I just can't take it any more. Your "best" running back hasn't played a down of D1 football. Do you really think Asiata would have outdone Mack? Would he alone have scored 30 on UNLV? Fui was going to be our #1 guy going in to the season and guess what? He couldn't play. It was not a loss in hindsight because Unga did just as well if not better than we expected Fui to do.
I am sick of hearing "if you would have lost your #1 running back...". Guess what? We did and the replacement did fine. Just like yours did. This position is a total wash.
We lost the anchor of our Dline you lost the anchor of your Oline. That means we lost 1/3 of our starting Dline. The difference between these is not big.
You lost Casteel, who when he catches the ball can make things happen. You've got us there. Collie was hobbled most of the year but still played. Now the fact that you had a 6-pack and the best WR group in the nation means you should have absorbed that loss without a problem. Problem is, none of your WR, including Casteel, would I consider to have sure hands.
We lost 2 starting safeties before the season and another during the season. Your secondary was fine.
You guys run the freaking spread!!! I don't want to hear any excuses about losing a QB from any team that runs the spread. IMO if you are going to run that offense you better have QB 1a and 1b or find another offense. So if your coaches weren't prepared to lose BJ they are worse than I thought. Maybe someone ought to let them know that they will likely lose him again this year and might want to prepare a backup that knows how to run your offense.
So in summary. RB-wash, OL/DL-wash, QB-see my thoughts above, no reason for excuses here, WR-you have us there, DB-we've got you here.
Bottom line, you lost your star WR and ours was only hobbled. I guess that alone explains 3 in conference losses and a 3rd place finish.