HuskerNation1

While I'm not fully certain a 1-loss MSU team would make it in (depends on what happens to the other teams), you make a good point about preseason presumptions and why polls early in the season really do matter. Perhaps this new playoff committee will not be swayed by the polls, but if a team starts out in the top 10 and consistently receives great praise, when they do lose, they won't drop too far which leaves them in the hunt all season. The only way Nebraska would make a playoff is to be undefeated.

I agree that defense will be important, but at the end of the day, if NU can limit turnovers and dumb penalties, they will win. If the defense can create turnovers and win the turnover margin by +2 or more, I think NU might surprise some folks. This team (thus far) has a swagger and quiet confidence, and is playing much cleaner football than any other time in Pelini's tenure. The team also has good balance to it. In Pelini's early years, we had a top national defense, but no offense. Then we made strides in offense while the defense regressed. Now the offense is superb, the defense is pretty good, and special teams have done really well thus far. I think MSU is a really strong team, but I like our chances.

The SEC bias is showing yet again with this week's polls. I'm not saying they are not a strong conference, but they definitely are getting the benefit of the doubt. Just take Georgia as a prime example. This week they are ranked 12th and 13th, while Nebraska is 17th and 19th. Georgia has one loss to South Carolina, who has two losses, including one to Missouri, who lost to Indiana at home (aren't they in the Big Ten?). Georgia also needed to comeback yesterday to be Tennessee at home, and on top of that, they have many returning players from last year's team that we beat in the bowl game. This is just one example of the strong SEC bias that continue to permeate the polls. It's not to say that there aren't good teams in the SEC that are deserving of a high-ranking, but I'm not buying 7 teams in the top 15 at all.

I think Tommy is doing well overall for a sophomore, but I do think he needs to tone down his cockiness a bit. I like our guys to have swagger, but he was a bit overexcited on a couple of plays yesterday against a lower division team. I think he just needs to let the plays speak for themselves.

I'm not a Bo defender as is evident from prior posts, but I have to say I like what I saw from him in the post-game presser. His anger was directed at himself, the offsensive coach (Beck), and the players for making dumb plays (or a lack thereof), and he did not transfer his anger to the media/fans. He seems to have more composure and has grown as the chief executive of this team. While today's win may feel bad, it should help this team in the long run for a few reasons. 1. Early in the game I felt like Tommy and others were a bit too cocky/confident, and they need to learn to play the game without all the showmanship. I think this should humble Tommy. 2. The O-line still has a lot of work to do. 3. Defensively this team is not getting turnovers and needs multiple guys to step up. 4. Special teams was the standout area today, with the punter and kicker both looking sharp. Kudos to them and the entire special teams unit.

It sounds like McClain is pretty close to his parents which is cool. Sometimes recruits are just not ready to make their own decisions and are still out to please the parents. Let's hope they don't regret pressuring him to go somewhere his heart was not set on.

If you put yourself in his shoes, this past week or so has been a complete whirlwind. He was locked in on FSU, then that got completely taken away from him. Then NU and SC have come at him hard, and I'm sure it's a tough decision. We all feel pretty confident that NU is a great place to be, and let's hope he agrees.

Brown has kind of just faded in the background. Any chance there is a surprise and he picks NU?

Blake-If your parents are looking at any forum, please have them know this. I am a parent, and grew up in another state and had the pleasure of living in Lincoln for 3 years and raising my kids there. You will be hard pressed to find another city as nice as Lincoln with so much to offer. The citizens there are all around good people, the town is booming, and the school is thriving too. Plus, with BTN, anyone in your family will be able to see just about every game you play in.

I'm not always one to go by just the rankings I guess. Many times those stars are not accurate, or there are many 3-star players performing like 4-plus, and some 4-stars performing like 3s. I just think that we got the right talent in the most important areas this year...the O and D-line, and for that alone, I think it's one of his better classes.

In the past from what Bo has stated he tends to lay off guys who may have already committed to another school as he felt that was disrespectful. But I think given other teams have poached our recruits before, this year he's been more aggressive in poaching back. It's not going overboard, but courting other players much more aggressively on coming to Nebraska. I also think he's had a better overall strategy with the entire coaching staff of visiting with many on the staff and keeping in contact as much as possible. What I really like moving forward is that he's got coaches established in several parts of the country, including outside of the 500 mile radius. We have a good setup in Louisiana, and are building some networks in Georgia and Florida. Closer to home, we are hitting KC hard and Chicago too.

Congrats to this coaching staff on a great 2014 class. Not only does this appear to be one of Bo's best classes to date, it also shows that Bo and his team were willing to change their approach this year and be much more aggressive in going after kids, even those that may have previously given a commitment to another team. That is how the recruiting game works, and how the recruiting battles are won and lost, and I think this year's class will position Nebraska very nicely in the future.

Welcome to Husker Nation Blake! You will truly love the city of Lincoln and the University of Nebraska!

If it's known to be ASU by our coaching staff, are we seeking other Cornerbacks to replace Brown? No. The staff told Deion Hallmon (another CB recently considering Nebraska) that they will not take any additional DBs in this class after Jones committed. This was a day after Brown told ASU and Nebraska staffs about his silent commitment (which he will make public on NSD). Hmm...but does that mean that Hallmon was told we are done with DBs because we are counting on Brown filling it? I'm not sure how many CBs were were targeting to begin with, but right now it looks like we only have Mosely and Jones. It would be nice to have a third!

Wow, this would make up for our 2 decommits and then some. I think the most difficult aspect of recruiting to Nebraska is the preconceived notions that most people have about the city/state. Once you get there, it's unbelievable. Very family oriented, great campus and setup being located near downtown, booming economy. If Willis is at all interested in sticking close with his Edna Karr buddies, he should make a trip up to Lincoln and get on campus. I enjoyed my 3 years in Lincoln and would love to be able to move back there if my job moves me back!

Let's get this guy on campus!

If it's known to be ASU by our coaching staff, are we seeking other Cornerbacks to replace Brown?

They are saying 23-25 this year. We have 22 and I hope we have Brown & Frison. Maybe a DE! Yes, I'd like to see at least one more defensive lineman, maybe two. Not sure if that is in the cards though. Is Tubman still an option? And what are the odds on Bronson?

Wow, another great pickup for the offensive side. Let's hope we can get a couple more big names on defense after the 2 decommits, and this will be one of Bo's better classes.

What's the difference as far as NU is concerned? He's not coming here and was one of the few potential difference makers in the class. With Harrison having a strong likelihood of going MLB, this is looking like a historically weak class. Totally agree here. Not saying our coaching staff did anything wrong here, but we've lost 2 big recruits in a matter of days. Unless they can finish strong, I agree this will be a pretty weak class. Clinkscales was supposed to come in and provide some immediate lift too.

We're still recruiting Flowers and Gerhart, doubt we can get either one to flip at this point. And we are sitting VERY good some some real big names in 2015. Clinksales was supposed to come in and provide immediate help next year. We need to improve this 2014 class soon....had two big names decommit in the past few days.

I apologize if this has already been posted, but it looks like Stoops made it clear again what he thinks about the SEC, and I love it. http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/bob-stoops-play-anybody-whether-sec-anyone-else-234057513--ncaaf.html

I agree...that was not pass interference when OSU returned the TD. Also, I did see quite a bit of holding and intereference one OSU's throw to the end zone before the fumble that ended the game, yet no call there.

I agree, but I think with most specialists like kickers or punters, it's often more about mental toughness than skill. I'm just wondering if Foltz has the mental toughness to consistently kick well under pressure.

We've been fortunate to have great punters for many years, so now that we have an average at best punter, it feels like an area we may want to upgrade. Do we have any new punters coming in next year? Given how much emphasis we'll be placed on defense next year, it will be good to have a great punter than can pin the opposition deep for our defense to get after.