Crazyhole

Martinez has more experience in this system than Frazier did when he started his first game. That worked out ok. Both have superior athleticism and mental capacity to grasp a system. I think the concerns are maybe a little overblown. At running back, Ozigbo was operating in a bizarre offensive system last year so his numbers are less than impressive. A better measure of his quality as a back would be to watch the Wisconsin game, which was pretty impressive. We know that Wilbon is of questionable ability so the fact that he is buried on the depth chart is a good omen.

Under. O/U. total penalties for the season: 50

Or Ed Sheeran

We dont face a ton of high powered offenses this year so I think the number will be lower than it maybe should be. Its set the over/unders around 20.

Or so we think.

I'm certainly not saying they werent good, just that their stats were maybe a little better than reality because they played quite a few teams that were very poor offensively. Good offenses had success against them.

Until they come up against good offenses again.

OSU is the only team I would be shocked to beat.

I think we are actually in year -2. The Gophers are still rowing their boat through the 2016 season.

Possibly true, but at the same time you have guys like Honas, Bell, and Tre Neal who we would have expected to easily separate from the crowd and they haven't.

This. Right or wrong, Nebraska is a potential cinderella story this year and that will make the sportswriters give us possibly more credit than we are due. That being said, if we start out 4-0 we will be ranked on our own merits.

For as hard as our schedule is, Michigan's is harder. 5 top 12 teams, plus Nebraska and Northwestern. Sheesh. Also of note, we could legitimately face 4 top-10 teams this year.

The continuing theme this fall is the increase in depth all over the field, but particularly on defense. Its been about 20 years since we have had legitimate backups all across the roster to keep fresh legs in the game.

I would tend to lean more towards lacking quality depth across the board under Pelini than the S&C program. That goes back to recruiting, and the constant exodus of players we needed for depth during his time here.

This. Would Keithan McCant have started in 91 if it were left to suppostion and the desires of the team? Nope. Let the best players play

Not only that, but he's probably a master at putting sprinkles on the ice cream and learned exactly how to run the margarita machine in the weight room.

Wow, so you think his 7 punts for the season will be that impressive?

We beat UM, UW, and MSU.

I say start with Gebbia, knowing he doesnt have a redshirt left to burn, but get Martinez in the game in 2 of the first 3. If he doesnt have that spark, use him as a backup and try to limit him to the 4 game rule. If he does, play them both for the entirety of the year until someone separates and then assess things.

There's something to be said for being a "gamer" as well, and at this point we dont know if either of them have that attribute. TG could come out and just up his game against live competition and AM could just be servicable, or vice versa. We won't really have the whole picture until we leave Ann Arbor, IMO.

Thats not what I said, although Helu as a senior was better than Green as a freshman. The point was that Helu doesn't have the stats that some of the previous backs do partly because he was playing in a different system with less talent around him.

Put Helu in the 95 offense and you may have a 2200 yard rusher. Things have changed since then so stats dont tell the same story.

Decker is the epitome of what the last staff did wrong. He was by far the best lineman we fielded last year and he could only get on the field due to injuries. Even if Austin stinks as a coach, (he doesnt) the line will be vastly improved just because Decker will be on the field more.

2004, to this day, stands as the most bizarre season in the last 50 years. Between Callahans "just another game, just another season" comment, Joe Dailey stepping out of bounds to seal our defeat, panico being the only viable option to return punts, Jordan Adams spleen going postal, and our secondary going from leading the word in interceptions to being almost non existent we saw things I never thought possible in Lincoln.

It goes against reason based on the fact that he was pretty good last year, but I think Speilman will be the guy every body is in awe of next year due to his productivity, so he could be the most "improved " player. I just see him blowing up next season.