The Gauntlet - Three of Four Games in Prime Time

[Saunders]

We got crushed by South Carlina too. Does that mean we can't play with them even if we play mistake free football (or somewhat close to that)? I don't think so.....

Like I said...maybe 17 (south carolina) I could understand that line of thinking. But not 28.

Michigan Game (NU/UM)

First Downs: 11/24

Offense Plays-Yards: 54-260 / 80-418

TOP: 18:39 / 41:13

That's an a$$ whooping. Time of possession, plays. No way you win a game w/ those disparities. Losing 3 fumbles hurt. We got an INT so the margin is still only 2. That's not Iowa Statish. That's just part of it - you can't just take away Nebraska's mistakes and then say we would have won. We aren't going to play mistake free football. We have to quit saying "if we play mistake free" every time we lose a game. We've had a ton of mistake filled games in the Pelini era...at some point they quit becoming an anomaly that you can explain away and start becoming the accepted norm.

I don't think we would have won, but the game would have been decided by 10 points or less if we didn't play so poorly.

 

[Ratt Mhule]

I put 3-1, with the loss at Ohio State.

Me too.

Others already have Michigan as the greatest team to ever play the game but I don't buy it. Especially in Lincoln.

Didn't you learn your lesson last year by underestimating Michigan?

The whole offseason and season you said how bad Michigan defense would be and we would win that game, but look what happened...

Uh, I'd say "we" screwed the pooch for that game. Yeah, I was wrong about that game & you're right about that.

However, if Michigan is so overwhelming, even with their homer schedule last year, why couldn't they win the division? They couldn't beat Iowa or MSU on the road last year and this year they have play Notre Dame, Nebraska, Alabama & Ohio State on the road.

Add to that they haven't beat MSU "anywhere" for the last four years and Purdue on the road may not be a cakewalk for them either.

So, we''ll see.....but I don't see them anywhere close to the unstoppable force many claim they are.

I haven't seen anyone say they are an unstoppable force. I don't think its unreasonable to say we might lose the game, which is what some people are saying.

Let's face it, we have trouble stopping mobile QBs. Robinson is a year older and a year wiser. Hoke is a good coach and it is year two under him, they will def. be improved, especially on defense. We may win this game, we may lose, but if we are going to win, we better bring our A game.

 

[bshirt]

We got crushed by South Carlina too. Does that mean we can't play with them even if we play mistake free football (or somewhat close to that)? I don't think so.....

Like I said...maybe 17 (south carolina) I could understand that line of thinking. But not 28.

Michigan Game (NU/UM)

First Downs: 11/24

Offense Plays-Yards: 54-260 / 80-418

TOP: 18:39 / 41:13

That's an a$$ whooping. Time of possession, plays. No way you win a game w/ those disparities. Losing 3 fumbles hurt. We got an INT so the margin is still only 2. That's not Iowa Statish. That's just part of it - you can't just take away Nebraska's mistakes and then say we would have won. We aren't going to play mistake free football. We have to quit saying "if we play mistake free" every time we lose a game. We've had a ton of mistake filled games in the Pelini era...at some point they quit becoming an anomaly that you can explain away and start becoming the accepted norm.

Jeesh....that was "one" game where everything went wrong. If you're going to judge a program by "one" game then Michigan shouldn't be a problem at all as the Hawkeyes beat them. Right? The Spartans too (for the 4th straight time), right?

We didn't have any problems with Iowa or MSU, right?

Heh...who knows? Also, Tmart had about the same numbers at Drob did last year even with a much more difficult schedule. So, at Lincoln I like our chances & I just don't think we must have our "A" game to beat them. But, as you said, maybe I'll be wrong again.

 

[RexIsMyDogg]

4-0. 3 reasons: Taylor Martinez will a much better quarterback than in his previous 2 years. I think Will Compton will absolutely blow up and have a huge year anchoring the D. And finally, we run the diamond formation the entire game vs. Ohio St. Even Urban won't figure out how to contain Ameer, Taylor, Aaron, and Rex (and maybe some Jamal Turner wrinkled in).

 

[Landlord]

Count me in the camp that the Wisconsin, Michigan and South Carolina games were all just two or three plays from being significantly different outcomes. I don't necessarily think we would have won any of them, but they wouldn't have been blowouts. I think we hurt ourselves more than those teams hurt us, and it wasn't just turnovers or bad plays but the most possibly inconvenient times for such things to happen.

 

[whateveritis1224]

Those games snowballed on us. 1 bad thing happened at an inopportune time and that 1 bad thing became 2 and then 3 and so on.

We were only down to Michigan by 7 at halftime and we were getting the ball first in the second half. Bell fumbles the ball on the kickoff and suddenly that 7 point lead is a 14 point lead. We're still in the game and we get a roughing the kicker penalty.

The 3 interceptions at Wisconsin, the Hail Mary against South Carolina.

Those teams beat us, but we didn't help ourselves.

 

[Mierin]

roughing the kicker penalty.

That one hurt the most. It felt like we had a ton of momentum at that point. We scored, then stopped them. Things were looking up.

 

[jsneb83]

Those games snowballed on us. 1 bad thing happened at an inopportune time and that 1 bad thing became 2 and then 3 and so on.

We were only down to Michigan by 7 at halftime and we were getting the ball first in the second half. Bell fumbles the ball on the kickoff and suddenly that 7 point lead is a 14 point lead. We're still in the game and we get a roughing the kicker penalty.

The 3 interceptions at Wisconsin, the Hail Mary against South Carolina.

Those teams beat us, but we didn't help ourselves.

 

[The Dude]

I voted 2-2, with those being the only two losses of the season, hopefully.

 

[NU5XChamps]

I think we will go 3-1 at worst and maybe 4-0. The reason is because none of the teams have a bye week prior to playing us. If my memory serves me correctly, they all had bye weeks prior to our game last year. I remember there was a lot of discussion about this on here.

Wiconsin - Will not be tested at all in their Non-Con games and will have to come to Lincon, so to me that alone says WIN!!!

Northwestern - We won't screw that up again...... WIN!!

Ohio State - This is the one I worry about the most. They will be so PUMPED up for this game. They are at home, they shouldn't have lost the game to us last year, if Braxton doesn't get hurt, they probably don't. The revenage factor alone makes me worry. Finally, Meyer vs. Palini!!! In this type of match up, a offensive genious versus a defensive genious, you would think we have the edge, but it it Urban Meyer!! LOSS!!!

Michigan - I have faith that we will be able to contain Robinson at our house. I think that it is a tall order for them to come to our house and beat us like they did last year. This one I am going strictly on faith. WIN!!!

I do believe if we go 3-0 prior to Michigan, we will finish 4-0 in that stretch.