Fox Sports: Stew Mandel & Bruce Feldman Big Ten Predictions

[Saunders]

Ha ha! That was my reaction. Gerry might be one of the top couple of safeties in the nation.

Top couple in the nation? Not a chance. Top couple in the B1G? Possibly.

That was my thought. Generally a top 2 safety in the country won't make a play like this. I don't care how great you are but if you give an effort like this then that drops you way down the list.

Think about Suh 2007 vs Suh 2008 or 2009.

 

[RedSavage]

Ha ha! That was my reaction. Gerry might be one of the top couple of safeties in the nation.

Top couple in the nation? Not a chance. Top couple in the B1G? Possibly.

That was my thought. Generally a top 2 safety in the country won't make a play like this. I don't care how great you are but if you give an effort like this then that drops you way down the list.

Disagree. Maybe not at the very top but I think Gerry has a very impressive year.

To the OP hopefully Mandel is wrong or we are going to be in for a very rough season.

 

[Scratchtown]

Ha ha! That was my reaction. Gerry might be one of the top couple of safeties in the nation.

Top couple in the nation? Not a chance. Top couple in the B1G? Possibly.

That was my thought. Generally a top 2 safety in the country won't make a play like this. I don't care how great you are but if you give an effort like this then that drops you way down the list.

Think about Suh 2007 vs Suh 2008 or 2009.

No, don't get me wrong. I think Gerry can be a top safety just not for preseason talk. Just because we THINK he might doesn't mean prognosticators should make sure to mention him in a tiny capsule.

 

[Saunders]

Ha ha! That was my reaction. Gerry might be one of the top couple of safeties in the nation.

Top couple in the nation? Not a chance. Top couple in the B1G? Possibly.

That was my thought. Generally a top 2 safety in the country won't make a play like this. I don't care how great you are but if you give an effort like this then that drops you way down the list.

Think about Suh 2007 vs Suh 2008 or 2009.

No, don't get me wrong. I think Gerry can be a top safety just not for preseason talk. Just because we THINK he might doesn't mean prognosticators should make sure to mention him in a tiny capsule.

True, but saying Collins is the only playmaker is a bit weak. But, the national media will start to care when we start to win.

 

[Landlord]

Gerry is being overlooked in a big way by the national media. Last year was a solid coming out party for him (a year late, I think, as he was really underused at LB his freshman season), but it was mostly only Nebraska fans that took notice.

I'd look for him to have a huge year in Banker's defense.

 

[Scratchtown]

No, don't get me wrong. I think Gerry can be a top safety just not for preseason talk. Just because we THINK he might doesn't mean prognosticators should make sure to mention him in a tiny capsule.

True, but saying Collins is the only playmaker is a bit weak. But, the national media will start to care when we start to win.

As Husker fans we know this, but these guys are previewing almost every team out there, and I think we should understand that they aren't going to get every tiny detail or potential detail correct.

Gerry is being overlooked in a big way by the national media. Last year was a solid coming out party for him (a year late, I think, as he was really underused at LB his freshman season), but it was mostly only Nebraska fans that took notice.

I'd look for him to have a huge year in Banker's defense.

I agree. I think he'll get the recognition he deserves a few weeks in, but it takes making plays without the bigger pictures of a struggling defense overshadowing him..

 

[ADS]

Gerry would be getting more love if his tackling last year wasn't as bad as it was. He missed quite a few open field tackles. Mitch Liedner had a field day.

 

[NUinID]

I truly can't remember the last time Stewart Mandel had anything even neutral to say about Nebraska let alone positive. I'm sure he has sometime, somewhere around 1997 is what I guess. He just always seem to me to be one of those guys that just doesn't see how the little ole state of Nebraska could be good at anything.

What is he seeing from BYU, Miami, and Minnesota that makes him think they are going to be so good? I mean 7-5 would have NU losing to every team on their schedule that even remotely has a pulse. To me it is sloppy journalism. He sees losing Bell, AA and Gregory and it is a down year. AA will be missed Bell has already been replaced with DPE and Gregory had a very average at best season last year.

It just seems lazy to me.

Feldmen's assessment is much more realistic

 

[ScottyIce]

7-5 is way too low.

I just don't see it being possible.

Who are the losses? Especially considering Mandel just said its the weakest division in football. Um...7-5 would then be HORRIBLE. If MR comes our and starts slinging it, then everything we've read about him adapting to his players is BS and the dude would be clueless.

I refuse to believe that, so I'm putting my money on Mandel and Feldman just not knowing what we're planning to do. Which is way more possible than MR slinging TA 600 times this season.

Armstrong did sling it 40 times against USC and almost win... Just sayin'

 

[Red Five]

I truly can't remember the last time Stewart Mandel had anything even neutral to say about Nebraska let alone positive. I'm sure he has sometime, somewhere around 1997 is what I guess. He just always seem to me to be one of those guys that just doesn't see how the little ole state of Nebraska could be good at anything.

What is he seeing from BYU, Miami, and Minnesota that makes him think they are going to be so good? I mean 7-5 would have NU losing to every team on their schedule that even remotely has a pulse. To me it is sloppy journalism. He sees losing Bell, AA and Gregory and it is a down year. AA will be missed Bell has already been replaced with DPE and Gregory had a very average at best season last year.

It just seems lazy to me.

Feldmen's assessment is much more realistic

Oh the drama...

Last year Mandel picked us to win the West. But I'm sure it was a hate pick since he never says anything positive about Nebraska.

I can easily see where his OPINION comes from. New coach installing a new system. The QB doesn't fit the prototypical Mike Riley QB. Lost the best RB since Ahman. OL lost 3 starters. D has a lot of questions - no backup DEs, only 2 LBs who have had playing time. With all those questions, I can see how his thought process gets to 7-5.

I can see us losing to BYU, Miami, Wisky, Minny, and MSU. Do I think we lose all 5? No. Although I hope like hell for 5-0, I think 3-2 is probably the most likely scenario.

 

[StPaulHusker]

Nebraska has been picked to win their division several times by sports writers only to have to eat their words because a Pelini led team crapped the bed. Who gives a sh#t anymore? Just win games and it all works itself out.

 

[getoutoftown]

Riley is a smart guy. He will fit his offense to the players. Nine wins for sure.

 

[Saunders]

Feldman said in their podcast he has us losing to BYU out of the gate.

 

[Mavric]

7-5 is way too low.

I just don't see it being possible.

Who are the losses? Especially considering Mandel just said its the weakest division in football. Um...7-5 would then be HORRIBLE. If MR comes our and starts slinging it, then everything we've read about him adapting to his players is BS and the dude would be clueless.

I refuse to believe that, so I'm putting my money on Mandel and Feldman just not knowing what we're planning to do. Which is way more possible than MR slinging TA 600 times this season.

BYU, Miami, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan State

Projected wins

BYU: 8

Miami: 6

Winconsin: 9.6

Minnesota: 6

MSU: 9.5

There would be a couple bad losses in that group

You'd have to throw in Iowa as the other psuedo-tossup game. They're at 7.5.

That's the other thing about predicting this year - it's much easier to compare than most other years because we have almost exactly the same schedule. So we'd (likely) have to lose five of those six games. Which is two teams we beat last year (one by basically three scores) and two teams that we were competitive to the point that we had our hands on the ball inside the opponents' five yard line in the last couple minutes with a chance to win.

No one is saying that 7-5 isn't out of the question. No one is saying that 7-5 would mean we should fire Riley. But it would be a step back. Not one that can't be recovered from. But it would be surprising considering all the things that we supposedly have going for us with the new coaches and what we've done over the last seven years.

 

[StPaulHusker]

Feldman said in their podcast he has us losing to BYU out of the gate.

Well he has us finishing 9-3 and winning the West. So if that means we start 0-1 so be it.