Now that the Non-conference is over, what are your thoughts/expectations for this season?

[RunMickeyRun02]

After 4 games I think you are who you are. Sure there might be a little improvement, sure a guy or two might get healthy, but "a little improvement" isn't going to help out our pass defense.

 

I'm just hoping for bowl eligibility.

[Danimal]

I predicted 9-3 going into the season, our par for the course. Going 6-6 would be quite the disappointment but wouldn't be surprising right now. Our garbage pass-D isn't going to be fixed any time soon but I'm still hopeful we can clean things up on O to where we outscore more teams. We are certainly capable of still having a winning season.

[teachercd]

It really seems like TA is well over 60%...

 

I will say this about the defense. I personally think it is harder to run on teams (and be patient with running the ball) than it is passing on teams. It is so easy to get one-one matchups and complete passes, break one tackle and make a 5 yard gain into something big.

[GOAT]

In Tommy's defense, his completion % would be much higher if not for all the drops. The guy is doing everything he possibly can to win -- he has heart, there's no denying that.

[GBRedneck]

In Tommy's defense, his completion % would be much higher if not for all the drops. The guy is doing everything he possibly can to win -- he has heart, there's no denying that.

True. He's had at least a dozen drops. Give him just half of those completions and he's at 63%.

[74Hunter]

After 4 games I think you are who you are. Sure there might be a little improvement, sure a guy or two might get healthy, but "a little improvement" isn't going to help out our pass defense.

 

I'm just hoping for bowl eligibility.

That would be unacceptable. 9 wins are built into the schedule. The previous staff was "terrible and incompetent" yet managed 9 or 10 wins per year.

 

I'm not going to lower my expectations for this staff, which happened to be filled with "experienced professionals."

[commando]

 

After 4 games I think you are who you are. Sure there might be a little improvement, sure a guy or two might get healthy, but "a little improvement" isn't going to help out our pass defense.

 

I'm just hoping for bowl eligibility.

That would be unacceptable. 9 wins are built into the schedule. The previous staff was "terrible and incompetent" yet managed 9 or 10 wins per year.

 

I'm not going to lower my expectations for this staff, which happened to be filled with "experienced professionals."

 

let it Bo

[74Hunter]

 

 

 

After 4 games I think you are who you are. Sure there might be a little improvement, sure a guy or two might get healthy, but "a little improvement" isn't going to help out our pass defense.

 

I'm just hoping for bowl eligibility.

That would be unacceptable. 9 wins are built into the schedule. The previous staff was "terrible and incompetent" yet managed 9 or 10 wins per year.

 

I'm not going to lower my expectations for this staff, which happened to be filled with "experienced professionals."

let it Bo

I did. You should follow your own advice.

[admo]

Great topic. Since joining the B1G in 2011, the Huskers have finished conference play with records of 5W-3L, 5W-3L, *7W-1L, 5W-3L. *Won the division once and lost badly in CCG (or as badly as you can lose a football game IMO) to finish 7-2.

 

So to me I think it's a safe bet to go with the trend and say 5W-3L this year.

 

I look at our schedule and see three tiers.

 

Tier 1 - Wisconsin, Michigan State

Tier 2 - Minnesota, Northwestern, Iowa

Tier 3 - Illinois, Rutgers, Purdue

 

I look at our record against these teams since joining the B1G

 

Wisconsin 1-3, MSU 2-2

Minnesota 2-2, NW 3-1 (Hail Mary saves us!), Iowa 3-1 (OT last year)

Illinois 2-0, Rutgers 1-0, Purdue 2-0

Record: 16-9

 

I see the Huskers in the Tier 2 group unfortunately. It is somewhat reasonable to see Nebraska upsetting a Tier 1 opponent this season (Wisconsin, maybe, MSU, no). So other than excitement for those games, will not expect it.

 

The competition among the second group has improved. Those opponents have gotten tougher to play over the years. So these games should be closely played.

 

I would not be surprised if the Huskers go 6-2. I would be surprised if they did worse than 5-3.

[Huskers19911]

Hopefully better than 5-3, but that may be realistic. DBs haven't been impressive so far, but it is also too early IMO to say we won't see improvements in the year. While it seems very unlikely right now, I'm hoping for the best.

[84HuskerLaw]

I said we need to wait until after Wisconsin game to make an assessment of where the teams stands generally. However, I really expected a much better outcome Saturday vs. SoMiss. That one was a real downer for my expectations. I felt going into the season we could win at least 3 or probably all four of the non con games and then could win all but Michigan State and felt that one was win-able at home. Now, I would say the games are at best all toss ups. Nobody on the schedule will be a gimme anymore as we have demonstrated we can play top 10 caliber football for a quarter or even a half at any given time and then play bottom ten level football the rest of the game. This is NOT a recipe for winning many games in the Big 10. Every team on the schedule will take advantage of the bad football lapses and put points on the board and put us in a hole we may not dig out of easily. Making a prediction today: I will pick us to win 5 more and lose 3. That leaves us at 7-5. Amazingly, I will also say that that conference record may be good enough to get us into the championship game which would almost certainly give us the brutally ugly, painful blow out loss we all desperately wish to avoid! Ugh. the big ten is full of upset possibilities every week. I will be very surprised if any Big Ten team goes through undefeated and may only be a couple with just two losses. Balance and parity all over these days. Upsets will happen.

[hskrfan4life]

Win the division and put up a fight with a chance to win the conference.

[MichiganDad3]

After 4 games, I feel like someone peed in my koolaid. I was concerned about Banker when he was hired, and I am even more concerned now. BYU, a 2-2 team, lit us up, and Michigan held them to 55 yards passing and 54 yards rushing. Miami has played no one. The offense looks reasonably good, but I question our ability to throw the ball when it is cold, wet and windy. The fullback was a thing of beauty today, lets have some more. Penalties are at a three stooges level. We are probably undefeated if we only give up 50 yards per game in penalties. Our FG kicker cannot kick under pressure. When the game is on the line he bricks it. My guess is five losses this year, more if we can't get healthy.

[Saunders]

I decided to go ahead and add a poll, because why not?

[Dbqgolfer]

I'm becoming a little more pessimistic. Starting year I thought 9-3. Now I think we beat Illinois, Rutgers and Purdue. Lose 3 of 5 to Northwestern, Mich St., Minn, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Finish 7-5