In all due respect, I don’t know how long U’ve been a fan, but at that time, we did stink, per our standards. Top 25 wasn’t considered a success or a decent year at this time, not for a perennial power. Losing more than 2 games was considered a disaster, no matter how hard our schedule was. Plus, we lost to VT for the first time & VT wasn’t VT as we know them today. From like 1920 til 1994, VT was a bottom feeder program. Think their best yr was 1954 where they went undefeated in 9 games, but that was an anomaly...they constantly loss between 3-8 games/yr on a consistent basis.
We got blew out by UCLA, lost to an unranked team for the 1st time since 1984 (VT), & started the season 0-3 against FBS teams for the 1st time since like 1976. So yeah, we stunk.
Now, today in 2021, would I take starting 1-3 & then finishing 7-0?? With the chit that we’ve seen; yes. But to ur point, words matte; so unless u were apart of what we witnessed up to that point, u wouldn’t get it. I’ve been able to personally witness 4 of our 5 national titles, with one being in person at the Rose Bowl. So I get why that terminology was used, again, at that time. Standards matter, whether u agree or not. That’s just the facts. Celtics/Lakers fans ain’t happy w/ conference or division titles, their standards r NBA titles. Pats don’t care about the AFC East, they care about SBs. Bama don’t give a **** about a SEC crown; it’s Nat’l title or bust. We USED to be like that, hence hearing we stunk winning 7 in a row after going 1-3 to start the season sounds like foreign language today.