BYU built up a strong reputation in the 80s. In that era and through the end of the MWC years, a down year would still yield 8 wins, and the mediocrity would go unnoticed in the larger football world. A good year would come along, BYU would get national attention, and the larger football world, oblivious to the intervening down years, would just assume that BYU was as consistently good as it ever was. There was instant credibility.

As an independent, the down years no longer go unnoticed. The residual credibility engendered by Lavell's peak years has been eroded more in the last 30 days than it had been in the preceding 30 years. The damage has been done.

Some major wins will be required just to recapture the level of credibility that BYU had when entering independence. It's a more tenuous situation now than it was in 2011. That's what everyone's feeling and why there is so much angst.