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

[Creighton Duke]

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.

 

 

I think that the above quote is what may be getting a lot of Husker fans excited. Yeah, we both have a lot of young, talented guys so you'd think that it would result in a wash. 3 reasons why the Huskers are at an advantage here:

 

1. That extra game. For the veterans on the roster, one extra game doesn't mean much, but for the guys who have 1 game under their belts versus two games....I mean, that is 100 percent more PT!

 

2. Our young guys have already taken a lump. UCLA's young guys dominated an outmatched team. Our guys have felt what it's like to almost lose. They won't want to feel that way again and UCLA's guys may not recognize it until it's too late.

 

3. Home game for young guys. Obvious why this helps our youngins more.

[robsker]

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.

 

 

I think that the above quote is what may be getting a lot of Husker fans excited. Yeah, we both have a lot of young, talented guys so you'd think that it would result in a wash. 3 reasons why the Huskers are at an advantage here:

 

1. That extra game. For the veterans on the roster, one extra game doesn't mean much, but for the guys who have 1 game under their belts versus two games....I mean, that is 100 percent more PT!

 

2. Our young guys have already taken a lump. UCLA's young guys dominated an outmatched team. Our guys have felt what it's like to almost lose. They won't want to feel that way again and UCLA's guys may not recognize it until it's too late.

 

3. Home game for young guys. Obvious why this helps our youngins more.

 

very good points. Agree 100%

[garn]

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.

 

Thanks for the breakdown. Good luck to your Bruins this weekend.