BYU

[bleedNUred]

I think people will be pleasantly surprised this first game after coach Riley starts this exciting season off with a win. He and the rest of the coaching staff I think will be the difference as I believe the players on the team are talented enough to win most if not all the games on the schedule.

 

[Scratchtown]

Should be a great game. BYU was a Heisman-QB-candidate-injury away from a 10- (or even 11- or 12-) win season last year, and I expect they will light up a defense adjusting to a new scheme. Regardless of whether Pelini or Riley led our team onto the field, this game was going to be a challenge.

Our front 7 on defense will be weak and lack depth. I'm optimistic Riley's attacking scheme will help some, but the better teams on the schedule should be able to fend off our attacks. Our lack of depth means BYU's offense will open up holes in the defense by the 2nd half, and BYU will win by 10 points.

I am very optimistic for the Riley era, but this first season will not be a cake walk.

I'm curious as to what was meant by this.

I understand the depth part, and maybe you just meant linebackers, but I have a hard time seeing MC, VV, McMullen and Gangwish be considered a "weak" unit.

Also, to me, front 4 will pretty much define the 2nd level (LB's) in any defense. Whether the backers are young and lack depth, I think the front 4 will help them maximize production as defenders.

 

[Saunders]

I think people will be pleasantly surprised this first game after coach Riley starts this exciting season off with a win. He and the rest of the coaching staff I think will be the difference as I believe the players on the team are talented enough to win most if not all the games on the schedule.

That's exactly how I feel. We have the talent, it's up to the coaches to maximize it.

 

[Scratchtown]

If Minnesota has been a "good team" then Nebraska has been "great", and nobody truly believes that. They're an above average team in a garbage division that's the worst in the power 5. They recruit in the 60's and power rank in the upper 30's/40's. They've pegged at 5.5 wins by vegas and 3rd/4th in the division by the preseason mags.

Let's stop making them out to be world beaters.

I don't think anyone is making them out to be world beaters. 2 years in a row they have beaten us. It is what it is. They are a solid team and play fundamental football.

 

[HuskerExpat]

Lot of question marks for BYU too:

Taysom Hill was a dynamic QB before he was hurt last year. His injury was significant. Fractured his knee and shredded every major ligament. I know he practiced in the spring but he didn't participate in contact drills. Even assuming he is fully recovered by the first game, there is a huge question mark whether he'll be the same or ever be the same again. I really can't believe he is ever going to have the mobility he used to and certainly not for game 1. Best case scenario for him in this game is that he comes back, shakes off the rust in the first half and performs ok passing from the pocket. Worst case scenario is that he's nowhere close to the QB he used to be. His back-up, McCoy Hill was injured this spring, though he should be ok this fall, but BYU has very little depth behind him.

And then there is the issue of possible suspensions for the BYU-Memphis brawl last bowl game. Bronco Mendenhall has already said 10 players would be disciplined, presumably at least some of them will be suspended for at least a game. If you watch the replays of the brawl, at least a couple of BYU's worst offenders in that incident were in the two deep. BYU has a history of secrecy around suspensions. Sometimes they're not announced and the public doesn't know until they see a kid in street clothes on the sideline on game day. But I think you have to assume there are at least a few contributors who are going to sit this one out.

 

[Saunders]

If Minnesota has been a "good team" then Nebraska has been "great", and nobody truly believes that. They're an above average team in a garbage division that's the worst in the power 5. They recruit in the 60's and power rank in the upper 30's/40's. They've pegged at 5.5 wins by vegas and 3rd/4th in the division by the preseason mags.

Let's stop making them out to be world beaters.

I don't think anyone is making them out to be world beaters. 2 years in a row they have beaten us. It is what it is. They are a solid team and play fundamental football.

Right, and they barely beat us, and I think most will agree that it was due to coaching failures on Nebraska's end. We out talent them no question, so is this staff worse than Minnesota's? I don't think so...

 

[BigRedBuster]

I say need because the whole reason we fired Bo was because are thirsty for more. We do NEED something.

But, you using that word as it pertains to this one game makes it sound like if we lose this game, it's disaster. Sure, we want something to hang our hats on and I'll be disappointed if we lose (just like anytime the Huskers lose). But, once again, this game will be absolutely no indication as to how the year or Riley era will turn out.

That's where I'm coming from. This game, in the grand scheme of things, isn't... anything. It's a tough first game for a new coach. Losing this game won't spell disaster, and if anyone uses a loss to BYU as the basis for any kind of "we should have kept Pelini" argument, they're a goober. Winning would tell us a little bit, maybe, about how well the players adapt to scheme and their willingness to buy in, or maybe about how decimated BYU was with their suspensions, etc. But losing, which I think is the most likely outcome, won't tell us much. Even if we bumble around and look lost... it's still a first game.

It will be a typical first game. Win/lose...whatever....Sunday morning there will be fans claiming they know all about our team (good or bad). OL sucks, QB sucks, RBs are going to win hypesman, D line is all going to go 1234 in the draft, LBs suck...... when in reality, nobody will still know squat.

 

[Redux]

I had honestly forgotten they had a bunch of suspensions.

We aren't losing this game.

 

[Redux]

I must be the only person expecting this to be a loss. BYU holds all the cards here: Established schemes on both sides of the ball, no chaos in the program, they've beaten more-talented teams recently (Texas), their guys are older and bigger, and they have no major depth issues that I'm aware of.

We have a shake (at best) LB corps, we're rebuilding our O-Line, we're replacing a generational talent at RB with what appears to be a RB-by-committee, we have to learn new schemes on both sides of the ball, our guys are still dealing with the mentality of the Pelini Era, and our QB is light-years behind theirs.

I'm expecting to lose this game. I won't be surprised if we lose big.

I also won't be worried about it, won't criticize Riley at all if we do, and won't use it as any kind of benchmark to judge how the Riley Era will go here. There's just so much stacked against us, so much going on aside from this game, that I frankly don't care if we lose, and I don't expect us to win.

This game is really meaningless. Anyone who loses their minds over a loss, or goes batsh*t insane over a win, is fooling themselves. This rebuilding period will take a while. 2015 is a throw-away year.

I share some of these concerns, but I really hope 2015 is not a throwaway year. That will really be getting off on the wrong foot for Riley. Let's at least (approximately) hold serve, if not demonstrate clear improvement.

Yup. That sounds eerily familiar to 2004 and Callahan's attitude towards rebuilding. We aren't devoid of talent like we were 11 years ago, not by a long shot. On paper we've got more raw talent than everyone save Miami. Even if we lose to that and our talent peers (MSU and UW), that still lives 9 wins over lesser talented teams. When I hear guys like Sipple talk about Minnesota winning the west, I roll my eyes, because it sounds like they are sandbagging already. I fully expect 8+ wins this year in the regular season.

Saunders, what do you mean by sandbagging? Are you saying you think Sipple is already trying to kind of make excuses for Riley?

I'm sorry but that is such a load of crap.It's season one. An entirely new coaching staff is taking over this team and they could't be more different than the previous staff.

Nobody is sandbagging anything. I picked Minnesota to win the west for the same reasons Knapplc think BYU could come into Nebraska and win. Minnesota has been a good team for a few years now. Lets stop pretending they haven't been. It's malarky. They've bet us 2/3 times we've played them. They've got a good Head Coach, a great OC, and thier defene honestly, plays very solid football at times. More importantly, they've got continuity. That counts for a lot in this game.

I picked Minnesota to win the West as well. I don't sandbag for anybody. I won't deny that Sipple is about as big an a$$ kisser apologist as they come, especially for Bo. I just don't think that has anything to do with him picking Minnesota in this instance.

I put Nebraska and Wisconsin behind them not based upon talent, but purely because Minnesota is the only highly talented school in the West not going through a coaching change.

Wisconsin may be a step ahead of us because Chryst has familiarity to them. I still think Nebraska has more talent than all of them but this acting like a coaching change "no big deal" is ridiculuous.

The lack of respect for Minnesota is almost as ridiculous.

I also appreciate what BYU has done recently. I just think it will be a 38-27 type of game, Nebraska wins at home. Just my feel on it.

If history says he is sandbagging it could be true. But really picking a West division winner is easy as flipping a coin. Most would choose between Wiscy (new coach coming from a lackluster Pitt squad) or Minny (The sexier pick with the coach everyone roots for).

Really, in June it's hard to be wrong.

 

[huKSer]

How can we lose to a team that has NO CHANCE of winning a conference championship?

 

[cornographic]

BYU mascot:

Trivia: their 'guru', Joey Smith died from multiple gunshot wounds from a dissident Mormon mob.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

I say need because the whole reason we fired Bo was because are thirsty for more. We do NEED something.

But, you using that word as it pertains to this one game makes it sound like if we lose this game, it's disaster. Sure, we want something to hang our hats on and I'll be disappointed if we lose (just like anytime the Huskers lose). But, once again, this game will be absolutely no indication as to how the year or Riley era will turn out.

That's where I'm coming from. This game, in the grand scheme of things, isn't... anything. It's a tough first game for a new coach. Losing this game won't spell disaster, and if anyone uses a loss to BYU as the basis for any kind of "we should have kept Pelini" argument, they're a goober. Winning would tell us a little bit, maybe, about how well the players adapt to scheme and their willingness to buy in, or maybe about how decimated BYU was with their suspensions, etc. But losing, which I think is the most likely outcome, won't tell us much. Even if we bumble around and look lost... it's still a first game.

I agree, I think a loss is certainly possible and Nebraska fans should brace themselves. The problem with the 'throw away year' stuff is... the schedule gets significantly more difficult in the future.

We play:

2016: at Wisconsin, at Ohio State. We get Oregon at home.

2017: at Oregon, at Penn State. Ohio State and Wisconsin are at home.

2018: at Michigan, at Wisconsin, at Ohio State. We get Michigan State at home.

If 2015 is a throw away year, I don't know what the window for improvement is for Nebraska record wise. If Nebraska doesn't manage to win 10 games this season, I'm not sure when they're going too.

I know that the fans will cite improvement or how competitive we are in those games, but I don't know if the fans are going to be happy with likely 8-4 or 9-3 records.

 

[huKSer]

I say need because the whole reason we fired Bo was because are thirsty for more. We do NEED something.

But, you using that word as it pertains to this one game makes it sound like if we lose this game, it's disaster. Sure, we want something to hang our hats on and I'll be disappointed if we lose (just like anytime the Huskers lose). But, once again, this game will be absolutely no indication as to how the year or Riley era will turn out.

That's where I'm coming from. This game, in the grand scheme of things, isn't... anything. It's a tough first game for a new coach. Losing this game won't spell disaster, and if anyone uses a loss to BYU as the basis for any kind of "we should have kept Pelini" argument, they're a goober. Winning would tell us a little bit, maybe, about how well the players adapt to scheme and their willingness to buy in, or maybe about how decimated BYU was with their suspensions, etc. But losing, which I think is the most likely outcome, won't tell us much. Even if we bumble around and look lost... it's still a first game.

I agree, I think a loss is certainly possible and Nebraska fans should brace themselves. The problem with the 'throw away year' stuff is... the schedule gets significantly more difficult in the future.

We play:

2016: at Wisconsin, at Ohio State. We get Oregon at home.

2017: at Oregon, at Penn State. Ohio State and Wisconsin are at home.

2018: at Michigan, at Wisconsin, at Ohio State. We get Michigan State at home.

If 2015 is a throw away year, I don't know what the window for improvement is for Nebraska record wise. If Nebraska doesn't manage to win 10 games this season, I'm not sure when they're going too.

I know that the fans will cite improvement or how competitive we are in those games, but I don't know if the fans are going to be happy with likely 8-4 or 9-3 records.

To be fair by 2018 Urban will develop a severe case of hemrroids and will be forced to retire.

 

[Sargon]

It will be a typical first game. Win/lose...whatever....Sunday morning there will be fans claiming they know all about our team (good or bad). OL sucks, QB sucks, RBs are going to win hypesman, D line is all going to go 1234 in the draft, LBs suck...... when in reality, nobody will still know squat.

Agreed. By year 2 I'm guessing some fans will know squat and by year three, they'll know Jack Schitt.

 

[True2tRA]

If Minnesota has been a "good team" then Nebraska has been "great", and nobody truly believes that. They're an above average team in a garbage division that's the worst in the power 5. They recruit in the 60's and power rank in the upper 30's/40's. They've pegged at 5.5 wins by vegas and 3rd/4th in the division by the preseason mags.

Let's stop making them out to be world beaters.

You, and apparently two others who found some reason to plus 1 your comment, are getting a little carried away.

Nobody has said Minnesota is a world beater.

If Minnesota has been a "good team" then Nebraska has been "great", and nobody truly believes that.

How does this equate? Why would Nebraska be considered better than Minnesota? They've beaten us twice. Last year they came to our house and did it. Neither Nebraska or Minnesota has been great, but Minnesota has been better than us. Your logic is really unclear here.

They're an above average team in a garbage division that's the worst in the power 5.

So, they're just like Nebraska?

It won't take a world beater to win this division. Minnesota has been a solid team and this year, they just may have the fewest hurdles to overcome. That's all.

You've made the mistake of seeing their 8-5 record last year and instead of actually watching their football team and how hard they play, you've labeled the a failure because of the W/L record. How you see them as so dispicable is strange to me. You know, Nebraska has been extremely close to being 8-5 if it wasn't for a few miracles. Again, that 8-5 would include a loss to Minnesota. They've shown that.

Minnesota lost to TCU last year. The number 5 team in the country. They lost to Ohio St., the current National Champion, by a touchdown. They lost to Wisconsin by four points. Imagine if Bo could have ever managed to only lose to Wisconsin by four points. He may not be fired right now. They're loss to Illinios is unexplainable, and I didn't watch the game so I couldn't tell you. Not much different than how Nebraska found a way to lose to Northwestern a few years ago.