Husker in WI

An all-white "parley" uniform? Are they just planning to lose that game?

We're actually on a pretty good run IMO - I really didn't love 2012-2015, but since then they've been good. Fewer crazy things like red/black helmets. I think I like 2019 best, but sometimes they look better or worse in an actual game so we'll see.

They do in fact have a pessimist's guide as well, so they're not quite that delusional. But I'd bet the average Iowa fan sounds much more like the optimist's guide - I'm sure we do as well. I just think even from the outside people can recognize Iowa doesn't have a lot of upside this year.

Well the thing there is it seems like going to more of a nickel package as the base defense was to combat 3+ receiver looks. Groundbreaking, I know. I don't think they have any qualms about trying to cover RBs with an LB, and that's gonna be a problem for them.

The team is saying all of the right things about needing to earn it, and if you're asking fans and media to stop talking the team up in mid-August you're gonna have a bad time. I don't think a sudden decrease in the stories about how great players/team will be would have any effect on whether the players are overconfident or not. Take it with a grain of salt for sure, but for fans the off-season is all about hype.

It is labeled the "optimist's guide" so I'm sure it's a little heavier on the kool-aid than they are in reality, but it's still funny. 2 first round NFL tight ends last year, and they still finished 96th in yards per play, 92nd in yards per game. Even if Stanley is really good, the passing game will take a step back - they have no one even a little scary as a receiving threat. We still have to prove we can actually stop a good running game, but others in the West have already proven that they can.

To be fair you're on a Nebraska board - would you expect any less yapping on our own forum? If you want a real laugh at some unrealistic fan opinions, here's an Iowa article claiming Nate Stanley will go down as one of the greatest Big Ten QBs of all time. https://www.blackheartgoldpants.com/2019/8/15/20805804/an-optimists-guide-to-iowa-football-season-kirk-ferentz-nate-stanley-brian-ferentz-hawkeyes

For sure, I think some people kind of forget how crazy it is for Martinez to be this good right away. I also think it's just easier for dual-threat QBs to make an impact early, with an exception being Trevor Lawrence. That's a good point on the schedule, I guess it depends on what they're afraid of playing him early. With their O-line he's not going to get pummeled like David Carr, so I wouldn't be worried about ruining his development that way. He'll make mistakes, but as long as they think he can grow past them instead of losing confidence I'd live with the mistakes now. They do have pressure to play the safer QB since it'll be their last year with Taylor too though.

What's funny to me is that according to the article it was Wisconsin who forced them to adapt and create a hybrid position. I'm sure another factor was looking at other division rivals' offenses like Purdue, Nebraska, and Minnesota, but if Wisconsin can take advantage of your pass coverage you have issues.

Fair points, and I think it just emphasizes how little we tend to know about opposing teams. I don't even know who Olson and Andries are, and if I had to pick the best 3 lineman across the teams I'd give you Faalale and take Brendan Jaimes and Boe Wilson. Technically I have a little more ground to stand on there as both the Nebraska guys were honorable mention all-conference last year while the Minnesota guys were not - but I'll freely admit I have no idea how good those guys are and honorable mentions aren't much to go on as far as awards. I'm probably also factoring injury problems too heavily for Smith and Brooks at RB, but you might be focusing too much on what they could do when healthy. Some guys don't fully come back from knee/foot problems. We're obviously slower to believe the sudden defensive improvement for Minnesota is sustainable, and I'm sure quicker to believe in our second half improvements and counting on a year 2 jump that isn't a guarantee. It's finally going to be a fun division over the next few years, I don't think anyone other than Illinois is trending down.

I think getting stuffed twice against Colorado really cemented the idea we struggled with short yardage before we even knew what the team was. I definitely thought we were bad in that area until people started actually showing the numbers.

Where is Minnesota better other than WR and S? I think this is a case where neither team has a lot of proven players, so each fanbase is going to prefer their own team. We all believe the young players on our own team are going to be great, and we have no idea who the guys on the other teams are outside of past contributors and a few highly touted recruits. I could see an argument for RB, but I'd call that a push at best. Ibrahim obviously had more yards than Washington, but he just had more opportunities. The YPC is similar and receiving definitely in Washington's favor. Minny probab'y has the best individual d-lineman in Coughlin, but outside of Safety I'd still take Nebraska's position groups across the board. You'd probably do the opposite, but then it's not really "no question." I'd actually even take our safeties (I do love Winfield, but he's really the only guy), but I can recognize that's blind optimism more than anything objective.

Yeah, didn't get a good vibe from the Austin interview regarding Gaylord. Is there any word on Jaimes? I know there were rumors he was injured, but I would think the media would've pressed for some kind of answer if he wasn't out there. So I'm thinking he's fine?

Don't think I've seen an msn article in a decade! I'm sure they are very good though, definitely not just picking Minnesota to be different and attract clicks. In all seriousness though I'm surprised Minnesota isn't a trendier pick, they've got a path to win the West. I think the main problem is the other teams have either done that relatively recently (Iowa, Wisconsin, Northwestern) or have exciting young players and young coaches (Nebraska, Purdue). Minnesota absolutely has talent, but regardless of how good he is Tyler Johnson is less exciting than Rondale Moore or Adrian Martinez.

3 of ESPN's top 6 most exciting players are guys we play - as you would probably expect they're currently the top 3 for skill players. Chase Young also made the bottom of ESPN's list. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/27375332/college-football-most-exciting-players-no-tua-trevor

Yeah, I don't think Banker was great but he was kind of a scapegoat. I ran across some articles making sure I'd remembered it correctly, and it was kinda sad. Talked about how he and Langsdorf were pretty much in the dark on all decisions, just a super dysfunctional structure.

I'd be surprised if Mertz isn't starting by conference play. Nothing against Coan, but he's like every non-Russell Wilson Wisconsin QB in the past 10-15 years. The long-term writing was on the wall for Coan when they burned his redshirt for a bowl game against a Miami team they crushed the year before - they could've won that without a QB, just direct snaps to Taylor.

Some past coaches might even call these practices a "bloodbath."

Also who are the others people are voting for? I tried to keep the list pretty small because the polls are already pretty big, so I'm sure I omitted some good players.

I'm always interested in specific star players on opposing teams, and I'm curious which ones other fans are excited to watch too. Excited might not be the right word, I'm not exactly excited to see us play Jonathan Taylor again. But as a fan of the sport as a whole, it's definitely fun to watch him play and how we try and handle him. I ended up making 3 polls which is probably excessive, and for QB I'm interested in who you're most interested in watching, while the other I'm just curious if you care about seeing them specifically at all so you can choose multiple. QBs: Montez has been there forever, and feels like the guy who ends up with school records as a result of that instead of actually being great. Fields and Johnson are both 5* transfers - Fields should be way more dynamic, but Johnson has the extra appeal of being in our division playing for a school that's never had a big time QB. Williams and Mertz are also highly touted, but as true freshman have even less proven than the 2 above. Neither may start, but Williams looks exciting and Mertz is interesting because an actual QB could make Wisconsin much better. Offense: Probably mostly familiar names. The 2 we haven't seen are Scott from Indiana and McFarland from Maryland - both ran for 1,000 yards lat year. Scott is a tank, and McFarland averaged 8 ypc last year, including a 298 yard game against Ohio State. Defense: Also should be a familiar group other than Karlaftis from Purdue,who is a big time true freshman, and Winfield from Minnesota who was hurt last year IIRC. I'm a sucker for good LBs, so I'm excited to see Landman and Fisher. Especially because as good as they are, I think our scheme is a huge problem for them - I remember Fisher making a lot more plays against us in 2017 than he did last year.

Ah, gotcha. It'll be interesting to see how much different the defense looks in year two, there were so many things wrong it's hard to list all of the issues. Better S&C, players not being forced to play out of position, better understanding of the playbook, and even just more familiarity with the other teams in the conference will all change how the defense is called and how they play. I'm optimistic.

Hard to call blitzes if you can't trust the secondary to cover - look what happened against Iowa. I expect we'll see more blitzing this year.

Pretty sure they're just highlighting red things they think will look cool. I'd bet on the alternate being black this year, but these are just edits with whatever red pieces they want to leave in.

Isn't his next court date after the first game? They're not going to do anything until that's resolved, so I expect him to play. Any suspension would happen after the legal situation is resolved, and like you said seems like it might be short. Avoid the Wisconsin situation, they preemptively kicked a kid out of school and now he's acquitted and will probably use to get back in.