Early synopsis for next year.

[IllinoisHuskerFan]

Im a little worried about the two Offensive tackle positions and the secondary. The OT's have to be able to produce! The best part about this is they are going to have to go up against Gregory, McMullen, Keels, Natter and hopefully Moss all winter and spring, that undoubtedly has to help their progression. Not as worried about the DBs as this is our Defensive strength year in and year out. A improved pass rush should help the timing aspect of a younger secondary. If they can get this figured out I think this could be Bo's best team across the board! I also think by the end of the year special teams could almost be a stregth (I Know crazy right) we should be able to put a lot of athletes on the field which will help in returns and making big plays in the kick game! Not to mention Foltz should be much more consistent and there will be good competition for the FG/PAT kicking spot with Bondi and Brown. Looking forward to it....its only like 9 months away! GBR!

 

[Hooked on Huskers]

But will we get 9 wins?

Probably. And 4 losses. Bo's habit. 2008 - 4L, 2009 - 4L, 2010 - 4L, 2011 - 4L, 2012 - 4L, 2013 - 4L

MiamiFL - L

Michigan State @ East Lansing - L

Wisky @ Madison - L

Iowa @ Iowa City or post season bowl - L

 

[Creighton Duke]

But will we get 9 wins?

Probably. And 4 losses. Bo's habit. 2008 - 4L, 2009 - 4L, 2010 - 4L, 2011 - 4L, 2012 - 4L, 2013 - 4L

MiamiFL - L

Michigan State @ East Lansing - L

Wisky @ Madison - L

Iowa @ Iowa City or post season bowl - L

As much as I hate to agree with this prediction, I do, however, what are the chances that these loses are in the 3-10 point range as opposed to the 20-30 point range that we have, sadly, become accustomed to a few times per season?

 

[SuperBigFan69]

But will we get 9 wins?

Probably. And 4 losses. Bo's habit. 2008 - 4L, 2009 - 4L, 2010 - 4L, 2011 - 4L, 2012 - 4L, 2013 - 4L

MiamiFL - L

Michigan State @ East Lansing - L

Wisky @ Madison - L

Iowa @ Iowa City or post season bowl - L

As much as I hate to agree with this prediction, I do, however, what are the chances that these loses are in the 3-10 point range as opposed to the 20-30 point range that we have, sadly, become accustomed to a few times per season?

Agree and it has been a long time since I really thought NU would win all its games. I still trick myself into thinking they will but I know better.

Now, each home game is a chance for me to hit Lincoln with friends and have a great time.

 

[Enhance]

Protect the ball. The Huskers haven't been able to do this much and often fail to create turnovers. And I agree with what many have said over the last couple of weeks/months that whoever our next starting QB is, he HAS to take care of the ball. As unique of an athlete as Taylor Martinez was, his turnovers were a huge problem and they filtered down to the entire team.

 

[tmfr15]

In figuring out which teams are going to be great vs. good vs. poor, the model employed most often is to look at the question marks that a team has going into the thing. Teams picked to finish high have few question marks and numerous areas of known strength. Now this is not to say that question areas can't be addressed or that areas of perceived strength could not be over estimated, but you got to start somewhere.

Nebraska's strongest position is probably WR or RB.

There are question marks at QB, on the line on both O and D, at TE (although Carter seemed to be pretty decent there late in the season) LB, DB, safety, kick returner, kick coverage, turnovers, and penalties.

That's to say nothing of the intangible areas that separate good and great, which in my mind is the level of experience necessary to deal with the pressure that comes with success. When a team reels off eight or nine straight wins and the pundits start talking about the team and the pressure amps up and you play high stakes nationally televised games... how will the team respond? And in case of a loss in one of those games, how will the team bounce back? Experienced and veteran leaders usually address those issues.

 

[TGHusker]

Special teams and turnovers will define the season. All the other stuff is nice, but until we can do more than fair catch a punt, and not turn it over 2-3 times a game, we'll still be the same team.

Yep. Especially if you add in the penalties, like Creighton Duke mentioned.

Fix it. If they're not able to fix it we need change. It'd be a real shame to see another team with good potential fall to the same old issues.

I suspect that next year is do or die for Bo. The $8m buyout will be much lower and the AD will no longer be in his rookie season. If Bo doesn't fix the ST, Turnover, and penalties - we will have wasted another year by not performing up to our talent. Reading the article, outside of the SUH dominated D - this looks like Bo's best team. Again the season sets us up well - challenges wt Wisc, MSU, Miami but if we perform to our talent level we should go 11-1 or 10- 2 worse. Each game on that schedule is very winnable.

It will be interesting to see what changes (let's hope) Bo does wt ST during the spring game and who he brings in as DB coach.

 

[Hunter94]

But will we get 9 wins?

Probably. And 4 losses. Bo's habit. 2008 - 4L, 2009 - 4L, 2010 - 4L, 2011 - 4L, 2012 - 4L, 2013 - 4L

MiamiFL - L

Michigan State @ East Lansing - L

Wisky @ Madison - L

Iowa @ Iowa City or post season bowl - L

As much as I hate to agree with this prediction, I do, however, what are the chances that these loses are in the 3-10 point range as opposed to the 20-30 point range that we have, sadly, become accustomed to a few times per season?

Agree and it has been a long time since I really thought NU would win all its games. I still trick myself into thinking they will but I know better.

Now, each home game is a chance for me to hit Lincoln with friends and have a great time.

losing by 3-10 instead of 20-30.....baby steps of progress?

 

[TGHusker]

But will we get 9 wins?

Probably. And 4 losses. Bo's habit. 2008 - 4L, 2009 - 4L, 2010 - 4L, 2011 - 4L, 2012 - 4L, 2013 - 4L

MiamiFL - L

Michigan State @ East Lansing - L

Wisky @ Madison - L

Iowa @ Iowa City or post season bowl - L

As much as I hate to agree with this prediction, I do, however, what are the chances that these loses are in the 3-10 point range as opposed to the 20-30 point range that we have, sadly, become accustomed to a few times per season?

As I mentioned in the previous post, I think the talent level is 0-2 loss year, however all 4 of these games are potential Ls if Bo doesn't improve in the vital areas of ST, Turnover, penalties. If we loose to Miami like we did UCLA - I can only imagine the uproar. Even if we loose 4 games by 10 or less each - I still think there will be an uproar & that would end the Bo era. It is time for a CC.

 

[Ric Flair]

Have we seen anything that makes anyone think next year will be any different from the previous six? I haven't.

So here are my predictions:

We lost some key players. We're told we have some future NFL Hall of Famers that are ready to breakout...or that are Nebraska commits...or that soon will be commits...or that may be commits for next year...or that may currently be in 7th grade. I've heard that noise before. A few of those prospects will probably pan out. More won't. We'll have growing pains as we break in new linemen on both sides of the ball, an inexperienced QB and inexperienced guys in the secondary. As soon as something is working, Beck will quit doing it and try something else. We'll make too many mistakes, turn the ball over too much, look confused too often, fail to make adjustments, lose four games and get blown out at least twice. We will once again get shut out of the conference championship game and play in some meaningless bowl no one cares about. He's called PeLLLLini for a reason.

 

[tmfr15]

I really think that while we have question marks in a lot of areas, we are still only a handful of players from being exceptional. QB.... has to distribute the ball to our play makers and avoid mistakes... RB can not fumble....we need a defender up front that occupies a double team, a LB with a nose for the ball and a DB who can ball hawk. We get those players and we will be fine. TE and WR seems to have talent. O line hasn't been terrible. There are some solid athletes at every level of the defense. Just need those difference makers.

 

[zoogs]

I have a feeling that at the end of next year, a still sizable portion of the fanbase will be saying, "Next year is going to be a real make-or-break for Bo." Countered by another sizable portion arguing that Bo needs at least another 2-3.

I think it's basically either that or a B1G championship. Although, to be fair, that was what was said about this year....

 

[sd'sker]

<snip>

i agree. i thought it was funny that the article described 2014 as a defining year for bo. why were 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 not defining years for bo?

 

[BigRedBuster]

It CAN be a defining year.....or.....it might not be.

Let me ask you this, what if everything is looking fantastic going into the year next year and then the last week in fall camp, Armstrong tears his knee up, Stanton's girlfriend breaks up with him and he quits college and joins the circus and Darlington is ruled out of playing because of his concussion history. We end up with Ameer running for 1600 yards and goes down in history as a great Nebraska RB, our defense is a top 20 defense and dominates most opponents, but, our QB play is bad and we end up losing 4-5 games because of it.

NOW.....does going into the season still look like it is a make or break year for Bo? OR...a defining year???

We can sit back and draw a line in the sand all you want. But, the record doesn't happen in a vacuum.

 

[sd'sker]

just seems like a coach that loses 4 games, without fail, should already be defined. next year may be the exception, but it will take a little bit before i can trust that bo is more than a 4 loss coach.