Nebfanatic

Gerry with 7 TFL is impressive! Man he can fly up with run support. But agreed with Chris Jones. If he grades highly and the NFL is the right choice for him go for it, but our secondary is and will be lights out again next year if he returns. I would add to this a D-Line with some more experience next year will make the secondary even better. our whole defensive unit should be very salty if we don't have any early departures. This gives me confidence in 2017. The offense will be new and a question mark but this defense will be stout!

I would think so too. Both plays gained good yardage

11 wins by the time it's all wrapped up would be ideal. Would be the best win total in a lonnnnggg time

See, this is what I don't understand. We are supposed to feel good about going 9-3, just because the team was a dumpster fire last year? Bo and his staff got fired for repeatedly having 9-3 regular seasons, and falling short of expectations. So, why are we supposed to lower our expectations after Riley's terrible first year? Nobody is lowering expectations. Pelini had seven years to get the job done. Riley deserves the same as long as he keeps improving. 9-3 would be improvement from 6-7. If not this year, next year I would like to see us go to B1G title and within five years actually win one. Its a process that doesn't just happen overnight. As long as I see progress every year leading up to championship, Riley deserves our support. Riley has my support, but if NU were to not win the division this year, I would be thinking "Man, that was a huge opportunity missed" and I am sure Riley and his staff would be thinking the same thing. That's why I think Riley keeps pushing this team to get better. It's because he thinks he has a special group of kids who could get into the B1G championship game, and then who knows what could happen in that one game. I agree with this. While I think we have the guys to put together a very respectable team in 2017, we could very well take a step back. We control out own destiny this year. To be in this position headed into week 8 with this group of players you have to be thinking CCG or bust really

Why though? We lose some skill but we keep alot of talent on defense (if Chris Jones sticks around) and continue to develope a young but talented o line. Couple that with a nice stable of backs and this team could be good yet again next year

Because Bo never showed signs of progress. Regardless of whether or not it's to the point we'd like, 9-3 after 6-7 is progress. Progress leads to better results. Anyways, I've thought all season that Minnesota is going to be the biggest trap game. That game more than anything makes me see 9-3 as a possibility. So, what happens if NU goes 7-5 or 8-4 in 2017, which I think is very possible with how many key contributors on offense that are gone after this year. Is that still progress? Look, I am really enjoying this year so far, but it will be disappointing if NU doesn't go at least 10-2. I think our offense will be fine in 2017. If all that line talent we have brought in the last few years can materialize, our run game could be nasty

NFL and college are different worlds in this category. People talk about any given Saturday but there are much more distinct talent gaps between teams in college than in the pros. Level of parody in the NFL is far beyond what we have in college and in college the bottom teams are becoming more competitive. But in the NFL week in week out the team across from you is similarly talented.

Gerry with 7 TFL is impressive! Man he can fly up with run support. But agreed with Chris Jones. If he grades highly and the NFL is the right choice for him go for it, but our secondary is and will be lights out again next year if he returns.

Doesn't Tommy mostly throw with his upper body anyway? Seems to me he gets just as much power on bootleg passes as he does from the pocket, and even then he doesn't set his feet. Yes, but his footwork in the pocket is going to impact accuracy and how good the passes are. He went back to throwing off his back foot a few times on Saturday. That first deep shot to Reimers should have been a touchdown but Tommy was doing his best Michael Jordan impression when he threw it.

Alabama is the SEC team that is actually good. I'd think AtM is going to get blown out just like Tennessee did. NDSU is undefeated against the power 5 this decade. They are unbeatable!!! Edit: wow wrong thread. A&M has a good offense and pass rush, but they cannot hang with Bama if they are on. Hopefully we see another big win to move us up. Checking out for the night after this one lol

Speculating is the mother of all forums. I have no idea how injured Tommy is but I am speculating that he is hurting to a moderate degree. Why? Because his mobility yesterday was notably limited and he obviously limped at times. Also, not to much more than a week ago he was wearing boot and Riley made the comment that he wouldn't play had there been a game rather than a bye. And Tommy's checked out for a few series in at least one but maybe more games. How is it ever right for a team or an individual to play an obviously hurting player? I trust Riley to make the morally right decision but I would not be surprised to hear that Tommy sits this week. If we lose because the 2nd string QB can't cut it then so be it. We're not much of a team to begin with.There is a difference between playing hurt and playing injured. Its football. You are going to get dinged up during the course of the season, doesnt mean its wrong to play someone that is dinged up. Tommy would tell you the same thing. If he can go, he goes. ok what about Alonzo Moore? You could argue he was just dinged up but coaches sat him a few games. Sometimes toughing through things isn't the best option, even if your are hurt not injuredPerhaps Alonzos injury was affecting his play? From what I saw yesterday, Tommy was not affected by his ankle. He had good burst, was able to cut to avoid tackles and was able to escape pressure by running out of the pocket. You could say his throws were affected by the two interceptions but we have seen Tommy make those types of throws for the last four years so I cant really say with certainty it was because he was injured. Taylor Martinez on the other hand was injured and should have been out the last season he played. He had multiple things going on: high ankle sprain that never seemed to heal properly. Turf toe that never healed properly. It affected his play. If you look at that Kansas State game his freshman year in comparison to the games after the ankle injury, it is night and day. After every play he seemed to get up limping. He didnt have any burst or cutting ability. He ran straight into the tackle and stopped as the guy was hitting him. I dont think the right decision was made to play Martinez but that is in hindsight. Well you and I have differing opinions on how much Tommy was affected yesterday. If Tommy is 100% he should play but I'm just not so sure he is.

Speculating is the mother of all forums. I have no idea how injured Tommy is but I am speculating that he is hurting to a moderate degree. Why? Because his mobility yesterday was notably limited and he obviously limped at times. Also, not to much more than a week ago he was wearing boot and Riley made the comment that he wouldn't play had there been a game rather than a bye. And Tommy's checked out for a few series in at least one but maybe more games. How is it ever right for a team or an individual to play an obviously hurting player? I trust Riley to make the morally right decision but I would not be surprised to hear that Tommy sits this week. If we lose because the 2nd string QB can't cut it then so be it. We're not much of a team to begin with.There is a difference between playing hurt and playing injured. Its football. You are going to get dinged up during the course of the season, doesnt mean its wrong to play someone that is dinged up. Tommy would tell you the same thing. If he can go, he goes. ok what about Alonzo Moore? You could argue he was just dinged up but coaches sat him a few games. Sometimes toughing through things isn't the best option, even if your are hurt not injured

but if our top guys are hurt it changes things. It would be one thing if Tommy was 100%. I wold completely agree with you. But it was apparent in the game he was not 100% therefor you gotta judge. Where is he at? 75-85%? Is Ryker Fyfe as good as Tommy at 75%? If not is playing Tommy at 75% likely keeping him at 75% for the next game worth it? Will resting him for the week and preparing him for Wisky get him to 100%? These and 10 more questions come into play. This kid is hurting out there i would sure hope the coaches are asking all of them.

Speculating is the mother of all forums. I have no idea how injured Tommy is but I am speculating that he is hurting to a moderate degree. Why? Because his mobility yesterday was notably limited and he obviously limped at times. Also, not to much more than a week ago he was wearing boot and Riley made the comment that he wouldn't play had there been a game rather than a bye. And Tommy's checked out for a few series in at least one but maybe more games. How is it ever right for a team or an individual to play an obviously hurting player? I trust Riley to make the morally right decision but I would not be surprised to hear that Tommy sits this week. If we lose because the 2nd string QB can't cut it then so be it. We're not much of a team to begin with. exactly. If we lose the game because of a quarterback injury the game would still be close if Tommy was playing. Quarterback play also reflects the whole teams play. If the team is executing Fyfe should have no issue running this offense. If the team plays poorly Fyfe will probably have a terrible game. But the same things could be said for Tommy. Difference between the two in the latter situation could be win or a loss but if we play thathe badly against Purdue, we deserve to lose like we did last year. Armstrong should never be playing multiple games through a limiting injury. Finishing a game, or testing it for a game is one thing; letting it persist is another.

A&M is 6 I believe they play Bama

Wow...9-33 So, I think they need to call Ken Niamulato (Navy), Les Miles and P.J. Fleck. All would be great hires for them. Let's be honest, any hire for Purdue is likely to be an improvement. I don't view them as being in the market for the top 3 available coaches.....could be wrong. I just hope the team doesn't rally around the interim coach and play way over their heads this week. People are talking about voluntarily resting players, taking it easy, etc. Uh hello, McFly, Purdue beat us last year and we haven't exactly taken anybody out behind the woodshed. I don't think anyone is saying we should take it easy, but resting guys who are injured is a pretty common practice Exactly. If Riley plays Tommy against Purdue last season instead of resting him for Michigan State, I'm not sure we pull the upset the following week. oh no know we are definitely going to lose..this scenario happened last season!! But in all reality this is a great point, +1

Wow...9-33 So, I think they need to call Ken Niamulato (Navy), Les Miles and P.J. Fleck. All would be great hires for them. Let's be honest, any hire for Purdue is likely to be an improvement. I don't view them as being in the market for the top 3 available coaches.....could be wrong. I just hope the team doesn't rally around the interim coach and play way over their heads this week. People are talking about voluntarily resting players, taking it easy, etc. Uh hello, McFly, Purdue beat us last year and we haven't exactly taken anybody out behind the woodshed. I don't think anyone is saying we should take it easy, but resting guys who are injured is a pretty common practice

This! I think Fyfe, if he's gotta play, can fill out a game manager role very effectively. I don't think Tommy knows what a game manager is. Obviously he is a baller and wants to make the big play and that can be incredible for us. But as far as Fyfe is concerned, he can come in, make the short throws to the flat and across the middle efficiently, hand the ball off and take one shot a quarter to keep the defense honest. That game plan will win us the game against Purdue.

Or Tommy's inability to throw outlet passes is allowing them to pressure him every time.bet Ryker Fyfe could make those throws. Side note: I do think TA is by far the better overall player Yeah, but making those throws to get the pressure off you is meant to set you up for what you do well......see where this is going? Are we really comparing Armstrong with Fyfe? I can compare the two Arm strength- TA>RF Accuracy- TA<RF Running ability- TA>RF YOLO bombs- TA>RF Not sure if that last one is a negative or positive but I think Fyfe has strengths that can be utilized for a game plan as well. That game plan looks way different than Tommy's but I can assure you those throws can set up plays that Fyfe can execute as well. Good lord everyone acts like Ryker Fyfe is a waterboy we grabbed from the opposing sideline to be our backup. I want to make it clear I think Armstrong is the better player, but I have some faith that Fyfe does some things better than Armstrong. The sum of his parts is not equal to TA as a whole but some of his parts are a little better than some of TAs and I think those strengths could still be utilized to win games, albeit in a different way.

Or Tommy's inability to throw outlet passes is allowing them to pressure him every time. bet Ryker Fyfe could make those throws. Side note: I do think TA is by far the better overall player

thinking our backup may be as effective as our clearly hurt quarterback, and wanting to get our starter to 100% before we play the best defense in our division isn't complacency or over confidence. Armstrong looked terrible, I think Fyfe could play just as well as Armstrong did yesterday and without risk of Armstrong aggravating his injury. Why should this be shut down? Do we think bum ankle Tommy is leaps and bounds ahead of our backup and if we put Ryker in our offense will diminish into a unit that couldn't put up points against a defense made up entirely of marshmallow men? I think Armstrong mostly looked terrible because our O-line played terrible. Lots of plays were blown up at the LOS before they even got going. If we could rest anybody, I'd like to rest our four o-line starters with sprained ankles. I trust coaches to play the best available QB for the game. If that's Ryker Fyfe, that's fine with me. But I wouldn't just assume we can afford to rest our best player because we think Purdue isn't any good. see we mostly agree. I don't think we should sit Tommy just to sit him but if the ankle is bothering him I'd rather sit him down and be full go against Wisconsin than 75% for the next few weeks. Same goes for any guy on the team for that matter.

thinking our backup may be as effective as our clearly hurt quarterback, and wanting to get our starter to 100% before we play the best defense in our division isn't complacency or over confidence. Armstrong looked terrible, I think Fyfe could play just as well as Armstrong did yesterday and without risk of Armstrong aggravating his injury. Why should this be shut down? Do we think bum ankle Tommy is leaps and bounds ahead of our backup and if we put Ryker in our offense will diminish into a unit that couldn't put up points against a defense made up entirely of marshmallow men?

That is why they hire coaches and schedule practices. At the very least, let's not abandon ship until either of these teams actually beat Nebraska. I hate giving up two weeks before the actual kickoff, and there is still one opponent in between Nebraska and Wisconsin. I don't think it's "giving up". Our Oline needs to play better if we are going to beat those two teams. Anyone who is so bias that they don't believe that is sipping the kool-aid too much. Those are two of the better defenses in the nation. Yesterday's O doesn't beat Wisky and OSU. And no I havnt given up because I will be driving 11 hours one way to support the big red in Madison. but we didn't play Wisconsin yesterday and what we did did beat Indiana. Does Clemson's offensive performance yesterday win them the game against Louisville? No, but it was 2 different games, 2 different opponents, and the team responded differently in each situation. To think this offensive performance is indicative of future performances with the injuries we have is silly imoEdit: Nvrm. Too much kool-aid here. Knew shouldn't have posted. Guess we'll find out in two weeks, we'll find out on a lot of things. GBR! I'm not saying that the oline is good to go but if I remember it was a work in progress up until Michigan state game last year, started to gel and finished the year strong. So excuse me if I am optimistic that the players and coaches can improve and play well, I know it's such a shocker

How are we going to prove our aluminium, or steel, or copper or maybe bronze? I think you meant mettle. nope. We have the strongest metal of all of the metals. Everyone thinks our metal is of low quality, but in truth we are of the highest quality material, able to withstand any amount of stress

That is why they hire coaches and schedule practices. At the very least, let's not abandon ship until either of these teams actually beat Nebraska. I hate giving up two weeks before the actual kickoff, and there is still one opponent in between Nebraska and Wisconsin. I don't think it's "giving up". Our Oline needs to play better if we are going to beat those two teams. Anyone who is so bias that they don't believe that is sipping the kool-aid too much. Those are two of the better defenses in the nation. Yesterday's O doesn't beat Wisky and OSU. And no I havnt given up because I will be driving 11 hours one way to support the big red in Madison. but we didn't play Wisconsin yesterday and what we did did beat Indiana. Does Clemson's offensive performance yesterday win them the game against Louisville? No, but it was 2 different games, 2 different opponents, and the team responded differently in each situation. To think this offensive performance is indicative of future performances with the injuries we have is silly imo