Tequilla
Active poster
So the worst year under James was 1988 ... 6-5. I don't fall under the crowd of moral victories, but there's a huge difference in losing a game competitively versus spending the second half with a plunger sticking out of your ass.
The losses in 1988:
vs. #2 UCLA: 24-17
@ #3 USC 28-27
@ Oregon 17-14
vs. Arizona (7-4) 16-13
@ Washington St (9-3) 32-31
Now, you could get critical of losing the games to Oregon, Arizona, and the Cougs ... but the bottom line was that the 5 losses were by a grand total of 15 points. It was a team that spent the entire year playing close games and they won some and lost some. But at no point was there anything there that made you think "we've got to blow this up."
The losses in 1988:
vs. #2 UCLA: 24-17
@ #3 USC 28-27
@ Oregon 17-14
vs. Arizona (7-4) 16-13
@ Washington St (9-3) 32-31
Now, you could get critical of losing the games to Oregon, Arizona, and the Cougs ... but the bottom line was that the 5 losses were by a grand total of 15 points. It was a team that spent the entire year playing close games and they won some and lost some. But at no point was there anything there that made you think "we've got to blow this up."