IlliniHusker

Go Iowa - Beat Tennessee! Besides the conference connection, I have friends that live in Iowa (but I'm happy to report that they are HUSKER FANS)!

Just an observation - last year when Tommy A rolled out to the left, his passes seemed to be always way of the mark. When he rolled right, his passes were much more accurate. Yet someone (Beck?) kept TA using a roll out pass to the left side late into the season (Iowa). I just hope Riley puts our players into positions where their strength shows thru, not their weaknesses.

Before the injury I thought Adam Taylor would be the back-up to Ameer. It all depends on how he bounces back from his broken ankle. A couple of years ago we had an all-American caliber tight end who broke his leg. After that was healed, he never returned to his prior form. SO - If Adam can return to his full potential, I'd bet on him.... its a big IF.

Besides Stanton, who I thought would actually play more, the following injured players could/should make a huge contribution: Michael Rose (LB) Charles Jackson (CB) Adam Taylor (RB)

I'm impressed that Ore St actually beat both a #1 and #3 USC team and a #2 Cal team in the past ... then beat #11 Ariz St this year. How many top 10 teams did NU beat in the last 7 yrs?

Two items surprised me: His 3 wins over teams ranked #3 USC, #1 USE and #2 Cal. Can't remember the last time NU beat a top 10 team. His contract thru 2021 ... that's 7 years ... any idea what it cost to buy out his contract? GBR

NU 42 Fla Atl 13 Rush 268 Pass 195

On the national scene the truly great college football rivals occur when the outcome was significant in terms of ratings, conf titles and bowl selections. It seems like we are a long way from having a significant BIG rival. One think I'm convinced of .... such a rivalry has to develop naturally and not be forced by a few in the media who are trying to hype a TV rating.

As MSU proved, you win championships with defense. At the start of last year we heard the reasoning that the NU Offense will carry the team until the D comes around. Look how that worked out! MSU did just the opposite. The Sparty D carried the team until the O developed. That carried them to a Big 10 Title. I'm more hopeful about NU in the next couple of years than I've been for a while.

I hope that this loss is just an indication that the Huskers are very young and still in the early development..... to grow into something much better as the season progresses.

B & B The obvious way to correct this is next year. Regain national significance by winning all the games we are favored and win the games that have national attention. In 2014 those would be Miami, Mich St, Wisconsin. I'm assuming Fresno St drops out of sight with QB Carr leaving. If we can stay healthy, next year looks very promising.

The only way I wanted the BWW Bowl is if we played Texas! Since KState was chosen, I'm glad we didn't go to Tempe.

I think we will know a lot more AFTER the Illinois game. I believe Illinois is one-dimensional, but they have been VERY effective passing the ball and our defense has been porous to both run and pass. IF our D improves we would win the rest of the games (Mich & PSU are struggling, MSU has no offense). Right now I think the most dangerous games will be NW and Iowa (assuming we look much better againg Illinois).

So far the NU pass defense (secondary) has been a huge disappointment. It was supposed to be the strength of the team. The man-to-man coverage isn't working and the NU D-line hasn't put consistant pressure on the QB. Illinois stats indicate they do NOT have a viable rushing attack, but they are very good at passing. It seems to me that the key to this game is our pass defense. Will it come alive & live up to the pre-season hype? I sure hope so. GBR

NU 45 Ill 28 Rush 275 Pass 305

I think we all agree that NU is not relavent on the national scene. There is only one thing that will return us to the Top 10, etc. Winning big games against ranked teams....... obvious, but when and how wil it happen? I haven't a clue. Luckily my income doesn't depend on the NU football team.... just my emotional sanity!

We really need a D-coodinator who can coach young talent and bring them along quickly. I have serious doubts about Papuchis. The problem - Bo likes to promote from within, which is OK if you have the patience and stamina to wait for them to grow into the job. It may well take a number of years to have the O- and D- coordinators develop into championship level leaders. Meanwhile the recruiting suffers as players wonder if they will be grow into NFL talent or not. I don't think Cornhusker fans want to wait for X years for a championship coaching staff.

NU 35 UCLA 30 Passing - 255 Rushing - 325

I think the water boy / girl will have a HUGE day. Although its a 7PM start time, the temp will still be around 95 F.

I don't think anyone has picked Kenny Bell yet. So, Bell on a 65 yr end around.

Taylor deserves all the support we can give him. Believe his success this 4th year will depend on NU controlling the game and NOT putting Martinez into a position where he has to rescue the team from a disaster. Last year he had 20 turnovers (8 lost fumbles & 12 ints). Despite this he often overcame the mistakes and engineered some amazing come-backs.

NU - 42 Wyoming - 7 Rushing - 295 Passing - 340

If NU goes 11-1 or 12-0 next year, I think Taylor will be happier than if he gets lots of awards / records and the team doesn't win the BIG conference and/or go to a BCS bowl.

We must win the BIG title because our ranking is too low to get into a BCS game with a loss to Wisconsin.

What we should have learned about punt receiving: > When the wind is blowing about 30 mph AGAINST the opposing team's punter, do NOT field the ball. > When the wind is blowing about 30 mph WITH the opposing team's punter, FAIR CATCH the ball. Only time will tell ....