Running Back for 2013

[carlfense]

I still don't get why you think the defense will be worse next year. The defense was really young in 2011 and really not very good to be honest. I don't care if we do lose 2 all-americans, if the defense is not better in 2012 I will be surprised and extremely disappointed.

We lost our best DT, our best LB, and our best CB . . . from an average defense . . . and you expect it to be better next year?

What are your reasons?

The same "best" DT was not healthy for almost all of last year and our "best" cb was healthy for less than half of last year.

So that leaves "one" great player to be replaced from last year's average defense. Lots of young talented coming on board and there's an excellent chance they'll play better than Thorell, Fisher, Cassidy, etc.

So they might be better than Thorell, Fisher, Cassidy, etc. Awesome. Hope you're right.

Now who (next year) is going to be as good or better than Crick, David, and Dennard?

I just don't see it. I expected our defense to be very good last year. It wasn't. I don't know why it will be better next year with the same supporting cast and the loss of every star. We'll see I guess.

 

[BLEED4BLACKSHIRTS]

I still don't get why you think the defense will be worse next year. The defense was really young in 2011 and really not very good to be honest. I don't care if we do lose 2 all-americans, if the defense is not better in 2012 I will be surprised and extremely disappointed.

We lost our best DT, our best LB, and our best CB . . . from an average defense . . . and you expect it to be better next year?

What are your reasons?

The same "best" DT was not healthy for almost all of last year and our "best" cb was healthy for less than half of last year.

So that leaves "one" great player to be replaced from last year's average defense. Lots of young talented coming on board and there's an excellent chance they'll play better than Thorell, Fisher, Cassidy, etc.

So they might be better than Thorell, Fisher, Cassidy, etc. Awesome. Hope you're right.

Now who (next year) is going to be as good or better than Crick, David, and Dennard?

I just don't see it. I expected our defense to be very good last year. It wasn't. I don't know why it will be better next year with the same supporting cast and the loss of every star. We'll see I guess.

Crick was hurt pretty much the whole first half before the pec finally tore.......Baker steps up to lead a solid young group with a bunch of depth

We lose David at LB, but overall the group will be better with Anderson coming in

We lose Dennard......I see Mo stepping right into his shoes and Andrew Green has a year of starting under his belt

Our defense will be fine

 

[carlfense]

Crick was hurt pretty much the whole first half before the pec finally tore.......Baker steps up to lead a solid young group with a bunch of depth

We lose David at LB, but overall the group will be better with Anderson coming in

We lose Dennard......I see Mo stepping right into his shoes and Andrew Green has a year of starting under his belt

Our defense will be fine

LB better?

Dennard easily replaced by Mo and Green?

Whoa. Replacing Crick I can agree with. The other parts . . . well . . . drink up.

 

[kchusker_chris]

Yeah I like how the addition of two guys who have never played at this level bring so much comfort to Husker nation. Sorry I'm just not convinced every JUCO we bring in will turn into the next David/Gomes. Aweful lot riding on these two.

 

[walksalone]

First off I am seeing an 8-5 or 7-6 season. With that in mind I can see us really making an effort to develop depth in games and not just practice.

I see us getting off to a 3-3 or 4-2 kinda start with losses coming in similar fashion as last year. With that I see pelini blowing up the depth chart trying to get a spark going.

What causes us to have such a bad record?

I'm still waiting for Jarvis to come back, and explain to me, how the season is going to go to hell in a handbasket before we get half way through the season....

 

[HuskerShark]

Crick was hurt pretty much the whole first half before the pec finally tore.......Baker steps up to lead a solid young group with a bunch of depth

We lose David at LB, but overall the group will be better with Anderson coming in

We lose Dennard......I see Mo stepping right into his shoes and Andrew Green has a year of starting under his belt

Our defense will be fine

LB better?

Dennard easily replaced by Mo and Green?

Whoa. Replacing Crick I can agree with. The other parts . . . well . . . drink up.

I will say this: losing Crick had absolutely zero negative impact on the performance of the D-Line. Toward the end of the year, you could see Steinkuhler having the occasional flash, so I am pretty convinced he will be better than Crick already. Also, Ankrah came on late in the year and Caveman (Eric Martin) looked more like an every-down D-End instead of just a 3rd-down DE. I'm absolutely not worried about the D-Line, especially with Rome, Guy, Peat Jr., Carter, Williams, and Randle adding depth.

There is reason to be concerned about Fonzo's position though, as well as Lavonte's. We saw what the defense looked like early in the year without Fonzo, and it wasn't good. Somebody is going to have to step up. Obviously Seisay is the leading candidate in everybody's mind, and there's also Jean-Baptiste. It will really help if we get Charles Jackson to campus. At LB, obviously there's no replacing a player like LaVonte but with Whaley and Compton both improving down the stretch and the praise around Santos, that looks like your likely top 3 LBs day 1. Then if Anderson can come in and be an impact player like expected, that will help, as well as if one of the incoming freshman LBs can step in.

The reason I say the defense will be better in 2012 is because it was very average or below average for all but a couple games in 2011, and there's no way it is any worse than it was in 2011.

 

[Treand3]

First off I am seeing an 8-5 or 7-6 season. With that in mind I can see us really making an effort to develop depth in games and not just practice.

I see us getting off to a 3-3 or 4-2 kinda start with losses coming in similar fashion as last year. With that I see pelini blowing up the depth chart trying to get a spark going.

What causes us to have such a bad record?

I'm still waiting for Jarvis to come back, and explain to me, how the season is going to go to hell in a handbasket before we get half way through the season....

Michigan, OSU, Wiscy, MSU.....PSU/Iowa/NW..... :dunno

 

[walksalone]

What causes us to have such a bad record?

I'm still waiting for Jarvis to come back, and explain to me, how the season is going to go to hell in a handbasket before we get half way through the season....

Michigan, OSU, Wiscy, MSU.....PSU/Iowa/NW..... :dunno

We will have played only 2 conference games up to the point I was talking about. Granted, both of those are a motherf*cker, but I think we can win one, and think that halfway through the season, we can be 5-1.

 

[Huskerlambs]

Oh, no, it's only February. I'm ready to go right now!

 

[Treand3]

What causes us to have such a bad record?

I'm still waiting for Jarvis to come back, and explain to me, how the season is going to go to hell in a handbasket before we get half way through the season....

Michigan, OSU, Wiscy, MSU.....PSU/Iowa/NW..... :dunno

We will have played only 2 conference games up to the point I was talking about. Granted, both of those are a motherf*cker, but I think we can win one, and think that halfway through the season, we can be 5-1.

Oh I'm with you, and I think you'll end up being accurate. I was truly being sarcastic.

 

[carlfense]

The reason I say the defense will be better in 2012 is because it was very average or below average for all but a couple games in 2011, and there's no way it is any worse than it was in 2011.

That's very shaky logic. The defense was average or below average in 2011 . . . we lost our 3 best players . . . and there is no way that it is worse this year? That's hope . . . not reason.

I'll have whatever you're having.

 

[kchusker_chris]

The reason I say the defense will be better in 2012 is because it was very average or below average for all but a couple games in 2011, and there's no way it is any worse than it was in 2011.

That's very shaky logic. The defense was average or below average in 2011 . . . we lost our 3 best players . . . and there is no way that it is worse this year? That's hope . . . not reason.

I'll have whatever you're having.

I'm kind of on board with Shark. I see what you're saying though, and your right...all I have to go on is hope. Last year every bit of logic told us we were going to have a strong defense and we got steamrolled...so I'm content w/ going the other direction this year since little is predictable about this team these days. If we are much worse we'll be looking at an 80ish ranked defense, with a tough schedule and an unproven offense. That is sounding 2007ish to me. IF this defense finishes in the 80's...we won't be canning Bo after a 9 win season...it will be after a 7 win season.

 

[BLEED4BLACKSHIRTS]

The reason I say the defense will be better in 2012 is because it was very average or below average for all but a couple games in 2011, and there's no way it is any worse than it was in 2011.

That's very shaky logic. The defense was average or below average in 2011 . . . we lost our 3 best players . . . and there is no way that it is worse this year? That's hope . . . not reason.

I'll have whatever you're having.

You also have to remember we had to prepare for 8 new conference opponents, while the other Big 10 schools only had to prepare for us. We now have a year under our belt and I'm betting BO is going to go to work this year.

 

[carlfense]

The reason I say the defense will be better in 2012 is because it was very average or below average for all but a couple games in 2011, and there's no way it is any worse than it was in 2011.

That's very shaky logic. The defense was average or below average in 2011 . . . we lost our 3 best players . . . and there is no way that it is worse this year? That's hope . . . not reason.

I'll have whatever you're having.

You also have to remember we had to prepare for 8 new conference opponents, while the other Big 10 schools only had to prepare for us. We now have a year under our belt and I'm betting BO is going to go to work this year.

That's a good point. We saw our conference opponents for the first time last year.

For what it's worth, I thought going into last season that our defense was going to be very, very, good. I based that on our star players and Bo's track record. I expect the 2012 defense to be similar or slightly worse than the 2011 defense. I certainly hope that you're right and that I'm wrong.

 

[carlfense]

The reason I say the defense will be better in 2012 is because it was very average or below average for all but a couple games in 2011, and there's no way it is any worse than it was in 2011.

That's very shaky logic. The defense was average or below average in 2011 . . . we lost our 3 best players . . . and there is no way that it is worse this year? That's hope . . . not reason.

I'll have whatever you're having.

I'm kind of on board with Shark. I see what you're saying though, and your right...all I have to go on is hope. Last year every bit of logic told us we were going to have a strong defense and we got steamrolled...so I'm content w/ going the other direction this year since little is predictable about this team these days. If we are much worse we'll be looking at an 80ish ranked defense, with a tough schedule and an unproven offense. That is sounding 2007ish to me. IF this defense finishes in the 80's...we won't be canning Bo after a 9 win season...it will be after a 7 win season.

I don't know about much worse. I expect similar or slightly worse. However, just wait . . . after the spring game I'll probably be pounding the kool aid.