We have this large group of underclassmen on the team who have suffered through this season. They've seen what happens if they don't play well; particularly if they overlook an opponent, like they did with Pacific.
I suspect they take the lessons they've learned this year, particularly in terms of leadership and playing as a team, and use it in the next few years to make the team better. Hopefully they keep applying it this year, as well; they already seem to have a much different attitude in their last couple of games.