*Official Nebraska 2013 Season Prediction Thread*

[HOUhusker]

Assuming Michigan loses to tOSU in the big house, what other team do they lose to so we make the CCG @ 11-1 with a Michigan loss?

[NUinID]

Assuming Michigan loses to tOSU in the big house, what other team do they lose to so we make the CCG @ 11-1 with a Michigan loss?

I must be the only one that doesn't think a loss to Michigan is a done deal. Hoke has recruited well, but they have a lot of holes to fill, I think they only have 5 or so starters back on defense if I am not mistaken. I must also be the only won that doesn't think OSU is invincible. I think they used up about 7 of their 9 lives last year going undefeated. I just don't see them winning them all.

[Chaddyboxer]

11-1 with a loss to Michigan. 11-1 Regular season finish.

 

NEB goes to the CCG vs. Ohio St. and loses a close one.

 

NEB finishes with a bowl win and goes 12-2.

[Landlord]

I want to say 11-1 with a loss to Michigan as well, but I have a fear that if I say that and we lose to Michigan, that will be the loss that keeps us out of the championship game. Oh well, we'd get an at-large BCS berth anyways.

 

 

11-1 regular season, either 12-2 or 12-1 overall.

 

Our team has serious question marks, but in all honesty the defense has seven games to work their way through the kinks on cruise control until the real test of the season starts (UCLA being the exception; but no Jonathan Franklin, home field advantage and a chip in their shoulders gets them through this game).

 

As long as the offense comes to play the way they can and should, there's no team on our schedule better than us.

[papersun87]

Aug. 31 Wyoming vs Nebraska W

Sept. 7 Southern Miss vs Nebraska W

Sept. 14 UCLA vs Nebraska W [Tough one but they lose everyone who hurt us last year, save Brent Hundley.]

Sept. 21 South Dakota State vs Nebraska W

Oct. 5 Illinois vs Nebraska W

Oct. 12 at Purdue vs Nebraska W

Oct. 26 at Minnesota vs Nebraska W

Nov. 2 Northwestern vs Nebraska W

Nov. 9 at Michigan vs Nebraska L

Nov. 16 Michigan State vs Nebraska L [basically an identical game to Northwestern in 2011 and '12.]

Nov. 23 at Penn State vs Nebraska W

Nov. 30 Iowa vs Nebraska W

 

10-2 is perfectly reasonable for this season I think, given that we should at the very least be able to outscore every opponent. There really aren't any Braxton Millers or Denard Robinsons on this schedule, either, at least not until the Big Ten Championship Game where Ohio State will almost certainly be because their schedule is even more pathetic than ours. I think even with a loss to Michigan we still make the title game because their schedule is TOUGH. Not sure we survive two conference losses, though.

[teachercd]

Michigan is going pro style...that team is going to struggle to put up points.

[papersun87]

^ I don't think we lose to Michigan because they're going to out-scheme us, I think we lose to them because at that point in the season we'll probably be 8-0 and it's a high-profile road game, and we'll be ripe for an implosion.

[True2tRA]

If we lose 2 I believe it will be to UCLA and Michigan. I absolutely think it will be because they both will out scheme us. UCLA picked on our LBers furiously last year, I see no reason with the youth we have at the position that UCLA won't have a very similar game plan. It will probably be a high scoring but close game. I really could see it coming down to who has the ball last. Could inexperience at the FG kicker position hurt us in this game being so early in the year? It's quite possible.

 

Michigan I feel will kind of approach our defense in the same fashion. Hoke likes to dink and dunk, get you on your heels, then run his QB on you when you start backing off a bit. I see a similar scenario as UCLA. Michigan will try to spread us out, singling out LBers in space. Lots of short crossing routes and HB dump passes out of the backfield. Using 1 on 1 matchups against our youth and possibly exploiting some assignment errors. I don't believe Hoke will stretch the field too much on us as I'm not sure he fully trusts their QB situation. It will be another one of those games we have seen a lot of in recent years. Unable to get stops on third downs, slow, methodical error free. We will play safe waiting for them to make a mistake, and as we have seen in the past, the lack of aggressiveness will bite us in the ass. The refusal to opt to try to force mistakes will once again keep us from stopping long drives. The defense will be on the field far too many minutes and the lack of depth on our defensive line will start to show by this late in the season.

[True2tRA]

Still a good year though, probably those 2 losses and then a loss in the CCG will still leave us with a great season. As long as we don't let any of the games get too ugly. Plus, I really really could see that UCLA game going our way, my gut just tells me that inexperience at Place Kicker could cost us.

[Mavric]

If we lose 2 I believe it will be to UCLA and Michigan. I absolutely think it will be because they both will out scheme us. UCLA picked on our LBers furiously last year, I see no reason with the youth we have at the position that UCLA won't have a very similar game plan. It will probably be a high scoring but close game. I really could see it coming down to who has the ball last. Could inexperience at the FG kicker position hurt us in this game being so early in the year? It's quite possible.

 

Michigan I feel will kind of approach our defense in the same fashion. Hoke likes to dink and dunk, get you on your heels, then run his QB on you when you start backing off a bit. I see a similar scenario as UCLA. Michigan will try to spread us out, singling out LBers in space. Lots of short crossing routes and HB dump passes out of the backfield. Using 1 on 1 matchups against our youth and possibly exploiting some assignment errors. I don't believe Hoke will stretch the field too much on us as I'm not sure he fully trusts their QB situation. It will be another one of those games we have seen a lot of in recent years. Unable to get stops on third downs, slow, methodical error free. We will play safe waiting for them to make a mistake, and as we have seen in the past, the lack of aggressiveness will bite us in the ass. The refusal to opt to try to force mistakes will once again keep us from stopping long drives. The defense will be on the field far too many minutes and the lack of depth on our defensive line will start to show by this late in the season.

I'm not sure UCLA had that sophisticated of a game plan. It seemed like half their yards were passes to RBs or TEs in the flat where we had no one home and they ran forever. Credit to them for finding something that worked and sticking with it but shame on us for not adjusting.

[Hoosker]

Wyoming - W by 20-30

Southern Miss - W by 20-30

UCLA - W by 1-10

South Dakota State - W 30-40

 

Illinois - W by 20-30

@ Purdue - W by 10-20

 

@ Minnesota - W by 20-30

Northwestern - W by 10-20

@ Michigan - W by 1-10

Michigan State - W by 10-20

@ Penn State - L by 1-10

Iowa - W by 20-30

 

B1G Championship

Ohio State - L by 10-20

 

Rose Bowl

Oregon - W by 1-10

 

 

 

 

 

...That's right.

[wiuhusker]

If we lose 2 I believe it will be to UCLA and Michigan. I absolutely think it will be because they both will out scheme us. UCLA picked on our LBers furiously last year, I see no reason with the youth we have at the position that UCLA won't have a very similar game plan. It will probably be a high scoring but close game. I really could see it coming down to who has the ball last. Could inexperience at the FG kicker position hurt us in this game being so early in the year? It's quite possible.

 

Michigan I feel will kind of approach our defense in the same fashion. Hoke likes to dink and dunk, get you on your heels, then run his QB on you when you start backing off a bit. I see a similar scenario as UCLA. Michigan will try to spread us out, singling out LBers in space. Lots of short crossing routes and HB dump passes out of the backfield. Using 1 on 1 matchups against our youth and possibly exploiting some assignment errors. I don't believe Hoke will stretch the field too much on us as I'm not sure he fully trusts their QB situation. It will be another one of those games we have seen a lot of in recent years. Unable to get stops on third downs, slow, methodical error free. We will play safe waiting for them to make a mistake, and as we have seen in the past, the lack of aggressiveness will bite us in the ass. The refusal to opt to try to force mistakes will once again keep us from stopping long drives. The defense will be on the field far too many minutes and the lack of depth on our defensive line will start to show by this late in the season.

I'm not sure UCLA had that sophisticated of a game plan. It seemed like half their yards were passes to RBs or TEs in the flat where we had no one home and they ran forever. Credit to them for finding something that worked and sticking with it but shame on us for not adjusting.

Could not agree more. It seriously seemed like they ran 5-6 different plays the whole game. Obviously this isn't the case but it sure seemed that way. That Franklin/Compton mismatch they found was a huge advantage for them. With Franklin both players being gone i think this RB/LB matchup is more evenly matched for that game. Not a knock on Compton either but we should. have more speed at LB this year to help defend those plays.

[HuskerShark]

Michigan is going pro style...that team is going to struggle to put up points.

 

That offense will be WAY better with Gardner at QB instead of Robinson. And Gardner is really fast too. Mobile QBs always give our defense fits.

[JJ Husker]

10-2 regular season with losses to either UCLA or Meatchicken (not both) and some other headscratcher along the way (I'm thinking MSU or Iowa).

 

A win in the CCG. Ohio St doesn't bother me.

 

More than likely that puts us in the Rose Bowl so I'll predict a win there too.

 

12-2 and it didn't even require the whole pitcher of Kool-Aid. Although it took some for those last two games.

[Saunders]

I don't see losses to PSU or MSU. PSU will be starting a guy at QB with little experience and zero mobility. Depth will be a huge issue this year and they'll see a second half slide. MSU could very well be worse on offense considering they lost their best player, and will be hard pressed to have as good a defense with the losses on that side.