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Got to disagree with the use of the word "slump". I wouldn't characterize us as being in a slump since winning the '02 NC. We lost badly to a UF team that should've beaten us that year (perhaps not that badly) for the NC. We lost another NC game to LSU when we really shouldn't have been there in the first place (as you mentioned). The game was actually closer than the year before, but we were plagued by uncharacteristic mental mistakes. This year we lost badly to USC and close games to PSU and Tejas managing to be embarassed in only one of our three nationally televised night games.
We've won a share of the conference four years in a row, split regular season games with Texas, won 3 of 4 Fiesta Bowls, played in two NC games, and beaten scUM senseless with three different quarterbacks. I just don't see that as a slump. If anything, I'd argue that we've been as good or better since the 14-0 season as before it. You can't win an NC every year. Two in a decade would be impressive and to play in and lose other NC games would be a testament to one's program. If we've been in a slump the last five or six years, I imagine that 111 or 112 of the other schools would like to experience one.
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