Banking on the rivalry game to save your season is fine when it's at the end of your schedule, but now that's been lost with multiple games still left to play.
The team has lost five straight games, suffered through multiple QB controversies, been hit hard by injures, lost to their arch-rival, and now has seen their coach and AD make clowns of themselves in the national media.
What's left? A bowl game that half the starters won't want to play in? The locker room must be completely broken at this point.