admo

He'll play that empty space where normal defenses use lbs By the way they'be been playing lately, thought they were all "weak" side lbs I could go on, but will stop right there....bc this actually is a good thing imo

Appreciate the tid bits. Thanks bro!

In just the first half. Without a helmet.

Foppa - :rollin

Ya or some more sweeps with the pulling guard. Just something to wear the Bruins down, even if Superman is on teh bench. I think TM owned up to any criticism. I think he will improve over the course of the year. Does get frustrating to see the wheels fall off for everyone on offense whenever they get rattled - including TM. The QB should remain steady and calm when the other team seizes momentum. As long as he does that, stays focused, makes good decisions, remains a passer and doesnt let his emotions turn him into a thrower, he will be fine. It's his third year, it will all come together for him.

Already delete it from the DVR? LOL. Not this time. Didn't DVR it. Now the Michigan game last year......that one was gone in no time. I thought I might be the only one (or one of few)! If you want to know how many games we won the year before, just count the events in my DVR titled "college football".... A watched the line closely the first quarter. And line backers. Immediately I wanted to know who the dude was out there doing nothing at all, just going through the motions and looking fat. Couldnt undertand why he was out on the field. Those were my exact thoughts all quarter. Talking about the man who is the subject of this thread. I hate to hear he quit, and do wish him well. Oh and I didn't know about Wullawabernabaly - the frosh WR? Tough break...That blows.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? I don't see why not. Teams are penetrating through our line that would impress Ron Jeremy :/ If we have any plans on stopping the run, 3-4 would be a start. And 4-3 would be ideal. Imagine that, stopping the running game and making the opponent one dimensional. There is a reason why the position is called "Linebackers". Hopefully we have some on the roster that are ready for the opportunity. And not by inserting a bunch of 200lb safeties at the position. Real linebackers. If our current DLine could put pressure on the QB and slow the running game down that would be great. But that's asking too much out of what we have.

was it? Freshman QB, freshman receivers running around wild. Seems like a step up from Texas HS football. Last week they weren't any good because they won again Rice. does winning against Nebraska's defense make them better now? Because while Rice might be ranked around 121st in rush defense...Nebraska is at 119th. we have a way of making mediocre football teams look sensational. Oh geez, I don't know. I thought they played pretty good at times and so I give them credit. They got the safety and momentum, then finished us off. I don't think we were 119th before the game. But you are right that we do make teams seem electric at times. :/

Hmmmm...Did you say "BOOK IT"?? Ahh the memories of I bleed red. I like the positivity in the section. This was fun. And way WAY better than threads from OLDMAN. Okay I got to get back to the angry section. GBR!

You had me at "Anyway". Everything you said...I +1000 you. Amen brotha.

Game could've gone either way. Losing sucks. That was a damn good UCLA team.

I hear ya. Execute basically means they had a game plan, they worked on it in practice until they did it right, and the results were different in the game. Funny though, you would think against this D in practice, executing would be a snap :-) As for the defense, there is no earthly way this scheme will ever work consistently. No matter how well they execute in practice and reps and preparation. Sad to say, but until they go with a traditional 4-3 that focuses on stopping the run first, putting teams in 2nd and long, 3rd and long, so they can then drop into nickel and peso (Pelini's speciality), we need to kick ourselves to think we will see different results. That my friend, is on the coaching. Our defense does not have an identity, except for the "bend don't break" philosophy. It's tailored to stop the big passing plays. And when we are giving up chunks of yardage at will, we are also losing the field position battle. Sometimes we execute better as the other teams approach the red zone. But if they put 3 or 7 on the board, it does put pressure on our offense to stay on the field and get those points back and not go 3-and-out. With this style of defense, they can execute all they want until they are blue in the face, and the results will be up and down like a roller-coaster. We've seen that for several years now. It's just not a style that screams tough interior defense. I don't think Pelini gets a true pass on this. If you look at LSU defense, shoot they seem to do just fine without him. And if it's because they have better talent, then our guy isn't as brilliant as expected. You don't become a great defensive mind because of the sheer talent you have year after year. But then again, LSU isn't trotting around with 5 DB's and their LBs (or "linebacker") running around with their heads cut off like a chicken. As for the right guys being in the right spot/position? So many things can go wrong with this theory. How about 2 tackles that get leverage, 2 defensive ends that explode with power and quickness, and three linebackers that will make offensive coordinators think twice about running? That's the key. You can run or throw. This defense doesn't focus on stopping one or the other particularly well. Although the pass coverage is better then stopping the run. For sure. Don't like to pick on players at all. I just don't think our starting DEnds have nothing more to offer than making initial contact and lateral movement. Our lineback (I only see one out there in the middle of the field, have no clue where they slide the other one to) is going to lead the USA in tackles because he's out there on an island. He might even lead Mars in that category. But that doesn't mean he is doing anything phenomenal other than what they draw up on the chalkboard. That's great if you like seeing your defense in 2nd and 4, series after series. If they execute, then maybe 2nd and 5, hopefully 2nd and 6. Execute lol. A change has been needed for some time on the defensive side. We do not have SUH anymore to save the day and get other players playing incredible to match his intensity and determination (see Gomes, Hagg, etc). Those dudes fed off each other. Our guys since then, not seeing it so much unfortunately. Okay not at all a rant. But just my thoughts with some salt and pepper, and lots of babble

What about a "Where are they now?" article? Catchup with some of the past players to see what they're up to these days (except LP...we all know he's up an unsanitary tributary with insufficient means of locomotion) Hey bro! Exactly, that would be sweet. I mean why be like ESPN and wait 20 years to hear Marcus Dupree finally has a job.

DO NOT WANT - neither. But for the sake of the I would rather see us thump Oregon. Then thump USC in the title game. Its all hypothetical so don't hate! Playoffs were ruled in favor btw.

Q. Taylor Martinez threw 13 touchdown passes last year. How long until he matches that? A. Toss up between Michigan State and Penn State. Went with Sparty. Q. Martinez threw 23 TD passes in his first two seasons, can he double that number this year? A. If double 23 is still 46 I would think "Oh hell no". But if it means 23 for this year - not impossible. We do have a run game IIRC. 25-30 combined run/pass would just be fantastic. (Thinking 20/10) Q. Will he reach his much publicized goal of completing 70% of his passes? A. That would be sweet. Sounds more like a nice personal goal. I'm guessing closer to 65% (no offense to SMU, but the conference and weather patterns could drop it down some).

I hope you are joking...that is his hair.... You shall find Santico Panico and find out how to master the fair catch Congrats though bro. Don't be a stranger to me screw these other posers Yes congrats. And PaulCrewe makes a great point. Fans want to know these things....like... "Are runza's really a combination made out of Missouri Tiger-Meat and Kansas Jayhawk?" "Minus dual Pelini, can blackshirts still be given out with just a single Pelini?" Maybe during midweek downtime you could do a Q&A mailbag. And when in doubt, drop a few Nate Swift references and you'll be just fine. Best of Luck! One last thing - not all of us live in the great state. We lack a lot of the extra coverage, so anything you do will be awesome. Love the Panico reference

LOL! Man I was taking everyone's thoughts and opinions half serious as usual....then the wheels totally fell off the board lol... Starting from comment #33 through this one, the replies kept getting more and more jacked up....HILARIOUS!! Thanks for the comedic relief fellas Basically we ought to win by a few points and move on to the next game. How we do it, close or not, doesn't matter so much.

#3 There are so many great things too watch for. But I hope to see some pocket awareness, maturity, leadership, determination, smarts, and the overall presence a stud QB should have at this stage. He doesn't have to play perfect. Also hope he is more vocal and doesn't driff off into his own spot on the bench. Hopefully it all begins tomorrow and progresses throughout each week as it should.

Play Action all the way. Looking deep first read, hitting TE across the middle as safe second read. Unless we are backed up behind our 20.....

That's the Adidas practice jersey. Michigan's are the same (but their colors). Oooo....Cool thanks Saunders. I wasn't really diggin the look

Thought they had a tad diff jersey this year with the stripes. The link above is different from this. (practice image)

Ahh I see what you did there, unfortunately over.. Number of times you will want to face palm something Ed says during the game- 10 Number of times Ed Cuntingham calls out a Nebraska defender for targeting- 2 WAAAAY over Number of passes we attempt on 1st downs: 6

Man these images are brilliant!

I still get very frustrated after a loss. Just ask my wife. She doesn't want to be around me the rest of the day. BUT...get over it. Look for positive things that are happening. Look at the young talent we have on this team. Look at extenuating circumstances that have happened around the program like the two year process of switching conferences. He mentioned his frustration with smaller LBs. When those LBs were recruited, we were in the Big XII. Switching conferences caused us to need bigger LBs. This isn't the NFL where we can just go out and find free agents. It is going to take a couple years to get those LBs that are perfect for the Big X. That's just an example. Everyone gets frustrated after losses. It's sad when someone can't find ANYTHING enjoyable about the program. One more example and I'll stop. I was at the OSU game last year. I was sitting by this guy who started complaining right from the start. Admittedly, we didn't start the game off too great. BUT, in the second half when we were coming back and we had all the momentum, TM hit a key pass across the middle for an important first down. Instead of cheering and being excited, this guy sat there and complained that TM threw behind the receiver. It was so slightly that the receiver didn't even hardly have to slow down for the ball. This guy couldn't even enjoy the biggest come back in school history because TM threw behind a receiver (on a key completion). Ridiculous.!!!!! BRB, man that is just ughhhhh....would drive me nuts! I know some of those folks...they can have pancake bunny for all I care

I disagree with this. If you were to have an extremely low opinion of the character of the guy leading the program (one formed, if I recall, from personal encounters), could you cheer with the same gusto, or are you going to end up at the same arm's length distance skersfan is? I don't see any reason we ought to be questioning his fandom, or his relationship with his wife... A general observation: if you do not agree with someone else's opinion, that's OK. But if you can't deal with it, step away until you can. As for the topic of the original post...I can sort of see where Rubin is coming from, with the caveat that I'm not sure I agree that this conference is on the rise. That's a bit of an x-factor, I think. It's constantly in flux. Michigan State and Wisconsin have some new quarterbacks to break in, don't they? So that could be a chance that we seize. How about we end the 'who's a real fan' talk, yeah? +1 to Addison's post, aside from some formatting issues in the middle LOL thanks Zoogs! There might be some insight somewhere in there! But need to cypher through it haha...Even I laughed at my jibber jabber this morning