bolshoifish

Michigan is a different team than most of the other B1G teams.. the spread type athletes they've recruited won't be able to beat up on our d-line. I see Robinson getting impatient and throwing some pics in the first half. If Nebraska can get anything going offensively in the first half, its over. If we go in at half tied, then I think we win in a dogfight. Both sides seem to have coaching staffs that make good changes at half.

I think it goes to overtime if Miller stays on the field. After that, I have no idea. It was amazing how much the OSU changed their game plan the minute Miller left. It seemed like they had a good run blocking line, why not continue to use it (at the very least to drain the clock and get your backup qb some feel for the game)

I put as much faith in that Michigan ranking as i do Texas's ranking last week. I think they are due for a hiccup against MSU. Their coaching is much improved though.. the changes at halftime really changed the course of that game NW. I was forced to listen to it on Sat. night since it appears that the entire state of Michigan will not broadcast anything OSU related.

Further, over half of the td's we've given up this year were due to Green or Evans getting beat. At least one, if not 2 of the OSU td's were on Green and Evans getting beat. SJB entered midway through the third quarter and help solidify that position. He doesn't need to be great, just not a sieve like our other corners. So, if SJB can play at all comparably against Denard and Cousins, I think we'll be in good shape.

Maybe I should rephrase this.. I think Washington is a better than or equal to all remaining teams on our schedule. So do most posters think that we would get beat by Washington if we played them now vs. in Sept?

Isn't calling somebody a fool specifically meant to be "an offence"?

About the bowl.. that is a distinct possibility. I do believe that if the B12 and B1G switched bowl match-ups then the B1G wouldn't get their arse kicked so much.

I was more worried in the beginning of the season about this game than I am now. Northwestern has a couple of good players, but I think their loses will start adversely affecting their performance. I must say, the Wisky loss may really help me out. I'll be in Lincoln for work the week of the NW game and without that loss.. I probably wouldn't of been able to afford tickets.

I have been extremely disappointed by the defense, but I think we are extremely undervalued right now. The espn BIG blog has us at 5th.. that is laughable. Who has Michigan and Michigan St beat? (The Michigan win over ND is an oddity of nature, so I am discounting it). As far as Illinois is concerned, if you think getting Pinkeled is bad.. then you really don't want to be Zook'led. Maybe his new assistants have changed things, but historically.. Zook will lose (badly). The only team that has any offense on the rest of the schedule is Michigan (just view the Iowa vs. Penn St. game). The rest of the schedule has our strength (offense) pitted against the other teams strength (defense) and our weakness (defense) pitted against their weakness (offense). In the end, I think our defense is better than their offenses (again, short of Michigan). I think the hardest games on our schedule are over.. Michigan is a house of cards.. people around here don't have the stomach for Marteniz.. Robinson is much more prone to mistakes. He just throws the ball up and hopes it is caught by his teammates (even more so than Mart.) I'm really not much of a kool-aid drinker.. if we were still in the B12 I would have a different opinion. There is only one team to fear in the B1G, and we already played them.

Just so I understand this correctly, if a highschool baseball player graduates from highschool and plays minor league ball the next year, we can critique. If he decides to grab a scholarship at a university, we cannot? If it is about being paid justly (they are paid in some form, albeit small), then much of the foundations of grad school are at question as well. Grad students are paid barely enough for room and board, yet are constantly critized and compared with their peers. Can we critique the job of grad assistants? They aren't paid much more than a player when one accounts for room and board, but somehow they get a "professional" tag vs. an "amatuer" tag. Just because the University decides they want all the money for themselves and thus makes the "amatuer" vs. "professional" distinction doesn't mean that I have to respect their smoke and mirrors. I hardly call an organization that nets over 60 mil per year (Texas) as running an amatuer sport.

He is a 20 year old kid. Give him a break. exactly! He is 20 yrs old. Not 16! Someone needs to tell him to be a man (maybe an unnamed coach from Okie State?), take your lumps like a grown up and stop acting like a kid who didn't get his way. All the people criticizing Taylor's presser...do you hold yourselves to a high level in the things you do? I see a kid who tries too hard. I see a kid who is way too hard on himself. I see a kid who probably beat himself up all saturday night and all sunday and has heard it from everyone and is now just tired. The kid plays his heart out. He played hurt for most of last year. In the 3rd quarter the kid didn't slide, he took on the tackler...he was still trying and I think he feels underappreciated and he is! Taylor is a fine athlete who has made some nice strides this offseason. We talked about those strides while we were winning. The kid is not the problem of this team it's the DEFENSE! Beck doesn't get into a shootout and force Taylor to play to his weaknesses if the defense at least slows down wisconsin. We continue to be balanced if the 3 guys in the secondary can figure out how to cover one wide reciever. We stick to our gameplan if the offense doesn't line up wrong on first down. Taylor threw a handful of bad passes. He also threw a handful of good ones. The difference was wisconsin was in the right spots to hurt us the most with the bad ones. Taylor is the least of my concerns coming out of this game. The defense stinks. Beck needs more experience and to be patient. The penalties need to stop. Taylor is not responsible for any of these. But he's right. He'll be blamed no matter what he does. That's someone who cares MORE about this team than anyone on this board. He can't win with the media or fans and he's sick of being the first person blamed for a loss. Yes, he does try hard; yes, he probably does feel bad. The same thing could be said if you were to promote an average high school qb to the qb of Nebraska. If it were common for a good qb to implode and throw 3 int. in 4 possesions, he wouldn't be catching any flak. People are upset because it is not the hallmark of a good qb, even a running one. This is not to condone sending a player facebook, twitter, or phone messages.. I also find it funny that people think it is "small" to discuss the failings of a "kid". If he was playing for a minor league baseball team at 20, would you still have problems discussing a poor game? There are plenty of skilled professionals that are 20 years old, i.e., mathematicians, musicians. Should they not be able to be reviewed?

At this point I would prefer that he had a different ugly and ineffective throwing motion than last year.. at least it would point to him working on it. It would be easier to accept the "he's still young" excuse if he seemed generally humbled by the fact he contributed significantly to a loss (e.g., Oklahoma). Instead he goes into this Me vs. World shell and acts like we don't see how great he is. Maybe he's different when not around reporters?

That string of 15 or so passes seems to use horrible logic.. almost like doubling your bet everytime you lose to recover your original bet. They want to pass to open the run. After the first interception, the logic becomes "I can't run since the pass is failing"?

I doubt that Beck went AWOL and just started calling plays at random. Does anybody know how the defense changed between the last touchdown and the first interception that caused Beck to go to the area of his gameplan that relied on a pro style QB? Further, maybe it is the weak play of our corners in practice that has them thinking Martinez can actually pass.

My favorite play was when Toon was lined up against Evans on a 3rd and approx. 5, and Wilson threw an inside slant (for a first down). Hmm.. I'm no Chryst, but even I could of called that play.

On the surface, I really thought the Pelini bros. were setting a trap. Playing a defensive style all season that specifically put pressure on the inexp. db's to get them battle ready and then bring out the real defensive game plan for Wisky. But deep down.. I should of known that type of diabolical behaviour only happens in a movie

After last night.. I wish Texas would of got him.

Rarely is a game plan at this level flawed (except if your name is Cosgrove). Most failings are always because the game plan didn't work due to lack of execution. A good coach realizes what his players can execute and ensures the game plan unfairly exceed this limit. I think Bo has been excellent at this in the last several years, but this year he seems to continually ask his players to do more than their talent/experience can actually cover. Maybe he's thinking towards next year, maybe not, but this year (our inaugural B1G season) is a bad time to look towards next year.

It's really starting to put the calmness of Pelini in perspective. It seems to me that either he found a Zen center in Lincoln, or he realizes there are going to be a lot of growing pains this year and has partially written it off.

It will be interesting to see how Evans turns out. If he does have the talent and it is just an experience issue, well.. it is now an experience and confidence issues. I don't recall ever seeing any player continually singled out and beaten down like he has. I hope he gets a short memory when it comes to getting burned.

It looked to me that Chryst was very effective at isolating the inexperienced spots on our defense. For instance, the touchdown Stafford let by looked to be designed at exactly that: make Stafford choose between several options, knowing that he will more than likely choose wrong. Not every good defense needs lock down corners and safeties. Is it me, or are the Pelini's being stubborn by playing a defensive style that doesn't give the inexperienced players any support. Leaving them on an island, per se? Wouldn't most defensive coordinators attempt to steer most plays to the experienced players by giving the inexp. players some support? Lastly, why the Evans matched up against Toon at all? Is that all opposing teams have to do to get their star reciever uncovered... put them on the opposite side of our all american?