I'm always more impressed with a team that finishes strong rather than a team that finishes poorly. USC didn't lose to Bama in November. Injuries happen to nearly every team. The teams mostly affected by injuries are those who haven't done a great job recruiting depth. It's okay to admit that we didn't have quality depth. It's also okay to admit that we weren't a great team in 2016. It's also okay to admit that USC was a better team than we were in 2016. The staff took a calculated risk/gamble by redshirting as many as possible. It more than likely will pay dividends in the next couple of years. We are positioning ourselves to get closer to the top teams such as USC.
I respectfully disagree with your last point, we are closing no gaps with the likes of USC and the other top 5-7 teams--usual suspects--that are amassing/hoarding the best talent like it's 2 Americas--which it is, in real life and CFB.NU is at about a 10+ year holding pattern in recruiting, ave ranking being ~25th, and low and behold, that's usually where we start and finish each season, on average. USC. for e.g., '17 class as per 247 sports gathered 2 five stars, 12 four stars, and 10 3 stars to finish 4th and they are back finishing top 5 or 10 consistently, in recruiting. Well, if you check out the top 6 teams on 247, for e.g., the wealth of talent is off the charts. Bama and tOSU each quite possibly have more 5 star guys than we have 4 star guys. I don't see NU closing many gaps. Our '17 RB is a 3 star kid from Bellevue, NE, for god's sake!!!
2 Americas.
Success doesn't happen over night dude. Year 3 is typically when you see results if the rebuild is paying off. I'm sure you've seen this point mentioned multiple times.
And who cares where our RB is from? Some would be ecstatic that he's a NE kid! And it won't matter if we land a top RB in the 2018 class.
Helton just finished year 2 @ Troy. Has a few early losses, then rolls of 9 straight, beating WA, CO, PSU, UCLA, etc., finishes #3 in the country. Goes into next year @ #3. Evidently, they don't need patience @ USC.
Personally, I'm plenty patient as long as we keep it in a minimal range of redpectability. Waited 25 yrs for OZ to get the big one, so I can wait another 25, which, the way things are going, is prlly what it will take.
But in today's football milieau, Riley's gotta start making hay here pretty quick or he's out the door. Just the way it is.
As to Bradly, I don't care where he comes from, he could come from Mars. I care who he is: he was a 2* guy with
1 other offer from S Dak St. They bumped him a * when Nebby came calling. He's our only RB recruit. If fans aren't concerned about that they just aren't paying att'n.
