Youth.

Inexperience.

An incredibly bare cupboard.

An impossibly short timeframe for significant turnaround.

Paul Wulff's excuses for his four wins are absolutely legitimate. In another time, in another era of college football, perhaps he'd be given a real opportunity to right the ship and do it the way he wanted to.

Unfortunately for coach Wulff, these are not those times.

Going 4-25 over the course of two and a half seasons will not earn you a fourth season at many of the major schools in the nation. And when 24 of the 25 losses were by 14 points or more, and 21 of the 25 losses were by 21 points or more, and a WHOPPING 17 of the 25 losses were by 28 points or more, then not even the patient, good-hearted Cougs can sit idly by.

The remaining schedule looks like this:

UCLA (2-2 and coming off huge wins against Texas and Houston)

No. 4 Oregon (4-0)

No. 14 Arizona (4-0)

No. 9 Stanford (4-0)

Arizona State (2-2, coming off close losses to No. 11 Wisconsin and No. 5 Oregon)

Cal (2-2)

Oregon State (1-2, but should be firing on all cylinders by the end of the season)

UW (1-3)

With Wulff's latest blowout loss, and with the surge of UCLA and ASU, it appears that only Cal and UW are possible wins this season for the Cougs. And even those would be monumental upsets.

Let's say the Cougs get one of them and finish the season 2-10. I'm fairly certain that won't save the coach.

Let's say the Cougs beat Cal and UW and hang in there with OSU, closing the season strong and finishing 3-9. Maybe he has a chance.

But what if, and this is unfortunately the most likely scenario based on what we've seen thus far, the Cougs drop them both and finish 1-11 for the second consecutive season? I'm afraid there's no chance for Wulff to return.

Maybe it would be different if the losses weren't blowouts, but honestly, if the Cougs stay within 25 of Oregon, Stanford, Arizona, UCLA or even Oregon State, I'll be surprised.

Complicating matters for Wulff as well is the fact that the Cougs very possibly (and very speculatively) could have one of the best coaches in recent college history waiting in the wings. He's got a 137-80-2 career record, has been to 12 bowl games and has two Pac-10 championships in his pocket. He's had a long and incredibly successful relationship with Athletic Director Bill Moos and he's currently not coaching. Figured it out yet?

If Mike Bellotti is waiting in the wings, I'm not sure that even three wins, including an Apple Cup victory, will get Wulff his job back next season.

Again, this is speculative. I've got no source within the AD, and I'm not tapping Moos' phone. I'm just saying that Moos is one of the top ADs in the nation and he didn't get that way by not being prepared and always being a step ahead. When being a step ahead is as easy as calling up an old buddy who just happens to be a massively successful former Pac-10 coach from a northwest school, it's not difficult to surmise that he at least made an inquiry.

Would Bellotti want the job? Who knows? But I'm not sure anyone would say that he looks like he's having fun with his ESPN gig. Obviously, there's a lot that would have to be worked out, like, how do you pay the guy and still pay out Wulff's remaining two years? Sure, Oregon paid Bellotti a $2.3 million severance after leaving his AD job there, but it's not like he'd be willing to forgo a salary. Perhaps this is where the horrid record of the past three years plays in to the Cougs' favor. How? Well, people are desperate. If you're a big donor and Moos dangles a guy like Bellotti and a promise of better days in front of you, check-writing may not be that hard.

No, I'm not sure it's totally fair to be discussing a new coach while the current one is tirelessly and passionately working on behalf of the Cougars in the very thankless task of rebuilding. But in Year Three, losing games by scores of 65-17 and 50-16 is tough to swallow. Allowing opponents an average of 43 points per game is insane. It appears that it'll only get worse. The reasons listed at the top, again, are valid, but look at the remainder of the season and tell me how many teams they have yet to face who are better than USC? How about Oregon, Arizona, Stanford, and possibly Oregon State? What makes any fan think that more blowouts aren't in the making?

Wulff has some leeway this season when it comes to wins and losses, as long as the team is competitive. Thus far, only the win at Montana State was competitive and in that case, it's another reason why he's not doing what was expected of him this season.

I like coach Wulff. I support him and hope beyond hope that a surprising turnaround is in the works. As I said before, he's been given a thankless task. But in these times, in this era, and with the results we've seen thus far, I'm not sure we'll see him again after this season ends. If Bellotti is indeed in the mix, that's all but a foregone conclusion.

Go Cougs!

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