caveman99

Not to disparrage what Solich and Gill are doing, but it seems clear that Bo and Co want to upgrade the strength of schedule in the upcoming years. The addition of Fresno State is an idication of that, much tougher opponent right now than Ohio and Buffalo. The other thing to consider is that Turner Gill most likely won't be at Buffalo in 3 years, he is going to get a shot at a bigger program either after this year or definately after next season. Who knows what Buffalo could be in 5 years if Gill stays there? Jim Leavitt built South Florida literally from the ground up. They are now a solid competitor. Maybe Gill would rather have his own legacy than take over someone else's. There is a major difference between USF and Buffalo, the BCS. USF is in a "power" conference with a guaranteed BCS invite and Buffalo is not. I just don't see Turner staying there too long. USF didn't start off in the Big East, they didn't even start in D-1. They began as I-AA in 1997, then became D-1 in 2001, as an independent. In 2003, they moved to Conference USA before moving to the Big East 2005. It wasn't an overnight deal that they moved to the Big East. Who's to say Buffalo won't move to a power conference, or join a conference that has yet to form? They have a similar enrollment as USF. Never say never and think of the big picture, maybe Turner is happy there and building it up. I think it is safe to say Buffalo won't be in a BCS conference in the next 2 years. If there aren't any real prospects for them to move into one by then, I just don't see him staying. Good coaches all have egos that drive them to try and succeed at the next level.

That is a great way to explain it!!

I live in Rockland County, NY and getting into NYC is a bit of a hassel. Is there anything in Northern NJ, Rockland County or Westchester County to watch the game?

That last part about ESPN is so right on, what a great read!!!

How is the forward pass boring to watch? Three yards and a cloud of dust will not help when it's third and long. What throwing QB plus good WRs want to go to schools that just like to pound the rock for a one yard gain? None. If you cant throw the ball your chances of beating good run defenses are slim. I like the offense. I like the balance. The running game will get there. Come on big daddy, you should know better. Not so fast. In 1994, we played KState which ended the season with a top 5 running D. We started our 3rd string QB, and we had no problem running on them. I don't put either of our first two oppenents in that strong running D category. Quite simply, we have got to get better at pounding the rock. If we don't, we're going to take some serious lumps this season. It's not like this is the first time we've seen an 8 in the box D before. Every team used to stack the line to stop our run. We've got to be able to find a way to run the ball. Yeah but the 8 man in the box defense is why TO ran the option. The option, if ran properly, creates blocking angles and allows you to beat 8-9 defenders stacked in. Once they started to move back or outside a bit, TO would hit them with power runs up the gut. 8-9 in the box for a standard running game is not easy to beat for a balanced offense. The pass is now what the option used to be.

Not to disparrage what Solich and Gill are doing, but it seems clear that Bo and Co want to upgrade the strength of schedule in the upcoming years. The addition of Fresno State is an idication of that, much tougher opponent right now than Ohio and Buffalo. The other thing to consider is that Turner Gill most likely won't be at Buffalo in 3 years, he is going to get a shot at a bigger program either after this year or definately after next season. Who knows what Buffalo could be in 5 years if Gill stays there? Jim Leavitt built South Florida literally from the ground up. They are now a solid competitor. Maybe Gill would rather have his own legacy than take over someone else's. There is a major difference between USF and Buffalo, the BCS. USF is in a "power" conference with a guaranteed BCS invite and Buffalo is not. I just don't see Turner staying there too long.

Not to disparrage what Solich and Gill are doing, but it seems clear that Bo and Co want to upgrade the strength of schedule in the upcoming years. The addition of Fresno State is an idication of that, much tougher opponent right now than Ohio and Buffalo. The other thing to consider is that Turner Gill most likely won't be at Buffalo in 3 years, he is going to get a shot at a bigger program either after this year or definately after next season.

OL/OC at New Mexico State is about the level he should be at not at Nebraska. IMO As far as his leading the 2003 offense that team had the lowest rushing yards per game and total offense per game of any of the run first offenses at Nebraska as far as I can remember (1980-2003) and since then only the 2005 team averaged less total offensive yards a game. To add to that only two other teams since 1980 are within 30 yards of total offense and that is the 2002 & 2004 teams and nobody here would say that those teams were awesome. What does this all mean? I don't know but compared to other NU teams the 2003 offense led by Barney ranks at or near the bottom. (Note: All of the Callahan teams had lower rushing yards per game averages but only one had less total yards per game) That season also proved that defense wins ballgames. As we averaged the 2nd lowest point total per game since 1980 but the defense held the other team to 10 less points a game. (Like I said I trust Bo I don't trust Barney ) And I'm out! You absolutely may be right, I hope not because that will mean NU will struggle, but you have a point about '03. Average per rush dropped nearly a yard to just over 4. Average per game dropped by 30 yds/game from '02, not a great year, and much farther from '01 and '00. The attempts were higher in '03 than in '00 and '01, but slightly lower than in '02. Passing meanwhile was about the same as the previous 4 years. Like you said the output in '03 was lower and would seem to be an indication of Cotton's poor performance. I would like to think that this year is different in that he is not the OC like he was in '03, so his time is solely dedicated to coaching the line, I assume his split duties in '03 had to take away from this aspect atleast in some respect. Here's to hoping his true calling is as an O-line Coach and not an OC.

Reading that article makes me wonder where Crabtree was getting his information. Probably here LINK David Oku, the nation's top all-purpose running back, is scheduled to announce his decision next Wednesday. But as multiple sources have confirmed, there will be little suspense. Oku is expected to announce his decision to play at Tennessee, and word is that he already has told the Tennessee coaches. Oku has taken only one official visit, two weeks ago to Louisville, but he did make the trip to Knoxville for the Vols' spring game. The success of fellow Oklahoma product Gerald Jones for the Vols has been a big selling point. Doesn't Crabtree work for Rivals? If so, that is not really an answer. That is his company saying the same thing he said yesterday on the radio. The other article, an interview with Oku, seems to contradict what Rivals claims is almost a sure thing. Another funny thing, the article in which Oku disputes the committing to Knoxville issue was posted last evening on a Volunteers web site. Looking at the chat reactions from the Tennessee fans on that site, they seemed to think that is was a foregone conclussion that he was NOT going to be a VOL. It just makes me curious is all. I hope that the article on the VOLs site is accurate as opposed to the Rivals claim, Oku would be a great get.

Reading that article makes me wonder where Crabtree was getting his information. Probably here LINK David Oku, the nation's top all-purpose running back, is scheduled to announce his decision next Wednesday. But as multiple sources have confirmed, there will be little suspense. Oku is expected to announce his decision to play at Tennessee, and word is that he already has told the Tennessee coaches. Oku has taken only one official visit, two weeks ago to Louisville, but he did make the trip to Knoxville for the Vols' spring game. The success of fellow Oklahoma product Gerald Jones for the Vols has been a big selling point. Doesn't Crabtree work for Rivals? If so, that is not really an answer. That is his company saying the same thing he said yesterday on the radio. The other article, an interview with Oku, seems to contradict what Rivals claims is almost a sure thing.

Reading that article makes me wonder where Crabtree was getting his information.

I am right there with you on the whole TV thing. My family loved to hear Pavelka call the game. I left the area in 1995 and I distinctly remember reading about the change and being sad for awhile. I do have to say that I think Sharpe does a good job though. I definately have enjoyed his work thus far.

I couldn't have said it better myself. Being critical after two games isn't realistic. you might need a bigger body of work before you make this kind of judgement "Being critical of what is happening on the field doesn't make anyone a bad fan, it makes them a realistic one." ...or an uninformed one. If everything was Hunky Dory, we wouldn't have Bo. We know it isn't, just give him more than 120 minutes of football to judge his entire staff on. For the last time go look at Cotton's track of nonsuccess. Is that a big enough body of work to make a judgement? I have had more then 120 minutes of football to base my opinion on him. If you are going to go this route, you need to give the man credit for his whole D1 coaching career. From 1997-2002 he was the Offensive Coordinator/O-line Coach for New Mexico State. Below are the stats for each season from 1999-2002. RUSH YDS RANK 1999 - 2450 14th 2000 - 2972 6th 2001 - 2493 19th 2002 - 2575 14th From looking at this, I think it is an unfair statement to say Cotton's track record is only of nonsuccess. He also guided NU to 7th in Rushing Yards in 2003. Granted NU was a mostly a run only team then and was almost always in the top 10, but he still did the job.

Very interesting on both counts. Now can we stop hating on Callahan for being arrogant, not making adjustments, and just trying to get players to execute better instead of switching schemes they were taught? If players executed a scheme properly, but are still getting beat then that is when adjustments should be made. If they fail to execute, you have no basis as to what is/is not working to adjust off of. The players need to execute properly first, then you can adjust schemes. Why adjust a scheme and then have it not work either because the players don't execute? Difference between Coz and Bo is that one did not teach the system properly and one does. I have read several articles quoting players and former players that under Coz they only knew what they were supposed to do on a play, not why they were doing it nor what everone else around them is going to do and why. Bo is big on teaching the system, the players should have that understanding. You see it in the swarm mentality. Coz trying to get the players to execute better was an exercise in futility because he failed to lay the foundation of knowledge with the players. Bo is the oposite, he came in started with the very basics in the Spring and built from there. Players now know what they are supposed to do, they should be expected to execute and then allow Bo to do his job of calling the game and making adjustments.

Is Tyler, Blaine's little brother? That looks like the same town Blaine is from. If so wouldn't that be ironic if we signed Tyler and they end up playing against each other.

Well at least very decent FCS team: 2007 Results 6-5 40 16 Presbyterian 17 32 Hofstra 10 38 Clemson 20 45 Wofford 27 17 Coastal Caro. 51 54 Citadel OT 28 22 Chattanooga 27 34 Appalachian St. 52 49 Elon 24 22 Ga. Southern 52 21 Western Caro. Beat Georgia Southern and came with 7 points of App. St. Yeah but then you see head scratchers in there like a loss to Citadel

Actually the team will have this an official stat again this year. Look at the very bottom of the linked story. Good to see it back!!!!! http://huskerextra.com/articles/2008/08/15...65200349355.txt

Who knew Eastern Michigan had one of the top secondaries in the country last year? They can start by not giving up 200-300 yards rushing in each of their first 5 games. I get West Virginia, but Indiana? Lucky goes for 150 yards in this game. Not sure how many people noticed, but Indiana did finish 7-6 after losing to OK ST in the Insight Dot Com Bowl. I think the 14 point spread is more accurate than most people want to believe at this stage. Now if Bo can get the defense to improve by a larger margin, let's say top 20-30 vs. top 50-60, then this will be a blow out. Right now WMU looks like they will put up a good fight.

Is he by chance the son of Ozzie Newsome?

I am dumber for having read that.

Where is the Texas Tech QB at? They throw more than anyone? I kinda think you left him off purposely! Graham Harrell was 48-14, which was better than any QB you listed, and he plays in the Big 12! You beat me to the punch on Graham, I realized he wasn't on the list as well. His line this past year was: NAME CMP ATT YDS CMP% YDS/A TD INT RAT Graham Harrell 512 713 5705 71.8 8.00 48 14 157.3 Despite everyone knowing that TT would throw every down, he threw for 48 TD's and still had less than 20 INT's. This is why I don't fully buy the argument that you can't take what Joe did on face value simply because NU threw a lot over the last 4 games. Yes they did throw a lot, but he still made a higher percentage of bad plays than the other top Big XII QB's. Hopefully the practice with the 1st Team O will gain experience and confidence so that he doesn't force it as often. Like I said earlier if he keeps up his current pace of INT's, a high negative TO DIFF will result and NU won't win 8+ games.

You're missing one key stat: INT's per game or better yet INT's per attempt. Don't just use TD-to-INT ratio cause like you said, we sat back and passed a lot. Don't want to take anything away from Ganz cause I think he'll win out this fall and will do well. The offense seemed to rally around him and really started to take off. I agree that you need to look at the per game stats vs. his overall stats. The big flaw with his overall stats is that it was for only 4 games, hence only 7 INT's. If you take the stats average per game (4TD/1.75INT) and project it over a standard 12 game schedule he would have had a wopping 48TD's and 21 INT's. Yes the 44% rate compares favorably with Brohm and Brennan, but no one on your list sniffed 20+ INT's last year. That is just way too many. Looking at this another way, NU has averaged 15.7 INT's and 9.7 fumbles recovered per year over the last 10 years. NU also averaged 13.6 fumbles lost per year. NU already averages 4 more fumbles per year lost than our opponents and if Joe continues to average 1.75 INT's a game, then in 2008 the averages tell you that the overall turn over differential could be -9 or -10. That is almost a -1 diff per game and is a terrible number. Too be fair none of them sniffed anywhere near 48 TD's either. And none of them apart from maybe Colt Brennan had defenses that played pass defense nearly the entire game, none of them had absolutely terrible defenses to give them any support, and it also seemed Callahan didn't want him running the ball which he could have done in situations where he ended up throwing picks, which would also bring that number down. Not to mention that he'll have more and more experience as this season goes on and before those 4 games he had never started before. I agree that he has tremendous upside and I am excited to see what he can do with starting experience in the offense. He just looked like he has that Farve attitude too much, if he changes his mentatilty and is a bit more conservative with the ball then he will excel. If he doesn't, 48TD's or not, a -8 TO margin will not allow this team to win 8+ games. A running game would help as well.

You're missing one key stat: INT's per game or better yet INT's per attempt. Don't just use TD-to-INT ratio cause like you said, we sat back and passed a lot. Don't want to take anything away from Ganz cause I think he'll win out this fall and will do well. The offense seemed to rally around him and really started to take off. I agree that you need to look at the per game stats vs. his overall stats. The big flaw with his overall stats is that it was for only 4 games, hence only 7 INT's. If you take the stats average per game (4TD/1.75INT) and project it over a standard 12 game schedule he would have had a wopping 48TD's and 21 INT's. Yes the 44% rate compares favorably with Brohm and Brennan, but no one on your list sniffed 20+ INT's last year. That is just way too many. Looking at this another way, NU has averaged 15.7 INT's and 9.7 fumbles recovered per year over the last 10 years. NU also averaged 13.6 fumbles lost per year. NU already averages 4 more fumbles per year lost than our opponents and if Joe continues to average 1.75 INT's a game, then in 2008 the averages tell you that the overall turn over differential could be -9 or -10. That is almost a -1 diff per game and is a terrible number.

I know that there is a lot of love for Ganz, I am guilty of this also, as well as for Lee, but I keep reading articles here and there that say Witt has the most talent. The radio play by play guys also seemed to echo this during the season last year. I am not sure what will happen, but I fully expect a serious 3 way battle.

Can people get it out of their head that this offense wasn't so great and exspecially during the USC game? First of all Nebraska was behind 42-10 and scored 21 point off of USC second team playing prevent defense. Lets not bringup the fact that 2 int set up USC for two TD (Kind of like Colorado see a pattern?) that allowed such a huge lead. Stats are good but they don't tell half the story and some times tell none of it. The number 11 offense didnt help during Oklahoma St and Texas A & M which were two home games. Gotta agree with that. The 11th ranked offense was out-gained by opponents in 8 of 12 games...Throw out the stats for the KSU and Nevada game and this offense was average at best. If I remember rightly the offense had to rely on a Bo Ruud 34 Yd Interception Return at the end to even beat them. With their(Kansas) schedule I would hope that Nebraska would be at or near the top. Take away the int? If this offense was that great they would have run and been able to run the clock down and thus making the game shorter with a 11 point lead coming out at half time. 1-3 record I could do with less flourishing and take a win. A-freAKING-MEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!