This prediction was made with the belief that Brandon Wimbush would be our QB for the whole season, and that he would have developed into a more serviceable quarterback. I figured on our dropping 2 of 4 between Michigan, Stanford, Florida State, and USC.
My belief was that we would still end up in a NY6 bowl (no playoffs), and have a fair chance of winning it.
I felt pretty optimistic about the defense, that they would be running a familiar scheme, and that another year of development, as well as strength and conditioning, would make them stronger than last year's.
I didn't count on the following, though:
1) Brian Kelly finally having the fortitude to replace Wimbush with Book, and open up the entire offense.
2) The development of our WR / TE corp as a result of the above
3) Stanford having Bryce Love at a 80% strength, at best
4) Willie Taggart making FSU stink even more
5) USC not having developed along the way as expected