2012 Forecast

[Enhance]

I'm guessing Pelini takes a closer, more hands-on approach this year with the defense, especially when we consider last year was a fairly average Pelini defense. Replacing all those defensive coaches is going to call for more of his attention, as well.

[Sub-Husker]

4-0 out of conference

5-3 in conference

Second place finish to MSU

Another loss to an SEC team in a bowl game

 

But hey... we've become used to four loss seasons.

 

1) Bo needs a real offensive coordinator.

2) Bo needs to be more adaptive on defense, and not run his system despite the personnel.

[flatwaterfan]

Southern Miss W

@ UCLA I think we will win in a contested match. New coaching staff and UCLA has major consistency issues to work through.

Arkansas St...W

Idaho St...W

Wisconsin... Tough game especially with Ball back. With Wilson gone and the game being in Lincoln, I think NU will be up for this one and win a close one.

@ Ohio St... Tossup Have to go with OSU on the road in a close game. Miller is mobile and what's his face is a good coach. They have good talent

@ Northwestern. Bo clearly got outcoached last year. I don't think this will happen again. Players better remember last years game.

Michigan.. Tough match up for the Huskers. I think we lose a close one

@ Michigan St. I think NU will win as they have to find a QB & RB. Solid team though and it will be somewhat close

Penn St... I think Nebraska can win this at home. New staff & they still need to work out QB issues.

Minnestoa I think these guys are better than people think. Kill is a good coach. Nebraska wins but it won't be a blow out.

@ Iowa I think Nebraska will win a squeaker. Again it's a new staff at Iowa and they have holes to fill.

 

I think the staff was over confident last year with the D. I think they will be better because they now know how they match up to b1g competition and what they need to work on. I also think they will spend more time on the D as compared to last year when they were concentrating on getting the new offense going. I expect more consistency from both units in 2012.

[Enhance]

4-0 out of conference

5-3 in conference

Second place finish to MSU

Another loss to an SEC team in a bowl game

 

But hey... we've become used to four loss seasons.

 

1) Bo needs a real offensive coordinator.

2) Bo needs to be more adaptive on defense, and not run his system despite the personnel.

 

Pelini has only lost to one SEC team in a bowl game. Or did you mean something different?

 

Second, I don't understand the jibe at Beck. In his first season as a coordinator, he had a good-not-great offense that was no better or worse than any other facet of the team.

[strigori]

I agree with a number of your thoughts. A couple others I differ somewhat,

 

UCLA scares me. Yeah they have a new coach, but they have had some good recruiting classes and have some athletes. If Mora and his assistants(and honestly his assistant hires are more impressive than ours have been) we could be in trouble with a defense that could have some issues, especcialy this early in a season. 60% game.

 

And Mich State I think beats us. Yeah, they lost a lot on offense, but they might have the best defense in the conference. Unless we see some huge strides at QB for the Huskers I see the game as a defensive struggle. 40% at best.

 

10-2 might be an optimistic cealing, 9-3 probably more likely for the best they can do. And 8-4 or 7-5 are really possibilities, and a nightmare scenario with 5-7 if Rex goes down.

 

Let's also not forget that MSU lost DT Jerrell Worthy to the NFL which will soften the Spartan D considerably. I certainly see and conceed your point that Nebraska could lose in East Lansing this year but I don't think they will. The Spartans lost a ton of seniors who were two and three year starters. No college football team loses that many starters and doesn't take a step back the following season.

I think Worthy was an over rated player. Sure he had great moments, but he could disappear for whole games too. They get almost the entire rest of the D back, and were good last year. I'm not saying they are going to have a better record, I'm saying we will have an extreemly hard time getting a win in thier house.

[Sub-Husker]

Pelini has only lost to one SEC team in a bowl game. Or did you mean something different?

 

Since it was a prediction for the 2012 season, the use of the word "another" was appropriate.

 

Second, I don't understand the jibe at Beck. In his first season as a coordinator, he had a good-not-great offense that was no better or worse than any other facet of the team.

 

A true "dual threat" does not mean the fumble and the interception.

 

It means running and passing.

 

The past three seasons we have not been much of a threat to pass.

[Norhusker]

I think we will lose 3 games next year. Based on current history we lose 3 or 4 games each year. I'm being optimistic in saying we will lose 3 and not 4. O line needs to get better this coming season. Defense is a huge question mark!

[bshirt]

Pelini has only lost to one SEC team in a bowl game. Or did you mean something different?

 

Since it was a prediction for the 2012 season, the use of the word "another" was appropriate.

 

Second, I don't understand the jibe at Beck. In his first season as a coordinator, he had a good-not-great offense that was no better or worse than any other facet of the team.

 

A true "dual threat" does not mean the fumble and the interception.

 

It means running and passing.

 

The past three seasons we have not been much of a threat to pass.

 

Well, gee...... just "maybe" because we're not much of a threat to catch the ball? Z. Lee/Tmart's numbers aren't bad and they would look a LOT nicer without the drops everywhere. It may be hard for you to believe or understand but it hasn't been Swift, Peterson & Davison out there at WR the last three years for us.

[HuskerShark]

Pelini has only lost to one SEC team in a bowl game. Or did you mean something different?

 

Since it was a prediction for the 2012 season, the use of the word "another" was appropriate.

 

Second, I don't understand the jibe at Beck. In his first season as a coordinator, he had a good-not-great offense that was no better or worse than any other facet of the team.

 

A true "dual threat" does not mean the fumble and the interception.

 

It means running and passing.

 

The past three seasons we have not been much of a threat to pass.

 

Well, gee...... just "maybe" because we're not much of a threat to catch the ball? Z. Lee/Tmart's numbers aren't bad and they would look a LOT nicer without the drops everywhere. It may be hard for you to believe or understand but it hasn't been Swift, Peterson & Davison out there at WR the last three years for us.

 

Not that I disagree with you, but I'll throw this little nugget in there as well:

 

It hasn't been Joe Ganz or Zac Taylor behind center the last three years either.

[bshirt]

Pelini has only lost to one SEC team in a bowl game. Or did you mean something different?

 

Since it was a prediction for the 2012 season, the use of the word "another" was appropriate.

 

Second, I don't understand the jibe at Beck. In his first season as a coordinator, he had a good-not-great offense that was no better or worse than any other facet of the team.

 

A true "dual threat" does not mean the fumble and the interception.

 

It means running and passing.

 

The past three seasons we have not been much of a threat to pass.

 

Well, gee...... just "maybe" because we're not much of a threat to catch the ball? Z. Lee/Tmart's numbers aren't bad and they would look a LOT nicer without the drops everywhere. It may be hard for you to believe or understand but it hasn't been Swift, Peterson & Davison out there at WR the last three years for us.

 

Not that I disagree with you, but I'll throw this little nugget in there as well:

 

It hasn't been Joe Ganz or Zac Taylor behind center the last three years either.

 

That's fair enough. Both were better passers than Lee/Tmart but they had wayyyyyyy better WRs too. Swift, Peterson, Lucky and even Purify & Nunn had hands NP/BK/etc could only dream of. If one could magically swap WRS I would bet Ganz/Taylor would still have better numbers but not by much.

 

Of course, Ganz/Taylor also had cement shoes. Most NU fans currently don't care about that but Bo/Beck & TO do. It seems we had some pretty good teams not that long ago with "very" marginal passers like Frost, Frazier & Crouch but we have the endless desire to run our offense just like everyone else. I don't understand the overwhelming urge by the vast majority for a return to some kind of Callahan's fluffball but it's there in a big way.

 

I just hope Bo/Beck/TO can continue to ignore them.

[HuskerShark]

That's fair enough. Both were better passers than Lee/Tmart but they had wayyyyyyy better WRs too. Swift, Peterson, Lucky and even Purify & Nunn had hands NP/BK/etc could only dream of. If one could magically swap WRS I would bet Ganz/Taylor would still have better numbers but not by much.

 

Of course, Ganz/Taylor also had cement shoes. Most NU fans currently don't care about that but Bo/Beck & TO do. It seems we had some pretty good teams not that long ago with "very" marginal passers like Frost, Frazier & Crouch but we have the endless desire to run our offense just like everyone else. I don't understand the overwhelming urge by the vast majority for a return to some kind of Callahan's fluffball but it's there in a big way.

 

I just hope Bo/Beck/TO can continue to ignore them.

 

I'm definitely with you on that one. If we can get 3-5 yards every single carry when we run the ball, we would never have to pass it unless we get penalties that back us up. IMO championship caliber teams do 2 things:

1) play great defense

2) run the ball physically and effectively on offense

[Enhance]

A true "dual threat" does not mean the fumble and the interception.

 

It means running and passing.

 

The past three seasons we have not been much of a threat to pass.

You, like many others, hark on Martinez unjustifiably without even mentioning the wide receivers, which have been equally detrimental to the passing game as anything else. There have been many games where our receivers dropped multiple, catchable passes. Instead of blaming our receivers, though, people directly correlate it to Martinez' throwing skills.

 

I'm not saying now, nor have I ever, that Martinez' skills are something to brag about. He's not a great passer. But when he makes a good throw and a receiver straight up drops it, there's no excuse, especially when it happens several times in one game.

[Danny Bateman]

A true "dual threat" does not mean the fumble and the interception.

 

It means running and passing.

 

The past three seasons we have not been much of a threat to pass.

You, like many others, hark on Martinez unjustifiably without even mentioning the wide receivers, which have been equally detrimental to the passing game as anything else. There have been many games where our receivers dropped multiple, catchable passes. Instead of blaming our receivers, though, people directly correlate it to Martinez' throwing skills.

 

I'm not saying now, nor have I ever, that Martinez' skills are something to brag about. He's not a great passer. But when he makes a good throw and a receiver straight up drops it, there's no excuse, especially when it happens several times in one game.

I have a feeling the window of time that this will be a valid complaint is closing.

 

Niles was one of the most physically talented, yet utterly frustrating WR's I can ever remember donning the scarlet and cream. BK, after looking like he might be the next coming of Purify his first year, never really lived up to that and developed a serious case of the dropsies last year.

 

Even so, Taylor has two excellent TE's at his disposal, one of whom probably has the most solid dependable hands on the team, and another who is a freak matchup for the D as a TE/WR when healthy. Kenny Bell showed a lot last year. HE is going to be a real good one. Allen is being raved about on the scout team last year and should be able to contribute this year. Everyone knows how special Westerkamp is and he may play this year. Enunwa lays the wood and generally has reliable hands when the ball is in his neighborhood. Turner has a ton of potential, but needs to secure the ball and then try to juke the entire defense somehow. We would really, really benefit if we could get him the ball quickly and let him do work from there.

 

There were surely games when drops hurt us. Texas from two years ago comes to mind (you know it's bad when even Rex, the best, most clutch guy on the team, flat out drops a swing pass that was a sure TD). We just choked in that game. Northwestern was another example. Taylor really showed up and played lights out that game. Too bad no one else did. There were multiple other games where drops really killed the offense at various times.

 

However, in my opinion at least, the collective talent and potential of the WR corps has taken a real step up last year and this coming year, and we will not be able to use the WR's as an excuse very much longer. I have a feeling it will be on Taylor this year. The proof will be in the pudding-- if our offense still cannot pass effectively this year, I've got a strong intuition it is because Taylor just will never be able to pass well, not anything else.

[Big Red 40]

The one thing I really want to see this year is for the Huskers to be competitive. If they lose, ok, just as long as they compete. I hated so much losing those embarrassing games like Northwestern. To go toe to toe against Wisconsin before the half and then to come back in the second half and get the crap kicked out of us. I want to see 4 quarters of competitive football. If we do that, I'll be satisfied. I predict we will go undefeated and compete for the National Championship. (I can dream can't I? )

:thumbs

[Blackshirts007]

this year will be just like last, im already getting excited for 2013, that's our chance for a MNC run