYU is mostly average talent (with occasional highly-talented guys sprinkled in) who play at the maximum of their ability a majority of the time. When they meet more talented players, the talent kicks in and results in a narrow loss for the boys in blue (see PSU '89, Oregon State '12). When BYU doesn't play at their maximum level it is a blow out (see BSU '14, or aTm '90). Rarely they get the right amount of talent/luck that allows an exceptional season ('84, '96, '01).

Always thus has been, and always thus will be.