May very well finish below .500, again.
Thanks, bill.
Put down a number. Now is your chance to show off your soothsaying skills that you claim you have. If you pick a record and you are right, you can talk all the crap you want.
As far as my predictions for this season, it is way too early to accurately predict how it will turn out. There are gonna be a lot of newcomers in the fall, and the JCs had better be all that they are supposed to be, otherwise, 04 could look like a really good year. The problem with Jucos is that they have never played against talent this good, and they are more of a gamble than HS’s.
Defense- The D was great in 03, terrible in 04, the worst at NU in about 50 years. It lost 3 top 40 NFL picks, so how could they be better? The line should be improved (which wont be hard to do) as there are a number of players back with playing experience, and they seemed to do well during the spring. Its gonna be tough for the LBs to be better than they were last year with the loss of Ruud, as the ballyhooed JCs try to adjust to Div I play. Look for Bo Ruud and Bradley to make an impact, but they won’t be able to overcome the loss of Barrett. The DBs were supposed to be the strength of the team in 04, but were terrible. The loss of 3 starters, (2 All American caliber players) can’t be good. Bowman had better be as good as advertised, and Grixby needs to develop, as this is shaping up to be a poor year for this unit, which lacks impact players and depth. Overall, slightly improved play by the line could help ease the burden of the LBs/DBs, but this group will probably fare about the same as last year.
Offense-the new system is pretty complicated, and similar versions of the WCO have never had any substantial success in college football. The OL was a nice surprise last year, but there have been losses, and they have not performed as well this spring, so this could be a weak spot. The WRs were average at best last year, and lost a couple of decent players. Brooks, Hardy, and Nunn need to step up and be the players that they are supposed to be; otherwise this O will never work. TE is a huge ? as AA caliber Herian is recovering from injury, and the coaches never did figure out how to utilize him last year. Touted Tomerlin needs to have a huge impact, but again is a JC question. The RBs are certainly the strength of this team, with Ross returning, and B Jackson making big strides in the off-season. The addition of Lucky will help, but he probably will have as much impact as T Green did last year. QB is a huge ?, too, as starter Dailey transfers, leaving former Wake Forrest backup Taylor as the top choice to replace him, or heralded but unproven frosh Beck. Taylor had a good spring against the scout team and in passing drills, but doing the same against OU and CU will be a different task all together. Overall, slight improvement IF the Oline shapes up.
Special Teams-well what is to say here? There is almost no way possible that they could get any worse, as this was the worst special teams in quite possibly the history of the program. Kick coverages were atrocious, the return game was stagnant, PK was average at best, with the bright spot being a capable punter. Incoming kicker Cogdon should make a slight impact, as should PR Rands. There is almost no way possible that they could get worse, could they?
Games
Maine-W, that’s why pud didn’t schedule Houston
Wake Forest-?? tossup
Pittsburgh-?? tossup
Iowa State-?? If it was on road, certain loss, but home field gives NU hope
Texas Tech-L
Baylor --??, should be a win, but this staff hasn’t shown the ability to win on the road
Missouri--?? On the road(??), will probably end up a loss,
Oklahoma-L, lots of losses, still too much for NU
Kansas-?? KU should be improved, but again, road games for NU were tough in 04
Kansas State-Not very good, but Snyder has had NUs #, and they weren’t very good last year either
Colorado-L, always plays NU tough in Boulder, CU should win easily
It’s premature to predict the other games at this time, with all the incoming players (I can make a more accurate prediction closer to opening day). NU SHOULD go 10-1 with such an easy schedule, but they should have been 10-1 or 9-2 last year, too. Realistically, they will for sure lose to OU, Tech, and CU, and will beat Maine. The rest are tossups. NU could go 8-3, but 1-10 with this staff is not impossible, either.
AT THIS TIME, I predict NU will most likely get 6 wins (7 max) as they have too much in the tank to be as bad as last year.