Husker in WI

A blindside block negating a kick return touchdown, leading to a complete meltdown in that thread. You heard it here first!

There is a difference between being low on the WR depth chart and being left off completely. I'm sure all 9 listed and more will play, but I think it is safe to assume those are the top 9 right now.

I'd consider the entire d-line 2-deep startes. I'd bet the second wave of guys will play just as much as the starters, but you might as well roll the Davis's out there together so they can feed off of each other. Anyone else notice Allen did in fact catch Stoll? That's an OR as well, didn't really expect that.

People keep saying that, I'm sure he'd be a good guard. But from what I remember both us and Wisconsin offered him as a NT, so I'm assuming he'll stick there. The staff hasn't been tentative moving guys around though, Banks and Piper both moved from DL to OL.

Like brophog said, bad math. I can only assume it's the home field thing, but Minnesota can't give away tickets at the moment. Despite some real reasons for excitement, the overall fan buy in is just dead at the moment. If they start winning that could change, but any kind of home field advantage for Minnesota (outside of not needing to travel) is a joke.

I think it's similar, but it's a little different because I don't think there's a chance Coan starts over Mertz next year. So with McCaffrey we're fine stalling at least until Martinez is gone, but if Mertz takes off and appears to be better by midseason I don't know how they would keep his redshirt. It'll be an interesting situation, I expect him to be their best QB at the end of the year - obviously could be wrong, but that's my guess. Do you get his feet wet early in the easy games knowing it may be hard to keep him off the field (and preserve the redshirt) late in the year? Or do you hold off playing him until you have to, and hope that it's the last few games of the year and he could still redshirt? Unless they drop out of the West division race early, I don't think he redshirts. That's possible too, their schedule is tough! A doosmday scenario would be an ealry season fluke loss to an ok USF team, losing to Michigan and NW which they somehow always do. Then all of a sudden you're 1-3 and have Michigan State, @OSU, Iowa, @us, Purdue, and @Minnesota, with a couple easy games in there too. So 3-3 (Kent State and Illinois), and every one of the other games is loseable. I expect them to start 3-1, they'll squek by USF and finally beat some sense into NW. But their next 3 B1G games are the crossovers, and that could take them out of the race.

Sure, it's not hard. I do come from a naturally strong family though, so might be harder for others. But seriously yeah, it does make it more difficult. I do think there's a middle ground between using only hands and launching though. It's more like blitz pickup for a RB. And that is way tougher, anyone can light a guy up if he's not looking. Not many are good at blitz pickups. I mean I'm with everyone that this version of the rule is terrible. I don't think it's crazy to try and eliminate the hits like that clip though. They're fun to watch, but I can still enjoy football without them and maybe more ex football players have good quality of life after they're done.

I hope all the backups get some reps in the first game - If the starters are still in late in the 3rd, we're not as far along as I thought. South Alabama is pretty bad.

I saw <10 points somewhere, but I don't remember if that was actually in the press conference. That seems good to me, even with a really good defense that's not happening often. A shutout is probably too much to ask, I get the sense he wants to wear these at least once a year and probably hopes for 2-3 games. UCF wasn't quite Oregon, but they had a decent variety of uniforms.

I disagree with the first part. He can engage with his hands and drive like a normal block, he doesn't have to launch into the defender to protect himself. There are options other than launching with your shoulder or getting run over. That being said, I completely agree on the second part. The wording of the rule makes me wonder if they would call a blindside block even if they kept their feet and blocked clean, and I'd have a big problem with that. In that case you would be right, they'd be asking players to either get run over or let the guy make the tackle.

Right, I feel like we have relevant rules already and they could've just told teams they were specifically watching for defenseless/targeting/whatever else on blindside hits. Instead we might see guys get called for a blindside block when they just step in the path of the defender. The rule wording is sketchy, I think the NFL one has something about initiating blindside contact with the shoulder or head. The version in the 247 article doesn't seem to have that wording, and I agree outlawing any block made from outside their field of vision is way too much.

He probably would've had the opposite idea - when they have a bad game (allow 50+), wear the blackshirts the next game so they don't get too discouraged.

It's also a block that could've easily been made without giving the dude a concussion. Don't get me wrong, I'll missing the crushing blindside blocks but it's not worth it. I'm concerned with how this will be officiated though, I'd rather they inform teams they will be watching for it and just call unnecessary roughness if there's excessive contact, like launching into the guy or giving him a forearm shiver. Seems like it'll be pretty subjective, and you've got to let guys block. It's asking the same restraint we're already asking the Safeties/LBs to have when a receiver goes up for a ball across the middle. But as people have pointed out, on turnovers I could see it being an issue - you think about blocking so little as a defender I'm sure your instinct is to light them up.

It's also because Frost won't talk about injuries unless they are serious - so they might be down some, but more likely we just don't hear about them as often. Pretty much just media observations on who is sitting out instead of listing all of the minor injuries.

No kidding, especially with this quote from Frost thrown in: " there's still some positions where we've had some guys nicked up and sitting out and don't feel great about putting them ahead on the depth chart of guys that have been sweating and working. But an initial depth chart will come out soon and I expect Cam to be No. 1 on that chart." I can't remember a coach being so high on a guy who hasn't played yet.

They are drinking as much kool-aid as we are, lol. Mostly because this is apparently the "most talented Iowa team ever," and they're obviously going to have the best defense in the Big Ten, probably the country. /s I just don't see it though - they have 2 studs at OT, but the interior line seems weak (at least for them), or at a minimum unproven. They have no skill guys who scare anyone, unlike last year with their TEs. Their backs are good enough to hurt you if their line is dominant, but there are plenty of Big Ten teams that won't be manhandled and I'm hoping we're one of them this year. Just your standard Iowa offense, except without actually good TEs/RBs. Defensively I don't see it either. Epenesa is a beast, but he's one guy and they lost a lot of other guys there. The LBs are underwhelming, but the secondary looks good. Thje other thing is they make a big deal of switching to the 4-2-5 base, but there's a huge problem there. Amani Hooker could tackle and cover, and that made the defense work. Their guy this year is 5'10, 180 lbs - I'm sure he can cover but now this is just a Nickel defense teams will run on. In short, I think Iowa will prove that even with phenomenal talent at 2 of the most important positions (pass rusher and OT), a stagnant offensive scheme and being late to the hybrid DB/LB party caps your ceiling at 8-9 wins.

Is Becht new? I don't pay too much attention to who the announcers are, but I don't know if I've heard him or not. Mowins is so bad though, this is unfortunate.

Good point, I guess people questioning does prove it's bold lol.

I'd be pretty surprised there, who are you thinking? I could see Walters leaving, but I don't see anyone else getting Coordinator offers yet. If one does, they're probably the Walters replacement anyway. And on defense, unless they are incredible this year Chins won't quite be a HC candidate. Fisher is probably the only other guy who might get a DC offer after this year.

It's actually tough to come up with predictions everyone would agree are bold since the kool-aid is flowing so freely, lol. Not really measurable, but I think our o-line will be one of the better lines in the Big Ten. Not Wisconsin/Iowa, but the next tier down. We will block at least two punts/kicks and have at least two return TDs. Improved athleticism will start showing up on special teams.

From this guys article on the BTN visit: Lol, "Iowa's passing game." That's not even a real thing.

I think people are selling Walters a little short - yeah it's Frost's offense, but the assistants have a huge impact as well. Some staff turnover is inevitable, I don't think you'll ever see staffs as unchanging as Osborne's. But I don't think there will be waves of departures like Alabama either - those guys are just there to build their resumes, I think all of the coaches here want to be here. But I fully expect Walters to be a head coach somewhere, and I don't expect the rest of the coaches (outside of Verduzco) want to stay position coaches forever.

Does anyone know what the actual process is like? Does Adidas present a few options, or is it just straight up here's what you get this year! I imagine it's something in between where they decide on a general direction with a group from the University, but I wonder who that is.

Hey, they put the patches on them too. There's definitely two camps here, people who don't like change and favor the basic alternates (like me), and people who would rather have alternates be something very different than the current uniforms and throwbacks.

Gotta love a reporter asking about Brenden "James." You can mess that up when he's a freshman, not when he's going into his third year as a starter.