They lose to Portland State in first game, then have a great season.
They lose to Eastern Washington State, then have another pretty good season. They lost 2 of their 3 bowl games. 2 of them to underdogs. The pattern is that they don't do well after long layoffs. This is because they have a system that requires precision and timing and that doesn't bode well after a month or more of rust. They can't win on talent alone.

I think Leach gets more from his talent than a lot of other coaches could. Washington State has never been a school that recruits blue chip players.

I remember many CU fans really thought CU should have gone after Leach. I still maintain that we are a program that can aspire to do better than that. We actually have recruited nationally ranked blue-chip players in the past. We can and have built better teams with solid lines. This is what wins games even after rust sets in.