ESPN predicts Nebraska’s 2017 season game by game

[NUinID]

Sounds like they are predicting Riley to be fired.

I want to see Mike Riley succeed.

But if the Huskers do collapse and have another 5-7 regular season in 2017...it would be a difficult case to make justifying a 4th year.

My expectations for this team are 3 losses or less. Let's start by breaking the 4 loss "curse."

You're in for a big let down. New defense and a new QB. These aren't little things.

Kinda seems like this will be the first year that we have a QB - No let down from that standpoint

Do we? He wasn't recruited out of high school and didn't exactly light it up and lowly Tulane. These unrealistically high expectations are the reason why this board goes ape poop when we lose. Coach Osborne is gone and we're a middle of the road program. We haven't won a conference title since 2001. We are pretty good against Northwestern and Illinois. Not so much against Iowa or Wisconsin. Yes, not so good against Iowa or Wisconsin and last year's game against OSU was the most telling game about this program. Temper those expectations, fellow Husker fans. You'll feel better about the losses.

If Tanner Lee won the starting job at Iowa or Wisconsin we would be laughing about it

After watching what Jake Rudock did at Michigan and what Russell Wilson did at Wisconsin after a transfer, I am never going to laugh about transfers that have done very little at one place and then go to another school. Wilson did nothing at NCSt other than throw INT and for a low percentage. He left because he lost his job. The same goes for Rudock. All he did was lead Meechicken to 10-11 wins.

I am going to wait and see what happens and not think doom and gloom.

Russell Wilson was pretty good at NC State actually. Their line was really bad though and they had no run game. Also he lost his job because he was thinking about going pro in baseball and the coach didn't like that.

Fair enough, there still wasn't anyone thinking he was anything other than an average QB at that point.

 

[RunMickeyRun02]

A 5 win season would be a disaster but it's not even remotely on my radar. A 10 win season is certainly possible but I don't expect that either. I expect progression through the season, no blowout losses, and in fact, some blowout wins. And then a strong recruiting finish. If that means 7 or 8 wins with a transition year defense then so be it.

My issue is that I don't think the OLine, QB play, and offensive playcalling have any excuse. This is year 3 with at least one QB capable of running the offense MR and DL want. If the OLine can't protect Lee and/or we see more of those facepalming playcalling decisions then I'm going to have a hard time defending the staff. Still optimistic that this will be a fun offense to watch but all this OLine talk is worrisome.

I could see a 5-7 season happening, don't want to but I don't take Ark State lightly, we slip up against them, then Oregon,.....0-2 just like that...

Like most I worry about our O-Line and I can't see a new defense just sliding in with no problems. I'm not saying it's for sure going to happen, but it wouldn't surprise me.

 

[dvdcrr]

A 5 win season would be a disaster but it's not even remotely on my radar. A 10 win season is certainly possible but I don't expect that either. I expect progression through the season, no blowout losses, and in fact, some blowout wins. And then a strong recruiting finish. If that means 7 or 8 wins with a transition year defense then so be it.

My issue is that I don't think the OLine, QB play, and offensive playcalling have any excuse. This is year 3 with at least one QB capable of running the offense MR and DL want. If the OLine can't protect Lee and/or we see more of those facepalming playcalling decisions then I'm going to have a hard time defending the staff. Still optimistic that this will be a fun offense to watch but all this OLine talk is worrisome.

I am a self proclaimed optimist and I align alot with what you are saying about no excuses. Those of us who believe this staff is going to succeed are not blindly following these guys. I as well as others understand there are some things that need cleaned up and if we don't see that this year it is fair to question if Riley is right for NU. But I also think it is fair to give Riley this season to prove he can make those improvements. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

I as well as others are able to easily discern some troubling trends. Offensively, the scheme itself is an issue. Riley wants to put the fate of the team into one arm. That is hard for any college quarterback. To do what Riley wants you need a 2003 Miami of Ohio Big Ben. And you need one annually. Any quarterback short of that is not going to move the chains enough to put us in the title hunt. Even the best teams right now with the best talent have a hard time with pure passing. Bama takes their shots. Clemson takes their shots. But then they also run it hard core with Henry, Deshaun, and those awesome O lines. Because there has been no (and I mean NO) rushing game commitment demonstrated by this staff it makes you wonder. And lack of commitment to rushing means 3rd down and long repeatedly.

I don't know how many games I can watch them throw when they should have run, or try to run with poor zone blocking, and no gaps to run to. The O-line and running need to be a focal point. And what a good set of backs to start with! These guys are just itching to run, and have 1000 yds written all over them.

 

[Redux]

Sounds like they are predicting Riley to be fired.

I want to see Mike Riley succeed.

But if the Huskers do collapse and have another 5-7 regular season in 2017...it would be a difficult case to make justifying a 4th year.

My expectations for this team are 3 losses or less. Let's start by breaking the 4 loss "curse."

You're in for a big let down. New defense and a new QB. These aren't little things.

Kinda seems like this will be the first year that we have a QB - No let down from that standpoint

Do we? He wasn't recruited out of high school and didn't exactly light it up and lowly Tulane. These unrealistically high expectations are the reason why this board goes ape poop when we lose. Coach Osborne is gone and we're a middle of the road program. We haven't won a conference title since 2001. We are pretty good against Northwestern and Illinois. Not so much against Iowa or Wisconsin. Yes, not so good against Iowa or Wisconsin and last year's game against OSU was the most telling game about this program. Temper those expectations, fellow Husker fans. You'll feel better about the losses.

If Tanner Lee won the starting job at Iowa or Wisconsin we would be laughing about it

After watching what Jake Rudock did at Michigan and what Russell Wilson did at Wisconsin after a transfer, I am never going to laugh about transfers that have done very little at one place and then go to another school. Wilson did nothing at NCSt other than throw INT and for a low percentage. He left because he lost his job. The same goes for Rudock. All he did was lead Meechicken to 10-11 wins.

I am going to wait and see what happens and not think doom and gloom.

Russell Wilson was pretty good at NC State actually. Their line was really bad though and they had no run game. Also he lost his job because he was thinking about going pro in baseball and the coach didn't like that.

Fair enough, there still wasn't anyone thinking he was anything other than an average QB at that point.

Guess I'm in the minority. I remember watching him play on a Thursday night for NCSU and thought "Damn this kid is good, glad we don't have to play him!". Then he transfered to Wisconsin and it made me wanna puke.

 

[Nebfanatic]

A 5 win season would be a disaster but it's not even remotely on my radar. A 10 win season is certainly possible but I don't expect that either. I expect progression through the season, no blowout losses, and in fact, some blowout wins. And then a strong recruiting finish. If that means 7 or 8 wins with a transition year defense then so be it.

My issue is that I don't think the OLine, QB play, and offensive playcalling have any excuse. This is year 3 with at least one QB capable of running the offense MR and DL want. If the OLine can't protect Lee and/or we see more of those facepalming playcalling decisions then I'm going to have a hard time defending the staff. Still optimistic that this will be a fun offense to watch but all this OLine talk is worrisome.

I am a self proclaimed optimist and I align alot with what you are saying about no excuses. Those of us who believe this staff is going to succeed are not blindly following these guys. I as well as others understand there are some things that need cleaned up and if we don't see that this year it is fair to question if Riley is right for NU. But I also think it is fair to give Riley this season to prove he can make those improvements. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

I as well as others are able to easily discern some troubling trends. Offensively, the scheme itself is an issue. Riley wants to put the fate of the team into one arm. That is hard for any college quarterback. To do what Riley wants you need a 2003 Miami of Ohio Big Ben. And you need one annually. Any quarterback short of that is not going to move the chains enough to put us in the title hunt. Even the best teams right now with the best talent have a hard time with pure passing. Bama takes their shots. Clemson takes their shots. But then they also run it hard core with Henry, Deshaun, and those awesome O lines. Because there has been no (and I mean NO) rushing game commitment demonstrated by this staff it makes you wonder. And lack of commitment to rushing means 3rd down and long repeatedly.I don't know how many games I can watch them throw when they should have run, or try to run with poor zone blocking, and no gaps to run to. The O-line and running need to be a focal point. And what a good set of backs to start with! These guys are just itching to run, and have 1000 yds written all over them.

completely disagree. How many times last season were we in 3rd and short? Many, many times. This scheme is not putting it all on one arm at all. I really can't wait for the season to start, I really believe alot of you experts will be proven wrong. What you believe Riley's scheme to be and the reality of the scheme he runs are 2 different things.

 

[deedsker]

Sounds like they are predicting Riley to be fired.

I want to see Mike Riley succeed.

But if the Huskers do collapse and have another 5-7 regular season in 2017...it would be a difficult case to make justifying a 4th year.

My expectations for this team are 3 losses or less. Let's start by breaking the 4 loss "curse."

You're in for a big let down. New defense and a new QB. These aren't little things.

Kinda seems like this will be the first year that we have a QB - No let down from that standpoint

Do we? He wasn't recruited out of high school and didn't exactly light it up and lowly Tulane. These unrealistically high expectations are the reason why this board goes ape poop when we lose. Coach Osborne is gone and we're a middle of the road program. We haven't won a conference title since 2001. We are pretty good against Northwestern and Illinois. Not so much against Iowa or Wisconsin. Yes, not so good against Iowa or Wisconsin and last year's game against OSU was the most telling game about this program. Temper those expectations, fellow Husker fans. You'll feel better about the losses.

If Tanner Lee won the starting job at Iowa or Wisconsin we would be laughing about it

After watching what Jake Rudock did at Michigan and what Russell Wilson did at Wisconsin after a transfer, I am never going to laugh about transfers that have done very little at one place and then go to another school. Wilson did nothing at NCSt other than throw INT and for a low percentage. He left because he lost his job. The same goes for Rudock. All he did was lead Meechicken to 10-11 wins.

I am going to wait and see what happens and not think doom and gloom.

Russell Wilson was pretty good at NC State actually. Their line was really bad though and they had no run game. Also he lost his job because he was thinking about going pro in baseball and the coach didn't like that.

Fair enough, there still wasn't anyone thinking he was anything other than an average QB at that point.

Guess I'm in the minority. I remember watching him play on a Thursday night for NCSU and thought "Damn this kid is good, glad we don't have to play him!". Then he transfered to Wisconsin and it made me wanna puke.

I remember Wilson being a good player on an average team. When I heard he was going to Wisconsin, I remember being like "Well sh#t, all Wisconsin was missing was a QB and now they have it. Just give them the national title." Then two hail mary's and blinding Oregon helmets they didn't get quite as far as I thought. I still think that was one of the best teams that let a championship get away despite the 3 losses. Just happy Bielema fell on his face on that one.

 

[NUinID]

A 5 win season would be a disaster but it's not even remotely on my radar. A 10 win season is certainly possible but I don't expect that either. I expect progression through the season, no blowout losses, and in fact, some blowout wins. And then a strong recruiting finish. If that means 7 or 8 wins with a transition year defense then so be it.

My issue is that I don't think the OLine, QB play, and offensive playcalling have any excuse. This is year 3 with at least one QB capable of running the offense MR and DL want. If the OLine can't protect Lee and/or we see more of those facepalming playcalling decisions then I'm going to have a hard time defending the staff. Still optimistic that this will be a fun offense to watch but all this OLine talk is worrisome.

I am a self proclaimed optimist and I align alot with what you are saying about no excuses. Those of us who believe this staff is going to succeed are not blindly following these guys. I as well as others understand there are some things that need cleaned up and if we don't see that this year it is fair to question if Riley is right for NU. But I also think it is fair to give Riley this season to prove he can make those improvements. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

I as well as others are able to easily discern some troubling trends. Offensively, the scheme itself is an issue. Riley wants to put the fate of the team into one arm. That is hard for any college quarterback. To do what Riley wants you need a 2003 Miami of Ohio Big Ben. And you need one annually. Any quarterback short of that is not going to move the chains enough to put us in the title hunt. Even the best teams right now with the best talent have a hard time with pure passing. Bama takes their shots. Clemson takes their shots. But then they also run it hard core with Henry, Deshaun, and those awesome O lines. Because there has been no (and I mean NO) rushing game commitment demonstrated by this staff it makes you wonder. And lack of commitment to rushing means 3rd down and long repeatedly.

I don't know how many games I can watch them throw when they should have run, or try to run with poor zone blocking, and no gaps to run to. The O-line and running need to be a focal point. And what a good set of backs to start with! These guys are just itching to run, and have 1000 yds written all over them.

You really have no Idea what you are talking about do you. Clemson, the 2016 national champion, was ranked 71st in the country in rushing last year. They averaged 169.7 yards a game. Nebraska was ranked 73rd and averaged exactly .5 yards less than the national champiion from last year.

Its ok if you want to admit that you don't like MR offence and that you want to see smashmouth mid 90's Nebraska rushing attack. Who wouldn't want to see that. Guess what it is not coming back unless you somehow can find the fountain of youth for TO and bring Milt back from the dead.

Why don't we wait and see what is going to happen. Too many people are under the impression that MR and DL want to throw the ball 60x a game and run 10 draw plays like Mike Leach does.. That is so far from thuth. Ideally I would imagine MR and DL would love to have about 200 on the ground and about 275 in the air. But no 3rd and six is not short side option or toss sweep in this offense. Its going to be a pass.

Offense isn't going to win a championship very often you don't need a great offense, you need a good enough offense. You need a great defense.

 

[chainsaw]

I think Lee will do fine and even help the offensive line by being able to throw short and not off his back foot. The defense should thrive under diaco! I'm pumped about this yr!

 

[Redux]

Sounds like they are predicting Riley to be fired.

I want to see Mike Riley succeed.

But if the Huskers do collapse and have another 5-7 regular season in 2017...it would be a difficult case to make justifying a 4th year.

My expectations for this team are 3 losses or less. Let's start by breaking the 4 loss "curse."

You're in for a big let down. New defense and a new QB. These aren't little things.

Kinda seems like this will be the first year that we have a QB - No let down from that standpoint

Do we? He wasn't recruited out of high school and didn't exactly light it up and lowly Tulane. These unrealistically high expectations are the reason why this board goes ape poop when we lose. Coach Osborne is gone and we're a middle of the road program. We haven't won a conference title since 2001. We are pretty good against Northwestern and Illinois. Not so much against Iowa or Wisconsin. Yes, not so good against Iowa or Wisconsin and last year's game against OSU was the most telling game about this program. Temper those expectations, fellow Husker fans. You'll feel better about the losses.

If Tanner Lee won the starting job at Iowa or Wisconsin we would be laughing about it

I doubt it, the people saying they are skeptical would probably be saying how Iowa or Wisconsin just found their missing piece while we are trying to decide between two guys with no playing experience.

 

[dvdcrr]

A 5 win season would be a disaster but it's not even remotely on my radar. A 10 win season is certainly possible but I don't expect that either. I expect progression through the season, no blowout losses, and in fact, some blowout wins. And then a strong recruiting finish. If that means 7 or 8 wins with a transition year defense then so be it.

My issue is that I don't think the OLine, QB play, and offensive playcalling have any excuse. This is year 3 with at least one QB capable of running the offense MR and DL want. If the OLine can't protect Lee and/or we see more of those facepalming playcalling decisions then I'm going to have a hard time defending the staff. Still optimistic that this will be a fun offense to watch but all this OLine talk is worrisome.

I am a self proclaimed optimist and I align alot with what you are saying about no excuses. Those of us who believe this staff is going to succeed are not blindly following these guys. I as well as others understand there are some things that need cleaned up and if we don't see that this year it is fair to question if Riley is right for NU. But I also think it is fair to give Riley this season to prove he can make those improvements. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

I as well as others are able to easily discern some troubling trends. Offensively, the scheme itself is an issue. Riley wants to put the fate of the team into one arm. That is hard for any college quarterback. To do what Riley wants you need a 2003 Miami of Ohio Big Ben. And you need one annually. Any quarterback short of that is not going to move the chains enough to put us in the title hunt. Even the best teams right now with the best talent have a hard time with pure passing. Bama takes their shots. Clemson takes their shots. But then they also run it hard core with Henry, Deshaun, and those awesome O lines. Because there has been no (and I mean NO) rushing game commitment demonstrated by this staff it makes you wonder. And lack of commitment to rushing means 3rd down and long repeatedly.

I don't know how many games I can watch them throw when they should have run, or try to run with poor zone blocking, and no gaps to run to. The O-line and running need to be a focal point. And what a good set of backs to start with! These guys are just itching to run, and have 1000 yds written all over them.

You really have no Idea what you are talking about do you. Clemson, the 2016 national champion, was ranked 71st in the country in rushing last year. They averaged 169.7 yards a game. Nebraska was ranked 73rd and averaged exactly .5 yards less than the national champiion from last year.

Its ok if you want to admit that you don't like MR offence and that you want to see smashmouth mid 90's Nebraska rushing attack. Who wouldn't want to see that. Guess what it is not coming back unless you somehow can find the fountain of youth for TO and bring Milt back from the dead.

Why don't we wait and see what is going to happen. Too many people are under the impression that MR and DL want to throw the ball 60x a game and run 10 draw plays like Mike Leach does.. That is so far from thuth. Ideally I would imagine MR and DL would love to have about 200 on the ground and about 275 in the air. But no 3rd and six is not short side option or toss sweep in this offense. Its going to be a pass.

Offense isn't going to win a championship very often you don't need a great offense, you need a good enough offense. You need a great defense.

Well you started kind of weak but got stronger as you went with this.

 

[SuperBigFan69]

Sounds like they are predicting Riley to be fired.

I want to see Mike Riley succeed.

But if the Huskers do collapse and have another 5-7 regular season in 2017...it would be a difficult case to make justifying a 4th year.

My expectations for this team are 3 losses or less. Let's start by breaking the 4 loss "curse."

You're in for a big let down. New defense and a new QB. These aren't little things.

Kinda seems like this will be the first year that we have a QB - No let down from that standpoint

Do we? He wasn't recruited out of high school and didn't exactly light it up and lowly Tulane. These unrealistically high expectations are the reason why this board goes ape poop when we lose. Coach Osborne is gone and we're a middle of the road program. We haven't won a conference title since 2001. We are pretty good against Northwestern and Illinois. Not so much against Iowa or Wisconsin. Yes, not so good against Iowa or Wisconsin and last year's game against OSU was the most telling game about this program. Temper those expectations, fellow Husker fans. You'll feel better about the losses.

If Tanner Lee won the starting job at Iowa or Wisconsin we would be laughing about it

I doubt it, the people saying they are skeptical would probably be saying how Iowa or Wisconsin just found their missing piece while we are trying to decide between two guys with no playing experience.

Nah...Iowa and/or Badger fans would be pumped...but we would be saying "Look at the lame Herkeyes...thinking that some QB that sucked at Tulane is going to be the answer for their lame offense"

 

[Red Five]

Sounds like they are predicting Riley to be fired.

I want to see Mike Riley succeed.

But if the Huskers do collapse and have another 5-7 regular season in 2017...it would be a difficult case to make justifying a 4th year.

My expectations for this team are 3 losses or less. Let's start by breaking the 4 loss "curse."

You're in for a big let down. New defense and a new QB. These aren't little things.

Kinda seems like this will be the first year that we have a QB - No let down from that standpoint

Do we? He wasn't recruited out of high school and didn't exactly light it up and lowly Tulane. These unrealistically high expectations are the reason why this board goes ape poop when we lose. Coach Osborne is gone and we're a middle of the road program. We haven't won a conference title since 2001. We are pretty good against Northwestern and Illinois. Not so much against Iowa or Wisconsin. Yes, not so good against Iowa or Wisconsin and last year's game against OSU was the most telling game about this program. Temper those expectations, fellow Husker fans. You'll feel better about the losses.

If Tanner Lee won the starting job at Iowa or Wisconsin we would be laughing about it

I doubt it, the people saying they are skeptical would probably be saying how Iowa or Wisconsin just found their missing piece while we are trying to decide between two guys with no playing experience.

Nah...Iowa and/or Badger fans would be pumped...but we would be saying "Look at the lame Herkeyes...thinking that some QB that sucked at Tulane is going to be the answer for their lame offense"

Then he would drop 280 and 3 TDs on us and we would be griping abouts Iowa/Wisky having a better QB than us

 

[Redux]

Sounds like they are predicting Riley to be fired.

I want to see Mike Riley succeed.

But if the Huskers do collapse and have another 5-7 regular season in 2017...it would be a difficult case to make justifying a 4th year.

My expectations for this team are 3 losses or less. Let's start by breaking the 4 loss "curse."

You're in for a big let down. New defense and a new QB. These aren't little things.

Kinda seems like this will be the first year that we have a QB - No let down from that standpoint

Do we? He wasn't recruited out of high school and didn't exactly light it up and lowly Tulane. These unrealistically high expectations are the reason why this board goes ape poop when we lose. Coach Osborne is gone and we're a middle of the road program. We haven't won a conference title since 2001. We are pretty good against Northwestern and Illinois. Not so much against Iowa or Wisconsin. Yes, not so good against Iowa or Wisconsin and last year's game against OSU was the most telling game about this program. Temper those expectations, fellow Husker fans. You'll feel better about the losses.

If Tanner Lee won the starting job at Iowa or Wisconsin we would be laughing about it

I doubt it, the people saying they are skeptical would probably be saying how Iowa or Wisconsin just found their missing piece while we are trying to decide between two guys with no playing experience.

Nah...Iowa and/or Badger fans would be pumped...but we would be saying "Look at the lame Herkeyes...thinking that some QB that sucked at Tulane is going to be the answer for their lame offense"

Maybe some, but I think our fanbase is knowledgeable as a whole to understand how impactful a transfer can be.

 

[dvdcrr]

How in the heck did a crap hole like Wisconsin end up with Russel Wilson instead of us? Why didn't we try to get that kid?

 

[Red Five]

How in the heck did a crap hole like Wisconsin end up with Russel Wilson instead of us? Why didn't we try to get that kid?

Because we had a sophomore to be named Taylor Martinez locked in the QB spot.