I get the angle of your post but to correct you.....Lou was not even close to terrible in his first year. You might just be reciting a stat line but I lived it. We were in every damn game that year minus 1 against #2 at the time Bama. 28-10.
Outside of that....
We lost by less than a TD to
#3 Michigan, to the #3 but eventual national champion Penn State Nittany Lions, the #8 LSU team and finished by beating #17 USC in a great game. We lost to a decent Pitt team 9-10.
Lou was incredible that year even in a losing record season and you could see the culture change and great things were around the corner.