What is our record next year?

Roark said:
I honestly don't see why people are being so confident. This is a completely untested offense with new coaches all around, a schedule against some serious competition and some question marks from last season that have yet to be answered... I could definitely see this as a six-loss season.
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Defense will be slightly better than last year. I see Crick and David peaking at the right time to bring some serious pain.

We return a LOT of starters on offense. The new guys look very promising. At worst the coaching changes will be a wash. Yes, they are new and the scheme is somewhat different, but the scheme and coaches are also twice as good as their predecessors.

I really think people were devaluing the impact that Watson's offense was having on not only the offense, but the entire team. If you pay attention to a lot of the early comments by Carl Pelini, he seems as happy if not happier than anyone that Watson is gone and the D can stop carrying the team.

Also, didn't Okie State install a new offense with a new coordinator and some new players at key skill positions last year, yet was one of the best offenses in the country?

 
Roark said:
I honestly don't see why people are being so confident. This is a completely untested offense with new coaches all around, a schedule against some serious competition and some question marks from last season that have yet to be answered... I could definitely see this as a six-loss season.
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Do you have anything positive to say about Nebraska? Serious question, because I've yet to see it.

 
knapplc said:
bigg10 said:
Wow you guys are under some sort of spell. The teams that will be a "gut check" for Nebraska are:

(in no order). Wiskey (they play hard!!). Northwestern (even thou they play the same type of ball)I think you pull off a close one. Oh St wont be worth a cr@p this year. Penn St can put up a fight but can not match your talent, Iowa, (they will give you a game). Mich (rebuilding) and Mich St, (same type of ball) but are the most over rated team ever. Ok maybe not more than OR.
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How is that different than the Big XII? Colorado fights us tooth and nail every game. So does K-State. Missouri has beaten us three times in the last six years. Texas owns our a$$, Oklahoma is a dogfight, hell even ISU puts up a struggle. A&M showed they can still bloody our nose, Kansas was giving us competitive games for most of the past five years (including the most points we've ever given up, ever) and Texas Tech has some sort of voodoo magic witch doctor spell on us.

I don't care how tough the Big Ten is (and I anticipate it'll be tough) it won't be tougher than what we've seen. The Big XII has always, always, always featured several tough teams, and several more than can rise up on any given Saturday.

This year will be a grind. But that's good - we have grinders on our team, too.
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That's not what I was saying at all, I was only trying to say that I think you give more credit to some of these teams, than is due. I think you only have a couple teams, that will be able to put up to much of a fight this year. I think a 2 to 3 loss season is to be expected. Might only drop 1 but I would be very shocked if it was over 3.

 
Roark said:
I honestly don't see why people are being so confident. This is a completely untested offense with new coaches all around, a schedule against some serious competition and some question marks from last season that have yet to be answered... I could definitely see this as a six-loss season.
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It's not that we're planning on things being vastly improved. At least I'm not. But, I am VERY confident that our offense can't function much worse than it has the last couple of years to finish 10-4. The defense should be back closer to 09' form (better stopping the rush), and even if the offense improves just a little (and by improve a little all I mean is not fumble 45 or so times next season, maybe around 30?) then I can easily see us adding 1 more win. As tOSU goes into the crapper the schedule doesn't seem as daunting as it once did. Then again we could have a run of bad luck, some injuries, off-field drama or find out the Big10 is a lot tougher than we though it was and end up with 5-6 losses like you say. But at this point you have to assume that we'll be fielding a solid team with limitted distractions all season...so we shouldn't be any worse than 10-4. 11-3 or 12-2 isn't far fetched.

 
kchusker_chris said:
Roark said:
I honestly don't see why people are being so confident. This is a completely untested offense with new coaches all around, a schedule against some serious competition and some question marks from last season that have yet to be answered... I could definitely see this as a six-loss season.
Click to expand...
It's not that we're planning on things being vastly improved. At least I'm not. But, I am VERY confident that our offense can't function much worse than it has the last couple of years to finish 10-4. The defense should be back closer to 09' form (better stopping the rush), and even if the offense improves just a little (and by improve a little all I mean is not fumble 45 or so times next season, maybe around 30?) then I can easily see us adding 1 more win. As tOSU goes into the crapper the schedule doesn't seem as daunting as it once did. Then again we could have a run of bad luck, some injuries, off-field drama or find out the Big10 is a lot tougher than we though it was and end up with 5-6 losses like you say. But at this point you have to assume that we'll be fielding a solid team with limitted distractions all season...so we shouldn't be any worse than 10-4. 11-3 or 12-2 isn't far fetched.
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I agree with most of what you said. But, I think the Big 10 is due for a down year compared to last. tOSU will probably implode, Wisky will drop (they lost alot of talent on both sides), as will MSU. They won a ridiculous amount of close games, ala Iowa '09. Michigan is changing their entire team (O & D), and Minnesota is.... minnesota. PSU doesn't have a quarterback, and Northwestern can give you a headache if you can't defend the spread (IOWA). I think we go 10-2 regular season.

 
saunders45 said:
kchusker_chris said:
Roark said:
I honestly don't see why people are being so confident. This is a completely untested offense with new coaches all around, a schedule against some serious competition and some question marks from last season that have yet to be answered... I could definitely see this as a six-loss season.
Click to expand...
It's not that we're planning on things being vastly improved. At least I'm not. But, I am VERY confident that our offense can't function much worse than it has the last couple of years to finish 10-4. The defense should be back closer to 09' form (better stopping the rush), and even if the offense improves just a little (and by improve a little all I mean is not fumble 45 or so times next season, maybe around 30?) then I can easily see us adding 1 more win. As tOSU goes into the crapper the schedule doesn't seem as daunting as it once did. Then again we could have a run of bad luck, some injuries, off-field drama or find out the Big10 is a lot tougher than we though it was and end up with 5-6 losses like you say. But at this point you have to assume that we'll be fielding a solid team with limitted distractions all season...so we shouldn't be any worse than 10-4. 11-3 or 12-2 isn't far fetched.
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I agree with most of what you said. But, I think the Big 10 is due for a down year compared to last. tOSU will probably implode, Wisky will drop (they lost alot of talent on both sides), as will MSU. They won a ridiculous amount of close games, ala Iowa '09. Michigan is changing their entire team (O & D), and Minnesota is.... minnesota. PSU doesn't have a quarterback, and Northwestern can give you a headache if you can't defend the spread (IOWA). I think we go 10-2 regular season.
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Agree - the stars kind of aligned for the Big10 last year with Wisconsin (#66), Ohio State (#70), and Michigan State (#57) all playing relatively easy schedules and the end results reflected that. You look at the top of the Big12 last year with Oklahoma (#20), Nebraska (#39), Okie State (#44), A&M (#17), Missouri (#28) - and at least based on Sagarin the Big12 was stronger.

Then again, Sagarin had the Pac10 as by far the toughest with OSU(#1), Wash St (#2), Wash (#3), UCLA (#4), Ariz St (#5), Cal (#6), Arizona (#7), USC (#8), Stanford (#9), Oregon (#10). You can't tell me someone from the SEC didn't have a tougher schedule than one of those 10. Sagarin lost some validity with his rankings after last year IMO.

 
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kchusker_chris said:
Then again, Sagarin had the Pac10 as by far the toughest with OSU(#1), Wash St (#2), Wash (#3), UCLA (#4), Ariz St (#5), Cal (#6), Arizona (#7), USC (#8), Stanford (#9), Oregon (#10). You can't tell me someone from the SEC didn't have a tougher schedule than one of those 10. Sagarin lost some validity with his rankings after last year IMO.
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That was easily the biggest screwup of Sagarin's numbers in recent memory. I emailed him about it, and he told me it was because they played a nine-game round-robin schedule in conference, meaning they only played three OOC games each, and those OOC games were against overall higher competition than the OOC games of other conferences. When the Pac-10 came through those OOC games and their opponents were still in good shape overall, that set them up for the rest of the year because, according to his numbers, they were all locked in to competing against higher-ranked teams all the time.

I told him that was a statistical anomaly, and he disagreed. He has to be a slave to his numbers, though, or the whole thing crashes down. Whether the numbers make sense or not he has to publish them because as soon as he manually tweaks them to produce a more logical result he loses all credibility.

 
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Big 10 has some solid teams for sure, but there is a lot of inconsistency too. Take Wisconsin for instance. They scored 83 points. That's right 83 vs. Indiana, but only beat Iowa by ONE. That's the same Iowa team that Indiana had dead to rights if their receiver doesn't drop the ball in the end zone. Also, Wisconsin with its brute force ground game gets beat by TCU in the Rose. Why weren't they able to just run the ball right down the Horn Frogs throats? Look at Michigan State, the only team to beat Wisky. They got pounded on by Iowa. So they end with a one-loss season, but get flat embarrassed by Nick Saban and the Tide in bowl action. Ohio State may have lost to Wisky, but they looked like the best of the group in winning against Arkansas in the Sugar.

I see a lot of one-dimensional ball being played. We'll be fine in the pre-Big 10 slate. Wisconsin is no rougher place to play than Okla State for sure. Ohio State will come limping to Lincoln, so I like our chances there. Michigan State is a home game. Michigan is bad, and should go down without too much of a fight. Penn State is the wild card as they are inconsistent year to year under Joe Pa. We haven't had much success against Penn State at Beaver Stadium. The last time we visited was 2002, when the Huskers finished with a .500 record. This year will be different.

I am saying one-loss season. Big 10 title. Rose or another BCS bowl.

P.S. Our offense will be fine. I am very excited about Bo getting the chance to have the offense that fits his vision and not the offense he inherited from someone else only to be called by Watson, who didn't call the Cally offense the year before.

 
Roark said:
I honestly don't see why people are being so confident. This is a completely untested offense with new coaches all around, a schedule against some serious competition and some question marks from last season that have yet to be answered... I could definitely see this as a six-loss season.
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I just think our schedule isn't as tough as everyone is making it out to be. There isn't a team on there we CAN'T beat. Every team we play has question marks as well. Aside from maybe tOSU we have the most talented team in conference. A 2-loss season seems A LOT more reasonable than a 6-loss season. Our defense is way too stout for that. But judging from previous posts you're probably just trolling.

 
tmfr15 said:
Big 10 has some solid teams for sure, but there is a lot of inconsistency too. Take Wisconsin for instance. They scored 83 points. That's right 83 vs. Indiana, but only beat Iowa by ONE. That's the same Iowa team that Indiana had dead to rights if their receiver doesn't drop the ball in the end zone. Also, Wisconsin with its brute force ground game gets beat by TCU in the Rose. Why weren't they able to just run the ball right down the Horn Frogs throats? Look at Michigan State, the only team to beat Wisky. They got pounded on by Iowa. So they end with a one-loss season, but get flat embarrassed by Nick Saban and the Tide in bowl action. Ohio State may have lost to Wisky, but they looked like the best of the group in winning against Arkansas in the Sugar.

I see a lot of one-dimensional ball being played. We'll be fine in the pre-Big 10 slate. Wisconsin is no rougher place to play than Okla State for sure. Ohio State will come limping to Lincoln, so I like our chances there. Michigan State is a home game. Michigan is bad, and should go down without too much of a fight. Penn State is the wild card as they are inconsistent year to year under Joe Pa. We haven't had much success against Penn State at Beaver Stadium. The last time we visited was 2002, when the Huskers finished with a .500 record. This year will be different.

I am saying one-loss season. Big 10 title. Rose or another BCS bowl.

P.S. Our offense will be fine. I am very excited about Bo getting the chance to have the offense that fits his vision and not the offense he inherited from someone else only to be called by Watson, who didn't call the Cally offense the year before.
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While I agree with the end of your post, the first part points out what I was trying to say. Wiskey could have and should have stuck with thier game plan and they would have beaten TCU. OH St has been just barely escaping Wiskey and Iowa for some time now and Mich St got exposed by Iowa for the over rated team they were. It was truely an ebarassment to have them represent the Big 10 in a bowl like that. From where I am sitting, I see your first and last game in conf play being the hardest, yes you cant overlook Penn, Mich St or Northwestern, but you should be able to handle them, kinda like what Missery was to you all.

 
Three losses Wisc, Ohio State, & Ohio State (Pryor throws ball away, clock expires, yet one second put back on). We play in New Years Day bowl, playing Florida or Auburn.

 
The Dude said:
Roark said:
I honestly don't see why people are being so confident. This is a completely untested offense with new coaches all around, a schedule against some serious competition and some question marks from last season that have yet to be answered... I could definitely see this as a six-loss season.
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I just think our schedule isn't as tough as everyone is making it out to be. There isn't a team on there we CAN'T beat. Every team we play has question marks as well. Aside from maybe tOSU we have the most talented team in conference. A 2-loss season seems A LOT more reasonable than a 6-loss season. Our defense is way too stout for that. But judging from previous posts you're probably just trolling.
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I won't take offense... I got called a troll (not on this board) for predicting a four loss season last year. I'm just thinking realistically- new offense, new coaches, entirely new schedule. I, for one, don't think Ohio State will be a pushover in Lincoln, even if they do lose their head coach. I also like how the "we were good last year, so that means we're gonna be GREAT this year" sentiment only applies to Nebraska and not teams like Michigan State and Penn State, that have more returning starters.

 
With all the questions that come with changing offenses, coaches and conferences, I think Nebraska is a wild card in this year's B1G race. They could pull an Iowa '09 or MSU '10 and win a ton of close games. Or they could pull an Oklahoma '09 and lose a ton of close games. I'd say the best case scenario is 10-2 with the worst case being 8-4. Here's my best case breakdown:

Tennessee-Chattanooga - W - 45-7

Shouldn't be too hard to roll in this one, though there could be growing pains.

Fresno State - W - 31-14

This will be tougher than most think. They will come to play and may give us a scare.

Washington - W - 37-17

Motivation will not be an issue here, though Chris Polk will still give us some problems.

Wyoming - W - 35-10

You know how Pelini's 'skers like "playin' against road games," and this is their first one. I would doubt that they'd get too complacent.

Wisconsin - L - 21-19

Night game in Madison. The last super-heated road environment the Huskers went into didn't treat them well.

Ohio State - W - 20-18

OSU comes in with everything to prove and gives us their best. However, the Tat 5 are too rusty, and hopefully that "Take Back Gameday" movement on FB will have made Memorial Stadium a tougher environment.

Minnesota - W - 30-20

This has letdown/scare written all over it. Kill is a good coach. Who's to say he won't have some kind of Rhoads-esque luck against Pelini?

Michigan State - W - 35-15

Huskers should win this handily if they take care of fundamentals and play a clean game.

Northwestern - W - 39-30

Their spread attack gives us a scare. It could very well be an upset if Pelini and Co. don't take the other NU seriously.

Penn State - L - 15-14

This year's Texas A&M. A good-- but not great-- Penn State team gets juiced by their home crowd and edges us in an ugly game.

Michigan - W - 28-15

A mad Husker team with lots to prove takes it out on Michigan's rebuilding D and does enough against their new pro-style O.

Iowa - W - 21-20

Don't think Iowa doesn't have this one circled, already. Nebraska could be the better team at this point, but get ready for Iowa to go all Colorado on us and keep it frighteningly close.

If that record comes to fruition, you'd have to imagine they will go the B1G championship for a rematch with Wisky. In which case, the rule of rematches always seems to favor the team that lost the first time. It'll be ugly, though.

 
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