I've been pretty hard on Scott, as I don't care one bit for the finger-pointing bullshit he's pulled to date (on top of the results). There's a major difference between excuses and circumstances though. When you consider the circumstances and pull out the higher mag lens, there's plenty to be optimistic about.
Starting with the release of the 2020 schedule a few years ago, Year 3 was always going to be a throw-away, transitional season. Either the beginning of the turn of the corner or a continued picture of failure.
Having glimmers of positivity after playing one of the Top 3 teams in the country in Game 1 in late October on the road in the middle of a pandemic...this is a good thing. Especially since the positivity largely stems from the play in the trenches.