That was pre NIL. Davis experiment has slowly blown up every year, culminating in this year. Last year he lost his last recruits pre-NIL. A weak ACC covered up the decent, so it didn’t seem as drastic. Our record against OOC good teams over the past 4 years is very telling.
5-8 so far with 2023 sweep really helping. Again, this really the first year without any base recruits that we didn’t have to bid for (at least in the open). All other teams have caught up in talent over the past couple years with portal and NIL. We snuck into playoffs last year. This year we have a WR at RB that is a good dual headed running threat, not a premier back. Great WRs still, but QB and OL play has been so inconsistent that hasn’t showcased them. Defense is absolutely bare in the secondary somehow this year. Really disappointing. LBs (other than Sammy, and some spark from Alexander) have been BAD. New defense this year, so that may have something to do with it, but when Duke has no fear going on 4th , and is successful on EVERY one, we have huge problems.
2021 was good - L to UGA, beat USuC and Iowa St LWW 2022- Loss to ND, USuC, and Tenn LLL 2023 - Win ND, USuC, and KY WWW 2024- Loss to UGA, USuC, and Texas LLL 2025 - Loss LSU. USuC, hard to see us winning, but they aren’t good either, and probably no bowl game.