BIG 12 NORTH PRESEASON FORECAST

[knapplc]

I'm unbelievably bored. I do know one thing for certain about the North next year. MU will not be sharing the title for a third year in a row.

+1 !!!

 

We may disagree whether Nebraska or Kansas is better, but we're united in our belief that Missouri is the pits! Down with Missouri!

[HuskerGBR]

I'm unbelievably bored. I do know one thing for certain about the North next year. MU will not be sharing the title for a third year in a row.

 

I hope you are right. I want to be respectful to other programs, but it's just so dang hard to do with MU. I have had too many run-ins with bad MU fans and Chase Daniel talking crap about how some of our NU players were playing dirty last year just made me want to throw up. Missouri talking about other players playing dirty...if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black. Which we all know Daniel was just being his usual cry baby self. Anyways I am sorry about going off there. I don't like MU, but I did notice that they have some talented players. Still, chase-maclin-coffman...those are big losses and that will hurt any program to lose your top offensive weapons. At least KU has that still intact. Nebraska lost Ganz, I love the guy, but he did make quite a few poor decisions at times. I was never really sold on Peterson our WR, but he did show he was reliable. Swift was underrated in my book and his departure might be felt. Then we lost Lucky at HB who struggled his last year. He is a great player when they use him right, but I have no doubt that Helu and Castille will be more than capable of racking up yards. I just ask that we don't keep switching between three different backs and stick with just 2. Two is good, but once you switch between three guys I think it really hampers your running game.

[jayhawker]

you guys can relax, i was just ribbing on you. I already have about 5 bets (i'm married to a husker family) that KU is going to win and put up more than 34 points, and I do believe they will. My wife's cousin and I have a long standing bet that whomever loses, KU/UNL, the loser has to buy the bball tickets at Devaney when KU comes to lincoln. It's been on a nice rotation for the last 3-4 years.

I think that any team that tries to be a run dominate team in the B12 will fail. The O's in the B12 can score fast so if you can not keep pace it will hurt you. I do not think you have the DB's or LB's to stop the passing in the B12. I do honestly think that KU will have a very talented team this year, this is an excerpt from an article about the DL.

"Jake Laptad, defensive end. Laptad showed flashes of getting to the quarterback last year with seven sacks. He shouldn't really be double-teamed too much with the presence of junior college transfer Quintin Woods on the other end, and Caleb Blakesley and Jamal Greene controlling the middle. Defensive line could be an overlooked strength of the Jayhawks' defense next season. With that in mind, Laptad could be a breakout candidate to approach 10 sacks. "

 

How many sacks did Suh have last year?

 

imagine what KU will do to UNL IF the DL plays up to these expectations.

I really do believe the season hangs on the OL.

 

article here

I think there's a general misconception among football fans that a quick-strike/passing offense can score more often than a clock-control/running offense. Yes, the quick-strike does score in less time, but that is completely negated by the fact that the other team then gets the ball. So, if both offenses keep scoring, neither can out-score the other. The quick-strike does have an advantage at the end of each half, but the clock-control offense wears out the other team's defense and has advantages most of the second half.

your right, ask tOSU

[jayhawker]

I'm unbelievably bored. I do know one thing for certain about the North next year. MU will not be sharing the title for a third year in a row.

 

Nebraska lost Ganz, I love the guy, but he did make quite a few poor decisions at times. I was never really sold on Peterson our WR, but he did show he was reliable. Swift was underrated in my book and his departure might be felt.

 

+5

 

I think Swift is going to be the most missed, and then Ganz. He did make some bad decisions at times but in his defense, he should have come out of spring 07 as the starter and not Keller, imagine him with 2 full years to do some damage. Dumbest move by Callahan second only to banning former players from the field and the walls.

[huzkerbob]

you guys can relax, i was just ribbing on you. I already have about 5 bets (i'm married to a husker family) that KU is going to win and put up more than 34 points, and I do believe they will. My wife's cousin and I have a long standing bet that whomever loses, KU/UNL, the loser has to buy the bball tickets at Devaney when KU comes to lincoln. It's been on a nice rotation for the last 3-4 years.

I think that any team that tries to be a run dominate team in the B12 will fail. The O's in the B12 can score fast so if you can not keep pace it will hurt you. I do not think you have the DB's or LB's to stop the passing in the B12. I do honestly think that KU will have a very talented team this year, this is an excerpt from an article about the DL.

"Jake Laptad, defensive end. Laptad showed flashes of getting to the quarterback last year with seven sacks. He shouldn't really be double-teamed too much with the presence of junior college transfer Quintin Woods on the other end, and Caleb Blakesley and Jamal Greene controlling the middle. Defensive line could be an overlooked strength of the Jayhawks' defense next season. With that in mind, Laptad could be a breakout candidate to approach 10 sacks. "

 

How many sacks did Suh have last year?

 

imagine what KU will do to UNL IF the DL plays up to these expectations.

I really do believe the season hangs on the OL.

 

article here

Did you honestly just try to compare Jake Laptad to Suh because Eric from KUsports.com says he's ready to "break out"?

Laptad 38 tackles, 8.5 Tackles for loss, 7 sacks, 1FF, 1 FR, 4 PBU, 2 Saf 9 (OK numbers, but how many double teams did this kid have to face? Answer: not many.)

 

Suh 76 Tackles, 19 Tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, 1 FF, 3 PBU, 2 blocked FGs, 2 INTs(both returned for TD's), 1 TD reception.

 

Suh's Single-Game Highs (Since you KU fans seem to forget just how thouroghly NU dominated you last year with an experienced O-line)

Tackles–12 vs. Kansas, 2008

Solo Tackles–6 vs. Clemson, 2009 Gator Bowl

Sacks–2.5-18 vs. Kansas, 2008

Tackles for Loss–4-19 vs. Kansas, 2008, 4-24 vs. Clemson, 2009 Gator Bowl

Interceptions-1, three times, 2 in 2008

 

I did read that article, and it's hilarious! There was exactly one mention of the defense in that article, and that was your blurb about Laptad. If a great offense was all that was needed to win championships, then Tulsa would have been the Nat. Champs in 08! So you can be as confident as you like, but come November we'll be sure to remind you Jayhawks just how certain you were of your BCS birth, when your hoping for a mercy invite to the Sun Bowl!

[jayhawker]

you guys can relax, i was just ribbing on you. I already have about 5 bets (i'm married to a husker family) that KU is going to win and put up more than 34 points, and I do believe they will. My wife's cousin and I have a long standing bet that whomever loses, KU/UNL, the loser has to buy the bball tickets at Devaney when KU comes to lincoln. It's been on a nice rotation for the last 3-4 years.

I think that any team that tries to be a run dominate team in the B12 will fail. The O's in the B12 can score fast so if you can not keep pace it will hurt you. I do not think you have the DB's or LB's to stop the passing in the B12. I do honestly think that KU will have a very talented team this year, this is an excerpt from an article about the DL.

"Jake Laptad, defensive end. Laptad showed flashes of getting to the quarterback last year with seven sacks. He shouldn't really be double-teamed too much with the presence of junior college transfer Quintin Woods on the other end, and Caleb Blakesley and Jamal Greene controlling the middle. Defensive line could be an overlooked strength of the Jayhawks' defense next season. With that in mind, Laptad could be a breakout candidate to approach 10 sacks. "

 

How many sacks did Suh have last year?

 

imagine what KU will do to UNL IF the DL plays up to these expectations.

I really do believe the season hangs on the OL.

 

article here

Did you honestly just try to compare Jake Laptad to Suh because Eric from KUsports.com says he's ready to "break out"?

Laptad 38 tackles, 8.5 Tackles for loss, 7 sacks, 1FF, 1 FR, 4 PBU, 2 Saf 9 (OK numbers, but how many double teams did this kid have to face? Answer: not many.)

 

Suh 76 Tackles, 19 Tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, 1 FF, 3 PBU, 2 blocked FGs, 2 INTs(both returned for TD's), 1 TD reception.

 

Suh's Single-Game Highs (Since you KU fans seem to forget just how thouroghly NU dominated you last year with an experienced O-line)

Tackles–12 vs. Kansas, 2008

Solo Tackles–6 vs. Clemson, 2009 Gator Bowl

Sacks–2.5-18 vs. Kansas, 2008

Tackles for Loss–4-19 vs. Kansas, 2008, 4-24 vs. Clemson, 2009 Gator Bowl

Interceptions-1, three times, 2 in 2008

 

I did read that article, and it's hilarious! There was exactly one mention of the defense in that article, and that was your blurb about Laptad. If a great offense was all that was needed to win championships, then Tulsa would have been the Nat. Champs in 08! So you can be as confident as you like, but come November we'll be sure to remind you Jayhawks just how certain you were of your BCS birth, when your hoping for a mercy invite to the Sun Bowl!

 

To fix your problem, Laptad faced a ton of double teams last year, he had no help on the line. The point of the article was that now he has a supporting cast so will not face the double teams this year. Are you really trying to say Suh has better stats and had the same supporting help as Laptad? Do you need me to compare our "horrible" D from last years with the blackshirts from lastyear? You won't like it. Are you also comparing last years OL with Clemsons? LoL. You didn't put in there how many sacks he had against clemson. How do you like those S's he had. Both Sophs last year, not saying Laptad is as good as Suh, but we have a guy on the line that will cause problems, and now he will have some help.

[caveman99]

Dont forget, Caveman, that Ganz knew the offense like the back of his hand before he even took the field as a starter. He was, what, a 5th year senior last year? That means he had 4 years to learn the offense. Lee has been in the system I think two years now. I doubt he can be as effective as Ganz was right off the bat.

 

Yeah I get that, but Lee still has had 2+ years in the offense and Ganz has said that Lee knows the offense really well already. Lee needs to get used to making the reads in game action, that is why the strong running game setting up PA pass is so important. However, Lee has much more talent than Ganz so I am expecting big things.

 

you sound a little worried.

You are projecting on that one.

no. 100% sure KU beats UNL in lawrence. While scoring over 35 on your D.

 

I am a little worried for your team Jayhawker. I don't want to see you guys fail, but I am worried you guys might take a step back. When I said better coaches I just meant better than what we had...not implying our coaches are better than any of the other Big XII north coaches. I don't believe anyone in the north will be putting up the offensive numbers we saw this year and I see that being in Nebraska's favor. And yes Colorado hates us and would love to beat us so you might be right, but I still believe we beat them even at their place. I do honestly believe Nebraska has the most talent and now we have a coaching staff that can develop talent. I have scouted all of the North teams and just based on talent that is what I am projecting. I don't really believe too much in home field advantage, because I still say a great coaching strategy and talent wins the game. Then you have to factor in experience and there are question marks all across the board so I didn't worry too much about that. Your comment on Missouri...yeah their defense will be ok but nothing special. And there questions on O is why I say they need to run the ball more this year and do clock management.

 

Who knows how it will turn out Jayhawker, but one thing I do hope is that your Jayhawks don't fall back this year. Mangino has had some rough years here and there. If history is any indicator he will be around .600 winning percentage this year and I hope that's not the case. Lets hope history can be rewritten.

you guys can relax, i was just ribbing on you. I already have about 5 bets (i'm married to a husker family) that KU is going to win and put up more than 34 points, and I do believe they will. My wife's cousin and I have a long standing bet that whomever loses, KU/UNL, the loser has to buy the bball tickets at Devaney when KU comes to lincoln. It's been on a nice rotation for the last 3-4 years.

I think that any team that tries to be a run dominate team in the B12 will fail. The O's in the B12 can score fast so if you can not keep pace it will hurt you. I do not think you have the DB's or LB's to stop the passing in the B12. I do honestly think that KU will have a very talented team this year, this is an excerpt from an article about the DL.

"Jake Laptad, defensive end. Laptad showed flashes of getting to the quarterback last year with seven sacks. He shouldn't really be double-teamed too much with the presence of junior college transfer Quintin Woods on the other end, and Caleb Blakesley and Jamal Greene controlling the middle. Defensive line could be an overlooked strength of the Jayhawks' defense next season. With that in mind, Laptad could be a breakout candidate to approach 10 sacks. "

 

How many sacks did Suh have last year?

 

imagine what KU will do to UNL IF the DL plays up to these expectations.

I really do believe the season hangs on the OL.

 

article here

 

Here is another tidbit from that same article:

 

Biggest question mark: Offensive line. The Jayhawks have a combined 25 starts from two guys returning on the line this season. Sophomore Jeff Spikes, who started 13 games last year, will stay at right tackle. Sophomore Jeremiah Hatch, who started 12 games last season, will move from left tackle to center, his natural position.

 

Spikes and Hatch have high ceilings and must grow fast and act as anchors for the line this season.

 

Until the line proves it can protect Reesing on a regular basis, those 25 returning starts will be a concern, though. To put this number in perspective, Oklahoma had 131 returning starts from the O-line on its Big 12 championship team last year. KU's 25 starts are the lowest returning number in the Big 12.

 

Adding to the uncertainty will be the ability of Tanner Hawkinson, the projected starting left tackle, to protect Reesing. Left tackle is the most important position on the line because it protects a quarterback's blind side. Hawkinson began his career as a defensive end and a tight end before committing to play on the O-line. For KU's sake, the Jayhawks better hope he stops moving around. He played well in the spring game.

 

The starting guards will be a battle between juniors Carl Wilson and Sal Capra (started in the spring game), and freshmen Trevor Marrongelli and John Williams (second string in spring game).

 

Ben Lueken's playing status remains unknown. The sophomore was hospitalized in April after being struck by a vehicle at the Jayhawker Towers. He was released from the hospital a few days later. Lueken appeared in nine games last season and was expected to start somewhere along the line this season. Mangino hasn't commented on Lueken's playing status for 2009.

This is exactly what I and others were talking about before, you cannot assume that KU will good enough on O against good teams unless the O-Line is good. Right now you cannot say that, NU took advantage of KU's line last year and everything I can find almost makes the situation sound worse going into this year. Will this line be really good in 2012 or maybe even 2011, it is possible but that doesn't help 2009 and Reesing.

 

Regarding KU's D-line play, I think outside of Laptad I am not sure why you are so excited. Your comments about Laptad getting 7 sacks vs. Suh's 7.5 sacks last season doesn't make sense because Suh is a DT not a DE. Really good DE's are supposed to put up those numbers, Suh was doing it from the inside. I agree that Laptad is a special player, but that is why I disagree with the writer's assessment that he shouldn't see a lot of double teams. The two returning DT's for KU had 2.5 sacks and 43 tackles COMBINED last season. Suh had 7.5 sacks and 76 tackles by himself, his counterpart inside last year, Steinkuhler, had 2.5 sacks and 48 tackles by himself last year. Those are numbers that prevent your DE's from getting doubled and indeed NU got 11.5 sacks from DE's last year and over 100 tackles. KU doesn't have anything close to that returning outside of Laptad. Quintin Woods was a great 4 Star JUCO recruit, but this is still his first year playing big time College Football. Just like any other big time recruit, until they prove it on the field they are just that, big time recruits. Time will tell whether or not Woods is all that and a bag of chips, but until then I would fully expect teams to put their priorities into stopping Luptad. You would be dumb not to, he is the only proven commodity on that line.

[jayhawker]

 

Biggest question mark: Offensive line. The Jayhawks have a combined 25 starts from two guys returning on the line this season. Sophomore Jeff Spikes, who started 13 games last year, will stay at right tackle. Sophomore Jeremiah Hatch, who started 12 games last season, will move from left tackle to center, his natural position.

 

Spikes and Hatch have high ceilings and must grow fast and act as anchors for the line this season.

 

Until the line proves it can protect Reesing on a regular basis, those 25 returning starts will be a concern, though. To put this number in perspective, Oklahoma had 131 returning starts from the O-line on its Big 12 championship team last year. KU's 25 starts are the lowest returning number in the Big 12.

 

Adding to the uncertainty will be the ability of Tanner Hawkinson, the projected starting left tackle, to protect Reesing. Left tackle is the most important position on the line because it protects a quarterback's blind side. Hawkinson began his career as a defensive end and a tight end before committing to play on the O-line. For KU's sake, the Jayhawks better hope he stops moving around. He played well in the spring game.

 

The starting guards will be a battle between juniors Carl Wilson and Sal Capra (started in the spring game), and freshmen Trevor Marrongelli and John Williams (second string in spring game).

 

Ben Lueken's playing status remains unknown. The sophomore was hospitalized in April after being struck by a vehicle at the Jayhawker Towers. He was released from the hospital a few days later. Lueken appeared in nine games last season and was expected to start somewhere along the line this season. Mangino hasn't commented on Lueken's playing status for 2009.

This is exactly what I and others were talking about before, you cannot assume that KU will good enough on O against good teams unless the O-Line is good. Right now you cannot say that, NU took advantage of KU's line last year and everything I can find almost makes the situation sound worse going into this year. Will this line be really good in 2012 or maybe even 2011, it is possible but that doesn't help 2009 and Reesing.

 

Regarding KU's D-line play, I think outside of Laptad I am not sure why you are so excited. Your comments about Laptad getting 7 sacks vs. Suh's 7.5 sacks last season doesn't make sense because Suh is a DT not a DE. Really good DE's are supposed to put up those numbers, Suh was doing it from the inside. I agree that Laptad is a special player, but that is why I disagree with the writer's assessment that he shouldn't see a lot of double teams. The two returning DT's for KU had 2.5 sacks and 43 tackles COMBINED last season. Suh had 7.5 sacks and 76 tackles by himself, his counterpart inside last year, Steinkuhler, had 2.5 sacks and 48 tackles by himself last year. Those are numbers that prevent your DE's from getting doubled and indeed NU got 11.5 sacks from DE's last year and over 100 tackles. KU doesn't have anything close to that returning outside of Laptad. Quintin Woods was a great 4 Star JUCO recruit, but this is still his first year playing big time College Football. Just like any other big time recruit, until they prove it on the field they are just that, big time recruits. Time will tell whether or not Woods is all that and a bag of chips, but until then I would fully expect teams to put their priorities into stopping Luptad. You would be dumb not to, he is the only proven commodity on that line.

That is what the offseason is for. Being excited and worried about the unknowns. The KU D got better as the year went on, better but not great. I think Woods is going to be really good. The non-conf will tell us a lot about the D. If the play is sloppy you know it's going to be a long year, if they are shutting O's down and playing with intensity you can be happy and figure the D will be better than last years. I know we have some pretty major positions to fill and some pretty major questions. My point is the huskers have some pretty major positions to fill and some pretty major questions. You D last year was not much better then the D KU had and the stat's prove that. The huskers were better on D but not by much. I mean the width of a hair is all that separates them. As for the OL, I have no idea. Some kids moved and players who on paper are bigger and stronger than what we lost. We will have to wait and see, even with the bad line last year our O was barely behind your O in production, and you guys had a really good line.

[caveman99]

 

Biggest question mark: Offensive line. The Jayhawks have a combined 25 starts from two guys returning on the line this season. Sophomore Jeff Spikes, who started 13 games last year, will stay at right tackle. Sophomore Jeremiah Hatch, who started 12 games last season, will move from left tackle to center, his natural position.

 

Spikes and Hatch have high ceilings and must grow fast and act as anchors for the line this season.

 

Until the line proves it can protect Reesing on a regular basis, those 25 returning starts will be a concern, though. To put this number in perspective, Oklahoma had 131 returning starts from the O-line on its Big 12 championship team last year. KU's 25 starts are the lowest returning number in the Big 12.

 

Adding to the uncertainty will be the ability of Tanner Hawkinson, the projected starting left tackle, to protect Reesing. Left tackle is the most important position on the line because it protects a quarterback's blind side. Hawkinson began his career as a defensive end and a tight end before committing to play on the O-line. For KU's sake, the Jayhawks better hope he stops moving around. He played well in the spring game.

 

The starting guards will be a battle between juniors Carl Wilson and Sal Capra (started in the spring game), and freshmen Trevor Marrongelli and John Williams (second string in spring game).

 

Ben Lueken's playing status remains unknown. The sophomore was hospitalized in April after being struck by a vehicle at the Jayhawker Towers. He was released from the hospital a few days later. Lueken appeared in nine games last season and was expected to start somewhere along the line this season. Mangino hasn't commented on Lueken's playing status for 2009.

This is exactly what I and others were talking about before, you cannot assume that KU will good enough on O against good teams unless the O-Line is good. Right now you cannot say that, NU took advantage of KU's line last year and everything I can find almost makes the situation sound worse going into this year. Will this line be really good in 2012 or maybe even 2011, it is possible but that doesn't help 2009 and Reesing.

 

Regarding KU's D-line play, I think outside of Laptad I am not sure why you are so excited. Your comments about Laptad getting 7 sacks vs. Suh's 7.5 sacks last season doesn't make sense because Suh is a DT not a DE. Really good DE's are supposed to put up those numbers, Suh was doing it from the inside. I agree that Laptad is a special player, but that is why I disagree with the writer's assessment that he shouldn't see a lot of double teams. The two returning DT's for KU had 2.5 sacks and 43 tackles COMBINED last season. Suh had 7.5 sacks and 76 tackles by himself, his counterpart inside last year, Steinkuhler, had 2.5 sacks and 48 tackles by himself last year. Those are numbers that prevent your DE's from getting doubled and indeed NU got 11.5 sacks from DE's last year and over 100 tackles. KU doesn't have anything close to that returning outside of Laptad. Quintin Woods was a great 4 Star JUCO recruit, but this is still his first year playing big time College Football. Just like any other big time recruit, until they prove it on the field they are just that, big time recruits. Time will tell whether or not Woods is all that and a bag of chips, but until then I would fully expect teams to put their priorities into stopping Luptad. You would be dumb not to, he is the only proven commodity on that line.

That is what the offseason is for. Being excited and worried about the unknowns. The KU D got better as the year went on, better but not great. I think Woods is going to be really good. The non-conf will tell us a lot about the D. If the play is sloppy you know it's going to be a long year, if they are shutting O's down and playing with intensity you can be happy and figure the D will be better than last years. I know we have some pretty major positions to fill and some pretty major questions. My point is the huskers have some pretty major positions to fill and some pretty major questions. You D last year was not much better then the D KU had and the stat's prove that. The huskers were better on D but not by much. I mean the width of a hair is all that separates them. As for the OL, I have no idea. Some kids moved and players who on paper are bigger and stronger than what we lost. We will have to wait and see, even with the bad line last year our O was barely behind your O in production, and you guys had a really good line.

I agree with the off-season sentiment, the offseason is killing most of us. My main point in this thread has been about the questions regarding both of the lines on KU vs. units of relative strength for NU. I am firm believer in the lines dictate how good a team ultimately is. You pointed out stats that show KU's D was close to NU in scoring, the most important stat, but NU was dominate on the D-Line. That alone was good enough to shut down the run and force teams to be one dimensional against NU. That eventually leads to sacks, NU's D-Line was pretty good at getting them last year, which leads to shorter fields for the NU O. Combine that with NU's ability to run effectively and pass protect well and you have a great mixture to turn opportunity into points. It is still true that nothing opens the playbook on O more than an effective run game.

 

The scoring D stat alone doesn't inicate that this was the case for NU, but you have to take out the games NU was never really in such as Mizzou and OU to see that. For all 13 games, NU averaged 28.54 points/game against ranking 80th nationally in this category. In the 11 competitive games, NU's scoring D average was 23.36 points a game, which would have put NU 50th nationally. 50th isn't great, only upper half, but it is 30 spots better than where NU actually ended up and not coincidently NU went 9 and 2 in those games. I know you can't just take out those games as a season is a result of every result, but I think it shows the D that KU faced isn't as bad as you think it was. NU's D should be even better this year, and I think it is safe to say the KU won't be able to blow the doors off of NU like MU or OU did last year. That all being said, NU's lines will win the day.

[jayhawker]

 

I agree with the off-season sentiment, the offseason is killing most of us. My main point in this thread has been about the questions regarding both of the lines on KU vs. units of relative strength for NU. I am firm believer in the lines dictate how good a team ultimately is. You pointed out stats that show KU's D was close to NU in scoring, the most important stat, but NU was dominate on the D-Line. That alone was good enough to shut down the run and force teams to be one dimensional against NU.

 

Really?

Rushing D

#3 Nub 116.46 pg or 3.62avg

#4 KU 123.08 pg or 3.94avg

 

That eventually leads to sacks, NU's D-Line was pretty good at getting them last year, which leads to shorter fields for the NU O.

 

Sacks you say?

#3 Nub 2.69pg (35 total)

#10 KU 2.23pg (29 total)

 

Tackles for Loss?

#4 Nub 82

#4 KU 82

 

Turnovers gained?

#5 KU 25

#8 Nub 17

 

 

Combine that with NU's ability to run effectively and pass protect well and you have a great mixture to turn opportunity into points. It is still true that nothing opens the playbook on O more than an effective run game.

 

Here is where questions about your O come in. Who is going to be the big play WR? or for that matter the second or third WR?

 

The scoring D stat alone doesn't inicate that this was the case for NU, but you have to take out the games NU was never really in such as Mizzou and OU to see that. For all 13 games, NU averaged 28.54 points/game against ranking 80th nationally in this category. In the 11 competitive games, NU's scoring D average was 23.36 points a game, which would have put NU 50th nationally. 50th isn't great, only upper half, but it is 30 spots better than where NU actually ended up and not coincidently NU went 9 and 2 in those games.

 

Ok, doing the same for KU for the TT and OU games.

 

KU would end up with a scoring D of 20.00 ppg. Good enough for 24th overall. KU was 8-3 in the other games. You see how Baylor is the only difference in records last year?

 

I know you can't just take out those games as a season is a result of every result, but I think it shows the D that KU faced isn't as bad as you think it was. NU's D should be even better this year, and I think it is safe to say the KU won't be able to blow the doors off of NU like MU or OU did last year. That all being said, NU's lines will win the day.

 

See. Not that much difference.

[MVPujols]

Also keep in mind the improvement our D made last year. It got better and better all year, whereas KUs defense was great a couple years ago and then went downhill from there. I look for our D to continue improvement this year.

[huzkerbob]

you guys can relax, i was just ribbing on you. I already have about 5 bets (i'm married to a husker family) that KU is going to win and put up more than 34 points, and I do believe they will. My wife's cousin and I have a long standing bet that whomever loses, KU/UNL, the loser has to buy the bball tickets at Devaney when KU comes to lincoln. It's been on a nice rotation for the last 3-4 years.

I think that any team that tries to be a run dominate team in the B12 will fail. The O's in the B12 can score fast so if you can not keep pace it will hurt you. I do not think you have the DB's or LB's to stop the passing in the B12. I do honestly think that KU will have a very talented team this year, this is an excerpt from an article about the DL.

"Jake Laptad, defensive end. Laptad showed flashes of getting to the quarterback last year with seven sacks. He shouldn't really be double-teamed too much with the presence of junior college transfer Quintin Woods on the other end, and Caleb Blakesley and Jamal Greene controlling the middle. Defensive line could be an overlooked strength of the Jayhawks' defense next season. With that in mind, Laptad could be a breakout candidate to approach 10 sacks. "

 

How many sacks did Suh have last year?

 

imagine what KU will do to UNL IF the DL plays up to these expectations.

I really do believe the season hangs on the OL.

 

article here

Did you honestly just try to compare Jake Laptad to Suh because Eric from KUsports.com says he's ready to "break out"?

Laptad 38 tackles, 8.5 Tackles for loss, 7 sacks, 1FF, 1 FR, 4 PBU, 2 Saf 9 (OK numbers, but how many double teams did this kid have to face? Answer: not many.)

 

Suh 76 Tackles, 19 Tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, 1 FF, 3 PBU, 2 blocked FGs, 2 INTs(both returned for TD's), 1 TD reception.

 

Suh's Single-Game Highs (Since you KU fans seem to forget just how thouroghly NU dominated you last year with an experienced O-line)

Tackles–12 vs. Kansas, 2008

Solo Tackles–6 vs. Clemson, 2009 Gator Bowl

Sacks–2.5-18 vs. Kansas, 2008

Tackles for Loss–4-19 vs. Kansas, 2008, 4-24 vs. Clemson, 2009 Gator Bowl

Interceptions-1, three times, 2 in 2008

 

I did read that article, and it's hilarious! There was exactly one mention of the defense in that article, and that was your blurb about Laptad. If a great offense was all that was needed to win championships, then Tulsa would have been the Nat. Champs in 08! So you can be as confident as you like, but come November we'll be sure to remind you Jayhawks just how certain you were of your BCS birth, when your hoping for a mercy invite to the Sun Bowl!

 

To fix your problem, Laptad faced a ton of double teams last year, he had no help on the line. The point of the article was that now he has a supporting cast so will not face the double teams this year. Are you really trying to say Suh has better stats and had the same supporting help as Laptad? Do you need me to compare our "horrible" D from last years with the blackshirts from lastyear? You won't like it. Are you also comparing last years OL with Clemsons? LoL. You didn't put in there how many sacks he had against clemson. How do you like those S's he had. Both Sophs last year, not saying Laptad is as good as Suh, but we have a guy on the line that will cause problems, and now he will have some help.

 

You sure about that? Total D-NU 55th in the nation KU 90th, Scoring D-NU 81st KU 83rd, Rush D-NU 22nd KU 28th, Pass D-NU 89th KU 115th.

 

Looks to me in 2008 (a year in which NU fielded one of the thinnest and most untalented defenses they've ever had) KU's D was ranked lower in EVERY statistical category than NU. Yeah, I'm really hating that!

[Igetbored216]

You sure about that? Total D-NU 55th in the nation KU 90th, Scoring D-NU 81st KU 83rd, Rush D-NU 22nd KU 28th, Pass D-NU 89th KU 115th.

 

Looks to me in 2008 (a year in which NU fielded one of the thinnest and most untalented defenses they've ever had) KU's D was ranked lower in EVERY statistical category than NU. Yeah, I'm really hating that!

 

Very true. Our LB and DB corps was extremely thin.

 

However, Pelini was able to utilize walk-ons in a way to maximize the amount of wins in '08 while redshirting alot of the talent coming in. These redshirts will prove to help out the depth and overall talent this year.

[jayhawker]

Also keep in mind the improvement our D made last year. It got better and better all year, whereas KUs defense was great a couple years ago and then went downhill from there. I look for our D to continue improvement this year.

can't argue that one. Difference is that while UNL has always had the talent, we are injecting better talent into the scheme.

[jayhawker]

You sure about that? Total D-NU 55th in the nation KU 90th, Scoring D-NU 81st KU 83rd, Rush D-NU 22nd KU 28th, Pass D-NU 89th KU 115th.

 

Looks to me in 2008 (a year in which NU fielded one of the thinnest and most untalented defenses they've ever had) KU's D was ranked lower in EVERY statistical category than NU. Yeah, I'm really hating that!

 

These redshirts will prove to help out the depth and overall talent this year.

 

This.

 

how come your redshirts will prove to help out the depth and overall talent this year, but yet there is no way, no way, that this will happen at KU?