Gut Check Poll - Will Husker go to a Bowl Game in 2021

[Mudhen]

Just for grins, with all things equal, as it stands this year,
what would be the record if you plug in Bo as the coach?
@ Illinois      W
Buffalo W
@ Oklahoma Blowout Loss
@ Michigan St. W
Northwestern     W
Michigan     Toss-up
@ Minnesota     W
Purdue     W
Ohio St. Blowout Loss
Southeastern Louisiana      W
@ Wisconsin      Toss-up
Iowa W

 

[Hedley Lamarr]

15-0 World CHAMPS!!!!

 

[Mavric]

[No message]

 

[Dogs In A Pile]

"But as I said, we’re going to have to bring it every game and -- this is important -- protect our home field."

Things are going to have to turn around in a big way then considering DONU is an almost unbelievable 8-9 in Lincoln under HCSF.

 

[J-MAGIC]

We have three very likely Ws and four very likely Ls and five games that are essentially toss-ups. Getting to eight wins means we are winning 100% of our toss-ups, which is usually not how things go!

 

[Mavric]

We have three very likely Ws and four very likely Ls and five games that are essentially toss-ups. Getting to eight wins means we are winning 100% of our toss-ups, which is usually not how things go!

I'm not sure which four games you see as "very likely Ls".  I'm sure OU and OSU are two and I agree there.  But who are the other two?

 

[deedsker]

I'm not sure which four games you see as "very likely Ls".  I'm sure OU and OSU are two and I agree there.  But who are the other two?

Iowa. Their offense was one of the best last year after Petras settled down and most of the production is back. Wisconsin is an L until it isn't.

 

[J-MAGIC]

I'm not sure which four games you see as "very likely Ls".  I'm sure OU and OSU are two and I agree there.  But who are the other two?

Wisconsin and Iowa both look like top 15ish teams. Those two games are a lot more winnable than OU and OSU but I think we're still gonna be a 7- to 10-point dog against each and would need to play really, really well to win.

 

[Husker in WI]

Iowa. Their offense was one of the best last year after Petras settled down and most of the production is back. Wisconsin is an L until it isn't.

I think this is a bit of a stretch. They put up some points, a lot of them off of their defense getting turnovers/field position. Goodson is a stud, but they lose their top 2 receivers and I am still not buying Petras. Curious what he does without 2 experienced, athletic receivers - until they signed Keagan Johnson, I would've put money on last year's group being the best group of receivers Petras would play with. And they did not do a lot.

People complain about Martinez's YPA, Petras had a lower YPA (6.4 compared to 7.0) and a much worse completion percentage (57.1 to 71.5). And we've played them tough each of the last 3 years. We've been pretty much one mistake away each of the last 2. Their defense is going to remain elite, their offense will be mediocre at best until Ferentz Jr. gets canned, which ain't happening while his dad is the coach. I can understand not believing this team can cut back the mistakes enough to beat Iowa. We won't and shouldn't be favored but I don't think it's a "very likely" L.

 

[Mavric]

Iowa. Their offense was one of the best last year after Petras settled down and most of the production is back. Wisconsin is an L until it isn't.

Wisconsin and Iowa both look like top 15ish teams. Those two games are a lot more winnable than OU and OSU but I think we're still gonna be a 7- to 10-point dog against each and would need to play really, really well to win.

I really don't understand how anyone can claim Iowa is a "very likely loss".  In Frost's three years, the game literally came down to the last play twice and in the third game we had the ball in Iowa territory with a chance to win with less than two minutes to play.  I don't know how much closer to a toss-up any of those games can be.

I can see Wisconsin in the "likely loss" category a lot more than Iowa because the scores have gotten out of hand.  But the two times Frost has played them were were only out-gained by 15 yards in one game and out-gained them by 11 in the other game.  So we are not out-classed by them by any means.  But they've finished better than we have.  So I don't think we're as far off as some want to think.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

One very likely loss will turn into a very inspiring win.

One very likely win will turn into a very disappointing loss.

That's just the way these things work.

Let's be honest: if the team goes 6-6 and is competitive in every game, with young talent breaking out, we'll be happy with the improvement. 

 

[desertshox]

Let's be honest: if the team goes 6-6 and is competitive in every game, with young talent breaking out, we'll be happy with the improvement. 

what fanbase are you talking about? they could win every game and the nc and you'd still have people b!^@hing they didnt win pretty enough or by enough.

 

[BigRedBuster]

Wisconsin and Iowa both look like top 15ish teams. Those two games are a lot more winnable than OU and OSU but I think we're still gonna be a 7- to 10-point dog against each and would need to play really, really well to win.

These two games are the last two games of the regular season. There will be one hell of a lot of football played before then to get a feel as to where the teams are.  I understand maybe being a 7 point underdog right now (I would put it more at 3 points) because we really don't know how much our program has improved.  But, by the time they play and the point spread is more meaningful, that can change drastically.

@Mavric and  @Husker in WI  summed it up pretty well as to these two programs aren't light years ahead of us.

 

[J-MAGIC]

I really don't understand how anyone can claim Iowa is a "very likely loss".  In Frost's three years, the game literally came down to the last play twice and in the third game we had the ball in Iowa territory with a chance to win with less than two minutes to play.  I don't know how much closer to a toss-up any of those games can be.

I can see Wisconsin in the "likely loss" category a lot more than Iowa because the scores have gotten out of hand.  But the two times Frost has played them were were only out-gained by 15 yards in one game and out-gained them by 11 in the other game.  So we are not out-classed by them by any means.  But they've finished better than we have.  So I don't think we're as far off as some want to think.

The individual games the past few years against Iowa were close but when the rubber hit the road in all three games Iowa turned their play up a notch while we wilted and lost. They were also a significantly better team than Nebraska outside of the individual games against NU. To beat them we are going to need to either be better than we're currently expected to be or play very, very well. Reasonable minds can disagree, but to me that qualifies as a likely loss. Same with Wisconsin. Those teams are currently better than us, and until we show we can play with them for four quarters I'm not calling those games winnable or toss-ups. 

 

[J-MAGIC]

These two games are the last two games of the regular season. There will be one hell of a lot of football played before then to get a feel as to where the teams are.  I understand maybe being a 7 point underdog right now (I would put it more at 3 points) because we really don't know how much our program has improved.  But, by the time they play and the point spread is more meaningful, that can change drastically.

@Mavric and  @Husker in WI  summed it up pretty well as to these two programs aren't light years ahead of us.

Yes, if the season starts and we're better than we're reasonably expected to be or Wisconsin or Iowa are worse than they're reasonably expected to be, they may be toss-ups! Based on the information and expectations we have right now, they're not.