Objectively……..What few teams CAN’T we compete with….??

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Where's all this Kool-Aid coming from? Do people really think that with all the inconsistency we've had this year and the loss to Northwestern that Nebraska could even compete with most teams in the top 10?

 

Let's take a quick look at the teams ranked in front of us:

1) LSU 10-0: Beat Alabama on the road and is sound all across the boards. No way would we beat them

 

2) Oklahoma State 10-0: Dynamite offense would give our defense fits, but they let a sluggish Kansas State offense score 45. See: @ Okie Light last year

 

3) Alabama 9-1: Only loss was vs LSU in OT, where they missed 4 FGs. No way would we beat Alabama

 

4) Oregon 9-1: Extremely quick offense. Better D than Oklahoma State. It would be hard to beat Oregon.

 

5) Oklahoma 8-1: Allowed an offensive team like Texas Tech beat them in Norman. I'd like our chances against OU.

 

6) Arkansas 9-1: I'll throw 2 scores out here, Ole Miss 29-24, Vanderbilt 31-28. I'd like our chances against Arkansas

 

7) Clemson 9-1: Had to kick a FG to beat Wake Forest at home, had to comeback against Maryland, and lost against Georgia Tech. They have weapons but we can beat them too.

 

8) Stanford 9-1: They're a pretty solid team, but Oregon's speed exposed them. Andrew Luck isn't that mobile, but against us, he might not have to be. It would be tough to beat Stanford

 

9) Virginia Tech 9-1: I don't really know a lot about the Hokies since Tyrod Taylor left. I'll hold back judgement here.

 

10) Boise State 8-1: Just lost vs TCU at home. We could beat the Broncos.

 

11) Houston 10-0: Case Keenum is great. Maybe they're a product of a soft schedule. I don't know. But I think we could beat Houston

 

12) Michigan State 8-2: 24-3 Already done.

 

13) Georgia 8-2: They have really turned it on since losing to BSU and SC. I don't know much about them so I'll toss this one up.

 

14) South Carolina 8-2: Mississippi State 14-12, Tennessee 14-3, Auburn 16-13, Florida 17-12. Without Lattimore, they don't have the offensive firepower. They might have a defense, but we have shown what we can do to good Ds. We'd win.

 

15) Wisconsin 8-2: Much better than 8-2. I think it would be closer, but I don't know.

 

16) Kansas State 8-2: The good teams have almost exposed Kansas State for what they are: a team not as good as their record indicates.

 

So the only teams we wouldn't be able to compete with are: Oregon, LSU, Stanford, Alabama, and a toss up between Georgia, Wisconsin, and Virginia Tech

[Enhance]

We would beat Nebraska, you guys are homers. I understand and respect that so I'll stop pressing the issue, its off topic anyhow.

 

We're discussing competitiveness, and speaking of homerism, I think your assertion that Nebraska wasn't competitive regardless of the Taylor Martinez interception extravaganza is wrong. They were competitive for 25 minutes, and in your house, too. The question for me is in a rematch could they be competitive for four quarters. I think probably yes. It doesn't mean Nebraska wins, because I do think Wisconsin is the better team, but to assert that Wisconsin would just blow them off the field again in a rematch, I don't find that very objective.

I openly admited that I am not objective on this game, so I don't see your point, but watching the highlights I don't see Martinez throwing interceptions to Badgers sitting there alone in 10 yard bubbles, our guys made plays and forced Martinez to make bad throws. We play good defense as is evidenced by our stats. The fact that we were able to turn every one of those interceptions into points is a testament to the superiority of our offense over NU's defense.

 

Assuming Martinez didn't throw the interceptions the Badgers still win 27-17 and we held Rex to under 100 yards rushing. We would win this game a second time. It would not be close. That's my opinion rested firmly on both facts and my own homerism, not a knock against NU, that's just what I think. It is what it is.

 

My saying that "You guys are homers" was not meant to discount your opinions, I was simply trying to say...so am I, I get where you're coming from, we're not going to agree on this...I guess it came out wrong.

I think Wisconsin is a better team than Nebraska, and I too think Wisconsin still wins that game in September and the rematch if the two teams see each other again. I've said since then that Wisconsin is better, just not 31 points better as the score suggested.

 

Nothing wrong with being a homer. If you're posting on this board, or any other fan based board, I've never understood the requirement that you be objective all the time. There's no given credibility with posting on here.

[schuhbdoo]

based on Bama's kicking game, we match up well against every team except LSU and Wisconsin. That makes us the 3 rd best team in the nation.

 

I will take that any day.

[Excel]

based on Bama's kicking game, we match up well against every team except LSU and Wisconsin. That makes us the 3 rd best team in the nation.

 

I will take that any day.

wow

[Enhance]

based on Bama's kicking game, we match up well against every team except LSU and Wisconsin. That makes us the 3 rd best team in the nation.

 

I will take that any day.

wow

I thought that was a little strange, too. What I think he's saying, however, is that we could beat any team save those two. His delivery was just a little...off.

[Jason Sitoke]

based on Bama's kicking game, we match up well against every team except LSU and Wisconsin. That makes us the 3 rd best team in the nation.

 

I will take that any day.

wow

 

How do you define 'matchup?'. Bama and LSU would STUFF our offense. I have no doubt about that.

 

Wisconsin destroyed us all ready, and saying 'well, you never know what could happen if they met again' is not an intelligent argument for why Nebraska would win.

 

Oregon and Okie St. would dismantle our defense, and our thin DLine would be sucking wind after the first drive in either case.

 

I wouldn't bet on beating Oklahoma with our secondary, but I think we'd score some points. Stanford would beat us as well, as would Boise St.

 

Just to name a few

[Hercules]

Badgerfan, those interceptions in the Wisconsin game were gifts, they weren't earned by the defense. If the DB reads the QB's eyes and jumps the route beating the WR to the ball, THAT'S an earned turnover. Taylor threw it right to a Wisconsin player 3 different times, they didn't even have to adjust to the ball.

 

If you've watched more recent Nebraska games, you should have seen that Taylor's learned from his mistakes in that game and is displaying much more sound decision-making in the passing game. You saw Nebraska dominate a team that beat Wisconsin (MSU) and you saw Nebraska beat the other team that beat Wisconsin (OSU). You've also seen Nebraska's defense improve a lot since that Wisconsin game, and they're going to keep improving all the way to the end of the season.

 

If Nebraska and Wisconsin were to meet again, it would absolutely be competitive. I'm not saying Nebraska would absolutely win, but the OP asked who Nebraska would be competitive with. Nebraska's still got lots of room for improvement, and I'm not sure Wisconsin didn't hit its ceiling with their performance in the Nebraska game.

 

Folks are also putting too much weight on that Northwestern loss. In 2009 we lost to a flu-ridden Iowa State team, 9-7. By the end of the year, we could have been competitive with anybody in the nation, and we saw that first-hand with our near-upset of #2 Texas and total domination of Arizona in the bowl game. This 2011 version of Nebraska is similar to the 2009 and 2010 versions in that it can compete with nearly anybody in the country, but it is also capable of losing to anybody in the country.

[Excel]

Those were gifts eh? All three to wide open Badgers with no receivers around? You have a short memory.

[Jason Sitoke]

Badgerfan, those interceptions in the Wisconsin game were gifts, they weren't earned by the defense. If the DB makes reads the QB's eyes and jumps the route beating the WR to the ball, THAT'S an earned turnover. Taylor threw it right to a Wisconsin player 3 different times, they didn't even have to adjust to the ball.

 

If you've watched more recent Nebraska games, you should have seen that Taylor's learned from his mistakes in that game and is displaying much more sound decision-making in the passing game. You saw Nebraska dominate a team that beat Wisconsin (MSU) and you saw Nebraska beat the other team that beat Wisconsin (OSU). You've also seen Nebraska's defense improve a lot since that Wisconsin game, and they're going to keep improving all the way to the end of the season.

 

If Nebraska and Wisconsin were to meet again, it would absolutely be competitive. I'm not saying Nebraska would absolutely win, but the OP asked who Nebraska would be competitive with. Nebraska's still got lots of room for improvement, and I'm not sure Wisconsin didn't hit its ceiling with their performance in the Nebraska game.

 

Folks are also putting too much weight on that Northwestern loss. In 2009 we lost to a flu-ridden Iowa State team, 9-7. By the end of the year, we could have been competitive with anybody in the nation, and we saw that first-hand with our near-upset of #2 Texas and total domination of Arizona in the bowl game. This 2011 version of Nebraska is similar to the 2009 and 2010 versions in that it can compete with nearly anybody in the country, but it is also capable of losing to anybody in the country.

 

 

So what you're saying is 'Badgerfan, check out the games we've won, and don't pay any mind to the games we've lost'.

 

These aren't the droids you're looking for.

[Blackshirt316]

Oklahoma State, Clemson, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Oregon, Stanford, Arkansas, LSU, Alabama, UGA.

 

 

That's just stupid. We beat Oklahoma State in their house last year and lost by 3 to Oklahoma with a gimpy QB (had a big lead on them at halftime before Martinez got hurt again too) but now we couldn't compete with them?

 

The ONLY team on that list we have no chance to beat is Oregon. Horrible matchup for us. Other than that we could beat any one of those teams - including Wisconsin.

Hey, the thread asked "Objectively" what teams can't NU compete with... coming from someone that's not a NU homer...I'm being objective. I don't think a team that lost to a 3-5 team at home can beat the elite teams in the nation...and the Huskers have already proven they can't hang with Wisconsin. There is little room for debate in as lopsided a defeat as they suffered in Madison.

 

Nebraska was able to run the ball on Wisconsin early but the passing game was open and they went for it. The checkdowns to the HB were open all game as were several underneath routes. We got in trouble when Martinez starting trying to hit the homerun on every snap and ended up throwing 3 picks in a row.

 

The biggest two issues Nebraska had on that game is #1 still trying to use an injured Jared Crick to the unfortunate detriment of the rest of the line and #2 not having a fully healthy Alfonzo Dennard to negate Nick Toon.

 

We play again with a line that has been better without Crick than they were with a shell of him, and with a healthy Dennard and Nebraska's D can match up with Wisconsin's offense MUCH better than last game and I don't think the offense starts thinking they have to go for the big play every time out. Your Run D isn't THAT good. it's just not. But neither is ours. I think a rematch would be a lower scoring trench war and Nebraska could win that game just as easily as Wisconsin could.

[Hercules]

 

Those were gifts eh? All three to wide open Badgers with no receivers around? You guys have short memories.

 

Yes. That is pretty much exactly what I'm saying. You want to see an earned interception, look at Neb's Lance Thorell jumping B.J. Cunningham's route early in the MSU game. It was a well-thrown ball, the DB just made a great play on it. On the three interceptions Martinez threw against Wisconsin, there was basically no chance that the WR would even touch the ball. Watching those throws, if you didn't know any better, you'd think Martinez was trying to throw it to the red jerseys. Those were terrible throws, terrible decisions.

 

I'll credit Wisconsin for creating a gameplan built to stop the big play and wait for Nebraska to make a stupid mistake - it worked. But it worked because Nebraska made stupid mistakes, not because Wisconsin has some all-world, LSU-like ball-hawking secondary.

 

 

 

So what you're saying is 'Badgerfan, check out the games we've won, and don't pay any mind to the games we've lost'.

 

These aren't the droids you're looking for.

 

Jason - I've seen a couple of your posts in this thread, talking about who would beat us. That's not what the OP asked. The OP asked who we couldn't compete with. We beat PSU, but it was competitive. It's not who would we beat, or who would we be competitive with, it's who COULDN'T we be COMPETITIVE with?

 

In my opinion, we could be competitive with Wisconsin, if we were to eliminate the self-inflicted wounds, and the offense (and Taylor) has improved at that significantly since the UW game.

 

To answer the OP, I don't think we could be competitive with LSU, Alabama, or Oregon. I actually think we could compete with OSU (I don't even think they're as good as they were last year without Holgorsen calling the plays). After those teams, we can compete with anybody if we take care of ourselves.

[Excel]

 

Those were gifts eh? All three to wide open Badgers with no receivers around? You guys have short memories.

 

Yes. That is pretty much exactly what I'm saying. You want to see an earned interception, look at Neb's Lance Thorell jumping B.J. Cunningham's route early in the MSU game. It was a well-thrown ball, the DB just made a great play on it. On the three interceptions Martinez threw against Wisconsin, there was basically no chance that the WR would even touch the ball. Watching those throws, if you didn't know any better, you'd think Martinez was trying to throw it to the red jerseys. Those were terrible throws, terrible decisions.

 

I'll credit Wisconsin for creating a gameplan built to stop the big play and wait for Nebraska to make a stupid mistake - it worked. But it worked because Nebraska made stupid mistakes, not because Wisconsin has some all-world, LSU-like ball-hawking secondary.

 

 

 

So what you're saying is 'Badgerfan, check out the games we've won, and don't pay any mind to the games we've lost'.

 

These aren't the droids you're looking for.

 

Jason - I've seen a couple of your posts in this thread, talking about who would beat us. That's not what the OP asked. The OP asked who we couldn't compete with. We beat PSU, but it was competitive. It's not who would we beat, or who would we be competitive with, it's who COULDN'T we be COMPETITIVE with?

 

In my opinion, we could be competitive with Wisconsin, if we were to eliminate the self-inflicted wounds, and the offense (and Taylor) has improved at that significantly since the UW game.

 

To answer the OP, I don't think we could be competitive with LSU, Alabama, or Oregon. I actually think we could compete with OSU (I don't even think they're as good as they were last year without Holgorsen calling the plays). After those teams, we can compete with anybody if we take care of ourselves.

Like I said earlier. We played a great game and beat NU soundly in many departments. Both our Offense and Defense are in the top 10 in the country, NU is lucky to be in the mid-30's at the highest. Rationalize your earlier loss however you like...I do not think NU would be competitive with UW in Indianapolis which is a moot point considering NU won't be going.

[skersfan]

Can we beat Northwestern?

 

When we can do that, then maybe we should think about Vandy.

 

Some figure we have a major problem with Michigan, but yet feel we will be competitive against Bama.

 

I would drink the Kool Aid, but you guys have dranken all of it and have ordered the next 20 years of it.

 

We are not good, period. Lucky Penn State had the problems they had or that would have been a loss.

 

I want us to win as badly as any of you, but listen to what you are saying.

 

If a KState fan came in here spouting this crapy you would go nuts.

 

We could beat Okie Lite because we beat them last year, get a clue.

 

Lets just win what is left and worry about who we might get in a bowl game. Win that and then maybe we have the right to talk like we matter. Currently we are a trivial little program in the nations eyes, squirming to say we belong in a BCS bowl with elite teams.

 

Remember we can not win at home against non ranked cellar dwellars. yea give us LSU, BAMA, Oregon, Okie LIte, Arkansas, Washington who we got by at our house, and SC steam rolls, their team with nothing to play for.

 

I love the Huskers, but our fans are beyond delusional. We keep setting ourselves up for heart break, scream at the team, and players when we lose and then a week later we are world beaters. How is that possible.

[ensanehusker]

Anybody can beat anybody any given week. The number of upsets each year proves that.

[germanforbigred]

Can we beat Northwestern?

 

When we can do that, then maybe we should think about Vandy.

 

Some figure we have a major problem with Michigan, but yet feel we will be competitive against Bama.

 

I would drink the Kool Aid, but you guys have dranken all of it and have ordered the next 20 years of it.

 

We are not good, period. Lucky Penn State had the problems they had or that would have been a loss.

 

I want us to win as badly as any of you, but listen to what you are saying.

 

If a KState fan came in here spouting this crapy you would go nuts.

 

We could beat Okie Lite because we beat them last year, get a clue.

 

Lets just win what is left and worry about who we might get in a bowl game. Win that and then maybe we have the right to talk like we matter. Currently we are a trivial little program in the nations eyes, squirming to say we belong in a BCS bowl with elite teams.

 

Remember we can not win at home against non ranked cellar dwellars. yea give us LSU, BAMA, Oregon, Okie LIte, Arkansas, Washington who we got by at our house, and SC steam rolls, their team with nothing to play for.

 

I love the Huskers, but our fans are beyond delusional. We keep setting ourselves up for heart break, scream at the team, and players when we lose and then a week later we are world beaters. How is that possible.

This.

 

Remember, after the MSU game there even was a well recognized thread about us sneaking into the CG ...the BCS CG they were talking about. This whole "if" and "what if" is ridiculous. A couple of "ifs" and we would have been back to back BIG XII champs. We are mediocre, on a good day with a couple of things going our way we can beat most teams ahead of us, but more than 5 out of 10? Probably not many. And then, on days where things turn a little against us ...by the way Northwestern is currently No. 73.