Undone

So, basically like watching pretty much any Husker football game in the past seven years.

I was definitely referring to pressure & expectations delivered by Husker Nation. Let's assume this board represents a decent cross-section of the fan base. During this period, the overwhelming majority of people are going to say they don't have high expectations. I agree with that, that's what people will say. And our schedule for the first six games of the year is arguable the easiest it's been in memory, recent or otherwise. But I'm still talking about how things go if the first half of the season is "bad." And for the record I made a strong emphasis in that post on the word "if."

Throwing the kitchen sink at them definitely seems like the wisest strategy. The hardest part for these two QB's will probably be huge amount of pressure that could come if things don't go well during the first 4-5 games of the season, mainly from the fan base and the weight of expectations. What I've seen with our program in the post-Bo era is not being able to get a handle on that aspect of playing here. But for me, if these guys can play better than Ricky Haarberg this season it's a major accomplishment and can & will be a building block for greatness (as long as no key players transfer).

Mike Minter, telling me what I want to hear!

PasstheDamnBallGuy...you love their offense, don't you, sir?! Haha.

Please stop being so reasonable.

Thompson was kind of an injury-prone guy. Hard to say how many games he would have even lasted in 2023. But Sims was fumbling snaps and turned the wrong way multiple times on running back hand off plays. His play was atrocious even just outside of stats when he suited up for the Huskers. I can't say that about Thompson's time as a 'sker. But, the entire conversation is definitely water under the bridge at this rate anyway.

Wasn't it just thumb surgery? And I don't recall that having a recovery time being estimated at over six months. You're right that he wasn't able to participate in spring ball, though.

But you're only doing it for 2023 numbers, right? If I look at Thompson vs Sims in their entire collegiate careers prior to the 2023 season and I adjust for the competition Thompson faced, I'm taking Thompson as the better QB. I'd take him as the guy I'd want heading into game one for 2023 Nebraska. And if I factor 2023 into the whole career, I'm still taking Thompson, personally.

Agree with that second paragraph, for sure. To the first part, I'm still trying to figure out why the staff went so hard with trying to set up a power run QB scheme leading into year one. A lot of keyboard warriors think they have all the answers there, but I'm not so sure. But, like you said in the second part - Rhule is getting things fixed. I think our program has a bigger head of steam right now than I reasonably thought we'd have at this point if I go back to just after the Georgia Southern loss in 2022 and Frost's firing. The 2023 season was really disappointing on offense because of how good the defense wound up being, but good things are ahead.

Even if Satterfield isn't actually a bad coach, there's been enough smoke around the topic even outside of the our bubble of the program to where it can send a message to recruits that this isn't the place to be. Obviously it wasn't a problem for landing Raiola, and just bringing him in would have done/will do wonders for offensive recruiting, even if Thomas didn't come to Lincoln. But Thomas' hiring makes it pretty obvious that Rhule didn't exactly love what he saw last season on offense (outside of the biggest obvious problem of turnovers).

Ha, was this an ad you got on Huskerboard?

If Washington played our schedule this season they're 11-1. I'm 100% sure the spread offense works in any conference as long as you protect the QB. Penix was a bit off tonight, unfortunately for him and all of us. But you're right that Michigan did well in the trenches, no arguments there.