Eight wins? More? What’s the bar for Nebraska Cornhuskers coach Mike Riley in Year 2?

macroboy said:
I say 8-4 or 9-3 is where I think we are.

Losses: Oregon, Ohio State and then maybe 1 or 2 of the following 3; Northwestern, Wisconsin, Iowa.

If we are 9-3 and win a bowl game then I think that is a great 2nd season.

9-3 lose bowl game, OK.

8-4 win bowl game, OK.

8-4 lose bowl game- better have a great 3rd year.

I'm not passing judgement on Riley era until after 3 seasons.

Recruiting will play into how I view this season as well
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I think he needs that 4th season. He will have a Q/B with a year under his belt. Next year, is starting all over with a new Q/B.

This staff seems to be able to recruit, or at least have some good kids considering Neb. That's a start.

GBR!!!

 
This season all boils down to one player in my mind. Tommy has to lead this team to victory, with or in spite of coaching. I have never been a huge fan of Tommy as a QB. Great kid, true athlete, not so much a real division one QB. He has had 3 chances with two different coaching staffs, pretty much the same very year.

If this staff has managed to make him think, check down and run the play like it is supposed to be we have a good season. If the staff is dealing with a loose cannon, that recklessly runs the game, we will see exactly what we have seen the last three years of Tommy.

I think to win this conference we are going to have to have talent the level of Bama, SC or Ohio State, and possibly Michigan. We are not there, I don't think we are even close. This staff seems to be attracting some of that ilk, but still a long way away from the top teams in the country.

I fell the Ohio State game is the only definite loss, but we will have a far better idea after the Oregon game. They have talent, better than ours, but a lot of inexperience.

Iowa will be a tough game, as their season is now decided by that game.

Northwestern, also so sees us a rival, they have a lot of experience back.

Those are the four games I truly worry about. So I guess my prediction is we need to win 8 for sure, and be competitive in three of the four. Look like we belong, be it players or coaching staff. Last year we failed both ways in several games.

 
Landlord of Memorial Stadium said:
Given an average year in the general sense of injuries and schedule strength, I think we'll end up within 2 plays of either 8-4 or 10-2, and depending on how those games go, those results won't be viewed very differently at least in my eyes.
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10-2 surely would mean we only lost to Oregon and Ohio State. It means we'd be ranked heading into the conference championship game.

10-2 would be some kind of bewildering miracle. I'd view it as incredibly different than 8-4, even if it meant that in those two games we *won* instead of lost the other team kicks a field goal for the win, and misses in both games.

 
With so many close losses last year and finishing with 6 wins, I say 10. We should have won 4 or even 5 of those losses last year due to bad calls, judgement, turnovers, etc.

 
Undone said:
Landlord of Memorial Stadium said:
Given an average year in the general sense of injuries and schedule strength, I think we'll end up within 2 plays of either 8-4 or 10-2, and depending on how those games go, those results won't be viewed very differently at least in my eyes.
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10-2 surely would mean we only lost to Oregon and Ohio State. It means we'd be ranked heading into the conference championship game.

10-2 would be some kind of bewildering miracle. I'd view it as incredibly different than 8-4, even if it meant that in those two games we *won* instead of lost the other team kicks a field goal for the win, and misses in both games.
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I wouldn't. A few inches on two missed field goals doesn't change the identity of the team.

From Gary Gaines in Friday Night Lights:

It took me a long time to realize that, uh, there ain't much difference between winnin' and losin', except for how the outside world treats you. But inside you, it's about all the same. It really is. Fact of the matter is, I believe that, uh, our only curses are the ones that are self-imposed. You know what I'm sayin'? We, all of us, dig our own holes.
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TAKODA said:
As long as the kids have fun and they come away with a participation ribbon at the end of the season, all will be good.

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLO
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I can see why you had to add the gif... sorry had to delete that thing

 
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fb30 said:
You guys are optimistic. I'm guessing we'll win 5 to 8.
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Really, only 5? Is it because we only won 5 games last year? If NU played the season all over again a doubt it would come out the same way. One year doesn't always have anything to do with the next. I am just interested as to what you base this pessimistic view on. I myself will be dissappointed with anything less than 8 wins.

 
What's sad is that, in my opinion, this is a relatively easy schedule, and we will probably win only 7, 8 or 9 during the regular season. Yes, Oregon is good, but other then Ohio State, the Big Ten matchups are quite easy. Wisconsin has a brutal schedule, and will be hurting when they play us. If we had a really good team, we would look at the schedule and say we are a win or two away from something really special. Now, we're hoping we will at least win nine or ten. But ultimately, in my opinion, it's not just wins and loses, but how we play throughout the season and progress in the new offensive and defensive systems.

 
The bar is to improve, and then to improve the year after that, and then to improve the year after that. Both in getting better and having it show up in the number of wins.

That being said I'm not gonna be too excited about 7 wins. 8 wins feels like the right track. Anything above that and I'm excited about year 3.

 
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