ColoradoHusk

Why is this year another transition year? I understand Armstrong isn't the ideal QB for Riley/Langsdorf and the defense doesn't have great depth and experience on the d-line. But, there should be plenty of talent to challenge for the division championship. I could see 2017 being a struggle year with a new starting QB, new WR's, and other turnover.

I agree. I don't think Barfknecht wrote anything that was inflammatory or stuff that we already didn't know. It's just very sobering to hear this on a consistent basis. I had known that NU was a power house from the early 1960's on, but I didn't quite realize how good NU was from the 1900s until WWII. I had heard stories about beating the 4 Horsemen and other big wins in the early 1900s, but I didn't realize how strong the winning percentage was in the first half of the 20th century.

The entire coaching staff from the Osborne era were tough SOB's. Solich was one of the toughest RB coaches around, and Ron Brown was a very tough WR coach.

One or two coaches practicing with toughness won't work though. It needs to permeate from the Head Coach down to all the coaches.

It's well known that Frazier and Frost weren't captains as seniors. Although TF was a great leader, he was also a complete a-hole who wasn't liked by a lot of his teammates. Plus a lot of players though Berringer should have been the starting QB, so that didn't help Frazier's cause. Frost was a cocky guy who rubbed teammates the wrong way during his transfer season of '95 and who pissed off a lot of people for trying to date Kate McKewon and indirectly causing the LP situation. In the 80s and 90s, the offensive captains were usually linemen and not too often skill players.

I remember there were a number of people questioning the recruitment of Lightbourn when we already had Foltz. Even if Foltz had been available, Caleb could have spent a year redshirting and fine tuning his punting. Too bad we don't have that luxury any more.

Because one of them is a bike thief? That was 2 years ago. I'm not defending what Bando did, but he probably has grown up a lot in the past 2 years. I know I changed quite a bit from 19 to 21 years old.

THIS!! I have long maintained that very few teams have actually beat the Huskers - as they typically find ways to beat themselves. So, I want to beat the Nebraska that keeps beating Nebraska.You could say that about every opponent that NU has beaten. Just a matter of what side of the fence you are on. Sometimes teams are just better than you.Hence my reference to "very few teams", to account for those better teams. If they play their best, and still don't win, I am ok with that. Goes back to Osborne's philosophy of - beat the teams you should. Many of those "should beat" teams have gotten the better of NU in recent times. I think you missed my point. I was saying that MSU could say that they beat themselves because they lost to NU. So anyone that has been beaten by NU could say the same thing "We beat ourselves".Yes, MSU is probably saying that they beat themselves when they lost to NU. Overall, Michigan State was the better team than NU last year. What FlipPhone is saying is that NU needs to get back to the talent and coaching level where NU should be able to win 7 or 8 games regardless how the opponent played. That's what NU was able to do for decades until recent times.

I hope the coaches can figure out a package of plays to get Bryant on the field at I-back. He could be special so let's use him.

I think Hahn is a great story to start, but I am sure the coaches want to preserve Boe Wilson's redshirt for this season, so they are going to hope that Whitaker and the other guard from Oklahoma can get healthy and be the man.

The players made their choices, we shouldn't complain about them. Frazier and Frost weren't captains their senior year. Of course, Frazier was an a-hole that not many on the team liked, but that happens.

Yes, I was at that game. If I recall Carr has himself a good game despite being a younger QB. Carr had a very good game. NU was in deep trouble until Ameer's kickoff return for a TD. This is a different Fresno team. They could be among the worst in FBS this year.

Riley has had four 4* RB at his disposal here, I'm guessing more than he ever had at OSU. Riley should also have better o-linemen at his disposal at NU, which should encourage even more running the ball.

It's obvious by the type of QB's and the plethora of WR's being recruited that Riley and Langsdorf wants to have a pure, drop-back passing game. Langsdorf loves to sling the ball around, and wants a QB that can do so. They tried to do that last year with limited success with Armstrong. The thing with Armstrong is that he isn't great at the throws that Riley and Langsdorf want to utilize. Armstrong is very good at the QB run plays that Riley and Langsdorf struggle to utilize. That's going to cause a strange dichotomy with the coaches and the QB. Riley probably heard from the fans and media that he should be running the ball more and his current QB doesn't should encourage more running plays. However, after this year, I expect Riley and Langsdorf to go full-bore with their passing attack. That will be fine if it's successful. However, he should have something prepared for when it's cold and/or windy that many B1G games can experience. It's going to be hard for the team to "flip a switch" and be a running team when the weather dictates it.

It sounds like Grim went from having the ball thrown to him 50% of the time in high school, to being 9th on the depth chart, and he couldn't handle it. There's nothing wrong with it or his reaction. I am sure a lot of kids would have that same reaction. I just wish he could have stuck it out further.

I wanted to follow up regarding POB's arm-strength. For the most part, it shouldn't be a huge issue. However, I do have concern. From what I understand of the offense, Riley and Langsdorf like to push the ball downfield with the pass. It's not a dink and dunk offense. From the media that has seen POB in practice, he prefers to float the ball to the receivers, instead of driving the ball to the receivers on those throws. Floating the ball will probably work most of the time, but not against teams with good DB talent or in windy conditions (which can be bad at Big Ten schools). Yes, accuracy and quick release are things that POB seems to excel in, but I don't think we should downplay the lack of arm strength.

Riley is not a moron so I think it is safe to say that he will say what he needs to say to make his life easy. And since he says it in a nice and calm way, a lot of fans like it. Riley understands the "it's not always what you say, it's how you say it" game very well.

I was just about to comment about this. I understand that Riley and Langsdorf prefers the passing game, so is he just giving the Nebraska media and fans lip-service about establishing the running game long-term? McKewon and Nyatawa commented a little about this in their most recent podcast. At Oregon State Riley felt compelled to "trick" his opponents and throw the ball all over the place because of inferior talent. Well, at Nebraska, inferior talent shouldn't be an issue, so there should be a lot of games where the offense should be able to line up and impose their physicality over the course of 60 minutes. Illinois and Purdue are perfect examples of this last year.

Iowa is able to win games mainly by other teams making mistakes, and Iowa capitalizing on them. NU should have the talent advantage over the entire Big Ten West, so NU should be winning the division the majority of the years. NU definitely shouldn't be going 1-5 against West Division opponents.

Banker may be a good quote, but that doesn't take away from the fact that he is an average to bad defensive coordinator. The only reason he lasted so long at Oregon State and is now at NU is that he's best buds with Riley.

I know the Strom may have NFL potential as an OT and will probably get offers from "bigger" schools in football, but I think playing college basketball would be a more enjoyable experience than playing college football. I know both sports require a lot of work, but college football looks like an absolute beating to prepare for 24/7/365.

Leech is a lawyer and a pirate. That's why he says crazy, zany things. I love Leech interviews.

Is Freedom playing the Base DE where he's asked to maintain position with the TE and OT and then rush the passer? If so, it would be great to have a speed rusher coming off the edge on the open DE.

Banker was at OSU from 03-14, just like Riley...I think he knows that Beaver fans want to Banker out for a very long time There's, what you're speculating his intent was and what was written.What was wrong with what I wrote? Beaver fans wanted him fired from OSU from like 2010, which was years before Riley came to NU.