'SkersRule

I think that's the 64,000 dollar question. Just exactly how much impact did the circumstances of Southern Miss affect our DL's ability to showcase improvement? I will say this though: You're absolutely right no one will ever as of yet confuse our DL with what Alabama has. That DL is on a whole other level of awesome.

I think that some of our fans, when it comes to recruiting, simply have unrealistic expectations. Nebraska is probably never going to consistently have top five rated classes. Now if we win a conference and national title then maybe our recruiting targets might get the benefit of the doubt and automatically bumped to a 4 or 5 star once they commit. Because that certainly happens frequently with LSU, Alabama, USC, Texas, etc. But for now, we have realize that we'll get the occassional top five at his position player: Steiny, Jackson, Rose (the transfer from Auburn), Green (the RB who transferred out) etc and the rest will be solid 3 stars. But I'm not worried because I'll take a team of high potential 3 stars who work hard, take to the coaching, and give maximum effort on every snap over a roster full of 4 and 5 star selfish prima donnas.

During the game against Southern Miss commentator Ed Cunningham, who most of the time I find to be incredibly whiny and insufferable, said something about our recruiting that really struck home. He said [paraphrasing]: I just wish that those fans of ours who constantly bemoan our recruiting would simply stop and consider the comments Ed made and take them to heart. Despite all our obstacles, Bo and the rest our coaches work incredibly hard at recruiting. Nebraska, even for the tremendous success we've had, is still an incredibly hard sell to kid who grew up watching SEC football, Texas, or USC.

The missed tackles are definitely a legitimate cause for concern. However, our front four had, I heard, 11 tackles for loss which was definitely an improvement over last season. I find it interesting that after one game, you're resigned to the fact that there won't be any further improvement. Great teams, usually, don't start out great. They start out good and over the course of the season they arrive at great. It's a process. I think we're, right now, seeing the genesis of Nebraska's true rebirth onto the national scene.

Taylor's 26-34 says hello. That's 74.5% for those of you keeping score at home. Now the question obviously is: can he maintain that over the course of the season? I think if he stays the course and continues to work on and perfect his footwork and mechanics then I see absolutely no reason whatsoever why Taylor can't be a 70% passer this season. FYI: 26 of 34 is 76.5% So it is...

Bucky, please elaborate. Please don't.

I just +1'd you...merry christmas.

Taylor's 26-34 says hello. That's 74.5% for those of you keeping score at home. Now the question obviously is: can he maintain that over the course of the season? I think if he stays the course and continues to work on and perfect his footwork and mechanics then I see absolutely no reason whatsoever why Taylor can't be a 70% passer this season.

I almost feel sorry for you guys because I truly wanted Michigan to beat Alabama. Gawd SEC fans are the most obnoxious a-holes.

You do realize that Southern Miss: a) Had a grand total of 260 offensive yards, b) Scored 13 points on offense, c)Had a brand new coaching staff and Nebraska had absolutely no film to study to learn any of their tendencies, d) Kept switching QB's each of whom had a different skill set, and e) Is a solid team that always plays hard for 4 quarters? Of course you do, what am I thinking?

My thought? A thread about Alabama doesn't belong on the main football page of a Nebraska site.

I think you hit the nail on the head.

And the Eagles had a whopping 260 total yards. Now it is slightly concerning that we gave up 185 yards on the ground. However, that yardage came on 47 attempts for a 3.9 yard per carry average. And the missed tackles. Our defense makes the tackle consistently and they probably wouldn't have even had 100 yards rushing. UCLA will be a very good test.

Whaley had a pretty bad game I agree. Every player on defense missed tackles on at least half the snaps and there was at least one play where Whaley was absolutely torched in pass coverage. Lucky for us the pass was if I recall underthrown otherwise that So Miss receiver waltzes into the end zone and I think would have made the score 21-21 at that point. Not sure though. I'd have to go back and see that particular segment of the game again to get the exact specifics right.

I don't know but what we saw today is exactly what we need to keep those running lanes open. In the past two years teams have been able to roll the dice and stuff the box to shut down the running game because they figured Martinez couldn't beat them with his arm. Well Taylor showed that this year he's a little different. And it was really interesting to listen to the national pundits, especially ESPN's Jesse Palmer, who commented after the game that he was extremely impressed about how much Taylor had improved his footwork and overall mechanics. Now Taylor simply needs to just keep doing it the right way.

Our offense cranked out 632 total yards while our defense gave up a grand total of 260 yards and 13 points. So "we" don't suck. You on the other hand.....

Yep. It'll eventually be another tactic to slow down up-tempo offenses.

Maybe I'll just have a V-8 instead.

I believe the refs screwed Vandy with that missed pass interference call. I didn't catch that part. There were a few questionable calls in the game. I don't see how they could possibly blow the call on a blatant pass interference like that. There's a video of the play in this article. LINK Bajesus!!! Clearly a PI Oh that's nothing. Go back to the Capital One Bowl when a South Carolina player (a TE if I remember right) came off the line, blocked (meaning picked) a Nebraska defender allowing the Gamebirds to score a TD. No call there either. Face it, to go undefeated in college football you need a certain measure of crooked officiating. This is a concept that SEC schools and Texas have down to an exact science.

I live in Boise... And I thought about going to the Hooters on Franklin to watch the game. Then I realized that I have a 64" hi-def tv with a Directv HD receiver, a fridge stocked full of beverages and a cell phone to order food if I feel so inclined. So why would I waste my time going to Hooters?

I thought Brion was pronounced as Hematayala Netanyahoo. But that's just me.

That's 3...can't you count? j/k

LMAO. You obviously never watched the games. Taylor, despite his funky mechanics and throwing motion, more often than not hit his WRs right in the hands with passes and they dropped it. Someone calculated it out that if Nebraska's WRs had simply made 10 more catches (over the course of a 12 game regular season) that Taylor would have been a 60% passer. Nebraska has problems on offense and Taylor is NOT one of them. In fact, if everyone on our offense played as hard as Taylor and Rex we'd already have won a conference and national title by now.

I absolutely LOVE this band. Their live shows are superb. Bump.