Are you surprised at where we are at?

I’ve been surprised by a number of things:

The creative places Frost & Company have found additions like Vaha Vainuku and CFU starting safety graduate transfer Neal, & Miss. St. transfer Brian Dixon. 

i was surprised at the “coming home” of Boyd Eppley and Ron Brown.

In short, I’m pleasantly surprised by the complete attention to detail both on and off the field, in support of the development of these student athletes, and the team/program as a whole.

The entire staff from Moos on down (including Tom Osborne in his advisory role) deserves an A+ on what they have achieved already. I look forward to seeing those moves resulting in a healthier program (including getting the Cornhuskers back into the pantheon of great NCAA football programs) starting with this season.

 
I don't think 9 wins is at all impossible, but I think it's unlikely given the schedule (assuming it shapes out the way it's predicted). Bo got us to 9 wins in year 1, turning around a 5-7 team. This is actually a pretty similar scenario - there was talent on the team that wasn't being utilized and developed, a new hot name coach was brought in that united the fanbase and had everyone hyped up, etc. 

But the biggest reason we were able to start that well was a manageable schedule. It just takes more time and culture building to flip a team into one that truly belongs/believes it belongs on the field at Ohio Stadium in primetime after getting punched in the mouth. 9 wins doesn't allow room for missteps for a new/young/rebuilding team. 9 wins would mean we beat every team we should beat, and steal one against a team we shouldn't - that's a tall order. I think we'll finish 7-5 regular season, maybe 8-4, and then depending on a matchup have a nice bowl win or at least a very respectable performance.

 
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huskerfan333157 said:
You mean the same team that only loss one game and went to a major bowl three years before frost got there and beat Baylor in the fiesta bowl?   I never knew Nebraska had that kind of success recently.
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We won 9 games in 2016 and in 2014, and we've had the top recruiting class in our division every year we've been in the Big Ten. We also didn't go 0-12 last year.

 
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Moiraine said:
We won 9 games in 2016 and in 2014, and we've had the top recruiting class in our division every year we've been in the Big Ten. We also didn't go 0-12 last year.
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Our schedule was also easy.  Ucf usually has more talent than anyone in their conference.  I can see us getting 6 or 7 wins but it's really tough to see 8 or 9.  You usually can't fix a culture in one season.

 
Landlord said:
I don't think 9 wins is at all impossible, but I think it's unlikely given the schedule (assuming it shapes out the way it's predicted). Bo got us to 9 wins in year 1, turning around a 5-7 team. This is actually a pretty similar scenario - there was talent on the team that wasn't being utilized and developed, a new hot name coach was brought in that united the fanbase and had everyone hyped up, etc. 

But the biggest reason we were able to start that well was a manageable schedule. It just takes more time and culture building to flip a team into one that truly belongs/believes it belongs on the field at Ohio Stadium in primetime after getting punched in the mouth. 9 wins doesn't allow room for missteps for a new/young/rebuilding team. 9 wins would mean we beat every team we should beat, and steal one against a team we shouldn't - that's a tall order. I think we'll finish 7-5 regular season, maybe 8-4, and then depending on a matchup have a nice bowl win or at least a very respectable performance.
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Thanks for this! I was pretty young during the Bo transition and was curious how it compared. This is good to know. 

 
The schedule sets up nice for a 7-0 home record.  Michigan State is the toughest home game, but it's at the end of the year.  Frost should have the offense rolling by then.  I don't know if Sparty will keep up.

 
huskerfan333157 said:
You mean the same team that only loss one game and went to a major bowl three years before frost got there and beat Baylor in the fiesta bowl?   I never knew Nebraska had that kind of success recently.  Also, did you see the coaches I listed or decided to ignore that part. If it's so easy to "increase wins at a program that's struggling" yet all those great coaches I listed had a tough time their first year.

So you're already saying Frost is better than Saban, bowden and bear Bryant?  

I think Frost will be a really good coach, but it's tough to expect a huge turnaround the first year.
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Not much different then the Red team that i mentioned .  Go back past those same 3 years and you will find a team that consistently won 9 or 10 games every year - not a simple task considering only 2 other programs were in that company.

If you read my post - I didn't ignore your nice little list of coaches that struggled during their first season.  I stated i'm sure there is a similar list of different coaches that had great years during their first campaign (no i'm not going to go look for the data because we all know there are plenty of examples.

I said nothing about SF being better than Saban, Bowden and Bear Bryant - I'm guessing you came up with that odd statement because those guys were on that nice little list that you came up with.  If so, then that same silly logic would state that BP is equally as good as Saban and (one other coach - don't know the team or coach?)  based on the bold sentence above.   We all know that BP is not equal to Saban

MR won 9 games just 2 seasons ago - it's not that far fetched to assume that SF can play in the same league as MR.

 
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GBRFAN said:
Not much different then the Red team that i mentioned .  Go back past those same 3 years and you will find a team that consistently won 9 or 10 games every year - not a simple task considering only 2 other programs were in that company.

If you read my post - I didn't ignore your nice little list of coaches that struggled during their first season.  I stated i'm sure there is a similar list of different coaches that had great years during their first campaign (no i'm not going to go look for the data because we all know there are plenty of examples.

I said nothing about SF being better than Saban, Bowden and Bear Bryant - I'm guessing you came up with that odd statement because those guys were on that nice little list that you came up with.  If so, then that same silly logic would state that BP is equally as good as Saban and (one other coach - don't know the team or coach?)  based on the bold sentence above.   We all know that BP is not equal to Saban

MR won 9 games just 2 seasons ago - it's not that far fetched to assume that SF can play in the same league as MR.
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MR won 9 games with a weak schedule.  

 
huskerfan333157 said:
MR won 9 games with a weak schedule.  
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that is true and the first statement that you have that makes sense - however as I stated i hope we can agree that SF is in the same league as MR (obviously i'm joking here because it's not even close) 

Doesn't a tougher schedule seem similar to the upgrade that SF is over MR?

If so, then why is 6-10 wins not in the ball park?  I'm thinking 8-9 with a +/- of 1 - so 7-10 would be my guess.

 
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Brophog- That’s a great post. I’m surprised by the events that have taken place to get us here.

i wasn’t that enthusiastic about the Oregon style offense three years ago because of the tough teams being able to shut it down when they are man to man physically superior. But seeing how Frost did it at FCU I’m completely sold that this is the way of the future.

Unlike other Husker fans, I don’t have high expectations for this season.... due to the killer schedule and the learning curve... but like you I anticipate that Frost and staff will surprise us. 

We have some players and we still have some holes to fill, but I can’t remember when the optimism was higher.

GBR!!!

 
For the first time in years we have a staff with a definitive scheme and vision.  We will no longer see square peg round hole crap. I think he is also changing the culture, of course the proof will be when guys are punched in the mouth and how they respond.  Lastly, Frost comes a cross as a 20 year HC.  Not as a 3rd year guy.....We are in good hands.  A positive plus, he actually knew what a Runza was prior to getting the HC job.  The others had to google......

 
Scratchtown said:
I’m just excited to see tough nosed football. Regardless of the wins. I’m fine with 6-6 in year one as long as the players show the some testi.....mental fortitude game 1 through 12. Though I truly think NU will win 9 games.

No more tails between the legs and “oh no we suck again” crap

16 years of crappy NU football. Ready for it to change. 
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Completely unacceptable under any circumstances

 
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My feelings have changed a bit on the "6-6 is acceptable" front.  Early on I agreed.  Not so much anymore.

We're light years ahead of where I figured we would be in terms of flipping the roster.  51 new guys is drastic.  It's essentially a new team.  I don't put a ton of stock in last season.  

I would have been perfectly happy having Frost's offense last year with a true freshman Noah Vedral at quarterback.  This season we have Frost's offense with the choice of three QBs arguably better than Vedral.

Also we've completely abandoned Diaco's retarded "bend-but-don't-break" defensive philosophy.

Just those four changes are worth more than two wins in my view.

I could easily add to that list as well.

 
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