If we're talking about bowl games, we've made plenty of those with more pass heavy offenses relative to the 90s.
You really can't make up your mind what your own argument is any further than "run good, pass bad".
Yes, we have made bowl games. But, even then I remember so many cases of 'who are we,' 'what's our identity?' And we didn't really have one. We had both pocket passers, dual-threats, and we tried to be a team that could do it all.
But we couldn't. Starting with the lines, they were just never quite good enough, never enough practice time to be able to pass-block and bulldoze like teams in the top 10. Running backs that we expected to break tackles, pass-block, jump-cut, and have soft hands out of the backfield. Hard to find. We recruited hundreds of 4 and 5 star receivers, but very few elite guys came, most not seeing the ball enough for their liking anyway.
My argument is that a guy like Monken gives you an identity right away, and there's no question as what we're all about. Sure, we'd lose a lot to the portal initially, but something tells me that will happen anyway. 3 straight 3-win seasons can do that.
We start with making a bowl, and keep building. Contend for the West, and punish the conference for having small defenders they have to recruit to keep up with Ohio State and everyone's spread game.
We've tried everything else, why not go back?