What were... and ... what are expecations

T

tmfr15

Starter
I think I speak for a lot of folks on this board who began the season without knowing what expectations to have. I mean, what the heck was reasonable? We had nothing to base expectations on.

Would we pass too much? Run too much? Would the defense be bad? Would special teams improve with the new coach that's dedicated to that aspect alone?

We have some idea of what there is now. And, its reasonable to say that expectations for this team start and end with bowl eligibility. It is reasonable to think Nebraska can get to six wins and go bowling. Beyond that is a struggle. Two losses in and you have to figure Michigan State and Wisconsin to be losses. Neither have looked world beating, but both likely have more talent that we do. Then there's Minnesota and Iowa. The Gophers are not going to look great. They're the Gophers after all, but we have to play then at their place. It's going to be hard. And Iowa beat us in 2013 and had us on the ropes in 2014. They'll be hard to beat, even at our place, this year.

Nebraska may beat Iowa or Minny, but I don't think both. And I am thinking Northwestern might get us. They look good this year too. So that makes us 6-6.

That's not high expectations. But here is a thought. Just enjoy the season that we do have. There are going to be rises and some fails. Let's see how this develops. Let's see if some of the walk ons excel. In the high pressure environment of CFB, just take this season in and let the results be whatever the results are.

We don't know what comes next. And it's impossible to know. What will the recruiting do this year? Don't know, check back in late January. What's Armstrong going to look like next fall? Don't know. He might not even be the starter.

We have this year. We have this moment. It isn't too crazy to say that we should enjoy it as much as possible. CFB will be gone soon enough and then the LONG LONG LONG off season will begin. I am happy here. Right here and now. I don't need expectations for that to be true.

 
Expectations? Well, 9 wins is the going rate. We're a couple plays from being 3-0, but whatever...

The one thing I'm most curious about re: the new coaching staff is who's providing the "fire"? Riley is a "nice guy" in the mold of Osborne or Bill Snyder, but even the latter 2 have/had some motivational edge to their game. Riley? He's so chill I'm having a hard time visualizing him doing the motivational thing, let alone, get into anybody's face. Riley makes Ben Carson look like the Energizer Bunny. Banker? Also looks pretty even keel. Same with Langsdorf. The rcvrs coac(name?) has some fire, but he's, you know, the rcvrs coach.

The team looks pretty flat at the beginning of games whereas other teams are jumping around like psychos. So, I put it to the class here: who, if anybody, is providing the "fire" for this team?

 
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I don't have hard expectations in year 1. I didn't have them for Pelini or Callahan. I think I did for Solich but I was pretty spoiled at that point, we all were.

That first year is crucial for laying a foundation within the program for what's to come. The years following are crucial and you can actually make some noise. Then the expectations begin.

I do think it would be a bad sign if we didn't make a bowl game. I think we will and I think we match up better with the Big Ten teams we face coming up, if we can stay relatively healthy. Outside of Michigan State we don't play dynamic offenses in conference.

 
Pre season I thought 9-3 w losses to Miami Wisconsin and MSU.

Now I would say 8-4 with BYU loss.

Teams better than I expected:

BYU, NW, Miami

Teams worse than I expected:

Minnesota, Rutgers

 
Whatever is fine with me.

I don't buy tickets, I don't buy Husker stuff except at the thrift shops. The layout I make is that I pay my mom's cable bill for the Big Ten network because she likes to have kids and grandkids over for the game. At that level of buy in, I expect eleven men from Nebraska on the field for the entire game, nothing more and nothing less. Other than that, nobody owes me anything.

Whatever is served up, I'll chew on for a while and then either swallow it or spit it out.
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i was expecting a sh#tstorm after the first loss of the season. Unfortunately i was right.

 
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I figured that a .504 coach with an experienced staff was equal to one or two wins extra. I figured with our schedule, the pre-season hype and coach speak that this would translate into a 10-11 win season.

I have since realized that perhaps Riley and Co are simply a .500 staff. The talent at NU will possibly eek out another win or two on talent alone and we are looking at 7-8 wins. Unless things improve (staff/depth/talent wise) we are probably a continuing 7-8 team with no real blowouts and maybe an upset victory.

Coaching aside, we have serious depth issues at LB, DE, DL and OL. Miami, while not "better" exposed our speed. Although, IMO, our S&C exposed their lack of S&C as we seemed to wear them down. Not having an heir apparent at RB is also showing. We were blessed to have 3 of the best RB's in school history during these roller coaster times.

That is the reality as I see it now. We are the most penalized team in college football. I do not know how you coach that out of kids. One is either disciplined or not. New scheme, formations etc is simply an excuse. All of this with the "coach speak pared down playbook".

I was unsure who Riley was. Can't say I was thrilled with the hire, but like TO, Frank, Cally, and Bo he deserves his time and opportunity. As much as it pains me to think of a WCO, he deserves the time to get that in place. Maybe he can change and adapt to the culture of Nebraska and lean more on a traditional TO run game.

 
A lot depends on injuries. If we stay healthy and get some players back we definitely go bowling. If injuries go in the other direction we could have a losing season.

 
At this point it should be obvious to everyone this is a building year. Whether we want it to be or not.

The entire team, whatever their game experience before, has 3 games worth of experience with the new staff. There's a learning curve there.

I don't know what the ceiling is for this year's team, or next year's. I'll wait and see.

 
I only see maybe 5 games on the schedule left that I can say they'll win so that would be 6 wins, maybe they pull of a Riley upset like OSU did to ASU last year so I'm hoping for 7 wins and preparing for 6

 
I don't know if you can expect a Stoops like year out of 98% of the NCAA coaches. I would agree with a lot of folks that you wait until he gets his guys and it's truly "his" team. So the real question is-Is Coach happy go lucky the man to accomplish where we want to be??

I predict a break even season.

BYU-L

Southern Alabama-W

Miami-L

Southern Miss-W

Illinois-W

Wisconsin-L

Minnesota-L

Northwestern-W

Purdue-W

Michigan State-L

Rutgers-W

Iowa-L

6-6

Coach's poll: Happiest coach in the Big 10.

 
Who is BJ Day? Never heard of the guy.

Anyway, my only hope/expectation with the new staff was that we would play to our best potential, that the team would know the plays and execute them as well as they could. That we would be competitive and able to say that we only lost to teams that were clearly better than the Huskers.

My expectations are in tatters, not because we lost any game, but because we obviously have not played as well as we should have. I hope this improves dramatically before the end of the year.

I have never based my hopes on wins/losses, but rather on the team's ability to play their individual positions and as a whole team. So far, none of that has occurred, except sporadically.

 
Im stickin with 9-4. Mainly because I said a 2-2 start. I just have a hard time believing theyll be no improvement. This barring additional injuries as well.

 
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