Do you think this is going to be a staple of the Pelini era?

[74Hunter]

my only real concern is the 'rift' in the locker room. right now it seems like there is a split, but i think it's a simple explanation. older guys are used to a passing offense, so people like McNeill aren't going to be happy about Martinez starting over Lee. hopefully that works it's way out of the program by next season. otherwise, maybe bo isn't ready to be a head coach.

I understand the "rift" when you change offenses, and the personnel is used to playing a different way. That, and McNeil is upset because he and Reed have been running wide open, yet they have not been thrown to often enough.

Our program in the new world of recruiting cannot compete with the elite talent of the Texas and Oklahomas. You line up 2 3 & 4 * s against a roster of 4 & 5 *s and the % of games/championships you win goes way down. Outside of Ohio State, you don't have the top recruits in big numbers in the big 10.

I don't necessarily agree with this. texa$$ is supposed to have some of the best talent in the country, and from what I saw Saturday, we had more talent than they did. We just didn't execute. We may not have as much depth as the OSUs, OUs, tus, Bamas, etc, and we may not be "elite" but I feel that we have enough front line talent to compete and be elite. Look at how some of the elite teams have fared this year.

I think Bo is totally unsure and not committed to an offensive philosophy.

Again, I disagree. I thought that when Bo was brought in, he said he wanted to run an offense similar to what Florida runs. Of course, I have heard others say that he wants it to be "power running" which this staff feels they can accomplish with the spread/zone read. Unlike the previous staff, he is not trying to fit square pegs into round holes.

Though it may seem too pessimistic, there is more to football than a ncg. If your enjoyment is soley focused on the MNC,

Agree.

The Husker fans can have a great season in the big ten competing for a spot in the ccg and hoping to occasionally win it......For those expecting top 10 ratings and NCGs as a routine, I suspect you will be disappointed.

Disagree, we did it for 25 years under TO.

 

[skersfan]

Yes we did it for 25 years under Coach Osborne, but we normally played one game a year and then a bowl. Way tougher road to hoe than what Coach Osborne had.

The Big Ten will offer unique problems, that will make it tougher to compete in than this one I think. Our recruiting is going to suffer some is my guess. Those thinking we have made a move to walk into the NC game are in for a rude awakening. And the Big Ten did us no favors with our welcoming schedule.

 

[bshirt]

Yes we did it for 25 years under Coach Osborne, but we normally played one game a year and then a bowl. Way tougher road to hoe than what Coach Osborne had.

The Big Ten will offer unique problems, that will make it tougher to compete in than this one I think. Our recruiting is going to suffer some is my guess. Those thinking we have made a move to walk into the NC game are in for a rude awakening. And the Big Ten did us no favors with our welcoming schedule.

That's ridiculous.

The Big8 in addition to NU/OU had Colorado & Kansas that were nationally ranked several times. Add to that the usual very good ooc opponent annualy like Florida St, Washington, Penn St, TAM, UCLA, Miami, Alabama, etc.

The Big10 is no juggernaut with Michigan & Penn St in the dumps. Ohio State is a premier program but hardly better than Oklahoma or Texas. It's a good conference but not better than the BigXII.

 

[ESPY]

Yes we did it for 25 years under Coach Osborne, but we normally played one game a year and then a bowl. Way tougher road to hoe than what Coach Osborne had.

The Big Ten will offer unique problems, that will make it tougher to compete in than this one I think. Our recruiting is going to suffer some is my guess. Those thinking we have made a move to walk into the NC game are in for a rude awakening. And the Big Ten did us no favors with our welcoming schedule.

That's ridiculous.

 

The Big8 in addition to NU/OU had Colorado & Kansas that were nationally ranked several times. Add to that the usual very good ooc opponent annualy like Florida St, Washington, Penn St, TAM, UCLA, Miami, Alabama, etc.

The Big10 is no juggernaut with Michigan & Penn St in the dumps. Ohio State is a premier program but hardly better than Oklahoma or Texas. It's a good conference but not better than the BigXII.

You beat me to the punch on that defense of the Big 8, bshirt. Perhaps skersfan hasn't been a skers fan all that long, perhaps only since the B12's inception?

 

[skersfan]

Oh come on guys.

Name a team in the Big 8 that gave us a run for our money.

We played Oklahoma nearly ever year for the championship. Very little competition, look at the win streaks and the results.

If we beat Oklahoma or vice versa the Big 8 was decided. Colorado had a couple of years. Missouri back in the Devine days.

Way tougher now by far.

Those inferrior teams in the Big ten have been pretty consistent the last ten years.

When we get there Penn State will have a new coach from Temple is my guess. Rich Rod will have recruited some defensive players. Wisconsin is a very physical team.

Ohio State Oklahoma

Iowa Texas

Wisconsin Texas Tech

Michigan State Missouri

Michigan US

Penn State A&M

Northwester seems to be making a good showing.

The big ten plays a much rougher game I think, bigger players that beat you up over a game, not as fast, but have great depth with strenght and size.

We only face Texas or Oklahoma on the schedule. Next year I think we play every single major player in the Big Ten, that is going to take a toll on depth after a couple of games.

Personally I think facing Texas, A&M, Oklahoma State and Missouri is a lot easier than Ohio State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan State in any scenario. I just checked we every power in the Big Ten next season with Northwestern thrown in there. Cake walk, right!

Then take our current record of not beating a top 20 team in 10 years and figure we will be facing at least four from the Big ten that will be ranked in the top 15 makes you wonder.

 

[Paul in WI]

Did it ever occur to anyone that Big Ten teams get shamefully over-ranked early each year? That includes Ohio State. So.....when a lame Badger team beats an over-ranked Buckeye team, does it suddenly make Wisconsin a Top 10 team? That's food for thought..... When it comes to a Big Ten team, don't put much stock in their inflated rankings.

As for this becoming a staple of the Pelini era.........who knows? He hasn't been around long enough with enough talented players and IMHO a good enough coaching staff on the offensive side of the ball to yet make the call if this is going to be a pattern or not. Let's see how he recruits, develops players, and matures into the head coach, because right now he's looking exactly like a defensive coordinator that is in a head coaching position. I love the guy, but there's a lot of growth that needs to be done. For starters, let's fix this identity crisis that we have on offense and go from there.

 

[Enhance]

Oh come on guys.

Name a team in the Big 8 that gave us a run for our money.

We played Oklahoma nearly ever year for the championship. Very little competition, look at the win streaks and the results.

If we beat Oklahoma or vice versa the Big 8 was decided. Colorado had a couple of years. Missouri back in the Devine days.

Way tougher now by far.

Those inferrior teams in the Big ten have been pretty consistent the last ten years.

When we get there Penn State will have a new coach from Temple is my guess. Rich Rod will have recruited some defensive players. Wisconsin is a very physical team.

Ohio State Oklahoma

Iowa Texas

Wisconsin Texas Tech

Michigan State Missouri

Michigan US

Penn State A&M

Northwester seems to be making a good showing.

The big ten plays a much rougher game I think, bigger players that beat you up over a game, not as fast, but have great depth with strenght and size.

We only face Texas or Oklahoma on the schedule. Next year I think we play every single major player in the Big Ten, that is going to take a toll on depth after a couple of games.

Personally I think facing Texas, A&M, Oklahoma State and Missouri is a lot easier than Ohio State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan State in any scenario. I just checked we every power in the Big Ten next season with Northwestern thrown in there. Cake walk, right!

Then take our current record of not beating a top 20 team in 10 years and figure we will be facing at least four from the Big ten that will be ranked in the top 15 makes you wonder.

First, teams like Colorado and Kansas didn't beat us often, and neither did Kansas State. However, those programs still put together decent 9-10 win seasons and went to respectable bowls. Don't forget that when Nebraska had one of it's most dominant teams in 1995, Nebraska played four opponents ranked in the Top 15 and beat every single one of them by at least two touchdowns. Those teams Nebraska beat, with the exception of Florida, went on to win bowl games in impressive fashion.

Second, don't expect anything out of Michigan's defense any time soon. This is Rich Rod's third or fourth year of recruiting "his players", yet he hired a new DC last year and they are just as bad as ever this year. I'm still holding out for this DC, but I doubt Michigan's defense is up to par by 2011.

Lastly, as far as your team comparisons are concerned, college football is full of parody every year, and the Big 10 is no exception. How many times over the last decade have we seen a team dominate the Big 10 and look good while doing it (Ohio State) only to flounder in the post season? Conversely, everybody was worried Nebraska wouldn't face a ranked opponent the rest of the year a few weeks ago with Texas' loss, and now we have two on our upcoming schedule that will be ranked in the following two weeks.

The point is that some conferences look better than they really are, some conferences are worse than they look, and some conferences are just as good as advertised. One year of Big 10 teams dominating the college football landscape doesn't mean anything to me and it shouldn't to anyone else.

 

[junior4949]

No, because I think that Bo Pelini is a work in progress as head coach, just like the rest of his teams. He's good but everyone lives and learns. He knows football. He knows how to get his guys to respond to him. He will figure it out.

i will help him, can Watson! he looked like a lost puppy when Texas shut down the zone read......if Okie lite does the same what will he do to counter it?

While I realize this is beating a dead horse, Watson's playcalling against Texas was just fine. If the WR's would have caught just half of the drops, we win the game and everyone thinks Watson is a genious. If his playcalling was so bad, then how do you explain the WR's being completely wide open when they made their drops? I'm neither a Watson lover nor hater, but let's keep things real. Burkhead didn't have anyone within 5 or 10 yards of him for a sure TD. Texas shut the run game down, but the passing game was there and guys were wide open enough that they'd have run wild over a highly touted Texas secondary. The playcalling and plays were there for sure. We just didn't execute them by catching the ball. If you want to give Watson hell for playcalling, then maybe you should do it over the South Dakota State game.

 

[Enhance]

No, because I think that Bo Pelini is a work in progress as head coach, just like the rest of his teams. He's good but everyone lives and learns. He knows football. He knows how to get his guys to respond to him. He will figure it out.

i will help him, can Watson! he looked like a lost puppy when Texas shut down the zone read......if Okie lite does the same what will he do to counter it?

While I realize this is beating a dead horse, Watson's playcalling against Texas was just fine. If the WR's would have caught just half of the drops, we win the game and everyone thinks Watson is a genious. If his playcalling was so bad, then how do you explain the WR's being completely wide open when they made their drops? I'm neither a Watson lover nor hater, but let's keep things real. Burkhead didn't have anyone within 5 or 10 yards of him for a sure TD. Texas shut the run game down, but the passing game was there and guys were wide open enough that they'd have run wild over a highly touted Texas secondary. The playcalling and plays were there for sure. We just didn't execute them by catching the ball. If you want to give Watson hell for playcalling, then maybe you should do it over the South Dakota State game.

Agreed. The reason I'm not harping on Watson this week is because of three DROPPED touchdown passes and one dropped pass that would have resulted in first and goal. The play-calling was fine, especially near the end of the game. Players just didn't execute.

However, I will still criticize Watson for intensity. The offense always has troubles matching the intensity of opposing defenses and it has been this way every since Watson was here. It has looked better this year, but (at least to me) it seems pretty clear that one side of the ball (defense) is significantly more physical every week.

 

[junior4949]

Intensity starts in the trenches. Normally, the team that wins the trench war wins the game. I'm not sure that the OL not showing the same kind of intensity all falls in Watson's lap.

 

[74Hunter]

Lastly, as far as your team comparisons are concerned, college football is full of parody every year, and the Big 10 is no exception. How many times over the last decade have we seen a team dominate the Big 10 and look good while doing it (Ohio State) only to flounder in the post season? Conversely, everybody was worried Nebraska wouldn't face a ranked opponent the rest of the year a few weeks ago with Texas' loss, and now we have two on our upcoming schedule that will be ranked in the following two weeks.

The point is that some conferences look better than they really are, some conferences are worse than they look, and some conferences are just as good as advertised. One year of Big 10 teams dominating the college football landscape doesn't mean anything to me and it shouldn't to anyone else.

It's full of satiristic skits?? :LOLtartar

j/k

Other than that, I'm with you on this.