Does anyone think we'll be better next year?

A

airboose

Three-Star Recruit
Since this season is already a unmitigated disaster I have been looking at next year. Unless Riley has a truly outstanding recruiting class, I don't see how things will improve. Mike Riley is very loyal to his assistant coaches. He has a history of low turnover on his staff. Based on that, plus what he stated in this week's press conference, I doubt there will be any upcoming changes to his staff after the season. I do think there will be a significant roster purge with a lot of transfers. With that said, next year may be worse than this season. Especially if they decide to pin their success on a Freshman QB (Patrick O'Brien). Here's a look at next season's schedule:

Fresno State

Wyoming

Oregon

at Northwestern

Illinois

at Indiana

Purdue

at Wisconsin

at Ohio State

Minnesota

Maryland

at Iowa

 
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airboose said:
Fresno State

Wyoming

Oregon

at Northwestern

Illinois

at Indiana

Purdue

at Wisconsin

at Ohio State

Minnesota

Maryland

at Iowa
Click to expand...
So you want my predictions for next season already? Alright then.

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

L in B10 Championship Game

W in Bowl Game versus USC.

 
Yes, I do. How much better, I don't know. At this point, we have no idea how much progress will be made teaching the offensive, defensive, and special teams schemes, as well as the mental aspect of our players.

I really do think HCMR knows how to develop a winning program, and I want to give him a chance to do so, but the total failure of this season has made that really hard. There really need to be some changes with his assistants.

 
If we have the same staff, that means we:

-> won't try to run the ball much, and when we do, we'll rely on a back with two left feet, a glass jaw, and horrible vision

-> will continue to commit lots of penalties

-> will mismanage the clock


-> won't rotate offensive linemen all game

-> are going to be very vulnerable to the pass

I can't imagine anything better than 6-6, and that's with a lot of luck. 5-7 is about right, 4-8 a real possibility.

 
I dunno. Without the crappy luck and boneheaded plays we've seen this year we could easily be at 7-2 with the possibility of winning 2 of our last 3. But we're not. The best we can hope for is a bit of improvement, and reducing mistakes. For that schedule next year I could see us winning 7 or 8 games. Or maybe 6 at worst, or 9 at best.

I see two tough games to national powerhouses (tOSU, Ducks), three reasonably tough B1G opponents (Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota), five also-ran B1G teams (NW, Illinois, Indy, Purdue, Maryland) and a couple of nonconf games that don't look too tough (Fresno, Wyo). Out of those four categories, I could see us winning:

Best case scenario: 9 wins

0/2 wins for tOSU, Ducks

2/3 wins for Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota

5/5 wins for NW, Illinois, Indy, Purdue, Maryland

2/2 wins for Fresno, Wyo

Worst case scenario: 6 wins

0/2 wins for tOSU, Ducks

1/3 wins for Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota

3/5 wins for NW, Illinois, Indy, Purdue, Maryland

2/2 wins for Fresno, Wyo

OTOH, we could knock off a team like tOSU or Oregon--or lose to a team like NW or Purdue.
default_dunno.gif
:

 
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Honestly, if the staff gets their sh#t together, I think we could be undefeated heading into Camp Randall.

 
MattyIce said:
airboose said:
Fresno State

Wyoming

Oregon

at Northwestern

Illinois

at Indiana

Purdue

at Wisconsin

at Ohio State

Minnesota

Maryland

at Iowa
Click to expand...
So you want my predictions for next season already? Alright then.

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

L in B10 Championship Game

W in Bowl Game versus USC.
Click to expand...
I would change that L in the CCG to a win.

You were assuming a whole new coaching staff, right?

 
Yes, next season will be better, and Riley & Co will still be here.

 
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