RedDenver

Ya, sounds like we are first runner-up. This Kentucky crap is getting old. I don't like the way he talks about Kentucky being a family and how close he is with the players there. I don't like that at all. They got several high calibur transfers from last year and they are bringing in a heck of a class this year. They really could be a top 4-5 SEC team in the next 2 years. Eeeek. Top 4-5 SEC on the recruit rankings maybe. Kentucky might have a single good year, and then that coaching staff bolts for greener pastures. But I think it's even more likely they flounder for a number of years until Stoops is canned.

The part I've bolded is the million dollar question. If the coaches and players can figure it out (and correct it), the Huskers should do extremely well. As far as getting killed the last couple years, I think that rests mostly with the defense and some with the turnovers on offense and special teams. A good defense simply doesn't get that many points scored on it, so those teams never really get blown out. Sorry, I forgot about the 45-17 loss to Michigan. As another poster said, we hung with that team until the 4th quarter. Same with Georgia. If how we play is your barometer, then we're not far off from those teams in terms of talent. Even South Carolina we had a big lead on before they took it to us. Only Wisky and tOSU put beat downs on use where we weren't really ever in the game. And we've beaten both of those teams in the last 2 seasons, so their talent can't be all that much better than ours. As I've already said, the recruiting rankings mean nothing to me in this discussion. What MNC teams do or don't do doesn't matter since we haven't played any of them. And your list of teams with more talent: Ohio State (beaten), Wisconsin (beaten), Georgia (we played with them as I've discussed), UCLA (barely beat us at their place), South Carolina (had more talent and it showed but wasn't all that much more IMO). I agree with the rest of what you've said. We need to eliminate the blowouts and horrific showings we've had on defense. Keep in mind we still put 31 points on the board at tOSU last season which should be enough to win most days. That's what leads me to think the vast majority of our problems are on the defensive side (as many have said repeatedly, this is nothing new). Bo says he regrets not playing more of the younger kids. Maybe he's turned a corner and our talent will start to emerge. Maybe it's just talk and we won't improve. I don't know, and neither does anyone else. Maybe it's my bias for the Huskers talking, but I think Bo figures out the defensive problems. Maybe not all of them are corrected, and maybe the Blackshirts still don't perform to the expectation level of the fans. But I've got high hopes that it will be enough for a special season.

Nobody beat us 45-17, so I'm not sure what you're referencing. Doesn't really matter what anyone thinks - it doesn't affect our talent at all. I've already addressed the difference between potential and on field talent. The MNC is a change in topic. I'm disagreeing with your statement that the Huskers are somehow behind the rest of the conference in talent. Which teams are we not on par with? We've beaten every team that's beaten us over the last 2 seasons except UCLA (whom we've only played once). Whether we gave up a billion yards to Wisky or only 5, we're 2-1 in the W-L columns. They're leading and gave us a couple stompings, but we beat them just last season. And we're 1-1 against tOSU, Mich, and NW - that's exactly on par. And we're 2-0 against MSU. I just don't see where we are not keeping up. Agreed. And I'm not disagreeing with your general point that we need to eliminate the blowouts. But I don't think the blowouts are because those teams are much more talented than us.

So you're talking about potential talent. Yes, those teams potentially have more talent than we do. So does every team everywhere. That's the nature of potential - it's based on a future we haven't seen yet. By that measure, UM, tOSU, and PSU have had more talent than us for decades. Nothing has changed there. And I expect them to always be perceived as having more potential except a few years here and there. I could argue about "much higher level", but I won't. If that's your argument, then I agree. However, I have yet to see that potential materialize into more talent for those teams than NU on the field. That's what I'm getting at. As long as we can compete, I'm happy as a fan.

Not sure, started using Chrome and this is what I get. I recall Joey Galloway last year commenting on our defense after UCLA, IIRC he said he was not sure if we were slow or confused or both. I also use Chrome, so that's not it.

If this guy pans out for us—and I think he's going to—then 3 for 3 would be HUGE! Out of all the O-linemen we get on campus, how many do we get three years of play time out of? Probably like 15% or something. He hasn't played a down yet, so let's not count on 3 years or even 2 for that matter. Hence " If ". Yes, I was basically commenting that it's a big "IF".

I agree with your sentiment, but not entirely with NU being behind in talent. tOSU is ahead of us, but who else? And even tOSU isn't that far ahead since we beat them 2 years ago. Really, Braxton Miller is the difference between them and us. Not that great of a difference IMO. We beat all the other teams just last season. Michigan looked good but not great - about even with us. MSU has a great D and little else. NW plays very hard and has tremendous coaching, but not great talent. Wisky has been solid with a couple great players, but I'd still put us ahead of them by pure talent. (And I think their lack of talent showed early last year.)

Welcome to the board, Cimalli. What happened with your formatting? As for blitzing, Bo has gotten burned blitzing like against Georgia. The key is getting at least SOME pressure on the QB without blitzing. Just make the QB have to move around and sometimes run him out of the pocket. Greatly cuts down the space on the field he can accurately throw it. Also the opposing OL is thinking more about holding up against our DL which makes blitzing MUCH more effective. We don't need tremendous pressure from the DL, just a decent push into the pocket.

If this guy pans out for us—and I think he's going to—then 3 for 3 would be HUGE! Out of all the O-linemen we get on campus, how many do we get three years of play time out of? Probably like 15% or something. He hasn't played a down yet, so let's not count on 3 years or even 2 for that matter.

Any chance Brown or Suttle could sit out a year and rejoin the team? I doubt that's going to happen, but it's not unheard of.

For once, for once we actually might get a recruit because we are the close to home school. I'm not sure I know how that feels. I see what you mean, a little over 2 hours drive isn't bad. Do any of y'all know if the upcoming SECNetwork will be available to your cable providers out in NE/KS? Probably Directv and Dish will have it, but not the local cable except as possibly a premium channel or part of a sports bundle. Much like the Big Ten Network is outside the B1G region.

Conversations do evolve my friend.... It would be ok if every thread didn't devolve into the same "conversation". Plus early posts alluded to possibly more players getting punished, so I'm waiting for that news to break.

Can we return to topic? I keep thinking there's been an update, but its just the same stuff about firing or not firing Bo that's in almost all the other threads. This is the leading news about the Huskers right now. Please stick to the topic and go to another thread for other stuff.

So, any word on why Brown is out? Or if any other players are in trouble?

My educated guess is it went down this way: 1) We wanted him on the team and the staff knew that. 2) They suspect that some members of the 2010 class that are now RS Juniors will play this year, graduate, and call it good and not play in 2014. 3) The staff didn't really want to take that gamble right away, so they slow-played Harrison figuring that we would be able to offer in October and have him accept then. 4) Stanford and UCLA offering forced our hand. Let's not forget Harrison told the media after camp that the Husker coaches were going to make a decision about offering him in a few weeks after camps and BRW was over. And the offer now is right on that schedule. This same scenario is quite likely even without other offers.

Good post. I tend to look at stars like this. The higher the star rating the quicker the recruit can help your team. 5 stars, higher 4s can come in and contribute very early. 3 stars will probably need atleast a redsirt year and another year or two to develop into a 4, 5 star talent. Just because they have 3 stars doesn't mean much to me, only that they aren't fully developed yet and will need a few years to see the field. That's why most 5 stars are men amongst boys, they just developed physically earlier then 99% of other kids their age. It's up to the coaches to spot talent and project just how big these kids are going to be 2 or 3 years down the road. This is why Bo's first two classes are killing us now. The DL guys we got were flops, and we can't get the 5 star play early kids. The last couple classes need time to develop, we need Kevin Williams to be healthy this year for any shot at being decent on the dline. I think we need Thad Randle to be able to start. If he can give us some experience and quality minutes up front, I think the young talent around him can be very productive.

Agreed. Plus no one knows how the injury bug may play a factor. Injuries have historically had a major impact on who starts.

I don't understand why kids cannot see what a crappy place UT is. Mack sells this crap every year, and the kids keep coming anyway.

Could provide immediate help at KR and PR.

It's been decades since we could say that. Even during the strong 90's run we only had a couple guys (although they were really good).

While Marrow has landed a few prospects, it's not like he was lighting the world on fire as a TE coach. Let's not go overboard on this one.

Marrow is a decent recruiter, but Kentucky will fall on its face just like every season and the shine will be off the new coaches. Then we'll see how recruiting unfolds.

DT? Dual Threat Haha, seems obvious now.

DT?

I had asked about that when the B1G first announced this, and someone pointed out that it doesn't go into effect right away. 2016 maybe? Or maybe currently scheduled games can be played but no new such games added. The league discussed it, but never implemented the only div 1A rule. I think keeping non-1A games was part of the compromise to go to a 9-game league schedule.