Every year there is one game on the schedule that we should just mentally prepare for. I kinda thought it would have been Baylor, ND, or Arkansas (as many others probably did too).

After the Baylor game, I think we believed that maybe we were good enough to avoid that one game. Even the most realistic fans realized we wouldn’t go unbeaten but maybe we would stay competitive with every team on our schedule.

Unfortunately that was always a pipe dream. There will always be one game a year where we just don’t look like we belong. Due to injuries, coaching, opponent, or a combination of everything.

The good news is these losses all have one thing in common. LSU, Michigan, Wisconsin, Washington, Baylor, and Oregon are all top tier teams that are consistently solid programs. When you go up against that multiple times a season you are going to get trounced occasionally. Remember, we asked for this.

The other good news is that this almost never happens against lesser competition. We handle our business pretty well against teams that are below us and have very few head scratching losses over the last few seasons.

Let’s just hope that this is the only one of those games this season and that we come out ready to play against everyone else on our schedule. Oregon could be a legit team that is still top 10 caliber and this loss in proper context could still mean we have a special squad and season ahead.