Enhance

Not to say Nebraska's defense is overly talented and a top 25 defense, but looking at Missouri's schedule, they really haven't played a tough defensive opponent at all yet. If we play like we did against VaTech, we should have a good day against Missouri.

Exactly! Careful though. I made the same point you did about how some NC teams have had one loss before and got laughed at by a Texass fan and by another poster. Regardless, I'm in your boat. Still too much season left and still a lot we can accomplish. Please, nobody take this as if I'm saying this will happen or anything like that. But if NU runs the table, they are in the BCS Title game. That'd be road wins against MU and KU, a home win against TTech and OU, and a Big 12 championship game against more than likely Texas, but potentially OU or OSU also. Only loss being a 1 point road loss against Virginia Tech early in the season with a young team. The computers will take the toughness factor in, and the voters can see through the rest. If they run it, they're in. Now, doing that is the hard part.... I think the huskers will wrk havok and run the table!! (see what I did there?) One thing you have to keep in consideration about running the table is this: the BCS. A couple of things go into their decisions as far as who goes to the title game. Things like.... 1) Style Points: Are these teams winning by big margins or just scraping by. Are they looking awesome while they do it or boring people? 2) BCS rank. We're down a little further on the totem pole now. Even running the table and a win against Oklahoma and the Big 12 South Champ, we have to hope that we will get some love in order to be bumped up into the Top 3 teams nationally. 3) Other teams running the table or having one loss. If we run the rest of the table, Florida runs the table, and some other big time program has maybe one loss against a big time opponent, we may be overlooked. But the biggest obstacle in our way is in fact running the table. That is a big challenge within itself. Obviously the biggest thing is running the table.. But if OU beats Miami in 2 weeks, they will be top 6 when they play Texas.. more than likely the winner of that game goes to the Big 12 title game.. If Texas wins it, they pry go undefeated in the big 12 and are #2 in the big 12 title game. Florida, Ole Miss, and Bama can't all run the table. UF probably will. Cal didn't look anything close to impressive against Minnesota.. Penn State would be the 1 to worry about going undefeated also.. @ Michigan but they have OSU at home.. If you beat KU and MU on the road, OU @ home, and UT in the big 12 championship game, and you probably leap frog Boise.. USC would probably get more love being 1 loss than us, but its tough to see a 1-loss (on the road by 1 pt, to a top 15 team) big 12 team not playing for the title... Too many what ifs.

This right here. Asante is just sore. He'll be practicing and full go come Saturday.

Exactly! Careful though. I made the same point you did about how some NC teams have had one loss before and got laughed at by a Texass fan and by another poster. Regardless, I'm in your boat. Still too much season left and still a lot we can accomplish. Please, nobody take this as if I'm saying this will happen or anything like that. But if NU runs the table, they are in the BCS Title game. That'd be road wins against MU and KU, a home win against TTech and OU, and a Big 12 championship game against more than likely Texas, but potentially OU or OSU also. Only loss being a 1 point road loss against Virginia Tech early in the season with a young team. The computers will take the toughness factor in, and the voters can see through the rest. If they run it, they're in. Now, doing that is the hard part.... I think the huskers will wrk havok and run the table!! (see what I did there?) One thing you have to keep in consideration about running the table is this: the BCS. A couple of things go into their decisions as far as who goes to the title game. Things like.... 1) Style Points: Are these teams winning by big margins or just scraping by. Are they looking awesome while they do it or boring people? 2) BCS rank. We're down a little further on the totem pole now. Even running the table and a win against Oklahoma and the Big 12 South Champ, we have to hope that we will get some love in order to be bumped up into the Top 3 teams nationally. 3) Other teams running the table or having one loss. If we run the rest of the table, Florida runs the table, and some other big time program has maybe one loss against a big time opponent, we may be overlooked. But the biggest obstacle in our way is in fact running the table. That is a big challenge within itself.

They guys responded very well after the heart breaker at Tech last year. I expect them to come out with a vengeance against the Cajuns.

According to Rivals, Pelini did say that Lee is fine and will not miss any playing time on Saturday. Of course, he didn't exactly elaborate, but as you said he doesn't have to Dan_F_30. I don't think there is anything to worry about, especially if it is his non-throwing arm. Sure, he might favor it a bit if he takes a hit, but it shouldn't be an issue.

Couldn't agree more. We held this team to 16 points, and with the exception of two big plays (one on special teams and one deep pass play) our defense completely shut down VaTech's offense. Our offense just could not get anything done. We tried passing into the end zone from the goal line, maybe at a time when running the ball in would have been a better choice considering Helu was having a great game. We made 6 trips to the redzone last saturday and only came away with points 3 times. Get a touchdown just one of those times and the final score ends up being 19-16.

God finally somebody who is thinking clearly. FFS the only reason most of these threads have been started is because we lost. What I took away from this game is we are better than VaTech and we proved it, we just couldn't punch it into the end zone and couldn't stop one deep pass play. All of these "baaah the coaches suck" and "get #33 off the field!" threads are ridiculous. We got beat by the 13th best team in the nation and by a guy who has been coaching this team for 23 YEARS. Our head coach is in his second year with talent he didn't recruit and guys he has had for two years. The members of this board have seen the strides we made in two years with players being taught a new system, imagine guys we have here for 3 to 4 years who have been taught the same system since day 1? It will be deadly.

Just because somebody is having the "best camp" does not mean he is the best player. There are any number of reasons as to why O'Hanlon sees the field more. My best guess is that even though RT is a more athletic safety, O'Hanlon knows the defense better and plays the position better right now. If you could just combine the two persons, you would have one explosive safety.

Hey Fro, good observations, but I have a few comments to make. 1) I'm not sure you can consider our pass rush awful. VaTech has a very good offensive line and Taylor is an extremely mobile quarterback that we sacked him 4 times that game. I think that is very impressive. The trouble with going after Taylor is that if a d-line men goes up to make a move Taylor is going to bust it open and run around those guys. That's why you can't make a move against him when the backers and safeties are in deep zones because it could be a Taylor first down run. You have to contain him. 2) Maybe we weren't watchin the same game, but I thought the DB's played very well with the exception of the deep pass play. You can't blame them for the touchdown, because you can't expect a DB to keep this WR covered for that long of play. That d-line needed to get pressure and make the sack on Taylor. Plus VaTech has pretty athletic wide receivers, and Taylor had to throw the ball away more than once because of covered receivers. 3) Although Paul has made some plays on special teams, I'm still unconvinced of his ability to make reads and explode down field. Plus, it never really seems like he is running as fast as he can. Maybe that is because of his height and long strides, but he just seems slow. 4) I had joked with my buddies after Henery's 3rd field goal that he would score all of our points for the day and would add to them by throwing some touchdown passes and running a couple in. I ended up being partially right

This argument is absolutely ridiculous and idiotic. Thenarse is more athletic than O'Hanlon, but Thenarse doesn't read the offense as well and has generally proven himself to blow a lot of assignments. O'Hanlon on the other hand knows the defense very well but isn't as athletic. The guy made one bonehead play, after playing a great game, and then he comes back and sacks Taylor on the following play. Give the guy a break. We lost this game for more reasons than just O'Hanlon and the secondary. Why don't you go rag our offensive line for screwing up on 4 plays for 30 yards worth of penalties. And yes, O'Hanlon played a HUGE role in the Clemson game. Hagg may have had a pass break up and a key sack, but O'Hanlon broke up a winning touchdown pass on the second to last play from scrimmage. If O'Hanlon hadn't broken up that pass (which was in the receiver's hands by the way) the Gator Bowl outcome would not have been in our favor.

Here are some pick me ups for you: 1) The defensive performance we saw on Saturday was championship defense. You take out that blown coverage that led to VaTech's touchdown late in the game, and our defense played phenomenally. You can't be upset with them giving up the early touchdown because VaTech got great field position. 2) Roy Helu had a career rushing game against a very stout and talented defense. He made them just look silly. With the exception of getting points on the board and completing key passes, we dominated them in almost every phase of the game that they were expected to dominate us in. If I were VaTech, I'd be embarrassed that many talked so highly of themselves and they almost lost. 3) Our team is now out for blood. After losing this heartbreaking game, they aren't going to want to feel this way ever again. This has made our team stronger and more physical. They are really going to go after somebodies head from here on out, just to prove a statement and say "hey, we know we are a better football team, and now we're going to show you for four quarters".

I kind of feel sorry for the rest of the teams we play this year. NO, I am not saying we will win them all, but they will know they played us. I think VT was feeling rather lucky as HELL to get out of that one with a win. Believe me, they know they got out played most of that game and probably woke up this morning feeling like they got smashed by a train. Bo won't let the team forget how close we were to a win and if his intensity keeps overflowing onto the team, LOOK OUT everyone else. Years ago I remember players from other teams say that it used to really (physically) hurt to play us. Again, not that we will win them all, but the effort and heart is definitely coming back. That is the thing I am most proud of. I mean, you really have to chalk it up to our defense. They played probably their best game under Bo. There were very few mental breakdowns (except the one that really gutted us), and we three and outed VaTech's offense multiple times. They didn't get a first down in the second half until the FOURTH QUARTER. We also sacked Tyrod Taylor what, 4 times? If the offensive line could have kept their sh#t together we would have won that game by at least a touchdown or two. I think that drive where we got 4 penalties really hurt the offensive psyche and they just weren't able to do much after that.

Bad. They have been scrounging to win against terrible teams. I have a question. What do you guys think will happen regarding the throwbacks? Do you think the players will wear them out onto the field, or that they will wear regular game jerseys and head back into the locker room a bit early to change? I think it would make the effect of the throwbacks more special if we could see them the second they exit from the tunnel walk.

He basically said Bo Ball is Bo doing what he wants defensively and opening up the flood gates, doing stuff he hasn't done against the two other opponents we played.

So far I think the secondary has played extremely well this season, something I didn't expect. The only had one big break down that I can remember from the last two games, in which ASU QB Corey Leonard threw a deep pass down the middle for a nice gain before one of our backers caught up with him. Other than that, we haven't allowed any big plays and held teams pretty well in the passing game. And I would argue that both FAU and ASU have better passing attacks than VaTech, so I think it is something for us to pride ourselves on. Well, maybe not ASU.

I like these definitions. I'm a fan through and through, but I am a pretty sore loser sometimes. Doesn't mean I'll ever give up on Nebraska, but I just really hate to see them lose.

Gooooooooo Biiiiiiiiiig Reeeeeeeeeeeeed!

If the defense plays well this game, expect the blackshirts to be handed out afterwards! You heard it here first.

According to Jimmy Carter that is a racist statement, I don't appreciate it either. If it were PBO said that you would not say he was B&W, even though he is. If you did the justice brothers would be at your doorstep calling for your ouster! Anyways Michael said it doesn't matter if your B or W! LMAO

Essentially it's supposed to be based on who the best teams in the country are, but the problem is that a lot of it has to do with opinions. In fact, most of it has to do with opinions. Why? Well just read my previous post. A Notre Dame team that has proven diddly squat in the last three games it has played somehow leap frogged us after they shut out a poor Nevada team in their season opener. Their win was just about as impressive as ours was in week one, yet they jumped to #18 in the polls and nearly 3 spots ahead of us. This is a team that got beat by one of the worst schools last year in Syracuse, and propelled us into the Gator Bowl thanks to their loss. Also, last season Oklahoma jumped over Texas to play in the Big 12 title game all because of the popular vote saying that Oklahoma was better than Texas last year, even though Texas beat OU in a head to head on a neutral site. It is total bs the way the system works, but it is the only one we have right now. Somebody needs to come up with an ingenious playoff system.

Could have asked the same question about why half the teams are ranked what they are ranked. Notre Dame specifically comes to mind. The polls have no validity, especially considering Notre Dame ripped apart a poor Hawaii team in a bowl last year, and then beat a poor Nevada team, and somehow leap frogged us in the polls.

Honestly what point does this idea serve? Uniforms and helmets don't make players play better, its just something for the fans to get all jacked up about. You know what will end up happening? Nebraska will lose the game, the helmet idea will be permanently trashed, fans will be pissed about it, and it will go into the bin of terrible Nebraska game ideas in the mix with the huge solid red stripe down the pants (like back in the early 2000's) and doing a black hole.

Just a little extra motivation for us to be loud, although I think most of our fans don't read too much into that. He's right, we don't play the game, but we think we do. "Man, I just hate losing here," Anderson said. "I don't like losing to these fans. They think they play, too. That's what's good about playing for Virginia Tech... (Syracuse QB RJ Anderson, 2003) What do they expect Pelini to say? "Oh, wow, yeah, we are super nervous for Lane Stadium. They are a very rowdy crowd and it is going to be a big issue to overcome. Hopefully we don't crap our pants and not execute against that physical and loud VaTech crowd." Bo is a black and white guy, something VaTech fans don't understand. He is going to tell it how it is. He wants his players to execute and play ball, and not pay too much attention to the crowd. Yeah, they can make offensive signal checks hard to hear, but other than that they offer no use to the game. Big time programs win on the road and execute, no matter what the environment. He wants his players to realize this.

Here's what I think it boils down to, and the guys on Husker Sports Nightly hit the nail on the head with what I've been thinking since he left. When running backs go to a division 1 school, they think they are the best running back in the nation even if that school recruited a couple of other backs. Then, when this guy gets there, he realizes that everybody is just as talented if not more talented than he is. He then soon realizes he is going to redshirt, and before you know it he is 3rd or 4th (maybe even lower) on the depth chart behind guys who haves years to play (like him) but are playing better than he is. He starts to think the place he is at isn't right for him, so he decides to transfer to another place to play ball and get more PT. I bet Collins just pulled himself together and realized that he didn't want to leave and that he needs to tough it out and perform. Being so far down on the depth chart that he is, he probably realized he needs to work really hard to start getting PT.