Lowered Expectations

[Huskerfan55]

We are cureently 4-1 and could very easily be 6-6 at the end of the season. I watched KS and CO and thought to myself I really dont like Prince or Hawkins but they are getting the job done! Then I asks whats wrong here in NE?

 

I think this is Peterson issue and he will fall eventually because of it!

[808Husker in KCMO]

Which KU and which CU games have you watched?

 

Edit- The Fuballoes had one LUCKY game. They did not out-perform OU. OU lost that game, CU didnt win it. And don't get me started on Kansas. This team has played NO ONE. Its gonna end up like this:

 

KU will beat KSU who will beat CU and they will lose to Baylor while NU and MU roll over their conference opponents. NU v. MU on saturday is THE game in the north. Make no mistakes about it. whoever wins THAT game, will win the division.

 

Edit2- And winning our division makes us a good (not great) football team. Cry about national championships if you want, but the fact remains that NO ONE has more championships than we do in 25 years. Sounds good enough to me.

[robsker]

Which KU and which CU games have you watched?

 

Edit- The Fuballoes had one LUCKY game. They did not out-perform OU. OU lost that game, CU didnt win it. And don't get me started on Kansas. This team has played NO ONE. Its gonna end up like this:

 

KU will beat KSU who will beat CU and they will lose to Baylor while NU and MU roll over their conference opponents. NU v. MU on saturday is THE game in the north. Make no mistakes about it. whoever wins THAT game, will win the division.

 

Edit2- And winning our division makes us a good (not great) football team. Cry about national championships if you want, but the fact remains that NO ONE has more championships than we do in 25 years. Sounds good enough to me.

 

I think anyone who has predictions about B12 North games and has confidence that they know the outcome is fooling themselves. It should be clear that CU, KSU, Missouri, Nebraska and Kansas all can range, in any given day, from rather mediocre to pretty good. Each squad has major weaknesses that can be exploited. Each squad has some real strengths as well. Which team shows up when will dictate the outcomes. And, of course, turnovers, mistakes and breaks. All games will be likely be closely contested.

 

The Huskers could easily lose to all four of these B12 rivals. If they did, I would not be surprised, overly. NU could beat all four. Again, I would not be overly surprised. More likely though is that no single team among the group will go without losing (that is go 4-0) or without winning (that is go 0-4). Expect that they will all be in the 3 - 1 to 1- 3 range. So, I'd expect that at the end of the season, no B12 North team will be ranked. In reality, probably none of them should be --- all are reasonable teams but none are national caliber competitive teams (consistently). Yes, CU and KSU have had their 15 minutes of fame this season, but each squad (like NU, Missouri, Kansas) are solid, but not really week in/week out top 25 stuff. Or, if so, then only at the fringe of the top 25 --- because none of them are far off the mark, just not quite there.

[jeepdad]

 

I think anyone who has predictions about B12 North games and has confidence that they know the outcome is fooling themselves. It should be clear that CU, KSU, Missouri, Nebraska and Kansas all can range, in any given day, from rather mediocre to pretty good. Each squad has major weaknesses that can be exploited. Each squad has some real strengths as well. Which team shows up when will dictate the outcomes. And, of course, turnovers, mistakes and breaks. All games will be likely be closely contested.

 

The Huskers could easily lose to all four of these B12 rivals. If they did, I would not be surprised, overly. NU could beat all four. Again, I would not be overly surprised. More likely though is that no single team among the group will go without losing (that is go 4-0) or without winning (that is go 0-4). Expect that they will all be in the 3 - 1 to 1- 3 range. So, I'd expect that at the end of the season, no B12 North team will be ranked. In reality, probably none of them should be --- all are reasonable teams but none are national caliber competitive teams (consistently). Yes, CU and KSU have had their 15 minutes of fame this season, but each squad (like NU, Missouri, Kansas) are solid, but not really week in/week out top 25 stuff. Or, if so, then only at the fringe of the top 25 --- because none of them are far off the mark, just not quite there.

 

 

Just curious ... other than a weak schedule, what weaknesses have you seen in KU?

[I Bleed RED]

Well, unfortunately this isn't a surprise. With the coaching staff and PUD in charge this was expected and we are not improving like we should in year 4. This was expected to some degree. I hope we can win 9-10 and surprise me. (regular season)

 

GBR!!!

[Hunter94]

Which KU and which CU games have you watched?

 

Edit- The Fuballoes had one LUCKY game. They did not out-perform OU. OU lost that game, CU didnt win it. And don't get me started on Kansas. This team has played NO ONE. Its gonna end up like this:

 

KU will beat KSU who will beat CU and they will lose to Baylor while NU and MU roll over their conference opponents. NU v. MU on saturday is THE game in the north. Make no mistakes about it. whoever wins THAT game, will win the division.

 

Edit2- And winning our division makes us a good (not great) football team. Cry about national championships if you want, but the fact remains that NO ONE has more championships than we do in 25 years. Sounds good enough to me.

 

I think anyone who has predictions about B12 North games and has confidence that they know the outcome is fooling themselves. It should be clear that CU, KSU, Missouri, Nebraska and Kansas all can range, in any given day, from rather mediocre to pretty good. Each squad has major weaknesses that can be exploited. Each squad has some real strengths as well. Which team shows up when will dictate the outcomes. And, of course, turnovers, mistakes and breaks. All games will be likely be closely contested.

 

The Huskers could easily lose to all four of these B12 rivals. If they did, I would not be surprised, overly. NU could beat all four. Again, I would not be overly surprised. More likely though is that no single team among the group will go without losing (that is go 4-0) or without winning (that is go 0-4). Expect that they will all be in the 3 - 1 to 1- 3 range. So, I'd expect that at the end of the season, no B12 North team will be ranked. In reality, probably none of them should be --- all are reasonable teams but none are national caliber competitive teams (consistently). Yes, CU and KSU have had their 15 minutes of fame this season, but each squad (like NU, Missouri, Kansas) are solid, but not really week in/week out top 25 stuff. Or, if so, then only at the fringe of the top 25 --- because none of them are far off the mark, just not quite there.

 

 

pretty good evaluation of what it looks like rob. and there may not be a team left in the south that retains or regains a top 10 ranking either. the Big 12 will likely be full of also rans this year and the BCS will likely pass all of the teams by. not good, but a realistic outcome.

[I am I]

well, having a weak schedule kind of speaks for itself. a football team ONLY gets better when it plays better teams. look at NU in the late eighties. we CRUSHED KU and K-state and CU all season then lost to OU or a florida school in a bowl, because we didn't play great competition all season.

 

weak schedules are good for confidence and fine tuning, but to start playing with real game speed and intensity, you have to see it first hand. if we win the B12 North and or the B12 CG and get a good bowl victory, i would point to the loss against SC for showing us what it took to play at a high level.

 

secondly, KU's QB is sorry. save for a couple of weak opponents, he hasn't proven himself against anyone. take a look a Freeman @K-state. he's played on the road against 2 very good opponents, won one and amost the other. battle tested, showing poise when it counts. Even Keller in the loss to USC got to fine tune in the 4th quarter against a great defense.

 

KU may have some ballers on D, but again, who are they shutting down? have they seen an O-line as huge as ours (6'4" 315 avg)? is their scout team preparing their starters to play against a spread attack like Mizzery's? have they played tough enough opponents in tight games to develop a 'play-maker' squad?

 

and finally, it's KU! they stink. they always have, and save for a few .500 seasons, they always will. and PLEASE don't point to 2 years ago in Lawerence. one win in 35 years, does not parity make. they are on the right track. they are starting to compete. but kind of like NU v SC, 2-thirds of our starters wouldn't be starting for them; i would maybe trade 2 or 3 players with KU's entire squad!

 

you can't measure heart and i know KU will be ready to play, but until they start to prove it week in, week out--well, then they're just KU.

[robsker]

 

I think anyone who has predictions about B12 North games and has confidence that they know the outcome is fooling themselves. It should be clear that CU, KSU, Missouri, Nebraska and Kansas all can range, in any given day, from rather mediocre to pretty good. Each squad has major weaknesses that can be exploited. Each squad has some real strengths as well. Which team shows up when will dictate the outcomes. And, of course, turnovers, mistakes and breaks. All games will be likely be closely contested.

 

The Huskers could easily lose to all four of these B12 rivals. If they did, I would not be surprised, overly. NU could beat all four. Again, I would not be overly surprised. More likely though is that no single team among the group will go without losing (that is go 4-0) or without winning (that is go 0-4). Expect that they will all be in the 3 - 1 to 1- 3 range. So, I'd expect that at the end of the season, no B12 North team will be ranked. In reality, probably none of them should be --- all are reasonable teams but none are national caliber competitive teams (consistently). Yes, CU and KSU have had their 15 minutes of fame this season, but each squad (like NU, Missouri, Kansas) are solid, but not really week in/week out top 25 stuff. Or, if so, then only at the fringe of the top 25 --- because none of them are far off the mark, just not quite there.

 

 

Just curious ... other than a weak schedule, what weaknesses have you seen in KU?

 

 

Good Question, Jeep. Really the main weakness I see is holdover from last season --- that is, KU is not overly athletic. Their speed and quickness does not (or at least last year did not) appear remotely like that of a top 25 team. They have not had many good recruiting years of late and so, admittedly this is speculation , I am hard-pressed to see them with a team speed --- or, for that matter, a team strength or physicality in the trenches, that KU will be much improved over last year. That said, they have been solid. So, I'd guess that this is their weakness.

 

Really, NU seems as though it has far more talent than does KU. For that matter, NU has more talent, it would seem, than does CU, KSU and even Missouri. But the team is playing at (+ or - very little) from the level of this group. While NU has trouble with fundamentals like tackling and gap assignments on defense, adjustments on offense and maybe mental preparation and confidence, KU just generally is not very athletic (but seems to be better coached and more fundamentally sound than NU --- as are all the B12 North rival squads). So it is a wash --- anything can happen in these games. Or, at least that is my take.

[808Husker in KCMO]

PS- My who beats who is Hypothetical. What I'm saying is that only 3 teams have the ability to play consistent in Conference play. NU, MU and ISU (who will lose out)

[DCHusker]

I still think NU can improve a great deal over the course of the season. Especially if our D-Line improves, which it should since they're all new starters this season and all pretty talented, our overall defense COULD get quite a bit better. Not saying it will, but there's potential.

 

If that were to happen, I think we'd be a notch above everybody in the North and maybe even competitive in Big 12 CG.

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

I could see improvement on Saturday so I'm hoping they continue in the right direction.

 

I do work with a guy that claims that Coach Callahan has forced fans to lower their expectations. While I can see why he thinks that I don't believe that has to be the case. Some people are afraid to set high expectations because they are worried about being disappointed. Why? What sort of protective bubble do these people walk around in because they are afraid of disappointment? It's part of life and it's part of sports. If the team doesn't meet my expectations this season I hope the changes are made so they can be achieved the next season.

[Spartness]

Ok, I am basing my thoughts on how the team is playing right now. If you look at the whole schedule, I don't see a team that we are currently clearly better than. If we don't improve, it's possible we could go 4-8 -- lord I hope not! If we improve, the best case I think would be 8-4 in the regular season. Actually, it's quite possible it will be somewhere in between. I think what we are talking about are a lot of close games that could go either way.

[junior4949]

PS- My who beats who is Hypothetical. What I'm saying is that only 3 teams have the ability to play consistent in Conference play. NU, MU and ISU (who will lose out)

 

 

I agree that ISU will lose out. IMO, they are the doormat of the Big 12. I don't think they can beat anybody in this conference no matter how weak this conference is this year. However, I don't agree that MU and NU will win out excpet for when they play one another. Mizzou has a history of flopping. There have been times when they should have won the Big 12 North just to screw up when it was within grasp. Pinkel always has a roller coaster team down there. You never know whether you get their best or their worst. KState was one screw up by an OL from beating Auburn on Auburn's home field. If you remember, Auburn was ranked pretty high in the preseason. Also, they just beat Florida on Florida's home field. People can hate on KU all they want. However, we all remember what they did to us 2 years ago and what they about did to us a year ago. Last year, they were as close to beating us on our home field as Ball State was this year. KU will not lay down for NU! I don't think CU is there yet. Hawkins has a signature win and something to build on, but I don't see him having a successful season in the Big 12. IMO, the Big 12 North comes down to Mizzou, KState, NU, and KU. All of them having equal chances at this juncture in the season.

[DCHusker]

Ok, I am basing my thoughts on how the team is playing right now. If you look at the whole schedule, I don't see a team that we are currently clearly better than. If we don't improve, it's possible we could go 4-8 -- lord I hope not! If we improve, the best case I think would be 8-4 in the regular season. Actually, it's quite possible it will be somewhere in between. I think what we are talking about are a lot of close games that could go either way.

 

Even if we improve you think we only go 5-3 the rest of the way and if we dont get any better we go 1-7 the rest of the way? I think if we don't improve at all we end up 7-5, if our defense gets better, 10-2, I think that's probably the ceiling. No way we lose seven more games.

[HUSKER 37]

Which KU and which CU games have you watched?

 

Edit- The Fuballoes had one LUCKY game. They did not out-perform OU. OU lost that game, CU didnt win it. And don't get me started on Kansas. This team has played NO ONE. Its gonna end up like this:

 

KU will beat KSU who will beat CU and they will lose to Baylor while NU and MU roll over their conference opponents. NU v. MU on saturday is THE game in the north. Make no mistakes about it. whoever wins THAT game, will win the division.

 

Edit2- And winning our division makes us a good (not great) football team. Cry about national championships if you want, but the fact remains that NO ONE has more championships than we do in 25 years. Sounds good enough to me.

 

I REALLY HATE pointing this out, but Miami won 5 in that time period...We won 4

 

http://www.hickoksports.com/history/cfchamps.shtml