Bentley was 30 of 47 with at least 5 drops. One interception was a ball Rico should have caught; and, the other a great play call by the D Coordinator to have the safety to jump the route. Anyone that doesn't think Bentley has improved has never played QB.
We lost that game because they were more talented in the trenches. We could have stayed in it if we hadn't made stupid mistakes, could pick up third and shorts, and caught the football; but, ultimately their running backs, running behind those linemen, wore down our defense. We saw that in the 3rd quarter when we went three and out twice and put a tired defense back on the field too quickly. 21 points later, our chances were out the door.
Reality is that we are more talented this year than any year since Connor Shaw left, but we have a tough schedule. Right now, as much as it pains me to say, I see us losing to A&M and Clemson. Ole Miss could go either way. UK believes they can beat us. UF and UT are always dangerous. The schedule is brutal but there is improvement and injuries could play a role in how we fare in any of the above games.
Keep your head up guys, this was never a three year rebuild. Though we were all thoroughly pleased with the surprise campaign last year. I always felt it will take 6 or 7 to get us to the point of being relevant every year, as it did for Spurrier. Champ is working his tail off to bring in talent but it's still going to take time. For now, we are overmatched against the top 5 teams who have recruited a lot of depth.