I think the Oklahoma game will be the tipping point for the team, and it helps immensely that we have them at home. A win against them steels their confidence, much like an early Florida win use to, back in the day (they were hard to come by, though).
I strongly believe we has as much, if not more talent on this team, than we did in 98. If you look at position by position, we are strong at every single one, except perhaps, for the OL, where there are a few question marks. Still, I think the OL will be ahead of last year by leaps and bounds, because we really had little to no talent at the OT position. We now have a few talented freshmen who could hold down the position, if needed (Jones and Richmond). Boulware might be this year's Jashon Robertson in terms of being ready to play as a freshman.
I noticed a trend in former power programs...when they suddenly start recruiting in the top 5 or so, in the nation, they tend to make a relatively dramatic resurgence within 2-3 yrs. FSU was just a middle of the road ACC team a few years ago, but Jimbo Fisher raked in a big class one year, and had a nice one the following year, too. Next thing you know, they are playing in the NC game.
Bama did the same thing when Saban came along. They went 6-6, I believe, their first season, but had a few big recruiting classes that bumped them into the NC position in short order. The numbers we took the past 2 years was almost like taking a small 3rd class on loan.
