Who Will Win - Huskers vs NW - Poll

[TGHusker]

Nebraska is favored in this game.   This game is an opportunity for us to fix a lot of things but it is also a game that can sneak up to us and bite us in the butt.

NW always plays us tough and we have a tendency to play to the level of our opponent - thus allowing a team like NW to keep it close and potentially win this game.

This is a game that on paper, we should win easily but we haven't made life easy - OL play and ST play has prevented us from reaching out true potential.  Thus, I've asked 

questions about OL, ST and RB.  It is time our RBs become the running game -  Adrian's scrambles are not a running game. I think we need to settle on one guy as the featured

back - who that is -- but we can't get into rhythm wt a poor blocking line and trying to find the 'flavor of the week' at RB.  

 

 

My thoughts:  NU wins by 10 ( and that is a very uncomfortable 10  point prediction)

Special teams will still disappoint

I think OL improves on the penalties but we'll still do RB by committee.   

[JoeHuskers!]

Nebraska wins comfortably, for once. Its time something breaks loose, right?

 

 

right?

[Hilltop]

Everything is not black and white like your options suggest.  ST will likely improve but I don't think the term fixed will be used to describe them at the end of the day.  I think Johnson gets 70% or so of the carries but others will get opportunities when we are up big in the 4th.  

[BigRedBuster]

I said yes to O line and Special teams improvement.  But, I think they will look better this week, the problem is sustaining that in the future against better competition than what Northwestern appears to be this year.  So, I'm not saying they are fixed for the year.

[MasterPulverizer]

Fitzgerald and the other B1G coaches have us figured out.  Either blow us out, or hang close until the 4th quarter and wait for us to implode.  As good as this game looks on paper for us, we can't discredit the fact that Fitzgerald is a good coach and their team will be ready to play. 

[Nebraska55fan]

15 minutes ago, MasterPulverizer said:

Fitzgerald and the other B1G coaches have us figured out.  Either blow us out, or hang close until the 4th quarter and wait for us to implode.  As good as this game looks on paper for us, we can't discredit the fact that Fitzgerald is a good coach and their team will be ready to play. 

 

Amen, they make a living out of not beating themselves, playing great defense and special teams and being good down the stretch. I love blowout wins but definitely fear NW if the game is close- Fitz is simply an outstanding coach. Does look like they want- think they can run the ball, which we've been pretty good at stopping. I just don't see our offense putting up a bunch of points. Yards yes, points not so much. 

[DevoHusker]

41 minutes ago, MasterPulverizer said:

Fitzgerald and the other B1G coaches have us figured out.  Either blow us out, or hang close until the 4th quarter and wait for us to implode.  As good as this game looks on paper for us, we can't discredit the fact that Fitzgerald is a good coach and their team will be ready to play. 

Exactly this. Which is why I said Huskers by 3 or less. I posted 24-21 in the prediction thread, but could see 28-27 or 21-20 type score. 

[Dogs In A Pile]

2. ST will improve just because they can't get much worse but they will be a damn far sight short of being fixed. You don't go from one of the worst ST in college FB to fixed in 1 week.

 

3. OL will improve due to weaker opponent this week.

 

4. RB by committee seems to be the norm with this staff.

[jager]

I'm with Dogs In A Pile and Hilltop. ST will be better, but that's not a high bar. OL will be more disciplined which means better. Johnson will have the majority of carries, but others will contribute. 

With these small improvements, the Huskers win by double digits.  

[runningblind]

I'd like an option for ST/O line to "look slightly less awful due to a weak opponent".

 

Also,  why can't we have a defense poll addition like this:

 

Will the defense this week:

1. Not allow any first downs.

2. Pitch a shutout.

3. Remove the will to live from the NW offense.

[The Dude]

Huskers by over 14

Yes - HCSF will get it fixed

Yes - changes on the line, attitude - lower penalties and better RB running lanes

By Committee - several getting equal opportunities

 

[teachercd]

Back in college if you had asked me if NU might struggle a bit with NW I would have thought you took some bad drugs.

 

It is amazing how lame NU has become on the football field.

 

That said, there is no reason for this game to be in doubt.  28-10 Huskers

[BigRedBuster]

23 minutes ago, runningblind said:

2. Pitch a shutout.

3. Remove the will to live from the NW offense.

It would make me so happy if they would accomplish these two things.

 

What's nice is that it's not out of the realm of possibility.  

[JJ Husker]

If there is any conference game this year that the Huskers can win in blowout fashion, this is it. NW has been pretty horrible so far this season.

 

The keys are the special teams, OL play and penalties as alluded to in the poll questions. However, I didn’t really like the options. I mean I hope we show drastic improvement in all of these areas but even a 50% improvement would still be pretty damn bad. I think (hope) there is great improvement but these issues will still be far from “fixed”. Huskers by 20+, even with plenty of WTF moments.

[Hedley Lamarr]

I could see us winning or I could see us having another Illini type loss where they somehow look like an offensive machine and beat us 30-24 type of crap