Athlon Sports Predicts Huskers Season: six panelists say 10-2 or 11-1

[whateveritis1224]

I think Pelini might have cracked the mobile QB code after the Ohio State game. Colter did absolutely nothing and Robinson was sufficiently corralled until he got hurt.

 

[Mavric]

I think Pelini might have cracked the mobile QB code after the Ohio State game. Colter did absolutely nothing and Robinson was sufficiently corralled until he got hurt.

NW helped us out by not playing Colter at QB very much. No idea why.

Robinson wasn't hurting us too badly. We'll see.

 

[whateveritis1224]

I think Pelini might have cracked the mobile QB code after the Ohio State game. Colter did absolutely nothing and Robinson was sufficiently corralled until he got hurt.

NW helped us out by not playing Colter at QB very much. No idea why.

Robinson wasn't hurting us too badly. We'll see.

Because he wasn't doing anything when he was QB.

The only reason why Northwestern was up in that game was because of the turnovers. We hold onto the ball and we win by 2 TDs instead of sweating out a missed FG. But overall the defense did a great job that game, only 1 break down/great play design and call (the Mark TD) the whole game. Outside of that run, NW only had something like 200 total yards of offense. The D was pretty dialed in that game.

 

[HUSKER FREAK]

As far as our D being more experienced last year vs. the speed (supposedly) this year. Well, I would take medium speed and being in position all or most of the time then a lot of speed and out of position. Last year I believe we had a mix of both medium speed and mostly out of position.

If you watched film from last year (and knew what you were looking for-I'm not saying you dont) you would see that last year was actually a case of mostly being IN position but having even less than medium speed.

I'm sorry accountability, but I pride myself on film watching and an understanding of the game. I'm no guru by any means but I'm smarter than the average bear by quite a bit and I can tell you now.......no, just no. You sir are wrong. We were out of position constantly. Poor per snap recognition, especially at the safety and LB spots. Compton took his first step in the wrong direction almost every play of the season right along with Whaley. There was no communication going on out there at all between defensive players and it was very very apparent. I constantly watched guys take themselves out of plays, or at the least putting themselves in position to be easily blocked out of making a play.

I will say this though. I completely disagree with Husker freak. I'd rather have speed. Speed can make up for a lot in Bo's scheme. Last year we had slow guys that were thinking too much. I'd rather have guys who can make up for all the thinking Bo makes them do......in my opinion, in this defense, your never going to have a solid unit of 11 find themselves in position all the time. So with that said, just put the fast guys on the field and let them fly around and make plays. Lavonte did it successfully.

Yes I agree Lavonte did make up his learning curve with speed, but he was never out of position as consistently as we were last year especially in the CCG. Although I would rather have speed than what we had last year, but we don't have David anymore. Hopefully these young backers will be able to step in and do what he did though, while knowing their position well.

 

[StPaulHusker]

I would say based on questions of the defense, 10-2 or 11-1 is a fair assessment. I wouldn't have been surprised if they said 9-3 or 8-4 either.

 

[B.B. Hemingway]

I would say based on questions of the defense, 10-2 or 11-1 is a fair assessment. I wouldn't have been surprised if they said 9-3 or 8-4 either.

The assumption across our fanbase is that the defense will struggle because they are young/inexperience. This may well be the likelihood, but if (IF) they hit the ground running? Certainly a possibility....

 

[Saunders]

I think Pelini might have cracked the mobile QB code after the Ohio State game. Colter did absolutely nothing and Robinson was sufficiently corralled until he got hurt.

NW helped us out by not playing Colter at QB very much. No idea why.

Robinson wasn't hurting us too badly. We'll see.

Our defense actually pretty really well that game outside the one run by Venric Mark.

Kolter was 1/2 passing for 5 yards and had 14 rushes for 35 yards. Outside of the 80 yard run, NW ran 75 plays for 221 yards, averaged 2.7 YPR and 2.9 YPP.

Special teams plays absolutely killed us.

In the 1st quarter, a penalty on Stafford cost us a muffed punt by Mark that would have given us the ball on NW 10 yardline. Later in the 1st, Abdullah fumbled a punt at our 14 and NW scored a TD.

2nd Quarter,Kenny Bell fumbled a punt at the Northwestern 38 yardline, NW ended up punting, then Kyler Reed fumbled on a 20 yard pass at the NW 22 yardline. Later in the 2nd, Maher had a 16 yard punt, and NW scored a TD on the ensuing drive.

We went into halftime down 14-10 because we cost ourselves anywhere from 9 - 21 points, and directly led to 14 points for Northwestern.

 

[JJ Husker]

I'm just not really feeling a loss in the UCLA game. It might be the homer in me but I think we lost that game last year rather than them doing things that were unbeatable. In Lincoln, I don't believe that will continue. By most accounts we should be better on both sides of the ball. Personally, I expect a much different game this time around. I generally feel the only way we loss any of the first 12 is if we beat ourselves. Lord knows that's possible.

 

[Count 'Bility]

As far as our D being more experienced last year vs. the speed (supposedly) this year. Well, I would take medium speed and being in position all or most of the time then a lot of speed and out of position. Last year I believe we had a mix of both medium speed and mostly out of position.

If you watched film from last year (and knew what you were looking for-I'm not saying you dont) you would see that last year was actually a case of mostly being IN position but having even less than medium speed.

I'm sorry accountability, but I pride myself on film watching and an understanding of the game. I'm no guru by any means but I'm smarter than the average bear by quite a bit and I can tell you now.......no, just no. You sir are wrong. We were out of position constantly. Poor per snap recognition, especially at the safety and LB spots. Compton took his first step in the wrong direction almost every play of the season right along with Whaley. There was no communication going on out there at all between defensive players and it was very very apparent. I constantly watched guys take themselves out of plays, or at the least putting themselves in position to be easily blocked out of making a play.

I will say this though. I completely disagree with Husker freak. I'd rather have speed. Speed can make up for a lot in Bo's scheme. Last year we had slow guys that were thinking too much. I'd rather have guys who can make up for all the thinking Bo makes them do......in my opinion, in this defense, your never going to have a solid unit of 11 find themselves in position all the time. So with that said, just put the fast guys on the field and let them fly around and make plays. Lavonte did it successfully.

While your instances are correct, I guess we disagree on the reasoning. Compton taking a false step is not a scheme issue. It's a talent/mental recognition issue. The scheme using the dline in a 2 gap to gobble up blockers to free up safeties and linebackers to make tackles worked for the most part. Plays were properly funneled. But when you lack overall athleticism and talent at those positions (physical and mental) you always become a few steps behind. The 2 yard gains turn into 5. The incomplete passes turn into 20 yard gains. Or like the CCG, the one on one tackles for loss turn into 60 yard TD runs. Guys were in position, but lacked the speed to close the deal. LaVonte David had the speed to close the deal.

As far as the communication aspect, we see complaining on the board all the time of the supposed "frantic" talk going on before the snap. That is communication. Guys checking up, making sure everythings sound. Saying there is no communication is false. Theyre always chatting before the play. Sometimes too much.

I'm not trying to make excuses for the D. It was porous on a good day last year. We all know that. But I'm not gonna concede that the players had no clue what they were doing. They just really lacked that athleticism to close the deal.

This play sums up the unathleticism of our D a year ago. This is our safety. The guy that catches him from behind is a backup, white qb. Slowing down or not, a TD there shouldve been a given.



I'm just anxious to see starting this year a more athletic crop on defense. There's guys that had better measureable as seniors in high school than most of our starting seniors a year ago. And i think Gerry is gonna quickly find himself as that secondary rocket that we had with Ohanlon. His closing speed is going to be blinding.

 

[Landlord]

Barely read through a lot of this thread but re: UCLA game...

Our defense held them to 3 points the entire second half until the very end when we gave up a safety and a turnover.

 

[Count 'Bility]

While your instances are correct, I guess we disagree on the reasoning. Compton taking a false step is not a scheme issue. It's a talent/mental recognition issue. The scheme using the dline in a 2 gap to gobble up blockers to free up safeties and linebackers to make tackles worked for the most part. Plays were properly funneled. But when you lack overall athleticism and talent at those positions (physical and mental) you always become a few steps behind. The 2 yard gains turn into 5. The incomplete passes turn into 20 yard gains. Or like the CCG, the one on one tackles for loss turn into 60 yard TD runs. Guys were in position, but lacked the speed to close the deal. LaVonte David had the speed to close the deal.

As far as the communication aspect, we see complaining on the board all the time of the supposed "frantic" talk going on before the snap. That is communication. Guys checking up, making sure everythings sound. Saying there is no communication is false. Theyre always chatting before the play. Sometimes too much.

I'm not trying to make excuses for the D. It was porous on a good day last year. We all know that. But I'm not gonna concede that the players had no clue what they were doing. They just really lacked that athleticism to close the deal.

This play sums up the unathleticism of our D a year ago. This is our safety. The guy that catches him from behind is a backup, white qb. Slowing down or not, a TD there shouldve been a given.

I apologize for opening that can of worms. But it is what it is. More times than not a black qb is faster than a white one. I'm just gonna leave it at that. I have chickenly checked myself right out of my own trouble now.

 

[ADS]

While your instances are correct, I guess we disagree on the reasoning. Compton taking a false step is not a scheme issue. It's a talent/mental recognition issue. The scheme using the dline in a 2 gap to gobble up blockers to free up safeties and linebackers to make tackles worked for the most part. Plays were properly funneled. But when you lack overall athleticism and talent at those positions (physical and mental) you always become a few steps behind. The 2 yard gains turn into 5. The incomplete passes turn into 20 yard gains. Or like the CCG, the one on one tackles for loss turn into 60 yard TD runs. Guys were in position, but lacked the speed to close the deal. LaVonte David had the speed to close the deal.

As far as the communication aspect, we see complaining on the board all the time of the supposed "frantic" talk going on before the snap. That is communication. Guys checking up, making sure everythings sound. Saying there is no communication is false. Theyre always chatting before the play. Sometimes too much.

I'm not trying to make excuses for the D. It was porous on a good day last year. We all know that. But I'm not gonna concede that the players had no clue what they were doing. They just really lacked that athleticism to close the deal.

This play sums up the unathleticism of our D a year ago. This is our safety. The guy that catches him from behind is a backup, white qb. Slowing down or not, a TD there shouldve been a given.

Did you also come from a naturally strong family?

 

[Count 'Bility]

While your instances are correct, I guess we disagree on the reasoning. Compton taking a false step is not a scheme issue. It's a talent/mental recognition issue. The scheme using the dline in a 2 gap to gobble up blockers to free up safeties and linebackers to make tackles worked for the most part. Plays were properly funneled. But when you lack overall athleticism and talent at those positions (physical and mental) you always become a few steps behind. The 2 yard gains turn into 5. The incomplete passes turn into 20 yard gains. Or like the CCG, the one on one tackles for loss turn into 60 yard TD runs. Guys were in position, but lacked the speed to close the deal. LaVonte David had the speed to close the deal.

As far as the communication aspect, we see complaining on the board all the time of the supposed "frantic" talk going on before the snap. That is communication. Guys checking up, making sure everythings sound. Saying there is no communication is false. Theyre always chatting before the play. Sometimes too much.

I'm not trying to make excuses for the D. It was porous on a good day last year. We all know that. But I'm not gonna concede that the players had no clue what they were doing. They just really lacked that athleticism to close the deal.

This play sums up the unathleticism of our D a year ago. This is our safety. The guy that catches him from behind is a backup, white qb. Slowing down or not, a TD there shouldve been a given.

No sh#t. Talk about needing to "check yourself" Devnet's the one that crossed a threshold here. :lol:

 

[knapplc]

I would say based on questions of the defense, 10-2 or 11-1 is a fair assessment. I wouldn't have been surprised if they said 9-3 or 8-4 either.

The assumption across our fanbase is that the defense will struggle because they are young/inexperience. This may well be the likelihood, but if (IF) they hit the ground running? Certainly a possibility....

If the defense hits the ground running, or has only a few hiccups, we're 8-0 heading into Ann Arbor with a solid shot at beating the Wolverines at home. We do that and we likely go to the CCG undefeated.

I'm not worried about Michigan State, and I'm utterly baffled by the people predicting them to win the Legends. Defense may win championships, but you still have to score. I don't see them putting up a lot of points this year, especially in conference.

Penn State will play out much like the Sparty game - they'll have a good defense, but not a lot of offensive firepower.

Iowa... well. It's Iowa.

Win the conference championship and you dare to dream about a shot at the MNC. Lose it and we're still going to a big-time bowl, a BCS bowl with a close loss.

That's the pie-in-the-sky dream. It's definitely a possibility, especially if Bo works his defensive magic and the youth learns quickly. This offense will be downright terrifying this year, and a competent defense could make this a top-ten team, and possibly a contender.

I'm not putting much stock in that, though. I'm sticking to the wait-and-see approach.

 

[NUinID]

I think we beat UCLA this year by about 10-12 pts. I was at the UCLA game last year and have a few observations about it. UCLA played arguably their best game of the year that night. NU did not play their best by any means. NU had a chance to up by 14 in the first half and missed it allowing them to have hope. UCLA did a great job of creating match up problems with a water bug slippery RB on a LB through motion. Tackling was terrible there was many times when they should have been stopped for 2-3 yards that turned into 10-12. The longer you let an underdog in a game like that the more they start to believe and they were believing it big time by the end of that game. Playing early in the morning Pacific time is a big factor in this game IMO. West Coast teams do not usually play well coming East. Just look at UCLA when they have come to Nebraska to play and see their record.