2020 Schedule Analysis

[HANC]

They look very good and a lot of fans has this as an L in the non-con.  Warren may look into draft.  They are good. Home will help

[Stumpy1]

I can see us going 2-2 our first 4 games.  I think we lose to Purdue and Cincy. 

[Dogs In A Pile]

I can see us going 5-2 in the first 7 games and losing the last 5 of season. 5-7 with a ceiling of 6-6 but if things go south the first few games it could be a very ugly season. From what we have seen this year Cincinnati is much better team than NU. And none of the first 7 are locks. Well maybe Rutgers but I wouldn't bet on it. All the others are potential losses.

[LumberJackSker]

All i ask for is beating either Wisconsin or Iowa and making a bowl game.

[Ziebol]

13 hours ago, LumberJackSker said:

All i ask for is beating either Wisconsin or Iowa and making a bowl game.

Iowa is losing a lot of players. If there was a year where we can get that monkey off our back against them it would be 2020.

[Husker in WI]

2 minutes ago, Ziebol said:

Iowa is losing a lot of players. If there was a year where we can get that monkey off our back against them it would be 2020.

 

The only crazy scenario is if for some reason Epenesa and Wirfs both come back, but I don't know why they would. And even then, replacing a 3 year starter at QB is difficult. They're always going to be solid, but definitely taking a step back next year.

 

One thing I'm curious about next year is how losing Tyler Johnson/Rodney Smith/Shannon Brooks affects Minnesota. Obviously they still have Bateman and Ibrahim, but I'm wondering if it will be a little like Spielman this year - they'll still get their numbers, but the offense as a whole could suffer from fewer options. But they do like some of the younger receivers, and I wouldn't actually predict regression with those 2, a returning QB, and the whole OL coming back. Defense could be a different story, particularly if Winfield leaves. Pretty much the whole starting DL/LB core is leaving.

[Ziebol]

25 minutes ago, Husker in WI said:

 

The only crazy scenario is if for some reason Epenesa and Wirfs both come back, but I don't know why they would. And even then, replacing a 3 year starter at QB is difficult. They're always going to be solid, but definitely taking a step back next year.

 

One thing I'm curious about next year is how losing Tyler Johnson/Rodney Smith/Shannon Brooks affects Minnesota. Obviously they still have Bateman and Ibrahim, but I'm wondering if it will be a little like Spielman this year - they'll still get their numbers, but the offense as a whole could suffer from fewer options. But they do like some of the younger receivers, and I wouldn't actually predict regression with those 2, a returning QB, and the whole OL coming back. Defense could be a different story, particularly if Winfield leaves. Pretty much the whole starting DL/LB core is leaving.

Yeah Minny's defense will regress. Their offense will still be damn good though which is what killed us last year. We need to play sideline to sideline against them, but them losing Johnson is big. For Iowa, Wirfs and Epenesa would be crazy to return considering where they are projected, but crazier things have happened. Replacing Stanley will be tough for them, kid is tough and the definition of an Iowa QB who has annoyed us these past years. 

[Redux]

On 12/7/2019 at 1:04 PM, Husker in WI said:

The only way you see 6-6 as our ceiling next year is if you assume the absolute worst case scenario for Nebraska, and the best case scenarios for every other team. And I get it, the past couple years/decades have made that easier to do. But seriously, no hope for you guys at all? Would you say you enjoy being Nebraska fans? 

 

I look at that schedule and think "We should easily go 7-0 and finish at worst as 9-3".  Then I remember that we haven't been able to make a bowl game since Mike Riley's 2nd year and think "....yeah we are going to stumble at least once during those 7 easy games and we will be luck to win one of the back 5".

 

So yeah, 7-5 is my WTE prediction.  I let myself buy into the year 1 to year 2 jump theory.  That didn't even remotely happen.  We will be better, again.  We won't be there yet, another year before we really start contending.

 

This isn't about enjoying being a fan, it's about looking where we are and realistically understanding we are going to have bad games, we are going to have injuries and we will have close games we don't come away with a win.

 

7-5

[lo country]

Looking at the past few years I can see us going 3-9, with 5-7 expected.......Recruiting is better for sure, but we still have yet to show our "better" recruiting on the field.....Hope 2020 brings the revival of NU football.

[The Dude]

We have more talent than 10 of the teams on the schedule.   High time for Frosty to earn his pay.

[Ziebol]

14 minutes ago, lo country said:

Looking at the past few years I can see us going 3-9, with 5-7 expected.......Recruiting is better for sure, but we still have yet to show our "better" recruiting on the field.....Hope 2020 brings the revival of NU football.

Heads will roll if we go 3-9.

[WyoHusker56]

15 minutes ago, Ziebol said:

Heads will roll if we go 3-9.

 

I'm pretty firmly in the give Frost time camp, but if we go 3-9 next year I have to agree that something is broken and heads need to roll. Maybe it won't be Frost's but a lot of assistants and it would be a very short leash.

[lo country]

23 minutes ago, Ziebol said:

Heads will roll if we go 3-9.

I agree.  That schedule looks pretty tough.  Throw in losing the starting DL, LB, CB and the D is a rebuild to a degree.  I've given up on the addition by subtraction argument....  New receivers that will hopefully step up, new OL positions (possibly) and we are in the "we are young", "wait until we develop depth" mode......We completely blew the 4 game RS rule so besides guys who actually started, we developed little to no depth this year IMHO.  A lot of guys looking to get their first starts next year.  Against that schedule.....

 

I just didn't see anything down the stretch and the stupid losses early on that kept us from going bowling that says we will be better.  The recruit class is great for our record, but we continually out recruit the West.....Attrition hits all schools so the ranking balance out in the end.....I just keep thinking that to pull this last class, Frost and Co are sharing a vision/plan that the fans and media are not privy too.

 

I'm trying to be rational and realistic so still thinking 3-9 wouldn't shock me....

[Husker in WI]

2 hours ago, lo country said:

I agree.  That schedule looks pretty tough.  Throw in losing the starting DL, LB, CB and the D is a rebuild to a degree.  I've given up on the addition by subtraction argument....  New receivers that will hopefully step up, new OL positions (possibly) and we are in the "we are young", "wait until we develop depth" mode......We completely blew the 4 game RS rule so besides guys who actually started, we developed little to no depth this year IMHO.  A lot of guys looking to get their first starts next year.  Against that schedule.....

 

I just didn't see anything down the stretch and the stupid losses early on that kept us from going bowling that says we will be better.  The recruit class is great for our record, but we continually out recruit the West.....Attrition hits all schools so the ranking balance out in the end.....I just keep thinking that to pull this last class, Frost and Co are sharing a vision/plan that the fans and media are not privy too.

 

I'm trying to be rational and realistic so still thinking 3-9 wouldn't shock me....

 

I can see 9 teams we could lose to, but I don't see us losing 9 games. Assuming Central Michigan, SDSU, and Rutgers are your wins do we really lose to all of Purdue/NW/Illinois/Cincy? I just don't see that unless there is a complete implosion, which as people have pointed out would mean a major overhaul.

 

Even the back quarter of Iowa/Wisky/Minny, I'd bet we go 1-2. Maybe even 2-1, but recent history suggests otherwise.

 

 

[WyoHusker56]

2 hours ago, lo country said:

We completely blew the 4 game RS rule so besides guys who actually started, we developed little to no depth this year IMHO.

 

Besides Rahmir, which I agree was a bit strange how it was handled, who do you think we blew it on with the 4 game rule?

 

https://hailvarsity.com/s/7590/2019-nebraska-football-redshirt-tracker

 

It seems to me got a lot of guys on the field to experience the speed of the game and what B1G football is all about. The guys who didn't get time I'd assume didn't earn the snaps and we didn't have enough blow outs to really give guys great time.