Big Ten Fans

Caven said:
I would have OSU as the only 5 star team right now given that they have owned the conference this decade with Iowa, Nebraska, Penn State and Wisconsin all very closely grouped as 4 stars right behind them. Nebraska and Penn State both have current goodness combined with historical power but if we are basing things on historical power then Michigan would have to be up there as well. Iowa has been ahead of Nebraska for 6 or 7 of the last 10 years in the rankings (which unfortunately is the only way we have had to compare) and has beaten PSU 7 of the last 8 so I guess I don't get all the Iowa bashing.
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it's all of those damn Northwestern "upsets." :boxosoap

 
As strange as this sounds, I think I am more worried about Wisconsin than the other Big Ten teams right now. I mean no disservice to Ohio St, Iowa, or Penn, but the type of running game with a 240 lb 6'1" running back worries me. We haven't seen that at Nebraska since A&M ran it a few years back. And we all (Nebraskans) have seen first hand what can happen when you have a finesse team playing a smash-mouth downhill running team.

With my limited knowledge of football, we seem to have been recruiting speedy and rangy guys. Not stocky guys who plug holes. Our heaviest linebackers are 230 - and those ones are walk-ons except for Fisher (who's 6'6"). The rest are around 215-220. And we have some real inexperience at our linebacker position. I am not sold on either of our guys Compton and Fisher, and our new Juco is untested. They're all learning, and they are young. I'm not too worried about the line. Looks like we are developing a pipeline there. As far as the secondary, we have more guys back there than Nebraska has corn. And we have some hybrid players too who bounce around between safety, corner, and hybrid secondary/linebacker. All in all, this group was built to stop the spread.

As far as offense, it was downright offensive for parts of last season. We definitely had some bad luck - the starting qb quit the team, injuries to our other QB's hand, injuries to several of our lineman, and injuries to both our starting rbs. Then another starting rb got kicked off the team, and another starting lineman was dismissed for medical reasons. Yikes. But the play calling seemed questionable at times too. It got to the point where we were playing ulta-conservative offense, and hoping our defense could win the field position battle.

The hope this year is that our o-line has healed up. If his is the case, we have some really great depth at the o-line. Our rbs can be dangerous, but our starter - Helu - seems to get injured quite a bit. Our other starter, Burkehead, was a true frosh. He actually surprised a lot of people with his moves and speed. Our receivers are still trying to catch up to the rest of the offense. We could use a playmaker or four there. Our main guy, Paul, battled inconsistency. We have a damn fine field goal kicker, and he had personally bailed our team out on numerous occasions.

Most Nebraskans are in guarded optimism for our offense, seeing both potential and gaping holes. All of us probably have a over-inflated sense of superiority about our defense. Justified? I think so :)

 
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Nebraska advantage is that your head coach played in the Big Ten, so he understands the land. He also knows you do not win here if you do not play defense. look at all the Big Ten Champs, what do they all have in common? great defense. Michigan went 11-1 in 2006 because of that amazing defense. We also went 5-7 last year not because the offense couldn't score, because the defense was just that bad.

 
All I know is that - according to ESPN, I heard that all the Nebraska players' 40 times are now about one full second slower after the announcement.

 
You know what? Right now i am just really excited to see some good hard-hitting competitive football. even more than that, i am very much looking forward to opposing fans who are actually supportive and considerate of others. all of you visitors have been absolutely great and i just can't wait to be BIG10!!! I hope our beloved huskers will be in the mix for the title game every year. If not, i'm ok with that too. I'm just REALLY happy to not be texico's prison bride any more.

BIG10 Forever!!!

 
GBRsal said:
You know what? Right now i am just really excited to see some good hard-hitting competitive football. even more than that, i am very much looking forward to opposing fans who are actually supportive and considerate of others. all of you visitors have been absolutely great and i just can't wait to be BIG10!!! I hope our beloved huskers will be in the mix for the title game every year. If not, i'm ok with that too. I'm just REALLY happy to not be texico's prison bride any more.

BIG10 Forever!!!
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There are a bunch of not-classy fans in the Big Ten, don't kid yourself. It's just that in the Big Ten, even the not-classy fans support the Big Ten.

 
Caven said:
I would have OSU as the only 5 star team right now given that they have owned the conference this decade with Iowa, Nebraska, Penn State and Wisconsin all very closely grouped as 4 stars right behind them. Nebraska and Penn State both have current goodness combined with historical power but if we are basing things on historical power then Michigan would have to be up there as well. Iowa has been ahead of Nebraska for 6 or 7 of the last 10 years in the rankings (which unfortunately is the only way we have had to compare) and has beaten PSU 7 of the last 8 so I guess I don't get all the Iowa bashing.
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yup.

OSU stands alone at the top right now.

Iowa, Penn State roughly on the same tier and in that order.

Wisconsin, NW and Mich St.

Given the apples to oranges comparison of conferences and schedules...

I'd have to see how the huskers do the first year before attempting to rank them.

I'm GUESSING the huskers are among the top four or so. :cheers

 
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