I think the issue many have is that we've been here before (i.e., we've been able to compete for a period of time against a clearly superior team) but there's never any follow through. Every reason for optimism since 2008 has just been a fakeout. How many times since then has it looked like we're about to be able to walk, or even run, just to fall down again and start over?
Kiffin had moments where it looked like he was about to walk. Dooley had moments where it looked like he was about to walk. You can argue that Butch did walk and looked like he was about to run. However, before getting there, we fell down and had to start over, oftentimes in inexplicable fashion. This isn't the first time the fanbase has been told we have to go through this process, and thus far every single reason for optimism has ultimately been vanquished. I think that's the reason why you see cynicism and skepticism about another "Well we lost, but at least we were competitive for 3.5 quarters" game. Much of the fanbase has gone into a "just wake me up when we've arrived" mode, IMO.