I am well aware of the many reasons to be optimistic regarding the upcoming year but I have died a thousand deaths due to unfulfilled expectations.
This post is to help those that feel like they are getting sucked into the hype knowing that they are going to have their hopes dashed during the season.

1) We all know that it is very hard to go on the road and beat football programs that have more talent and depth than we do. Right now Nebraska, UCLA, Missouri and probably the Aggies have more talent and depth than we do. The Aggies kicked our butts last year with a terrible qb and a linebacker at running back. And they did it at our place even with Tysom at qb for some of the game. Very reasonable minds would conclude that we lose those road games.
2) The last time Bronco met his buddy Riley on the battlefield, Riley owned him. The Beavers came into town with low expectations and a back up qb that was playing his first game of the season. Riley max protected and told his 2nd string qb just throw it to the same dude he will be open after running around for 5 seconds. We couldn't cover their wide outs nor put any pressure on the qb. Last year we couldn't get pressure on the qb no matter what we tried. No reason to think any different this year. If you think Kaufusi will, remember he is a senior who has never been able to consistently put pressure on the qb. Why would he magically be able to do it this year?
3) 2J gives a great interview but often when we need a push to get short yardage our back has to juke three dudes just to get back to the line of scrimmage. We now don't have the guy who can juke three dudes so this will put pressure on Taysom to pick up those yards. I don't care what the play call is, Taysom is not going to rely on some back, who you would love to date your daughter, but couldn't start for a high school team in California. Taysom is going to run the ball and the chance to get hurt will increase with each hard earned yard.
4) Since our running game won't scare anyone, we will rely on our "twin towers." Of course d coordinators are going to jam those two and play a safety over the top of each. We will either have to force it to them or rely on our small glorified intramural receivers in the middle. The only difference between our guy and an intramural flag football player is the flag player has won a t-shirt (Yes, I am bitter that I never won a shirt especially considering my wife has two).
5) Last year you could argue we had one of our most talented defensive backfields and they were terrible. This year we have even less talent and experience.
6) Due to recruiting challenges we have rarely been able to stock pile quality depth. So why adapt an offense that puts our thin defense on the field for a lot more snaps? This year we will play bigger, stronger and more athletic teams than last year, so reasonable minds would conclude we are going to get beat up and run down.

So far I have not blabbed to my dad and friends how good the Cougs are going to be this year. I will be pleasantly surprised if things go really well for the season but can still enjoy the year if things don't. Thus, I have protected myself from yearly disappointment. I predict a fulfilling 7-5 year.

Keys to look for vs Nebraska: 1) on third and short can we run for a first down and 2) third and long can we get pressure on the qb.

Go Cougs!