RedDenver

Here's an excellent blog post by Frank The Tank about why Nebraska, Maryland, and Rutgers are prime B1G targets: http://frankthetank.wordpress.com/2012/11/19/fear-the-turtle-the-big-ten-invites-maryland-with-rutgers-on-deck/

That's not quite accurate. The BTN negotiates for higher fees in B1G states. So far they've been successful, but that's because a large segment of the TV viewers want the BTN. If TV viewers in NYC don't really care, then those cable companies can tell the BTN to go pound sand.

This is a terrible, terrible, TERRIBLE move. Even forgetting the teams being added, the Huskers will only now rarely play tOSU and Wisky. Here's the breakdown: 8 games conference schedule and keeping crossovers (6 division games and 1 crossover every year and only 1 non-crossover team): home and home in consecutive years (like it is now) means tOSU plays Huskers 2 years in a row (2011-2012 for example) and then not again for 11 years (next game 2023 in the example - Wisky not until 2025). This is the scenario is Rutgers and Maryland are added to the east and Illini move to west and everything else is unchanged. Removing the crossover game haves the time to every 6 years, but destroys existing rivalries like tOSU-Mich being played only every 6 years. Could keep the crossover but only play one game (instead of back-to-back home and home) which would also reduce the time to every 6 years, but then tOSU would play at Lincoln and then not see the Huskers until 6 years later in the Shoe. Looks like 8 conference games is untenable. So I'll look at a 9 game schedule: home and home in consecutive years (like it is now) means tOSU plays Huskers 2 years in a row (2011-2012 for example) and then not again for 5 years (next game 2017 in the example). Not nearly as bad but still sucks since some players could play a full 4 years at NU and never face tOSU, Wisky, etc. A redivisioning for a straight east-west split makes this even worse as Mich, tOSU, and PSU would all be in the east and only Wisky would be in the west with NU out of the power teams. And the majority of the population centers are all in the east minimizing any improvement to recruiting for NU (although it's a big advantage to the east teams). The only real advantages here are a few more dollars (only about a 5-10% increase to the athletic budgets of each team for the most optimistic outlooks) and possibly getting rid of the terrible division names (I call them the Chutes and Ladders divisions). That's about it from my perspective. Rutgers and Maryland are about as exciting an add as most of the MAC, Big East, or Conference USA. Maybe the powers that be will redeem themselves with some sort of fancy scheduling or adding actually interesting teams for getting to 16 team conference. I'm very depressed and angered by this move. This is the first time I've thought that the move to the B1G wasn't a good idea. B12 still needs 2 teams to get back to 12, so maybe that'll happen sometime in the future. Or maybe when the SEC goes to 16. Or maybe when this oversized conference splits up we'll end up with the "good" remnant. <sigh> Bad day for college football fans.

With the addition of Maryland to the B1G, and probably Rutgers tomorrow, it might be a long time before we play tOSU again. I enjoyed NU playing tOSU and would love a rematch this year or next.

Jan. is usually a pretty big recruiting month for us.

It is actually Lavon Hooks, not Hands. And yes he is a beast. it used to be Hands until a terrible accident, now its Hooks. Well played.

AR had 1 false start but the second one MSU had clearly jumped offsides. Other than those 2 penalties, did anyone see anything that suggests AR played poorly?

I'm constantly amazed at how ridiculous some Husker fans are. We're 3-1 in games decided by a TD or less. We've had 3 of the greatest comebacks of ALL TIME this season alone!! This is the most exciting season I've watched in over a decade. You can keep complaining about the team we don't have. Or you can enjoy the one we've got. And it's an exciting one that's on pace to win our first conference title in 13 years.

It's an unfortunate situation for the guy, but you don't want to be committing any recruiting violations. If that's an NCAA violation, then so be it. Some things are more important than football and WAY more important than silly rules.

The funny part of this play is that Michigan State covered it perfectly. The safety didn't bite on the run action, the linebacker took the backside TE on a route, and they covered the short pass to the receiver. The backside DE got sucked in just a bit too far and they seemed to forget that Martinez can run. A couple crappy tackle attempts later we have 6! I didn't think TM would score until he got to the endzone. MSU looked like they were in position to limit it to a decent gain. In rewatching the game, I think MSU's defense was tired by the 4th quarter.

I caught that, but I couldn't tell if it was his index or middle finger. Early in the game, someone with a headset (asst coach, I assume) on the MSU sideline is calling for a late hit on Eric Martin. Then he suddenly switches to yelling at Martin and clapping. It looks like he's talking sh*t. Anyone else notice this? And why would coaches do that? Looked pretty classless to me. MSU just continues to confirm my opinion that they're one of the dirtiest teams in NCAA - I've thought that since the 2003 Alamo Bowl.

My favorite stat from this game: tOSU rushed for 204 yards on MSU as a team, the most given up by Sparty previous to this game. Taylor Martinez had 205 yards rushing BY HIMSELF! TM rushed for more yards than any other team against MSU.

safety? at 190?? needs to put on some weight if he wants to play safet IMHO Sure, but 190 for a HS safety is fine.

Yeah, that OL is terrible. I mean, our starting RB only got 101 yards. We suck huge!!!! Do I need the sarcastic flag?

First, it's been 7 weeks since the UCLA game (6 games and a bye). Second, why is it so inconceivable that the kid got significantly better with more coaching and playing time? Third, shouldn't you be saying the same things about Whaley? He's looked pretty dang good. (This last isn't directed at you specifically, kc.) I think the video game generation thinks real football is similar to those NCAA and Madden games. Each player has skills and ability that can be represented as a set of numbers. Player will play in accordance with those numbers week-in and week-out. In reality players are WAY more complex than that - as is the game itself. A player like Santos could have failed a test, broke up with a girlfriend, or been spending more time with his classes than in the film room which can lead to better or worse play on any given play. Even within the same game, players can play great and then lose focus for a play or two and get beat. I'm not sure what my point is here other than that we as fans tend to think things are much simpler and can be summed up (both good and bad) in easily understood terms when in reality nothing about football players and coaches is that simple.

Am I the only one who thought the passes on 2nd and 3rd were good play calls? Look how many defenders are crashing down when we ran on 1st. Receivers were open the next two plays as Mich tried to stuff the middle run game again. Taylor miss fired by rushing his throw to Marrow on 2nd. And Turner lost the ball in the lights on 3rd. Beck absolutely caught Mich off-guard for those calls. Good play calling, but the execution just wasn't there.

Haha! That always bothers me too.

I was there and stayed with my brother. We took the train up and tailgated with some NW, Husker, and assorted other B1G fans. Turns out some B1G fans buy season tickets to NW and then only go to their own team's game but still tailgate every NW home game and just watch the other games on TV at their vehicles in the tailgate lots. NW has a really nice campus and surrounding residential area. Like others have said, NW fans were very hospitable and good sports even after such a heart-breaking loss. First fanbase that I'd ranked ahead of the Huskers' for "greatest fans". FYI, the trains were slower than normal because of the construction on the red line, so it should be a faster trip in future years. I also recommend buying beer BEFORE heading up to Evanston. Get there early with beer and you'll be invited to almost any tailgate.

Hurts Turner due to losing time practicing at WR. And it hurts the other QB's who don't get as much time. And minor harm from disrupting the WR rotation.

I thought they did an excellent job announcing the last game. There's just so many bad crews that even a halfway decent one like Blackledge and Nessler seem awesome.

It has improved because Beck has taken over the OL from Barney since two weeks before the season started. That's why Jackson is playing center, Barney had him behind his college roommates son before he lost his responsibilities. I was wrong. The Cotton bashing will continue despite good OL play.

No, Urban was dissecting our plays AFTER we ran them. He actually predicts we'll run several times when we play actioned. Besides, Urban won't be calling their defense.

Bret Bielema listens to Nickelback along with Urban Meyer. Evidently so does Will Muschamp No, Muschamp clearly listens to Nickleback. who is mutchamp Dang it! That's what I meant to type.

This why you put a muzzle on players. Dumb statement. Yep. Glad it's your guys talking instead of ours. I can't remember a single game that NU players did some talking before hand and anything good came of it.

OL has played well and been pretty consistent also. But I predict the Cotton bashing will resume after the next loss - regardless of how the OL plays.