Phil Steele Predicts a NEB vs. Oregon Rose Bowl Game

Not muck better the than the Rose Bowl. Biggest of the Bigs. But I do not want to see us back into another one, That last one was enogh to make you sick. We have a lot of tough teams ahead to play. Teams that are ready for us I think. UCLA has all the cards. We bee their trick pony and who knows what happnes

 
I could see anything from 11-1 to 8-4 (or possibly even 7-5). It all comes down to the front 7.

 
Honestly I dont see how we dont make it to the championship game. I think our offense is good enough to carry us there. We have an easy schedule, I think UCLA, Michigan, NW, and Penn State could be tough but all are very winable games. I think our defense ins't as bad as people are thinking. I know we are young and dont have much experience but we are a lot more athletic than last year at almost every position. I would rather have athletes that can run all over the field and make plays than players who are in the right position but not athletic enough to make the tackle (Wisky game part 2). However, it all starts up front.

 
I still think the defense is going to be rather serviceable like last year's with the one glaring difference being that the extra athleticism will limit the meltdowns we had in LA, Columbus, Indy, and Orlando. Outside those 4 games, the defense was decent and did enough for us to win the game, hence, we won all those instances. Now, with an offense that is even more veteran and experienced, if the D limits the meltdowns, it should be a really good year and could make for a nice catapult into the post-Martinez era.

 
Too many questions on defense for me to say we'll get to that game. The Michigan game is gonna be tough as hell at their house, Penn State is a winable game, but again, it's at their house. I still think Northwestern is going to give us some fits, the last two years of playing them makes me think that. I could see us winning all the games and I could see us losing up to four games next season. It's really hard to say until I see the defense on the field. If I'm going just by offense, yes, we are a dangerous team and a great team.............on the offensive side. As long as the O-line plays OKAY we should win a lot of games, they play terrible and I'll pull my hair out because that group hasn't been getting it done IMO. Good thing is we have a couple of games to work the issues out before we play UCLA. That's gonna be a tough game.........

 
BIGREDIOWAN said:
Too many questions on defense for me to say we'll get to that game. The Michigan game is gonna be tough as hell at their house, Penn State is a winable game, but again, it's at their house. I still think Northwestern is going to give us some fits, the last two years of playing them makes me think that. I could see us winning all the games and I could see us losing up to four games next season. It's really hard to say until I see the defense on the field. If I'm going just by offense, yes, we are a dangerous team and a great team.............on the offensive side. As long as the O-line plays OKAY we should win a lot of games, they play terrible and I'll pull my hair out because that group hasn't been getting it done IMO. Good thing is we have a couple of games to work the issues out before we play UCLA. That's gonna be a tough game.........
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The defense doesn't have to be great, but the offense can not put them in bad situations like they did last year. The offense has a chance to really help them out if they can execute and are efficient. I think they'll make the D look a little better than they really are. We should be able to win the field position battle with this O nearly every game. Not many 3-and-outs should be expected. That'll help the D.

 
Safe to say that all of us have reservations. And, with any nearly any amount of serious thought, most of us would shrug off any natty title, Big 10 title or Rose Bowl berth chances.

Still, when I saw the thread, I was like.......... DANG, I'll sign for that.

The fan in me wants to believe and, every once in a while, I am going to indulge that impulse.

 
I am not seeing anything about Mich State as far as concerns go. And I think Sparty could be decent. Then again, I WAY over rated Mich State last year.

 
kchusker_chris said:
BIGREDIOWAN said:
Too many questions on defense for me to say we'll get to that game. The Michigan game is gonna be tough as hell at their house, Penn State is a winable game, but again, it's at their house. I still think Northwestern is going to give us some fits, the last two years of playing them makes me think that. I could see us winning all the games and I could see us losing up to four games next season. It's really hard to say until I see the defense on the field. If I'm going just by offense, yes, we are a dangerous team and a great team.............on the offensive side. As long as the O-line plays OKAY we should win a lot of games, they play terrible and I'll pull my hair out because that group hasn't been getting it done IMO. Good thing is we have a couple of games to work the issues out before we play UCLA. That's gonna be a tough game.........
Click to expand...
The defense doesn't have to be great, but the offense can not put them in bad situations like they did last year. The offense has a chance to really help them out if they can execute and are efficient. I think they'll make the D look a little better than they really are. We should be able to win the field position battle with this O nearly every game. Not many 3-and-outs should be expected. That'll help the D.
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I'm not worried about the pass D, or scoring points. The two biggest keys are the defense being competent against the run, and the offense not turning it over. I also think choosing the correct tempo will help. If the D is struggling, slow it down, and control the clock.

 
tmfr15 said:
I am not seeing anything about Mich State as far as concerns go. And I think Sparty could be decent. Then again, I WAY over rated Mich State last year.
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Michigan state will be about the same, maybe one more win. Defense will be same and the offense could be better, but they lost their best player, and could very well be worse.

I often see the "lost 5 games by 14 points" stat (OSU, IA, UM, NU, NW) but those same people ignore that MSU won 4 games by a combined 11 points (BSU, IND, UW, TCU). The only teams they beat by more than a TD were the directional Michigan schools, and Minnesota.

 
I expect about 7-8 wins against inferior foes, about 2 blowout losses, 1 loss against a team we have no business losing to, 1 tough fought loss against a decent team, and a nice win or 2 - all depending on how many postseason games we play.

Rinse, repeat next season.

 
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saunders45 said:
I'm not worried about the pass D, or scoring points. The two biggest keys are the defense being competent against the run, and the offense not turning it over. I also think choosing the correct tempo will help. If the D is struggling, slow it down, and control the clock.
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Yeah, the tempo thing got to me a few times last season. There were times (ohio state game) when the offense just killed the D. A bunch of drives in the 20-30 second range. That's going to be on Bo though, Becks going to call what he feels is best for his offense to execute, often times that's with little regard to the current state of the defense. Bo is the one that has to step up and be aware of both sides of the ball and call the game from that perspective. I still think he's got his head in the D sometimes, and loses site of the bigger picture. Sometimes I really wish he'd just hire a Greg Mattison type d-coordinator and become a head coach. Wouldn't have said that 3 years ago, but a lot has changed in the last 3 years.

 
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