I know I said we could be in for another year like 1998 last season. But that was mostly wishful thinking. There really weren't many parallels between 2016 and 1998. I just wanted Dobbs, Sutton, Barnett, Hurd, Kamara, and JRM to go out as champions. If we're being honest, this year resembles 1998 a lot more than last year. In 2016 we were highly touted. We were the favorites to win the East and were even considered a dark horse playoff team. And we still had our legendary senior QB on the team. That's very different from 1998 when we had just lost our legendary senior QB. We were not expected to win the East let alone contend for a national championship.
When I look at 2017, it starts to look a lot like 1998. (1) We no longer have the legendary Josh Dobbs just as we no longer had the legendary Peyton Manning in 1998. (2) We have a long losing streak to Alabama that most feel we have no chance of breaking. In 1998 we had a long losing streak to Florida and most didn't feel we could beat them either. (3) We are being severely underrated by the media. Nobody expects us to win the East let alone compete for a national championship. (4) And like 1998, we still have a ton of talent on campus that is hungry and motivated to prove themselves.
Guys the saying that "this feels like 98" has never been more appropriate. I really think we are in for a special season. We're gonna shock a lot of people with how good we are.