gossamorharpy

Lol.. bro they were 11th. Let’s not act like they’re 30th and so far from the top 10. you make no sense- first you make bogus claims about Ohio state and then bogus claims about Miami. You just need to realize that we are at a significant disadvantage recruiting wise simply because the lack of population around us. it has zero to do with Lincoln and those schools have zero to do with the town/city itself. It’s all a numbers game and those schools have a significantly greater population within 500 miles of campus than we do.

I'm genuinely curious what input elevated his score so high given we dont really get turnovers and we dont sack the qb at that great of a rate.

Lol, just stop man, they just posted the 11th ranked recruiting class last year- comprised of a couple 5 star guys and more 4 star guys than we have, and had the 16th ranked class the year before. Not to mention, they got a pretty high profile transfer at qb that woulda been our starting qb easily of adrian. Just because their coaching staff cant put it together doesnt mean theyre not getting their fair share of talent. Theyre getting way more than we are because its literally way more accessible right in their backyard. Any more statements u wanna throw out there that are easily disproven by facts and a quick google search?

You literally said: "They have about 30 kids on their roster from OH and a good 10 of them are K or punters or LS". Perhaps my reading comprehension misinterpreted this but to me it came off as indirectly saying columbus isnt desirable and ohio state is recruiting all of their guys nationwide simply becasue theyre good. Yes, theyre able to attract top guys from anywhere given success, but they also have a consistent foundation of being able to swoop up 5+ guys year in and year out that are some of the best players in the country right in there backyard. While cincinnati has had some solid years, are you really trying to make the case that a non power 5 school should be on the same level talent attraction wise as the name brand program in the state? Sure winning always helps, but you're acting as if its reasonable to think nebraska can be ohio state if we just won some more games. While i would never say never, the odds are incredibly stacked against us because its a numbers game at the end of the day and programs like ohio state have SO MUCH MORE talent at their disposal near their campus. Sure, its never a sure thing, look at texas struggling right now despite all the talent in their backyard. But sure is ahelluva lot easier to get to the top and consistently stay there when you have a talent rich pipeline right in your backyard- something that doesnt exist at the moment for us and isnt going to change any time soon when you look at the current population decline of the midwest states and the fact that we really dont have any major metro areas near campus outside of Omaha/lincoln, kansas city, denver etc... all of which besides omaha/lincoln have P5 schools closer and others that are also going for the same talent. Many on this thread seem to want to talk about whether lincoln can be a desirable place or not. I think thats completely missing the point that oftentimes kids dont want to travel THAT far away from home unless they're playing for a saban/dabo of the world and given all schools in the top 25 get tv exposure proximity to recruits is key. We're seeing an upward trend as omaha continues to grow and the players coming out of the whole metro region- winning more would probably increase our liklihood of keeping them in state, but even with the recent impressive talent it is still a far cry from what ohio state has had at its disposal for decades

Well you can make just random statements like that or you could look at their most recent recruiting class and come to find that they signed the recruits below who all have 1 thing in common- theyre all from ohio. The #4 recruit in the nation (D lineman) The #52 recruit in the nation (D Lineman) The #86 recruit in the nation (LB) The #98 recruit in the nation (WR) The #123 recruit in the nation (OL) and the #411 recruit in the nation (S) But hey, these are just facts and you're probably right, they only get kickers and walk ons from ohio meanwhile all the actual good players are from elsewhere. Last time I checked, nebraska as a state doesnt come close to putting up this kind of talent. We celebrated having T Fidone who was rated anywhere from like 40-100 on recruiting ranking nationally depending on what service.... I guess totally the same as the list above?! AND if you really wanna expand FACTS, take a look at the 500 mile radius we love to hype here- you'll find ohio state also has talent rich states such as pennsylvania and some east coast states that have way more ppl that we do nearby. But again, these are just facts, let's roll with those baseless assumptions baby, its a 3 day weekend, F IT!!!!

Key difference here is ohio st is the football powerhouse ina state which is prolly #4 in producing solid talent behind texas, florida and ca... maybe theres a state im forgetting but between cleveland, cinci, and columbus (which i think is around like 800k ppl?), those are 3 major cities along with all of the smaller towns where football is life. The ironic part is the explosive growth of the omaha metro area over the past decade or 2 is actually turning nebraska into a state with some solid recruits more consistently... at the end of the day its a population game, we just havent been good enough to capitalize and protect all the instate guys, particularly in this cycle and the next few

This whole learn a culture of winning thing is mostly a load of BS in my opinion. That's an end result, a product of the input. We will never instill a "winning culture" or "learn how to win" if we don't nail the basics. You know what leads to winning football and how I feel we grade out in the ()? A center who doesnt have bad snaps 20% of the freaking time some games (lacking) An o line that can either protect the pocket or move the line for the run game (or better yet shades of both) (lacking) An offensive play caller that has a sound game plan for the first quarter of football, not just the first drive (lacking) A QB who can make fundamental throws the offense demands consistently, early, and often (all of this has been lacking) An offense that can score 7, not 3, in the redzone (non-existent) An identity is too generic, how about an offense with a decided edge in a facet or two of the game that the opposing D coord absolutely has to limit otherwise it'll be a long game (non-existent today, somewhat had it in 2018 with oz stanly and JD but really been non existent since ameer left) A defense who not only limits points, but causes turnovers (non-existent for close to 10 years) A defense that can pressure the qb rushing 4 most of the time, maybe 5 and not require exotic blitz packages that leaves a secondary exposed in key downs (non-existent for close to 7-8 years now) A defense that has "a guy" that an opposing o coord and o line need to either double team (if a d lineman) or completely ignore and play on one side of the field (legit LB/CB/S) Special teams that can execute the plays that are gimmes; ie makable FGs, when punting change the field positioning in a meaningful way, and kickoff coverage that isnt an utter disaster (non-existent for 5-6 years now) Winning requires solid recruits, solid recruits=more winning, tough to get more without building the foundation first. There are diamonds in the rough out there that can catapult a team to NC consideration if everything aligns (Suh for instance, was a pretty good example of having the best guy in football when many overlooked him out of HS, didnt have the offense tho).... We will most likely never be a clemson or bama like we were in the 90s unless Frosty really goes on a run and brings in some higher caliber assistants. But we can def make a run and be top 10 and on the fringe if we can establish most, if not all, of the above and then luck out with some diamonds in the rough here and there.

I'm surprised scott is the odds on fav here... potential for sure, and limited carries last year but i didnt see many instances where he's for sure got #1 back written all over him. Im split between manning and toure, i think we feast on illinois- new coach and completely different scheme and think we have some big plays to give us some irrational confidence to start the year. Besides, frosty for whatever reason has seemed opposed to ramming it in the endzone within the 5-10 and instead opps for martinez to do it or some kind of horizontal running play. perhaps he has the backs now but i like that WR potential if im laying money!

i like turtles

i mean 2017 auburn took out bama, and their only losses on the year before the bowl game was to clemson (14-6), lsu (27-23) and georgia in the sec title game... yet bama made the playoff and ended up winning the title... pretty egregious a team couldnt even earn the right to win their conference yet wins the natty

Not arguing they're not the 2 top programs, pretty clear they're a step ahead. That being said, anything can happen in one game and if they're truly the best and a cut above then they should have no issue getting through an 8 or 12 or 16 team playoff to end it. If anything it adds credibility to their resume and helps some of the bs scheduling differences (SEC never really plays a true tough road game, seemingly always neutral site somewhere in the south, for instance) I think what's flawed, to me, is saying there are 5 equal major conferences yet the system in place will always leave the champ of that conf looking on the outside, possibly 2 when notre dame has a solid year. That equation is broken from day 1- might as well just consolidate to 4 major conferences if were keeping it at 4

That would be cool too, as far as im concerned, more high impact games in december and January is a major plus. The skeptics say it waters down the season as it devalues each week. I disagree with this as well and would argue it actually expands more meaningful games for conf championships, division winners, etc that previously were meaningless because a pac 12 champ, for instance, might be ranked 10th with zero upside to play for anything else.

You missed my point entirely. The other poster referenced the transfer portal being part of the blame for the lack of parity... I disagree with this and would rather point to this flawed system contributing in a much greater fashion to the lack of parity. I'm not saying abolish the playoff, rather it needs to be expanded because pencilling in alabama and clemson in each year as long as they only have 1 loss is just a flawed system. Some of these years they didnt even need to win their own division in their conference, yet somehow get a pass to be in the top 4? Make the playoffs 8 teams with conf champs and the next 3 best in so some of these teams actually have to beat other top notch teams to win it all. Its not really a 4 team playoff when saban and dabo have a guaranteed spot... thats a 2 team playoff for the other 3 P5 conferences and Notre dame to fight for with the 2 other auto slated in. I tire of all the transfer portal b!^@hing on this board. Player transfers have been around for decades, sure its an easier process now but lets not pretend its directly led to any kind of massive shifts in the sport that people love to doom and gloom about.

The 4 team playoff system is a bigger cause of the same teams winning it every year than the transfer portal is. I have yet to really see any of our transfers end of up at a school of consequence and I think there are plenty of cases where the grass isn't always greener with tons of student athletes still sitting in the portal without big name teams jumping at them. I'd rather see an alteration to post season play that doesnt automatically exclude the champion of one of the so called equal power 5 confefences, possibly 2 of them if Notre dame is solid on any given year. we prolly could have won 6-7 tites in the 90s under the current system where it literally gives the big brand progrums an opportunity to slip up once and still get in over other teams due to perception and stature of the school name.

No arguments here, ireland is awesome. So awesome i dont need a husker game to compel me to go there, id rather just do an ireland trek and also have a lincoln/chicago game day in the fall !

Perhaps I am in the minority here but this whole obsession with a game in ireland just seems to dumb to me. The only positive is this game is played super early on the schedule so it will be the only game on during that date as opposed to all other teams kicking off the weekend after. That being said, I'd be shocked if that many college football fans are going to say, wow a game in ireland, im gonna tune into this. The game this year was part of the reason why we were faced with the minimal home game situation early on. At least this game i think takes the place of a road game. I feel like an actual road game at northwestern where perhaps recruits considering us could actually go to the game would be more beneficial than playing a game in a country that gives 2 s#!ts about american football.

I hope this is an indicator a #1 and #2 back have clearly emerged post spring ball and led to this decision to transfer. Best of luck to the kid

I think our perception on a 6-6 season is highly dependent on how competitive we are in those losses. For instance, if we're 6-6 and that includes getting our asses kicked by both oklahoma and ohio state like 60-10, gonna be pretty f'n depressed. If we're 6-6 and those 2 games are more respectable- like a 38-24 loss to both, and we have some nice wins in the 6, then ill be feeling pretty damn good. Couple things I want to see this year regardless of record: Win a couple games where we actually can play depth in the 4th. When the hell was the last time we had a string of conference games where we could sit martinez and 2nd stringers get some run because we're up 35-10/35-14 with 10 to play? Years Just play respectable ball against for sure losses (oklahoma and osu). The oklahoma game will be national tv, ohio st could be a nice network game if we're over 500. I dont want to tune in again and the game is already over at 5:15 pacific time because they scored and martinez throws a pick 2 plays later to make it 14-0. Not saying Im expecting a close game or for us to win, but just give me a reason to tune into the 4th for a change

Who are we picking in a coaching match up here. Coach 1: The love child spawned from one night gone wrong between all of the coaches over the past 20 years who has the recruiting chops of Billy C, the drinking proclivity of franky s, the defensive chops and upside/downside of bo's temper in motivating his team but a being a loose cannon the sidelines along with bo's staff's proclivity of indulging in the devil's dandruff with booster wive's, sprinkled on top with frostys allure and hometown ties, all of this stirred together with rileys mr rodgers routine which is endearing to the fans. or Coach 2- tom osborne

Not to tear down pelinis reign too much as he did post 9 wins, BUT, gotta admit, some of those seasons we were pretty damn lucky in close games. His 9 wins look great surface level and way better than today, but hot damn a lot of those couldve very easily gone the other way... coupled with the fact he always shat the bed on the big stage, might be more like 8-9 years we've collectively sucked a$$. Really cant honestly say I've been super proud of a team we've fielded since the back to back years of Suh's ending and first year of Taylor... if only that offense coulda played with Suh's defense... i love living in the past baabbyyyyyyyy

Can we all just agree we've collectively sucked a$$ the past 5 years and no one is content with where we're at?

This take seems to be a bit unfair to other teams who have beaten us, consistently, in recent years. You're telling me iowa emabrassing us for 6 years straight after Thanksgiving is all due to our incompetence and nothing to do with them? The fact that they've placed far more players in the NFL, a pretty strong correlation of team success in college, than we have has nothing do with this drought against them? You're telling me Northwestern, who continually plays sound football against everyone most years, and has gotten the better end of the deal against us is because of self inflicted wounds and nothing they do? I guess them having stud OL drafted in the 1st round is really meaningless, meanwhile we're celebrating finally having an O line drafted in the 5th round- naw us losing close games has nothing to do with them rather what we didnt do. You're telling me Wisconsin, who does the same thing year and year out, yet we're unable to overcome it, year in and year out, is because we shoot ourselves in the foot and nothing they do? You're also telling me that we've out recruited other teams- yet fail to acknowledge that many of our top recruits have left for various reasons, still means we have a talent advantage? You're telling me minnesota running right over us, in consecutive years has nothing do with them having stud at RB and a better defined identity, rather, we just didnt show up and theyre lucky we didnt run up 50 on them? I think there's a fine balance between controlling what you can control and taking ownership at the self inflicted pitfalls, which there are many... but to say that other progrums in the west in particular dont deserve credit for kicking our a$$ these past 5 years is just disrespectful and goes right back to our s#!tty perception in this conference that we think we're better than most and holding on to the glory days. Frankly, im over the whole they're lucky we shoot ourselves in the foot take- its a f'n weak a$$ excuse that belittles the teams that have consistently beaten us. At some point you look in the mirror and have to realize, maybe its not just us shooting ourselves in the foot is to blame- rather we've been a progrum devoid of game changing talent for quite some time now and other progrums are simply putting better products on the field year in and year out.

I mean 7-5 is what I’d put money on more so than 8-4. Well prolly have the typical wtf game against one of those Purdue, Michigan state or Illinois. But hey there’s enough f’n negativity on this board and life in general to bring a glass half full perspective. I’m optimistic against northwestern and minny. We shoulda beaten northwestern this year and were due to not embarrass ourselves against minny for once. I think we are winning one of the Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan... that’s how we arrive at 8-4... While a lot needs to go into it, it’s possible if: 1. our defense is a top 3 defense in the conference (possible) 2. Our special teams and field position game isn’t embarrassing 3. offense has more consistency and red zone success

Ill, Purdue msu qualify for can’t lose for me. If they stumble against one of these 3 it’s a major disappointment in year 4, imho. for .500 and an ok season we only need 1 of UM, NW, Iowa, minn and wiscy. we need 2 for a needed rebound and 7-5 would be nice given how tough the schedule is. I think we’re winning 3 of those

We’re f’n bowling this year for 5 reasons: 1. frosty goes Friday night lights style with jurgens and has been doing weird drills with him to improve his inexcusable snapping issues. Just like that drunk dad taping his sons hands in front of that smoke show and humiliating him. 2. We finally wake the f#&% up and realize having a 5’6 guy who isn’t a burner as our best player isn’t a great f#&%ing idea at either the running back or receiver position. While some question marks, I think stepp is exactly what we need particularly in the red zone 3. I’m really looking forward to this defense. Particularly if ty Robinson develops further and we actually have a dude to f#&%ing wreck some offenses along with all the returning vets and younger guys who are now ready. 4. our offense has to be more spread out more evenly now that we’re not forcing touches into one guy. While unproven, there’s potential weapons at wide out and we should 100% have 2 TE formations the majority of the time while on offense 5. this inept bull s#!t has to change at some point, right? While frosty should be at a better place record wise, he’s also due to win some of these close games that have not gone our way. here’s how I break it down: Most likely Wins- (I think we go 5-1 out of this group) illinois buffalo Michigan state Northwestern purdue so lou toss ups (I think we go 2-2, 3-1 would be REAL NICE) iowa wisconsin michigan minnesota Just keep it f#&%ing close going into half: (0-2.. if we go 1-1 we all are riding high) osu oklanoma realistically that’s 7-5... now of course I’m drunk on some kool aid like no other and not factoring in the game we no show- so even 6-6 we bowling babbyyyyy