Temp check: 7-5

[Bowfin]

I'm going with 10-2 this year, because I predict Armstrong will have improved exponentially. Based on the fact that I say it's time...

 

[Husker Psycho]

7-5 would be just short of a disaster, and in my mind, sinks any chance we have of becoming relevant again unless we get a homerun hire on our next coach. In the Hail Varsity Yearbook, they did an article on the importance of year 2 to a coaches overall success, and how vital it is. Case in point, the 4 coaches in last year's playoff (Saban, Dantonio, Dabo, Stoops) averaged 6.2 wins in year one, and 10.6 in year two.

We have to win this year. No excuses.

Totally agree.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

If this team goes 11-1, how are people going to complain that recruiting was poor during the past several years?

That'll be interesting.

Lack of depth mostly.

What teams have more depth than Nebraska?

I'm sure several teams have better depth at QB, Dline and Oline than Nebraska.

I think you'd be surprised by the "lack of depth" across CFB.

True, DL is thin, but every team has holes at various places, save a very select few. I doubt there are more than 10 teams in the country that have more talent and depth than Nebraska.

Boy, that doesn't say much for the previous staff if they recruited Top 10 talent and coached them into unranked oblivion.

 

[cm husker]

If this team goes 11-1, how are people going to complain that recruiting was poor during the past several years?

That'll be interesting.

Lack of depth mostly.

What teams have more depth than Nebraska?

I'm sure several teams have better depth at QB, Dline and Oline than Nebraska.

I think you'd be surprised by the "lack of depth" across CFB.
True, DL is thin, but every team has holes at various places, save a very select few. I doubt there are more than 10 teams in the country that have more talent and depth than Nebraska.

Boy, that doesn't say much for the previous staff if they recruited Top 10 talent and coached them into unranked oblivion.

I think they coached talent that was from about 11th to 30th and utilized it fairly well, but not above and beyond the level.
Personally, I thought 2013 suffered at least one extra loss due to the loss of Martinez and the unrelenting media/fan discontent that year. 2014 was just a continuation of those issues, especially following the first loss.

Anyway, I just thought Pelini had more upside than downside heading into 2015, if he'd been retained, but that's over and done with now.

This year's team's depth and overal talent is probably as good as it has been in 15 years, especially relative to the competion.

I hope they can realize their potential and more.

 

[dvdcrr]

7 wins is pretty reasonable for the upcoming season. First off, that is two more wins than last year. I dont buy the whole "five plays from 10 wins last year" or whatever. To me that is like saying a person was only one color off on the roullette wheel.

The other coaches have a year worth of film on us now, and that will help them particularly to dissect our defense.

If they can bring in a couple studs to shore up the front four, maybe 8 wins.

 

[BoKnowsD]

Boy have times changed.

Riley wasn't brought in to "rebuild" he was brought her to win, win championships.

If he can't mustard the 9 wins, we move on

 

[Redux]

Boy have times changed.

Riley wasn't brought in to "rebuild" he was brought her to win, win championships.

If he can't mustard the 9 wins, we move on

Who claimed winning and winning championships wouldn't require a rebuild?

 

[Mavric]

Boy have times changed.

Riley wasn't brought in to "rebuild" he was brought her to win, win championships.

If he can't mustard the 9 wins, we move on

Who claimed winning and winning championships wouldn't require a rebuild?

Well .... Eichorst for starters.

 

[NUinID]

Like many of you, I am hoping for improvement. And maybe 7-5 is just me shooting low so that the Huskers can't do anything but exceed expectations.

At the same time, I wonder what Oregon will bring to the table. They have good to great athletes and an ability to spread a defense apart and exploit weak links by staging certain match up issues and getting you out of sorts with fast paced action.

We know Northwestern has been a tough place to play. And Madison has too.

And the Buckeyes reload with studs every year.

Maybe Iowa is that swing game where we win, get to eight wins and then shoot for nine in the bowl. Iowa may be decent this year or they may stink. It's hard to tell how that program is going to react to the success they enjoyed in 2015. All I can go by, and the reason why I fear loss, is that it took OT for Armstrong to beat the Hawks in Iowa City in 2014.

None the less, my main concern with this Husker team is that we generate enough momentum, both on the field and in recruiting, to keep people, we are talking about the booster and big names behind the scenes, to continue to believe in MR.

I do not want to start over until we know that MR had his shot and it didn't work. Judging by some of the momentum that's being created in recruiting, the Huskers could be ready to explode onto the national scene in the next three to four years.

This season has me worriedl, but the future has me hopeful.

Oregon is getting too much respect from too many people. I watch a lot of Oregon football, my son is a fan, and they were about 1 game shy in the middle of the season from completely imploding last year. When Vernon Adams was hurt and didn't play and when he was nursing his broken index finger their offense was nothing special. Luckily when he got healed up they played better. When he was hurt in their bowl game and left the game they ended up losing after being up 31-3. Royce Freeman is a great running back, but there recievers are average and their O-line is good but not world beaters. There offense doesn't go without a great QB to run their system. It didn't look like they found any answers in the spring.

Their defense was actually worse than Nebraska's last year. They absolutely couldn't stop anyone. Brady Hoke is coming in as DC and switching to the 4-3. They lost their OC as everyone knows, and they don't have Chip Kelly as there HC anymore. Lots of problems in Duck land. I am not saying NU is for sure going to win, but at the very least at home the game is a pick um and NU should be favored.

Nebraska has actually won all their games they have played at NW. Wisconsin not so much.

I will be pretty disappointed if they go 7-5. They should be 8-4 at the minimum. OSU has a boat load of talent like usual, but they only return 6 total starters. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if they lost 3 games this year. Iowa had a great season last last year and they do return some talent. They also caught every break they could possibly get to win 12 games. Would not surprise me at all to see them go 8-4.

 

[Redux]

Boy have times changed.

Riley wasn't brought in to "rebuild" he was brought her to win, win championships.

If he can't mustard the 9 wins, we move on

Who claimed winning and winning championships wouldn't require a rebuild?

Well .... Eichorst for starters.

Do tell? I don't recall him saying "We want to win and win now, no rebuild will be necessary with the next guy I hire"

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

I didn't think 2015 would have been a re-building year for Pelini. Too much returning talent for that.

I thought motivation, focus and discipline were the biggest problems for Pelini teams, and I definitely expected Riley to have an immediate impact in that department.

I'm sure Eichorst did, too. I wanted at least 9 wins last year and no blowouts. No rebuild. Just a re-commitment.

When things quickly went south, it never occurred to me that Mike Riley had been a terrible mistake. I sure as hell didn't yearn for Bo Pelini back.

I also didn't notice a major change in the system. If anything it was familiar players making familiar mistakes. I won't even blame a New System for the step back.

It just looked like a transition year, more personality and motivational issues, some bad mojo, bad luck and bad coaching decisions, the rock bottom chaos of Purdue and a decent late-season turnaround with legitimate hope for the future.

(In hindsight I think we really missed having a legitimate heir to Abdullah/Burkhead/Helu at running back. Tommy Armstrong didn't need another excuse to play hero ball. Defense maintained too many bad habits.)

Mike Riley had to learn on the job. More than I thought or hoped. But it's not that unusual. I have no trouble believing certain players maintained loyalty to Pelini & Staff and animosity to Riley & Staff. That's not so unusual either, but it can really hinder a transition and Bo is precisely the kind of coach who would encourage mutiny. At least going by the man's own words.

Mike Riley owned up to his mistakes and recalibrated his staff. That's a good sign.

Looking forward to the next couple seasons as players, schemes and coaches mesh a little better.

I think the end of Season Three is a good time for a Reality Check.

 

[Mavric]

Boy have times changed.

Riley wasn't brought in to "rebuild" he was brought her to win, win championships.

If he can't mustard the 9 wins, we move on

Who claimed winning and winning championships wouldn't require a rebuild?

Well .... Eichorst for starters.

Do tell? I don't recall him saying "We want to win and win now, no rebuild will be necessary with the next guy I hire"

I'm sure you can find a way to semantic it but:

At the end of the day, I think we have kids in our program that are capable of winning championships.

Link

 

[Redux]

Boy have times changed.

Riley wasn't brought in to "rebuild" he was brought her to win, win championships.

If he can't mustard the 9 wins, we move on

Who claimed winning and winning championships wouldn't require a rebuild?

Well .... Eichorst for starters.

Do tell? I don't recall him saying "We want to win and win now, no rebuild will be necessary with the next guy I hire"

I'm sure you can find a way to semantic it but:

At the end of the day, I think we have kids in our program that are capable of winning championships.

Link

I think you quoted the wrong part, nowhere did that say a rebuild was unecessary.

 

[Mavric]

Boy have times changed.

Riley wasn't brought in to "rebuild" he was brought her to win, win championships.

If he can't mustard the 9 wins, we move on

Who claimed winning and winning championships wouldn't require a rebuild?

Well .... Eichorst for starters.

Do tell? I don't recall him saying "We want to win and win now, no rebuild will be necessary with the next guy I hire"

I'm sure you can find a way to semantic it but:

At the end of the day, I think we have kids in our program that are capable of winning championships.

Link

I think you quoted the wrong part, nowhere did that say a rebuild was unecessary.

Like I said, I'm sure you'll find a way to semantic it.

Technically he didn't say that, you're right. But why would a rebuild be necessary if we already had the talent to win championships?

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Eh, we can have it both ways.

We could have done better with the talent we had.

We need better recruiting to consistently challenge for championships.

I think most of us believed Nebraska could have challenged for something in Riley's first year, and Eichorst wouldn't have been wrong to encourage it.