Next five years

[Silent Commit]

@ Iowa State - LOSS. NU hasn't won in AMES since 2000, 2006 won't be an exception, Meyer and best ISU offense (maybe ever) keeps NU offense off the field.

 

We will win in Ames. Basically, you're saying that NU has lost the last two times there...that's hardly a streak. I just think that we have improved ourselves significantly, and ISU has not.

 

Like I said in a previous post in this thread, ISU's day in the sun has passed. You can't convince me that ISU has more talent then NU (well, you can try). NU stays-the-same or improves in every position next year except punter. The order has been restored, and NU will NOT lose to a B12 North team in 2006.

 

Next five years: Nebraska rules the B12 North!!

[HuskerWisdom]

ISU has some good athletes coming back on D and should be a bit faster and more athletic at the LB and DB positions. Moser was a LB playing safety, while Banks should be a big improvement over Paris at the other safety position.

 

On offense just about everyone is back along with more depth at RB (Harris, Johnson and Scott) so that if Hicks gets hurt this year it shouldn't mean as much and I think a couple of potential upgrades on the OL (Rubin especially there). They also will be bringing in some quality WR's to add more speed to the outside- even though their starting WR's had good seasons last year - Blythe especially presents matchup problems for just about anyone who plays them. Finally, Mayer was the second or third best QB in the Big 12 last year as a SO.

 

All in All, I hardly think their "day in the sun" has passed. Position by Position, NU probably has more talent, but Meyer and Blythe can play with anyone, and their coaching staff makes sure that they leverage those two to the hilt in their game plans.

 

NU fans shouldn't kid themselves about this being an easy game or a sure win.

[DJR313]

ISU has some good athletes coming back on D and should be a bit faster and more athletic at the LB and DB positions.  Moser was a LB playing safety, while Banks should be a big improvement over Paris at the other safety position.

 

On offense just about everyone is back along with more depth at RB (Harris, Johnson and Scott) so that if Hicks gets hurt this year it shouldn't mean as much and I think a couple of potential upgrades on the OL (Rubin especially there).  They also will be bringing in some quality WR's to add more speed to the outside- even though their starting WR's had good seasons last year - Blythe especially presents matchup problems for just about anyone who plays them.  Finally, Mayer was the second or third best QB in the Big 12 last year as a SO.

 

All in All, I hardly think their "day in the sun" has passed.  Position by Position, NU probably has more talent, but Meyer and Blythe can play with anyone, and their coaching staff makes sure that they leverage those two to the hilt in their game plans.

 

NU fans shouldn't kid themselves about this being an easy game or a sure win.

ISU will go 7-5 next year. Their defense forcing turnovers kept them in a lot of games. Their 2 biggest playmakers(arguably) on that side of the ball are both gone. Last year was their big chance, good defense, pretty good offense, favorable schedule. They choked and now they play a very improved Husker team, Texas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech. That's 4 losses right there. Oh, and they also go to Iowa next year.

[clone]

We will win in Ames.  Basically, you're saying that NU has lost the last two times there...that's hardly a streak.  I just think that we have improved ourselves significantly, and ISU has not. 

I like that. NU gets better and ISU doesn't.

 

Gimme a break, NU isn't the only team that improves in the offseason. The current ISU players have NEVER lost at home to NU. They damn near beat Nu in LINCOLN last season. Only the best passing performance in NU school history saved the game. They have lost that age old fear of Nu, and Meyer just gets better and better.

 

We do need a new hoodlum though, to replace Barryman. That guy was good, a monster on the line. It's a shame he can't behave.

 

BTW, it's just a prediction, an opinion just like yours. Neither of us knows the outcome, we just think we do!!

 

They'll play next season and we'll see if this ISU team's tradition of beating Nu at home continues.

 

ISU will go 7-4 next year. Their defense forcing turnovers kept them in a lot of games. Their 2 biggest playmakers(arguably) on that side of the ball are both gone. Last year was their big chance, good defense, pretty good offense, favorable schedule. They choked and now they play a very improved Husker team, Texas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech. That's 4 losses right there.

 

I agree with all of that but the NU part, I would add, ISU will probably lose to KU as well. JMO.

[HuskerWisdom]

They could lose all of those games, but I don't see either the Texas tech game of the NU games as sure losses for them as both games are at home, Texas Tech loses their QB, etc. etc. Texas and OU are on the road, so doubtful they pull those out unless they become a much better team than I think.

[huskerfan8]

nebraska will not lose to iowa state next year or kansas. no chance of them losing. i was at the game 2 years ago when nebraska lost and the game was in hand for isu and daliey brought them back only to throw a int while driving to tie it. taylor is 10x better and will lead the NU team to a 10-2 record next year. even if those teams are returning players dont forget we are returning more. kansas at home and isu doesnt have a big tradition or the talent to keep up with NU. Bowman will be able to shut blythe down jsut like they did this year. and nebraska had a lot of missed oppertunities that made the game close(dropped td by hardy, fumble on 2 w/min left)

[clone]

nebraska will not lose to iowa state next year or kansas. no chance of them losing.

I hope I'm wrong and you are right about KU and you are wrong and I am right about ISU!!

[clone]

haha no wonder you are a former fan you have no confidence at all.

I look at things realistically, but I dont have much confidence in this coaching staff.

 

Live in the present former....everytime a thread is started you and some of your troll buddies just try to throw jabs in about the past.

Past?? So the 2005 season is too far in the past to discuss??? Or can we only discuss the 2 GOOD games that this team has had under this staff

You are right FF, even the "two good games" were in the past. But maybe you would concede that the 2004 NU team couldn't have won the CU game on the road or beaten Michigan. Also worth mentioning is the near victory over ranked TT and playing OU within a touchdown.

 

In my opinion, that would be improvement.

 

I know opinions vary, but I would suggest that the loss to KU had as much to do with the rise of Kansas (won every home game for the first time in what, 60 years?) as it did the performance of NU. No team beat KU at home last season.

 

Again, just my opinion. I know it's not always a popular concept here, but I feel you are entitled to your opinion, realistic or pessamistic or optimistic.

[HuskerWisdom]

I think the 2004 team would have been able to win the 2005 CU game on the road, but wouldn't have won the Mich bowl game. The Colorado team was reeling and lost their last 4 games, Texas put up 70 pts on them after we played them.

 

There has been improvement, though. Taylor is more suited to this offense, the WR's are more consistent. The defense was better - partially due to adjustments by the coaching staff (less man-to-man to a more mixed coverage scheme), etc.

 

I guess the question I would ask, is - do you think this coaching staff has gotten the most out of the talent on this team the past 2 years?

 

My own answer is that at times they have - they seem to do very well when given 2 or more weeks to prepare. However, the preparation has been inconsistent and the team has reflected that. I believe we were pretty lucky to end up with a lot of home games this past season, many of those games being ones we managed to pull out as very close wins. As people have said, we lost a couple of close ones as well (Texas Tech especially), but we could just as easily have also lost a couple of the ones we won (Pitt, Iowa State, Kansas State were all at 0-2 pts at the end of regulation)

[DaveH]

I guess the question I would ask, is - do you think this coaching staff has gotten the most out of the talent on this team the past 2 years?

My question would be, how do you quantify getting the most out of your players?

[HuskerWisdom]

I guess the question I would ask, is - do you think this coaching staff has gotten the most out of the talent on this team the past 2 years? 

My question would be, how do you quantify getting the most out of your players?

Putting the players into position to win when their talent level is above the opposition.

 

Example, I don't think that happened in 2004. The defensive coaching staff insisted on running coverage schemes that weren't in line with the talent and athletes they had in the secondary. Two of those players go on to play in the NFL and I believe they both started last year. Was it talent or scheme in that case?

 

This year, they employ more mixed coverage schemes and don't rely on man-to-man pressure from the CB's and they are much more successful.

 

More than just about any sport, a football team is truly a team, not a collection of talented individuals. The key is to maximize the contribution from that collection of individuals so that their abilities are eventually reflected in the final score.

 

So the question becomes one of how much talent did our opposition have and did we beat them... Do you think we got the most out of our players in the Pitt game? The KState game? Missouri, Kansas??

 

We seemed to have done that in Colorado and against Michigan - both games where the staff had over 2 weeks to prepare - so I'm starting to think that there might be a correlation there - although Colorado was truly in disarray by the time the season ended.

 

So, in my view, the jury is still out as to whether or not this staff can consistently get the most out of their players. If this team loses more games than some people on this board predict for next year, but shows consistent effort and comes into every game prepared and puts themselves into a position to win, that will be a big step forward to showing that they can get the most out of these players (something that is judged separately from the W/L record at the end of the season)

 

P.S. A good example of a staff that definitively did NOT get the most out of their talent was Michigan this past season. They weren't really national title contenders, but a 7-5 record is very disappointing for them considering the talent they have on that team