Nebraska +10 @ Wisconsin

[HSKRNATION]

Went down this morning to NU+9, will probably hit 7 before game time

Yep +9 across the board. I'm keeping my money off until game day! That baby will drop down to +7 then I'm in.

 

[formerlybis]

[a worst case scenario would be a scenario where Wisconsin scores early several times, establishes the momentum and the Huskers fold --- and where Wisconsin runs up the score (something they are known for and likely what they would do to send a message from the conference to NU) ... at which point a Wisconsin 30+ victory is not out of the question.

Badger fan here. I just want to address this RUTS reputation. Last year, UW scored 70+ on Wofford, Indiana, and Northwestern. In all of those cases, the vast % of the damage was done on the ground or by 3rd-stringers. There were also some defensive scores that added to the total. In the Indiana game where UW scored over 80, the one highlight they show is a long-bomb wounded-duck, shoulda-called-fair-catch thrown by the third stringer when they were up 50. That was the only pass thrown in the 2nd half -- the only one and it was 3rd down and long at the time.

The other case that people point to is going for 2 against Minnesota midway through the 4th quarter when up 26 or something like that. Bielema said "the card said go for two". I think that was pretty lame, but given that Minnesota nearly came back on UW the year before (UW had a two-score lead and was inside the gopher red zone when there was a fumble and a long scoop & score to tighten it up considerably), you can halfway forgive him for trying to play the percentages. I said halfway -- it was a little bit of RUTSing and it got the coach fired

I don't think there should be any worry of RUTS with UW on Nebraska -- you guys are waaaaay to good -- just concerned about winning at all.

I don't care if Mother Theresa was playing runningback, anytime you put up 81 on an opponent, you're RUTS. Hell, after scoring 70, I'd start telling my runningbacks to start taking dives...not scoring points.

That's pretty absurd. You're telling me effectively taking a knee for an entire quarter is less offensive than giving backups the chance to get a taste of in-game experience? UW scored the 70 points in 3 quarters against Northwestern, with the last touchdown coming off of an interception. Yeah going for 2 against Minnesota looks pretty bad, but they're practically in-state rivals. When Jim Harbaugh did it to Pete Carrol it was him being a "fierce competitor" and sending a message, but UW does it and it's a crime against humanity. What a load of bs. If you want to keep us out of the endzone, then man up and put a fu**ing helmet on the ball.

I'm not saying "take a knee" the whole quarter...I'm saying that I wouldn't want my players scoring, after we'd already put up 70 points. If that means letting the opposing team bring them down after a couple of yards, then so be it. That would be far less offensive then running it up to 83. You guys were up 52-13 halfway through the third. If you wanted to get your backups quality reps, then that's a perfect time to put them in and let them get after it. You guys scored 83 (eighty effing three) points and you're going to tell me that you didn't run it up? C'mon, man.

When Jim Harbaugh went for two when he was up 48-21, it was a classless move. There are folks that may have excused that because of the lashings that Stanford took at the hands of USC, but you need to act like you've been there.

I went back and looked -- the second to last score was a pick-6 (do you tell the DB to fall before crossing the goal line?). The last score was on a 4th and 7 from the 17 yard line -- you obviously don't kick a field goal, right? So, the 4th (maybe 5th) string QB was in -- Nate Tice (son of Mike Tice, the current Bears O-line coach and former Vikings coach). He's a gangly guy who probably runs the 40 in like 7 seconds. They called a QB draw, and he ended up scoring, basically untouched, right up the middle. What are you supposed to do? This has been Tice's only playing time of his entire UW career (and assuming no injuries to our first 3 strings at QB, it will continue to be) and people were pretty damned happy that he got the chance to score -- the only chance he'll likely ever get and he'll have a story to tell forever.

 

[jsneb83]

[a worst case scenario would be a scenario where Wisconsin scores early several times, establishes the momentum and the Huskers fold --- and where Wisconsin runs up the score (something they are known for and likely what they would do to send a message from the conference to NU) ... at which point a Wisconsin 30+ victory is not out of the question.

Badger fan here. I just want to address this RUTS reputation. Last year, UW scored 70+ on Wofford, Indiana, and Northwestern. In all of those cases, the vast % of the damage was done on the ground or by 3rd-stringers. There were also some defensive scores that added to the total. In the Indiana game where UW scored over 80, the one highlight they show is a long-bomb wounded-duck, shoulda-called-fair-catch thrown by the third stringer when they were up 50. That was the only pass thrown in the 2nd half -- the only one and it was 3rd down and long at the time.

The other case that people point to is going for 2 against Minnesota midway through the 4th quarter when up 26 or something like that. Bielema said "the card said go for two". I think that was pretty lame, but given that Minnesota nearly came back on UW the year before (UW had a two-score lead and was inside the gopher red zone when there was a fumble and a long scoop & score to tighten it up considerably), you can halfway forgive him for trying to play the percentages. I said halfway -- it was a little bit of RUTSing and it got the coach fired

I don't think there should be any worry of RUTS with UW on Nebraska -- you guys are waaaaay to good -- just concerned about winning at all.

I don't care if Mother Theresa was playing runningback, anytime you put up 81 on an opponent, you're RUTS. Hell, after scoring 70, I'd start telling my runningbacks to start taking dives...not scoring points.

That's pretty absurd. You're telling me effectively taking a knee for an entire quarter is less offensive than giving backups the chance to get a taste of in-game experience? UW scored the 70 points in 3 quarters against Northwestern, with the last touchdown coming off of an interception. Yeah going for 2 against Minnesota looks pretty bad, but they're practically in-state rivals. When Jim Harbaugh did it to Pete Carrol it was him being a "fierce competitor" and sending a message, but UW does it and it's a crime against humanity. What a load of bs. If you want to keep us out of the endzone, then man up and put a fu**ing helmet on the ball.

I'm not saying "take a knee" the whole quarter...I'm saying that I wouldn't want my players scoring, after we'd already put up 70 points. If that means letting the opposing team bring them down after a couple of yards, then so be it. That would be far less offensive then running it up to 83. You guys were up 52-13 halfway through the third. If you wanted to get your backups quality reps, then that's a perfect time to put them in and let them get after it. You guys scored 83 (eighty effing three) points and you're going to tell me that you didn't run it up? C'mon, man.

When Jim Harbaugh went for two when he was up 48-21, it was a classless move. There are folks that may have excused that because of the lashings that Stanford took at the hands of USC, but you need to act like you've been there.

I went back and looked -- the second to last score was a pick-6 (do you tell the DB to fall before crossing the goal line?). The last score was on a 4th and 7 from the 17 yard line -- you obviously don't kick a field goal, right? So, the 4th (maybe 5th) string QB was in -- Nate Tice (son of Mike Tice, the current Bears O-line coach and former Vikings coach). He's a gangly guy who probably runs the 40 in like 7 seconds. They called a QB draw, and he ended up scoring, basically untouched, right up the middle. What are you supposed to do? This has been Tice's only playing time of his entire UW career (and assuming no injuries to our first 3 strings at QB, it will continue to be) and people were pretty damned happy that he got the chance to score -- the only chance he'll likely ever get and he'll have a story to tell forever.

To me, RUTS, is when you still have your first team out there when the game is in hand, running a no huddle, calling a time out to stop the clock, and going for two. I remember when Tom was being accused of RUTS when he kept putting his starters in that he said that he put them in because the second and third teamers were getting tired from running so much.

The main point of mop-up time is to get your younger guys game experience. You wouldn't want them to take a dive when they are starting and the game is on the line, so you want them to go all out and compete.. You can't worry about what the opposing team thinks because it's a no-win no matter what you do.

 

[knapplc]

To me, RUTS, is when you still have your first team out there when the game is in hand, running a no huddle, calling a time out to stop the clock, and going for two. I remember when Tom was being accused of RUTS when he kept putting his starters in that he said that he put them in because the second and third teamers were getting tired from running so much.

To my knowledge the only time this explanation was used was when we played at Minnesota in 1983 and scored 12 TDs. Due to NCAA travel rules we couldn't take the whole team, and I think we scored nearly every time we touched the ball. The backups were literally gassed from running so much, and Osborne had to put the first string back in. Fun game.

 

[kchusker_chris]

I went back and looked -- the second to last score was a pick-6 (do you tell the DB to fall before crossing the goal line?). The last score was on a 4th and 7 from the 17 yard line -- you obviously don't kick a field goal, right? So, the 4th (maybe 5th) string QB was in -- Nate Tice (son of Mike Tice, the current Bears O-line coach and former Vikings coach). He's a gangly guy who probably runs the 40 in like 7 seconds. They called a QB draw, and he ended up scoring, basically untouched, right up the middle. What are you supposed to do? This has been Tice's only playing time of his entire UW career (and assuming no injuries to our first 3 strings at QB, it will continue to be) and people were pretty damned happy that he got the chance to score -- the only chance he'll likely ever get and he'll have a story to tell forever.

Where'd you check? It was the 3rd to last score. 2nd to last was Budmayr (2nd string QB) on a 74TD pass. Last was Tice (3rd string) w/ the 17YD run. And there was certainly more than 1 pass thrown in the 2nd half. There was more than that in the 4th quarter. 7 in the 3rd quarter (including 2 TDs)

4th quarter went like this...

rush - white (9)

rush - white (21)

pass - budmayr-abbrederis (5)

rush - white (-2)

pass - icomplete

sack

41 YD FG

Interception for TD

rush - white (0)

rush - white (4)

pass - Budmayr - Abbrederis (74yds) TD - it was 3rd & 6.

rush - white (1)

rush - white (44)

rush - zuleger (7)

rush - zuleger (1)

rush - tice (17) TD - it was 3rd & 4.

 

[formerlybis]

[2nd to last was Budmayr (2nd string QB) on a 74TD pass. Last was Tice (3rd string) w/ the 17YD run. And there was certainly more than 1 pass thrown in the 2nd half. There was more than that in the 4th quarter. 7 in the 3rd quarter (including 2 TDs)

4th quarter went like this...

rush - white (9)

rush - white (21)

pass - budmayr-abbrederis (5)

rush - white (-2)

pass - icomplete

sack

41 YD FG

Interception for TD

rush - white (0)

rush - white (4)

pass - Budmayr - Abbrederis (74yds) TD - it was 3rd & 6.

rush - white (1)

rush - white (44)

rush - zuleger (7)

rush - zuleger (1)

rush - tice (17) TD - it was 3rd & 4.

Well, you caught me -- I checked last night on my BlackBerry and was doing it from memory. I also got confused with the Michigan game where we ran 31 times in a row (or something like that -- my facts have been a little hazy already :hmmph ).

Budmayr, though he was the 2nd QB available, was the clear #3 in the spring. The #2 was Curt Phillips who got hurt (and got hurt again this year -- he & Tolzien were, at one point, #1 and #1a). And if both Tolzien & Budmayr would've also gotten hurt, they would have burned the redshirt of a frosh before putting Tice in (which is why I said he might've been #5).

 

[1201NH]

The line opened at 7.5 didn't it? Line has moved to 10. Lots of money going on wiscy. God I hope we pull something out of our tailbones.

It early opened at 7 and the sharps immediately pushed it up to 9.5. The smart money is saying they like Wisconsin. I doubt it will be coming down. Not sure where people are getting the idea it opened at 10 and is now coming down. Obviously it may have varied a little at the open, but not 9.5 or 10.

http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-football/odds/las-vegas/?s=1995

 

[Branno]

I had a dream last night, and Nebraska won 54-30.

So I'm going with Nebraska!