Big happy Birthday to the leader of the greatest Cougar Blog in the history of ever. 36 years strong on July 1. Have a great one!
The question on the mind of this leader of CougarNation is “will it be 36 years until the Cougs once again play in Pasadena on January 1?”
Like I wrote in the commnets, this season comes down to two road games: @ Auburn and @ Stanford.
There is little question that this Cougar team has the talent and schedule to win 8 games this year. But there are two barriers to reaching such a reachable plateau: injuries and confidence.
With no bye weeks during this season’s tilt, the health of both lines is going to be of premium importance. Using the past five seasons as a barometer, almost all of our key injuries have happened before the second weekend of October. But with tilts against SEC powerhouse Auburn in early September and USC at the end of the month, September will tell a lot about the season’s health, methinks.
But, perhaps even more than injuries, this season will depend on the team’s start. Will this team show early that it has what it takes to win close games? Or will it develop the “here we go all over again” type mentality that brought about the first definition of “Cougin’ It?”
In Brinkhater’s view, both the Auburn and Stanford games will be close games. Both will come down to Brink’s ability to lead a late drive and/or the corners’/defenses’ abilities to make a key stop. Will they come through or won’t they?
For me, a 3-1 start is a must heading into SC–which is going to be a winnable game. If we’re 2-2, the season is toast. Plain and simple.
Two months til kickoff….
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