Biggest Game of the Year?

[seaofred92]

I was torn between Purdue and Cincinnati but I chose the Cincinnati game for the following reasons:
 

1. Cincinnati is top 20 in virtually every pre-season poll I've seen

2. Last non-conference game of the year before diving into 8 straight conference games

3. Fourth game of the season, this will tell us just how good we are (the rust should be knocked off by this point). As much as it would suck to not play well in the season opener- it's almost expected to be rather sloppy given the long time off and lack of workouts. I'm not expecting Purdue or Nebraska to be on their A game during week 1. 

4. It's so critical to enter conference play on a high note. I'm assuming we take care of business against CMU and SDSU- that means a win over Cincinnati would give us 3 straight wins going into a game @ Northwestern which is a place we've struggled to win against a team that always plays us close

5. Nebraska hasn't beaten a ranked team since the 2016 win over #22 Oregon. Let me repeat that: Nebraska hasn't beaten a ranked team in FOUR YEARS. A win over a top 20 team would do a LOT for the confidence of this team and program IMO

So yeah. As much as I want to win that Purdue game and I think it will set the tone for a lot of the season, I think the biggest game is the game v Cincinnati. A loss to Purdue followed by two should be wins means we'd be building momentum towards conference season. A win over Purdue, CMU, and SDSU followed by a loss to Cincinnati before heading to Northwestern to begin conference play would be really deflating and demoralizing IMO. 

 

[teachercd]

That Purdue game will set a tone.  They can't start off 0-1.

 

[lo country]

Easy for me.  I didn't even look past Purdue.  Conference game.  Season opener.  It sets the tone for the rest of the season. We lose, that oh sh!t mentality kicks in and it's hard to recover from that IMHO.  Got to lay the wood early and often this season to get to a bowl.  It starts with Purdue....HAVE to get bowl eligible in that 7 game streak.  The last five games look TOUGH.  Not saying any of the first 7 are gimmes.......Just feel this game sets the tone for the rest of the season.

 

[teachercd]

Easy for me.  I didn't even look past Purdue.  Conference game.  Season opener.  It sets the tone for the rest of the season. We lose, that oh sh!t mentality kicks in and it's hard to recover from that IMHO.  Got to lay the wood early and often this season to get to a bowl.  It starts with Purdue....HAVE to get bowl eligible in that 7 game streak.  The last five games look TOUGH.  Not saying any of the first 7 are gimmes.......Just feel this game sets the tone for the rest of the season.

Yep...

Losing to Purdue makes that Cincy game a big deal.  Beating Purdue sets the tone to beat Cincy with ease. 

 

[MyBloodIsRed16]

probably the one when attendance limitations are lifted

 

[Caliborn72]

Purdue option makes the most sense imo. Like others have said, would be a rough start to the year to lose to them and Diaco.

But I also think the Minnesota game has a good chance to be the most important game of the year. I hope, and believe, we will have a very good year. 7-8 wins, maybe more if things go right. But there’s also a decent chance we are playing for bowl eligibility on the last game of the year, at home, against what will likely be a very tough Minnesota team. And even if we are already bowl eligible by that point, it’s also potentially a game where we could play spoiler to their division hopes (or maybe be even vice versa). Could be a very big game.

 

[hunter49]

I think it will be downplayed, but to me the Purdue game is the biggest in 2020. With SDSU being ranked FCS preseason #2, Cincinnati being close to top 25 and the way the last two years have gone, it's critical to get off to a fast start.  Having a hiccup and dropping a game or 2 in September with the last 5 games being all against top 15 teams from last year's AP top 25 could be disastrous.  The psyche of the team and the fanbase needs a nice opening W.

What do you all think?

agree, we are up to our a$$ in alligators already........last 5 game stretch will be killer......early unexpected losses would be very hard to swallow....depth will be sooooo important, those last 5 games will be brutal, punishing schedule to say the least. injuries will be critical.

 

[KingBlank]

Purdue option makes the most sense imo. Like others have said, would be a rough start to the year to lose to them and Diaco.

But I also think the Minnesota game has a good chance to be the most important game of the year. I hope, and believe, we will have a very good year. 7-8 wins, maybe more if things go right. But there’s also a decent chance we are playing for bowl eligibility on the last game of the year, at home, against what will likely be a very tough Minnesota team. And even if we are already bowl eligible by that point, it’s also potentially a game where we could play spoiler to their division hopes (or maybe be even vice versa). Could be a very big game.

That would not be a good year, that would be a massive disappointment and unacceptable in year 3 with a 3 year starting quarterback.  If you can't past 7 to 8 wins with that then he is not doing his 5 million dollar a year job. 

 

[84HuskerLaw]

No doubt that Solich, Callahan, Pelini and Riley were all held to a much higher standard.  
I guess Frost is getting a great deal more leeway and short term understanding of the win/loss record and on field product.  There is a recognition that Frost was hired to completely rebuild the program, almost from scratch.  His predecessors each took over progressively poorer conditions to the point Husker football was barely a shadow of its once mighty stature. 

But, with the near total roster flip, new staff, recruiting resources expanded dramatically, this is now Frost’s team and program.  2020.  His team, his staff, his players, his culture, etc.  This year, we see what kind of team Frost can produce.  Lots more speed, S&C, experience, plenty of time to install his schemes and coach em up.  

The virus is a big issue but all the teams are struggling fairly equally.

Time has come for a team that is better than the past 5 certainly, stats-wins-eye tests.