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With the Nebraska football team’s Sept. 5 season opener still more than 100 days away, making predictions on the Cornhuskers’ final 2009 record seems foolhardy at best.
As everyone familiar with college football knows, there can be many developments in the months between the end of spring practice and the start of fall camp in August — good and bad. On the negative side, there can be serious injuries and those dreaded incidents that sometimes result in suspensions or even dismissals from the program. In the plus column, summer workouts can start the path to stardom for previously unknown players.
That said, almost half the fun of the sport for many of us is scanning the preseason predictions and speculation that has made college football preview magazines popular summer reading. Prompted by our good friends at Huskers Illustrated, who are soliciting predictions — a.k.a. guesses — from the state’s media types for their summer magazine, here’s how we see Nebraska’s 2009 season (for now):
& Florida Atlantic (Sept. 5): Nebraska opens its season with a victory over the Owls, exacting a small — make that very small — measure of revenge against coach Howard Schnellenberger. Yes, the man who spoiled the Huskers’ national championship bid in 1983 is back on the sidelines, leading Florida Atlantic to the Sun Belt Conference title in 2007 and a 7-6 record last year, capped by a victory over Central Michigan in the Motor City Bowl. WIN (1-0).
& Arkansas St. (Sept. 12): The Huskers should open the season 2-0 at home, but might not want to get caught peeking ahead to Virginia Tech. Arkansas State is expected to contend for the Sun Belt title and returns three-time 1,000-yard rusher Reggie Arnold as well as defensive lineman Alex Carrington, who was the 2008 Sun Belt defensive player of the year. WIN (2-0).
& At Virginia Tech (Sept. 19): With Virginia Tech returning 17 starters from a squad that beat Nebraska last year in Lincoln and went on to win the Orange Bowl, this looks like a loss for the Huskers. Making a road debut in Blacksburg, Va., seems like a very tall order for whoever NU’s starting quarterback may be. LOSS (2-1).
& Louisiana-Lafayette (Sept. 26): Nebraska completes its Sun Belt tour with a victory over Louisiana-Lafayette. The Ragin’ Cajuns have athletes, but must replace starting quarterback Michael Desormeaux and inexperienced signal-callers traditionally don’t fare well in Memorial Stadium. WIN (3-1).
& At Missouri (Oct. 8): The Thursday-night ESPN contest looms as an important swing game in Nebraska’s season. The Tigers, who lost both coordinators and are the only team in the Big 12 to return fewer starters than the Huskers, might be vulnerable even in Columbia this year. WIN (4-1).
& Texas Tech (Oct. 17): After last year’s heart-breaking overtime loss at Lubbock, there should be plenty of motivation for the Huskers. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that the Red Raiders graduated three-year starting quarterback Graham Harrell and lost star receiver Michael Crabtree to the NFL Draft. WIN (5-1).
& Iowa State (Oct. 24): The Cyclones will likely still be trying to find their way with a new staff under first-year head coach Paul Rhoads. Iowa State will join the long list of teams to adopt the spread offense, but don’t appear ready to win in Lincoln yet. WIN (6-1).
& At Baylor (Oct. 31): With Oklahoma coming to town the following week, the road trip to Waco, Texas, looks extremely dangerous. The improved Bears return a conference-best 20 starters, but the one who will matter most is sophomore quarterback Robert Griffin. LOSS (6-2).
& Oklahoma (Nov. 7): Had Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Sam Bradford decided to leave early for the NFL Draft, Nebraska might have had a chance at payback for last year’s beat-down in Norman. Unfortunately for coach Bo Pelini and his defensive coaching staff, Bradford is returns. LOSS (6-3).
& At Kansas (Nov. 14): The crystal ball is a little foggy, but it appears this could be the game that ultimately decided the Big 12’s North Division. Playing at home and having an experienced quarterback like Todd Reesing gives the Jayhawks the edge. LOSS (6-4).
& Kansas St. (Nov. 21): By the time coach Bill Snyder returns to Lincoln in his second tour of duty with the Wildcats, the shine could already be off KSU’s interesting coaching hire. Then again, if there’s anyone who knows how to make Kansas State a winner again, it’s Snyder. WIN (7-4).
& At Colorado (Nov. 27): Like earlier games at Missouri and at home against Texas Tech, the road trip to Boulder looms as key swing game. Picking the Huskers to win all three of those toss-up contests with a first-year quarterback at the helm might be considered overly optimistic outside of Husker Nation. WIN (8-4).
Should these projections somehow pan out, that likely leaves Nebraska out of the Big 12 championship game, but still headed to a bowl game for a second consecutive season under Pelini. After giving the Huskers the benefit of the doubt in several regular-season contests, we’re compelled to project a bowl-game loss, leaving NU with a final record of 8-5.
While that prediction won’t thrill most Husker fans, it might look pretty good when one considers Nebraska will be breaking in a new quarterback and returns 12 starters — the second-fewest in the Big 12, ranking only ahead of Missouri’s 10. If Pelini and Co. can somehow find a way to squeeze out another nine-win season, it says here that his offseason pay raise would be well-deserved.
Terry Douglass is sports editor for The Independent.
With the Nebraska football team’s Sept. 5 season opener still more than 100 days away, making predictions on the Cornhuskers’ final 2009 record seems foolhardy at best.
As everyone familiar with college football knows, there can be many developments in the months between the end of spring practice and the start of fall camp in August — good and bad. On the negative side, there can be serious injuries and those dreaded incidents that sometimes result in suspensions or even dismissals from the program. In the plus column, summer workouts can start the path to stardom for previously unknown players.
That said, almost half the fun of the sport for many of us is scanning the preseason predictions and speculation that has made college football preview magazines popular summer reading. Prompted by our good friends at Huskers Illustrated, who are soliciting predictions — a.k.a. guesses — from the state’s media types for their summer magazine, here’s how we see Nebraska’s 2009 season (for now):
& Florida Atlantic (Sept. 5): Nebraska opens its season with a victory over the Owls, exacting a small — make that very small — measure of revenge against coach Howard Schnellenberger. Yes, the man who spoiled the Huskers’ national championship bid in 1983 is back on the sidelines, leading Florida Atlantic to the Sun Belt Conference title in 2007 and a 7-6 record last year, capped by a victory over Central Michigan in the Motor City Bowl. WIN (1-0).
& Arkansas St. (Sept. 12): The Huskers should open the season 2-0 at home, but might not want to get caught peeking ahead to Virginia Tech. Arkansas State is expected to contend for the Sun Belt title and returns three-time 1,000-yard rusher Reggie Arnold as well as defensive lineman Alex Carrington, who was the 2008 Sun Belt defensive player of the year. WIN (2-0).
& At Virginia Tech (Sept. 19): With Virginia Tech returning 17 starters from a squad that beat Nebraska last year in Lincoln and went on to win the Orange Bowl, this looks like a loss for the Huskers. Making a road debut in Blacksburg, Va., seems like a very tall order for whoever NU’s starting quarterback may be. LOSS (2-1).
& Louisiana-Lafayette (Sept. 26): Nebraska completes its Sun Belt tour with a victory over Louisiana-Lafayette. The Ragin’ Cajuns have athletes, but must replace starting quarterback Michael Desormeaux and inexperienced signal-callers traditionally don’t fare well in Memorial Stadium. WIN (3-1).
& At Missouri (Oct. 8): The Thursday-night ESPN contest looms as an important swing game in Nebraska’s season. The Tigers, who lost both coordinators and are the only team in the Big 12 to return fewer starters than the Huskers, might be vulnerable even in Columbia this year. WIN (4-1).
& Texas Tech (Oct. 17): After last year’s heart-breaking overtime loss at Lubbock, there should be plenty of motivation for the Huskers. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that the Red Raiders graduated three-year starting quarterback Graham Harrell and lost star receiver Michael Crabtree to the NFL Draft. WIN (5-1).
& Iowa State (Oct. 24): The Cyclones will likely still be trying to find their way with a new staff under first-year head coach Paul Rhoads. Iowa State will join the long list of teams to adopt the spread offense, but don’t appear ready to win in Lincoln yet. WIN (6-1).
& At Baylor (Oct. 31): With Oklahoma coming to town the following week, the road trip to Waco, Texas, looks extremely dangerous. The improved Bears return a conference-best 20 starters, but the one who will matter most is sophomore quarterback Robert Griffin. LOSS (6-2).
& Oklahoma (Nov. 7): Had Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Sam Bradford decided to leave early for the NFL Draft, Nebraska might have had a chance at payback for last year’s beat-down in Norman. Unfortunately for coach Bo Pelini and his defensive coaching staff, Bradford is returns. LOSS (6-3).
& At Kansas (Nov. 14): The crystal ball is a little foggy, but it appears this could be the game that ultimately decided the Big 12’s North Division. Playing at home and having an experienced quarterback like Todd Reesing gives the Jayhawks the edge. LOSS (6-4).
& Kansas St. (Nov. 21): By the time coach Bill Snyder returns to Lincoln in his second tour of duty with the Wildcats, the shine could already be off KSU’s interesting coaching hire. Then again, if there’s anyone who knows how to make Kansas State a winner again, it’s Snyder. WIN (7-4).
& At Colorado (Nov. 27): Like earlier games at Missouri and at home against Texas Tech, the road trip to Boulder looms as key swing game. Picking the Huskers to win all three of those toss-up contests with a first-year quarterback at the helm might be considered overly optimistic outside of Husker Nation. WIN (8-4).
Should these projections somehow pan out, that likely leaves Nebraska out of the Big 12 championship game, but still headed to a bowl game for a second consecutive season under Pelini. After giving the Huskers the benefit of the doubt in several regular-season contests, we’re compelled to project a bowl-game loss, leaving NU with a final record of 8-5.
While that prediction won’t thrill most Husker fans, it might look pretty good when one considers Nebraska will be breaking in a new quarterback and returns 12 starters — the second-fewest in the Big 12, ranking only ahead of Missouri’s 10. If Pelini and Co. can somehow find a way to squeeze out another nine-win season, it says here that his offseason pay raise would be well-deserved.
Terry Douglass is sports editor for The Independent.
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