These results don't surprise me at all.  G5 bowl teams are usually pretty good teams.  In fact, your post could have been written "BYU doesn't play very well against Utah State and Boise State the past 3 years"

5 of those 7 losses were to those 2 teams.  Not disgraceful since those 2 teams have been very very good, and we have not.

You may want to look at the tragectory of the team and ask if you think it is going in the right direction. 

Personally, I feel the team is trending in a good direction.  I'm also a big fan of what Utah State and Boise State  have done over the past 10 years.  Our biggest problems have not been the players, or the coaches--but horrible administrative blunders regarding academics and honor code.  I'm optimistic  the school is making changes in these areas. 

So I'm optimistic--because the team is improving.  Even if we lose to USU and BSU this year, we still might be a better team than last year.

OL and DL have improved.  Much better depth.  Secondary is light years ahead of what we have ever been.  QB is solid for the first time since Taysom.  We have a weak spot at Receiver.  But other than that, the team looks pretty solid.