Out on a Limb...Hope it is not on the smoking Tree

[Bruleif]

I think the game will be close and will be decided by turnovers. I am certain the Bruins will score more than 13 points.

 

The Bruins are a very young team. They played 15 true or redshirt freshman in the Nevada game. And there are a lot of sophomores who start. It is predominantly a freshman-sophomore team. The feeling in Westwood is that this team has the talent to make a National Championship push next year.

 

The strength of the team defensively is the linebacker corps. Plenty of speed. Everyone knows about Barr but Kendricks is just as solid and led the team in tackles last year. True freshman Myles Jack will be a star in the future.

 

The DL now has plenty of depth with the addition of Vanderdoes, so the Bruins will be rotating the DLineman a lot to keep them fresh. Nebraska will be a good test for the DL.

 

The secondary now has the talent it lacked last year but is still very green.

 

The stength of the team offensively is obviously Hundley. He made some very good throws vs. Nevada. He seems to be calmer in the pocket. He also seemed more ready to chuck the ball out of bounds in order to avoid a sack. Most of the sacks last year were not the fault of the OL. Most were caused by Hundley either not making it back to the LOS while scrambling or by holding onto the ball too long. Per Mora there was a big emphasis to reduce the number of sacks during the offseason.

 

The Bruins have a very good OL. Xavier Su'a Filo is the lynchpin. There is good depth at the OL but not a lot of ezperience.

 

It's still too early to gauge the impact of Jonathan Franklin's departure but Jordan James had a very good game vs. Nevada. He had more than 100 yards in the first half and then rested most of the second.

 

The receiving corps is solid. Shaq Evans is the No. 1 target. He can cover a lot of ground very quickly and is sure-handed. The two Devins - Fuller and Lucien - are Oregon fast.

 

Special teams seem to be good. They blocked a punt for a touchdown. PK Kai'mi Fairbairn seems to be better but he still has to prove he can be more consistent from longer distances. Kickoff specialist Sean Covington hit the end zone consistently on kickoffs.

 

The Achilles heel of the team is penalties. The Bruins led the country in penalties last year and they must have had close to 10 penalties against Nevada. With 15 true freshman playing in their first game the number of penalties can be understood. But the Bruins cannot hope to beat Nebraska if they have a lot of penalties. The other key to winning is the secondary. If they can grow up fast the Bruins will have a good chance to win. I think the DL, the OL , the LB corps, the QB, the running backs and the receivers will do wel

 

As I said above I do not expect a blowout either way.

[Count 'Bility]

I think the game will be close and will be decided by turnovers. I am certain the Bruins will score more than 13 points.

 

The Bruins are a very young team. They played 15 true or redshirt freshman in the Nevada game. And there are a lot of sophomores who start. It is predominantly a freshman-sophomore team. The feeling in Westwood is that this team has the talent to make a National Championship push next year.

 

The strength of the team defensively is the linebacker corps. Plenty of speed. Everyone knows about Barr but Kendricks is just as solid and led the team in tackles last year. True freshman Myles Jack will be a star in the future.

 

The DL now has plenty of depth with the addition of Vanderdoes, so the Bruins will be rotating the DLineman a lot to keep them fresh. Nebraska will be a good test for the DL.

 

The secondary now has the talent it lacked last year but is still very green.

 

The stength of the team offensively is obviously Hundley. He made some very good throws vs. Nevada. He seems to be calmer in the pocket. He also seemed more ready to chuck the ball out of bounds in order to avoid a sack. Most of the sacks last year were not the fault of the OL. Most were caused by Hundley either not making it back to the LOS while scrambling or by holding onto the ball too long. Per Mora there was a big emphasis to reduce the number of sacks during the offseason.

 

The Bruins have a very good OL. Xavier Su'a Filo is the lynchpin. There is good depth at the OL but not a lot of ezperience.

 

It's still too early to gauge the impact of Jonathan Franklin's departure but Jordan James had a very good game vs. Nevada. He had more than 100 yards in the first half and then rested most of the second.

 

The receiving corps is solid. Shaq Evans is the No. 1 target. He can cover a lot of ground very quickly and is sure-handed. The two Devins - Fuller and Lucien - are Oregon fast.

 

Special teams seem to be good. They blocked a punt for a touchdown. PK Kai'mi Fairbairn seems to be better but he still has to prove he can be more consistent from longer distances. Kickoff specialist Sean Covington hit the end zone consistently on kickoffs.

 

The Achilles heel of the team is penalties. The Bruins led the country in penalties last year and they must have had close to 10 penalties against Nevada. With 15 true freshman playing in their first game the number of penalties can be understood. But the Bruins cannot hope to beat Nebraska if they have a lot of penalties. The other key to winning is the secondary. If they can grow up fast the Bruins will have a good chance to win. I think the DL, the OL , the LB corps, the QB, the running backs and the receivers will do wel

 

As I said above I do not expect a blowout either way.

So you guys are loaded with freshman too? Great. A glorified high school game.

[Bruleif]

Yeah, but at least the two teams would be two damn good high school teams!

 

John Wooden always said if he had to pick between talent and experience he would pick talent any time. Kareem's team and Walton's team both won the NC in basketball even with predominantly sophomore teams. The Bruin baseballers who won the NC this year were predominantly a sophomore-led team. So, we will see.

[Count 'Bility]

Yep. Defensively we're already seeing numerous flashed of talent over experience.

[suigeneris]

I think the game will be close and will be decided by turnovers. I am certain the Bruins will score more than 13 points.

 

The Bruins are a very young team. They played 15 true or redshirt freshman in the Nevada game. And there are a lot of sophomores who start. It is predominantly a freshman-sophomore team. The feeling in Westwood is that this team has the talent to make a National Championship push next year.

 

The strength of the team defensively is the linebacker corps. Plenty of speed. Everyone knows about Barr but Kendricks is just as solid and led the team in tackles last year. True freshman Myles Jack will be a star in the future.

 

The DL now has plenty of depth with the addition of Vanderdoes, so the Bruins will be rotating the DLineman a lot to keep them fresh. Nebraska will be a good test for the DL.

 

The secondary now has the talent it lacked last year but is still very green.

 

The stength of the team offensively is obviously Hundley. He made some very good throws vs. Nevada. He seems to be calmer in the pocket. He also seemed more ready to chuck the ball out of bounds in order to avoid a sack. Most of the sacks last year were not the fault of the OL. Most were caused by Hundley either not making it back to the LOS while scrambling or by holding onto the ball too long. Per Mora there was a big emphasis to reduce the number of sacks during the offseason.

 

The Bruins have a very good OL. Xavier Su'a Filo is the lynchpin. There is good depth at the OL but not a lot of ezperience.

 

It's still too early to gauge the impact of Jonathan Franklin's departure but Jordan James had a very good game vs. Nevada. He had more than 100 yards in the first half and then rested most of the second.

 

The receiving corps is solid. Shaq Evans is the No. 1 target. He can cover a lot of ground very quickly and is sure-handed. The two Devins - Fuller and Lucien - are Oregon fast.

 

Special teams seem to be good. They blocked a punt for a touchdown. PK Kai'mi Fairbairn seems to be better but he still has to prove he can be more consistent from longer distances. Kickoff specialist Sean Covington hit the end zone consistently on kickoffs.

 

The Achilles heel of the team is penalties. The Bruins led the country in penalties last year and they must have had close to 10 penalties against Nevada. With 15 true freshman playing in their first game the number of penalties can be understood. But the Bruins cannot hope to beat Nebraska if they have a lot of penalties. The other key to winning is the secondary. If they can grow up fast the Bruins will have a good chance to win. I think the DL, the OL , the LB corps, the QB, the running backs and the receivers will do wel

 

As I said above I do not expect a blowout either way.

 

I think the above posts by Husker fans were mostly in jest. I don't know anyone who thinks we're going to blow out UCLA.

 

Sounds like both teams are in the midst of a youth movement. You'll see the same offense we had in Pasadena but we have a lot of new faces on the defensive line and in the linebacker corp. The big question will be how they handle themselves against an opponent without a serious talent deficiency.

 

I thought UCLA's gameplan on offense last year was superb. We haven't figured out how to stop what you threw at us, so I expect you'll get your points. I think Nebraska will need a very big day on offense and a positive turnover margin to have a shot.

 

So long as Hundley doesn't run roughshod over our defense, I'll be happy if our young guys aren't demoralized and take some good experience into conference play.

 

 

[Bruleif]

I think you are right on about the turnover margin being the key.

[huskerfan92]

Here you go:

 

Huskers are going to surprise the Bruised'ns and all of college football by dominating in next Saturday's game. To the tune of 45 - 23, with one of the UCLA touchdowns coming late in trash time when the game has already been decided.

 

T-Mart will be electric, hitting 75% of his passes and running for 80+ yds......no turnovers (for him or the entire team). At least two of our backs will hit 100+ yards. Enunwa will have a 60+ yd touchdown catch.

 

We will have 4 sacks, dozens of hurries and two interceptions. Hundley will not finish the game..either from injury or to save him from embarrassment.

 

Kenny Bell will have double digit receptions, two for touchdowns. He will have a legal knockout block on a kick return, a breathtaking Johnny Rodgers-esque run on an end around, and he will heal three lepers in the stands at half time.

 

In late 3rd quarter, TA will run a picture perfect option play to the right side, pitching at the last instant, sending Newby for a 30 yard TD scamper. Tom Osborne will storm out of the skyboxes and do a flying chest bump with Newby in the endzone. We will gladly take the penalty for excessive celebration as that will make it 38 - 13.

 

The young guns on D-Fence will look so much like the Husker defense of old that 14 of them and one crazed fan will all get blackshirts from Bo immediately after the game.

 

Mora will retire after shaking hands with Bo, and the Bruins will stick with soccer and volleyball for the next 20 years.

 

Man that freaking Kool Aid is delicious!!!!!

!!!!!!GO BIG RED!!!!!!

 

 

[dutch91701]

Another key to the game, in my opinion, will be NOT RUNNING PLAY ACTION FROM OUR OWN ENDZONE. In all seriousness though, containment will be huge. I know an injury is not "containing the QB", but when Hundley hurt his wheel in last years game and couldn't move the pocket and extend plays with his feet, the D was much better off. There was a clear lack of speed on last years team that I feel has been improved in this years version. We'll see if that speed can be put to use in containing Hundley and forcing UCLA to play straight at the defense instead of consistently being allowed room around the edge. Also, Pap should make sure that if there are 5 receivers running routes....5 receivers get covered. That's another solid idea.

[Enhance]

Last year's defensive faults weren't so much about a lack of speed/athleticism imho. We were just out of position and making bad reads the entire night. It seems like we got killed with running backs in motion, too.

 

One thing I'd like to see our defense improve a little on are covering inside routes over the middle of the field. Seems like a lot of offenses exploit that on our defense.

[ladyhawke]

All I know is we're gonna have our work cut out for us against UCLA. That's a good football team and it could go either way for both teams. If Nebraska wants to win this game they have to play mistake free football. We just can't spot UCLA points off turnovers and our offense can't have those three and outs. So I just hope Beck throws the kitchen sink at them if he has to.

 

Third game of the season, can't hold anything back Brent.

We also can't come back after half time looking lack luster like we did against So. Miss. I also hope our boys stay healthy this week AND if someone is not playing well, take them out and put someone else in-that includes Taylor. Sometimes you're just not having a good day-but to keep a player in who's playing crummy is a disservice to the team. I think this is going to be a tough game and a close one.

[lo country]

As much as I like the idea of playing on emotion, for revenge etc we do not seem to do well this way. My hope is the team plays a focused, mistake free four quarters.

 

Talent wise and experience wise it appears to be pretty evenly matched with youth on both sides. IMO, it will come down to coaching. Who makes better calls and which coach can adjust on the fly.

 

Being at home is a plus. We just need to actually put a complete 4 quarters together. Something a Bo coached team has yet to do.

[hskrfan4life]

I like it... I like it a lot.

[JTrain]

And Bo smiles at me at the gas station Friday night.

 

[Lyons in the Sea of Red.]

You lost me at Enunwa having a 60yard TD. I still don't get why we sent Enunwa on a fly route in the So. Miss game instead of.....any of our other receivers that have speed.

Maybe because no corner outside of maybe SJB has the muscle and height to out fight Quincy on a jump ball. It wasnt meant to be a route that beats him over the top, it was a back shoulder fade, essentially. And you better get used to seeing it, because it is almost an automatic 15 yards, and is why we called it.

 

Quincy is going to be getting us ALOT of free 15 yards this year. If a corner can match his physicality, then he's probably a linebacker.

[blessed2bahusker]

I think the game will be close and will be decided by turnovers. I am certain the Bruins will score more than 13 points.

 

The Bruins are a very young team. They played 15 true or redshirt freshman in the Nevada game. And there are a lot of sophomores who start. It is predominantly a freshman-sophomore team. The feeling in Westwood is that this team has the talent to make a National Championship push next year.

 

The strength of the team defensively is the linebacker corps. Plenty of speed. Everyone knows about Barr but Kendricks is just as solid and led the team in tackles last year. True freshman Myles Jack will be a star in the future.

 

The DL now has plenty of depth with the addition of Vanderdoes, so the Bruins will be rotating the DLineman a lot to keep them fresh. Nebraska will be a good test for the DL.

 

The secondary now has the talent it lacked last year but is still very green.

 

The stength of the team offensively is obviously Hundley. He made some very good throws vs. Nevada. He seems to be calmer in the pocket. He also seemed more ready to chuck the ball out of bounds in order to avoid a sack. Most of the sacks last year were not the fault of the OL. Most were caused by Hundley either not making it back to the LOS while scrambling or by holding onto the ball too long. Per Mora there was a big emphasis to reduce the number of sacks during the offseason.

 

The Bruins have a very good OL. Xavier Su'a Filo is the lynchpin. There is good depth at the OL but not a lot of ezperience.

 

It's still too early to gauge the impact of Jonathan Franklin's departure but Jordan James had a very good game vs. Nevada. He had more than 100 yards in the first half and then rested most of the second.

 

The receiving corps is solid. Shaq Evans is the No. 1 target. He can cover a lot of ground very quickly and is sure-handed. The two Devins - Fuller and Lucien - are Oregon fast.

 

Special teams seem to be good. They blocked a punt for a touchdown. PK Kai'mi Fairbairn seems to be better but he still has to prove he can be more consistent from longer distances. Kickoff specialist Sean Covington hit the end zone consistently on kickoffs.

 

The Achilles heel of the team is penalties. The Bruins led the country in penalties last year and they must have had close to 10 penalties against Nevada. With 15 true freshman playing in their first game the number of penalties can be understood. But the Bruins cannot hope to beat Nebraska if they have a lot of penalties. The other key to winning is the secondary. If they can grow up fast the Bruins will have a good chance to win. I think the DL, the OL , the LB corps, the QB, the running backs and the receivers will do wel

 

As I said above I do not expect a blowout either way.

Great post. That answers a lot of questions that I had about your Defense. If this game was being played in the Rose Bowl again I would be chalking it up as a loss right now. I just don't think our young front seven could handle the road environment at this point.

 

So I guess I am a little more optimistic knowing that UCLA is very young team as well. Hopefully (for us ) the atmosphere at Memorial Stadium can cause some problems for your young team.

 

I'm still not ready to predict a Husker win, but I think we have a good shot. I know if I was putting money on this game I would be taking the points.