Our Big 12 North Chances

[StuckinChicago]

Yeah, and with the growth of college football and the the average college athlete, your nebraska offense now faces defenses that has athletes that almost as good, if not better than them. In the old days, aka ten years ago, the top ten teams never even had a close game against unranked teams, let alone lost, yet now it happens all the time. Teams like Louisville and Marshall and Miami of Ohio couldnt field 9-2 teams every year, and Nebraska had far superior athletes than 99% of the competition, but with parity in college football it has been pretty obvious that there has become less and less of a gap as far as the talent that other teams are able to field, so you have to have a versatile offense that can beat you in any way the game allows to be successful. Name me a great one dimensional in college today and I can show you a team that cant beat the elite. TT cant do it, Wisconsin and Minnesota cant do it, and Nebraska couldnt do it.

[formerfan]

Yeah, and with the growth of college football and the the average college athlete, your nebraska offense now faces defenses that has athletes that almost as good, if not better than them. In the old days, aka ten years ago, the top ten teams never even had a close game against unranked teams, let alone lost, yet now it happens all the time. Teams like Louisville and Marshall and Miami of Ohio couldnt field 9-2 teams every year, and Nebraska had far superior athletes than 99% of the competition, but with parity in college football it has been pretty obvious that there has become less and less of a gap as far as the talent that other teams are able to field, so you have to have a versatile offense that can beat you in any way the game allows to be successful. Name me a great one dimensional in college today and I can show you a team that cant beat the elite. TT cant do it, Wisconsin and Minnesota cant do it, and Nebraska couldnt do it.

Which NU teams "couldnt do it" I ask???

 

If I remember correctly, NU had pretty good success with an option-oriented attack up until about 4 years ago. I know that alot of you say the option is dead, but I dont think that the college game has evolved that much in 4 years. The option certainly has its place in college football, quite a few teams still impliment it in their offense. A team does need to be able to be somewhat balanced and at least have a threat of a good passing game, just like passing teams need to have the threat of a good running game.

[formerfan]

Need Web Now: Your comment about BC not being able to control his players I assume was in reference to his last year with the Raiders. Those egomaniac premadonnas rebeled against him regarding his requirements of training. After all, they went to the title game the year prior. Many of those players now have either retired, were traded or are now on the losing team in Oakland. The 2 Nebraska players who played for him (NU/UNO) supported him then!

How about LeKevin??? I know that his punishment was "handled within" and we should wait to see if he is innocent or guilty, but at the very least his actions would deserve a one game suspension.

[formerfan]

I know that Callahan will do well at Nebraska, very well actually. I agree with the ESPN magazine in the statement they make about the Option attack could not make an effective comeback offense, like the West Coast offense is doing.

The WCO is a short passing game, ball control offensive system. It is not one that is going to generate big plays like the Fun-and Gun, the Fast Break (FSU) or even Techs offense. It is not the kind of offense that is designed to "go vertical" so-to-speak.

 

Thats why we keep hearing about how balanced it is.

[formerfan]

From rojo:

 

Why we will reclaim the Big 12-North.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Being yearly Big 12 Championship contenders would be nice, but….

 

I. First we have to re-establish leadership in the Big 12 North.

 

--KSU has beat Nebraska in 4 of the last 5 years.

 

--CU has beat Nebraska in 3 of the last 4 years.

 

--ISU has beat Nebraska in 2 of the last 4 years.

 

 

II. Things are changing in the North. A look at the last five years of recruiting: (Rankings from Rivals)

 

2002 Recruiting Class Rankings:

 

--#10: Colorado

--#14: Kansas State

--#29: Missouri

--#30: Iowa State

--#40: Nebraska

--#58: Kansas

 

 

2003 Recruiting Class Rankings:

 

--#19: Colorado

--#28: Missouri

--#39: Kansas

--#42: Nebraska

--#46: Iowa State

--#60: Kansas State

 

 

2004 Recruiting Class Rankings:

 

--#18: Kansas State

--#27: Nebraska (Solich/Callahan)

--#29: Missouri

--#42: Iowa State

--#49: Colorado

--#51: Kansas

 

 

2005 Recruiting Class Rankings:

 

--#5: Nebraska

.

--#36: Kansas State

--#39: Missouri

--#43: Colorado

--#48: Kansas

--#58: Iowa State

 

 

Current 2006 Recruiting Class Rankings: (Rivals--10/18/05)

 

--#13: Nebraska

.

--#41: Kansas

--#44: Missouri

--#50: Kansas State

--#51: Iowa State

--#66: Colorado

 

Things are changing. There’s steady progress. Even some apparent “separation.”

 

While this sounds very good, if you notice, MU had 2 straight years with "better classes" 02/03, and one rated almost exactly the same (04), yet has only beaten NU once in the past, like 20 years. With the exception of CU, the other schools have not been head-and-shoulders better than NU at the recruiting game, yet they have had some success against NU, why is that????

 

III. There are still doubters around:

 

--Those who feel Pederson was wrong to make the change.

 

--Those who feel that our new staff can’t take us back to where we once were.

 

But with each month that passes, it’s harder to argue for those positions.

 

John Blake may have had it right last December after our 5-6 season:

 

“Folks should go ahead and take their shots [at us] now, because in a year or two they’ll be singing a different tune.”

 

In fact…. Some think they’re starting to hear a little music right now.

 

Until NU beats somebody good, and beats them decisively, this is pure opinion, and Blake needs to button his lip.

 

There is a reason why NU is not ranked, much like alot of you have said about the 03 team (the worst 10-3 team in the nation ), unfortunately this is probably the worst 5-1 team in the country. There is not a lot of respect for them nationally. Close wins against Maine, Pitt, ISU and Baylor really dont impress too many people. This is the worst schedule that I can remember NU playing since the mid 80's. A stagnant offense and a D that gave up 34 and 400 to the only good offense they have faced doesnt charter much respect. If NU wins tomorrow they will likely be top 25, for sure if the beat both UM/OU.

 

I picked NU to win close tomorrow, but I wouldnt be suprised to see them lose. Any of the last 5 games could go either way.

[formerfan]

Nice Post now what kind of BS former says to this.

 

Remember what ever he says he will be pulling our chains to suck us in. Will you fall for it?

I'd probably say the same thing if I were you guys, and couldnt debate or refute my claims

[BigRedJake]

Damn former, I don't think I've ever seen a quintuple-post.

[Roy CO HSKR]

Good ponts, Stuck In Chicago. Air Force is mostly one-dimensional, as well. It used to be that the NFL wasn't copied too much. But, now with the parity and the quality defenses, as you've stated, the offensive AND defensive schemes used by the pros are becoming more and more of a factor at the college level. The spread offenses must adopt a good running compnent or they will falter, as you say.

 

Unfortunately there are many fans who really believe that the past should have been continued in the same fashion. If Solich was still here he would not have continued the one-dimensional option game, but one more like he uses at Ohio. Those same fans wold have been screaming to fire him by now, because he would be losing games with poor recruiting classes!

[formerfan]

Damn former, I don't think I've ever seen a quintuple-post.

Hmm, I had a lot to say. It was better than one run on post. That wouldve drove everybody nuts

[Roy CO HSKR]

Former Fan- If there is a Husker Board pregame tailgate party, will you attend? I'd like to meet you, but am concerned about the stories of your last visit!!

[gamecocks]

A stagnant offense and a D that gave up 34 and 400 to the only good offense they have faced doesnt charter much respect.

Your only calling Tech's offense good. They are only the top yardage total offense leader in all of college football. Yes, we did give up 400 yards but that is still well below their average. And if you honestly expect anyone to keep them in the 200-300 range at all this year, you are really kidding yourself.

[HSKRNOKC]

Simply we still control our fate in the north. Let's not throw it away.

Being in the situation that we were in last year, its nice to say that we control our own fate half way through the season.

[formerfan]

Former Fan- If there is a Husker Board pregame tailgate party, will you attend? I'd like to meet you, but am concerned about the stories of your last visit!!

Unfortunately, Im done this year in regards to attending any more NU games

 

But if I were there, I'd be more than happy to meet ya No reason for concern, I was just hanging w/ my best friend for the first time in a long time, before the game, and we tend to indulge a little more than we should some time I got in trouble when I got home, and I promised I wouldnt do that again for quite some time

[AZ4NU]

I'm new to this board. I've been reading it since before the ISU win. I got to experience that game first hand. Flew into Omaha and met my dad and brother and went to my second Husker game. First was the 94 Homecoming win over CU. Now that was a treat. Just being new to this board, I can already tell that I don't like formerfan. His screen name says it all. If he is a "former" fan, then leave the current fans alone and get out of here. All of this stuff is based on opinions. We have our opinions about the Huskers based on what we see and hear. former has his opinions based on how he interprets information. Nobody is going to change the others' minds, so why won't he leave. Most of us want to be positive about what is going on. Keep up the great info and posts.

GBR!

[AR Husker Fan]

I'm new to this board. I've been reading it since before the ISU win. I got to experience that game first hand. Flew into Omaha and met my dad and brother and went to my second Husker game. First was the 94 Homecoming win over CU. Now that was a treat. Just being new to this board, I can already tell that I don't like formerfan. His screen name says it all. If he is a "former" fan, then leave the current fans alone and get out of here. All of this stuff is based on opinions. We have our opinions about the Huskers based on what we see and hear. former has his opinions based on how he interprets information. Nobody is going to change the others' minds, so why won't he leave. Most of us want to be positive about what is going on. Keep up the great info and posts.

GBR!

As you noted, formerfan has his opinion, others have theirs. The intent of Huskerboard is to provide a place for everyone to air their thoughts. Formerfan makes some good points, and has acknowledged that he can be, at times, too harsh. But he rarely if ever fails to provide a basis for his opinion.

 

In the end, this Board would be pretty boring if there was only a single point of view being expressed.