I think the reason for pessimism is fair. I think they could definitely beat that and win 7-8 games, but there is nothing objective about that either. Point to whatever you want, but 7-8 wins would be 3-4 more wins than people that are betting money, are expecting them to win. I hope they do it, but a minor coaching change and not a lot of star power on this team doesn't move the needle much for me. You have a bunch of bodies at QB, but not a lot of surety there. Jake may be the best QB in the room and he struggled last year.

They could be better than last year and only win 5 games. The schedule is tougher than last year with a much tougher OOC slate, on the road at Wyoming and SMU will not be a walk in the park. Only 1 gimme on the schedule this year, so they have their work cut out for them.

I hope the new OL coach makes a huge impact, but honestly the guy seems like a journeyman from a G5 program, so I don't know what to expect from him. I think OL will be better, but not expecting a huge leap. The D should take a step forward, but the prior D staff left the team decimated and in no way prepared for P4 football. Hill will still need another couple years to build up the D side of the ball.