That the team can fumble a few times, fall behind, and not totally melt down against a just-OK team. Feels surprisingly good.
This sentiment bothers me in the sense that we all know what the subtext is. However, we had like what, five or six comeback wins to win the division under Pelini? He had his faults, but melting down in close games is simply a false narrative.
I learned we should be able to handle the teams we are supposed to handle this year.
I should have explicitly included Riley's first year (especially the Northwestern game) but OK.
Half of those 2012 comebacks were against teams with 6+ losses, but NWU/PSU were pretty good. Even granting that, it has to be negated by the pants-*****ing that went on in Indianapolis (to an 8-6 team that only won their division by NCAA sanction). Losses featuring negative turnover margins (including plenty of turnovers in the red zone) to OK-at-best teams include Iowa State (2009, 7-6), Northwestern (2011, 6-7), Minnesota and Iowa (2013, both 8-5). Just enough times to warrant mention, IMO...