BigRedBuster
Active member
Well, if we are just expecting past results are the best we are going to get, then why are we even watching and discussing?
We've seen 25% of the regular season. How many regular season wins will NU have?
- Thread starter Red Five
- Start date
SouthLincoln Husker
New member
Lol, no
Illinois played a power 5 school & there competition was better. I never mentioned anything to do with Huskers. Please re-read my post, if you can read.
Lorewarn
New member
We were 3-0 with wins against horrible teams.
People have to start getting over this idea that we should win just by showing up against schools that don't have a name with pedigree. The days of Big XII North and B1G West perennial doormats losing before we get off the bus are over. If Indiana had our brand they'd be top 15 right now.
Husker in WI
New member
Indiana Opponents FEI/SP+
FIU: 121/143
Western Illinois: N/A, 328!!!
UCLA: 68/77
Charlotte: 127/167
Nebraska Opponents FEI/SP+
UTEP: 128/174
Colorado: 75/66
Northern Iowa: N/A/149
Illinois: 46/43
It is honestly pretty even, we are currently 37/31 in these rankings and Indiana is 43/30. They have had the easier schedule by a decent margin though - UCLA/Colorado are similar, and both teams were handled easily. FIU, Charlotte, and UTEP are all in the same range and got throttled. Northern Iowa actually fits more into that bucket than Western Illinois, who is one of the worst ranked FCS teams. So 3 games are about a wash, but when you've only played 4 games trading Western Illinois for actual Illinois is a huge difference. We are currently 37/31, Indiana is 43/30.
You're right the team can't show up expecting a cake walk, but I think if you swap the teams we'd be somewhere in the 15-20 range and not necessarily inside the top 15. And I don't really care if fans expect to just roll traditionally bad programs - it's on them when they're disappointed in a close game or a loss because they aren't paying enough attention to how good those teams are now. I don't think Indiana is as good as they appear, but they have certainly built some momentum and are much better than expected. I don't think the MAC/Sun Belt all-star team holds up through Big Ten play.
SouthLincoln Husker
New member
This post had nothing to do with Huskers. Did you read that in my post? It was about anointing a team to be great by playing bad competition.
DefenderAO
New member
You mentioned Indiana. We play them, right? Reading comprehension? Apologies for thinking there was a Husker tie in
to your comment while in a thread about Husker win predictions on Huskerboard.com.
Any thoughts on Vanderbilt's squad this year?
That Kansas monster that lost to UNLV? They’re right there in the playoff hunt when it’s expanded to 68 teams.
Indiana is more OSU/ UM than our in field results are. Don’t disparage their competition. A team that just manhandled us had bad wins before smashing our lines while on the road.
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Hilltop
New member
Manhandled is a stretch man. Going to overtime against a ranked opponent isn't getting manhandled by any definition- especially when we gave up 89 yards in penalties.
Lorewarn
New member
Calling a team great, or good, or bad, is only in relation to another team, and in this case the conversation is in relation to our team.
You take issue with people taking Indiana seriously as an opponent because they've played bad teams. Before Illinois, we've played comparably bad teams and not as well as they have, so it's definitively reasonable for people to expect this opponent to be a difficult one for our team.
DefenderAO
New member
This is the difference in watching the game and looking at stats. You may have watched; what I saw was a Defense in futility and an Offense getting worse as the game wore on.
In 5 Quarters we’d have lost by 17.
lo country
Mods
If we continue to play defensively like the past two a games there's the possibility of going 4-8. D figures things out and we let McAfee find us a kicker from Game Day we should get to 6 wins. On paper, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA and Wisky are our best bets. But we will also need to find a running game that the coaches feel can get 3 yards in 2 plays and a way to try to get our receivers plays to create separation. I'm am also not convinced that our lack luster 2nd half performances were by design as opposed to our inability to adjust. We are now 1-6 in one score games with an offensive line composed of guys who have won no more than 5 games in one season. Rhule mentioned getting more DL in the game against Purdue to keep them fresh and the OL needs to be able to play harder. Where was the DL rotation last week? I'd burn Von Pop's RS to win games. I'm a realistic pessimist at this point until I see somethings change.
Hilltop
New member
Lol. We basically played 5 quarters.
Tubby saved a few plays for late but to think it would continue that direction shows your negativity.
No way to prove either of our opinions but I believe if we played the game 3 more times, we win 2-3 of them. We were and are the better team. Even illinois fans admit that if you read their forum. I know your feelings are hurt from the last 10 years but have a bit of patience. It's getting better.
Crusader Husker
New member
I think the big problem for me to change my tune is that the OL and DL were exposed. We thought they had gotten better. I just wonder how they will fare in the B1G when we play physical teams. (Not Purdue)
Hilltop
New member
We have essentially the same offensive line from last year minus one injury. Lines take time to develop. CU showed us you can't just go buy one from the portal. We have some solid youth currently in development. Years 3 and 4 will tell the real story about our progression in the trenches imo.
Our D line is good and will be solid this year. That doesn't mean we won't see teams have some success. Hell, even Georgia's lines looked like garbage against Kentucky last week. Guessing they make adjustments and beat Alabama this week just like we will make adjustments and beat Purdue this week.
Husker in WI
New member
Felt like more of the LBs than the DL - although I don't think Jackson is ready for major reps behind Nash and he's still getting them.
And I think the OL was fine until OT as well. Illinois has good edge players, and when I was rewatching it seemed like they were beating Boerkircher/Lindenmeyer/Liebentritt/Bonner more than the OL. The made some plays against the OL as well, and overtime was just stupendously bad. False start, missed a stunt, I put 2nd down more on Raiola for waiting 4 seconds and running backwards but there wasn't a great pocket to step up into, and then I have to assume 4th down was the RBs fault. Can't imagine you set up the protection for Scott to take the LB and Emmett to be one on one with a 250 lb edge.
Definitely some things to improve, but it didn't look like the lines were overmatched until the OL in overtime. Defense just felt like their OC found some good wrinkles and exploited them, but it wasn't just pushing the DL around.