CBS Sports: Breaking Down the Big Ten Schedules

[Landlord]

so if the kid is good but not great, is that all Fresno needs to beat us?

History says yes.

 

[Count 'Bility]

Someone explain to me why last year was supposed to be a big year?

Sure 3-4 years ago we pointed to it. "Ah yes, first year with an easy sched in big 10. Taylor Martinez a senior. Etc Etc Etc.". But when it finally came down to kickoff last August and seeing how green and inexperienced the Defense was gonna be. Then with it being pretty apparent our 4th year QB was having serious health issues, I just dont know how anyone couldve expected last year to by that year.

Who exactly do you want to blame that lack of experience problem on Count Billy T? There was a reason Bo said he should have played some of the younger guys the prior season. Bo doesn't just acknowledge his mistakes unless he really saw it as a mistake. Some of those guys were ready, could have contributed, and could have gone into last year with some damn good game experience. Bo mismanaged that situation.

Also, what health issues were there prior to the season? I wasn't aware of an injury occurring until the UCLA game? The entire state of Nebraska was talking about "Scoring Explosion" blah, blah, blah......I never bought it much, but that's because I never bought into Taylor Martinez much, but I fully understand why expectations were high. It was fed to us all off season.

You guys are going places with my comment that has nothing to do with my comment. it was about our expectations for 2013 compared to what they probably shouldve been. Now youre wanting to place blame and all this. I'm not arguing your stance on that. I agree with it.

And as far as injury goes, I said right after the Wyoming that there was something wrong with Martinez. hell, My dad sat in the south stadium and talked about it the whole game. he didnt look right. he didnt look himself. he didnt look ready. And then he shows up after the game with ice on his foot, and it just escalated from there of course.

 

[papersun87]

We've had average QBs from mid-major schools putting scares into NU since the Solich days. This is not new.

 

[RedDenver]

Honestly if Nebraska cant go 4-0 heading into conference play they will be hard pressed to contend for a division title. Winning at Sparty is going to be tiugh but not mandatory. Winning at Wisfy and Iowa are definitely mandatory though. Wiscy looks to be our biggest threat in the West and Iowas scchedule is manageable enough to stack up conference wins and fight for a spot.

I agree with your sentiment, but our non-con literally makes no difference in whether we win the division. Who thought MSU would win the division after losing to ND and playing inept offense in the non-con?

Sure, we could go 0-4 ooc, then go 8-0 in conference play and win the division. Incredibly unlikely though. Im saying 4-0 in ooc games would go a long way in cementing us as a threat. If we go 3-1 were not really on the radar as far as a contender goes. Basically if we cant beat our 4 non B1G opponents were going to struggle to win 7 or 8 league games.

Again, I agree with the point you're making. I'm just pointing out that whether we're perceived as a "contender" makes absolutely no difference since winning the division is solely based on record.

 

[RedDenver]

We've had average QBs from mid-major schools putting scares into NU since the Solich days. This is not new.

So other teams playing well and keeping the score closer than we as fans would like is the same as them beating us?

 

[True2tRA]

Someone explain to me why last year was supposed to be a big year?

Sure 3-4 years ago we pointed to it. "Ah yes, first year with an easy sched in big 10. Taylor Martinez a senior. Etc Etc Etc.". But when it finally came down to kickoff last August and seeing how green and inexperienced the Defense was gonna be. Then with it being pretty apparent our 4th year QB was having serious health issues, I just dont know how anyone couldve expected last year to by that year.

Who exactly do you want to blame that lack of experience problem on Count Billy T? There was a reason Bo said he should have played some of the younger guys the prior season. Bo doesn't just acknowledge his mistakes unless he really saw it as a mistake. Some of those guys were ready, could have contributed, and could have gone into last year with some damn good game experience. Bo mismanaged that situation.

Also, what health issues were there prior to the season? I wasn't aware of an injury occurring until the UCLA game? The entire state of Nebraska was talking about "Scoring Explosion" blah, blah, blah......I never bought it much, but that's because I never bought into Taylor Martinez much, but I fully understand why expectations were high. It was fed to us all off season.

You guys are going places with my comment that has nothing to do with my comment. it was about our expectations for 2013 compared to what they probably shouldve been. Now youre wanting to place blame and all this. I'm not arguing your stance on that. I agree with it.
And as far as injury goes, I said right after the Wyoming that there was something wrong with Martinez. hell, My dad sat in the south stadium and talked about it the whole game. he didnt look right. he didnt look himself. he didnt look ready. And then he shows up after the game with ice on his foot, and it just escalated from there of course.

Really? I had not heard that about Martinez. Interesting.

Apologies if I misunderstood your thought. I just felt like all off season prior to last season, we were fed "scoring explosion" hype, and a rise in talent on defense. Expectations are created in this fan base all the time. Usually high expectations. People are setting themselves up for a let down constantly. Increase in talent meant very little to the defense til' halfway through the season. I think some maybe even expected some points to be scored on us, its just that we were fed the story that the offense would score 50 a game, rivaling the offenses of the glory days, and they would cover any errors by the defense. So much for that huh. We keep finding ways to paint a bright picture around here, even when the reality is somewhat dull. Fact is, this program is trending downwards each year. Will this year be the year the arrow moves up?

 

[papersun87]

You guys are in rare form today. You knew full well what I meant.

Edit: Not to mention, I think we all know well enough in this day and age of FCS beating FBS and what have you that no mid-major opponent can ever be counted out, especially not one that posted 11 wins last season (even with the loss of its star quarterback). Factor in that in the Pelini era we've lost a game to a team we should easily handle in each and every season, and I think writing off Fresno as an easy win is a bit premature.

 

[QMany]

Do you expect the defense to be better this year than last?

Yes. I expect the defense to continue their late-season progress and be pretty darn good.

Do you expect the offense to be better this year than last?

Meh. I don't have high expectations for TA3 this year. Our offense will be as good as Ameer can make us. I just expect (read: pray) less turnovers.

If both answers are yes, and in my case they are, then are your expectations higher this year than last?

Yes and no. I think our schedule is setup more difficult. Last year, I didn't forecast two of our best players going down, and I expected a lot before the season started. My expectations are not as high going into this year as going into last year. That being said, I won't be happy with 4 or more losses.

 

[Landlord]

He asked if having a good quarterback was all they needed to beat us and you said history says yes.

What he didn't ask is "should we write off fresno as an easy win?"

If that's not what you meant you should have said something differently because we haven't lost to a mid major since 2004. So history says no.

 

[NUpolo8]

He asked if having a good quarterback was all they needed to beat us and you said history says yes.

What he didn't ask is "should we write off fresno as an easy win?"

If that's not what you meant you should have said something differently because we haven't lost to a mid major since 2004. So history says no.

You guys really need to slow down with creating all of these achievements. We had room for the "9 wins" banner, but if we want to hang the "Better than Brady Hoke" and "Haven't lost to a mid major" banners we may have to do another expansion project.

 

[True2tRA]

He asked if having a good quarterback was all they needed to beat us and you said history says yes.

What he didn't ask is "should we write off fresno as an easy win?"

If that's not what you meant you should have said something differently because we haven't lost to a mid major since 2004. So history says no.

You guys really need to slow down with creating all of these achievements. We had room for the "9 wins" banner, but if we want to hang the "Better than Brady Hoke" and "Haven't lost to a mid major" banners we may have to do another expansion project.

Does the "Better Than Hoke" Banner hang directly above the 2006 "National Championship Caliber Defense" Trophy? Crap! We really are running out of room here guys.

 

[sd'sker]

You guys are in rare form today. You knew full well what I meant.

Edit: Not to mention, I think we all know well enough in this day and age of FCS beating FBS and what have you that no mid-major opponent can ever be counted out, especially not one that posted 11 wins last season (even with the loss of its star quarterback). Factor in that in the Pelini era we've lost a game to a team we should easily handle in each and every season, and I think writing off Fresno as an easy win is a bit premature.

i think you are right. history has demonstrated that we struggle with any team with a good qb and they are capable of beating us. does not mean that have or will, but history has proven that they are a threat to beat us and can beat us.

 

[NUpolo8]

The bunting on the Brady Hoke banner actually looks better hanging next to the "Best Coach on Twitter" banner

 

[Landlord]

You guys are in rare form today. You knew full well what I meant.

Edit: Not to mention, I think we all know well enough in this day and age of FCS beating FBS and what have you that no mid-major opponent can ever be counted out, especially not one that posted 11 wins last season (even with the loss of its star quarterback). Factor in that in the Pelini era we've lost a game to a team we should easily handle in each and every season, and I think writing off Fresno as an easy win is a bit premature.

i think you are right. history has demonstrated that we struggle with any team with a good qb and they are capable of beating us. does not mean that have or will, but history has proven that they are a threat to beat us and can beat us.

what about bo's quarterback graveyard...

 

[kchusker_chris]

Someone explain to me why last year was supposed to be a big year?

Sure 3-4 years ago we pointed to it. "Ah yes, first year with an easy sched in big 10. Taylor Martinez a senior. Etc Etc Etc.". But when it finally came down to kickoff last August and seeing how green and inexperienced the Defense was gonna be. Then with it being pretty apparent our 4th year QB was having serious health issues, I just dont know how anyone couldve expected last year to by that year.

so....after the season was half over you decided that no one should have expected last year to be "the year" - gotcha.

 

[NUinID]

He may very well end up heing better than the others but Id wager The games against USC and @Utah may wear him down a bit before we roll into town. Fresnos schedule is top heavy so they should fight tooth and dagger to win 1or two of their OOC games, their entire season depends on that Duke transfer at QB. IF he lives up to the hype they could be a really good team. I just dont see Nebraska falling to them though.

West Coast late night game. We shall see.

I don't think you will see the same thing as UCLA. For one thing you knew UCLA was going to be talented Skippy had recruited well he just couldn't get them to play well. I think BP will remind them quite a bit about that game on the west coast at night. Plus they are just not nearly as talented as UCLA.

I don't think the QB from Duke is going to be their savior. If he was great he would still be at Duke. He split time with their other QB in the first half of the season, but I don't think he even saw the field in the last 5-6 games.

He is obviously better than anything they have and will be ok, but to come in a start with a month of practice and be great is a stretch. Russell Wilson is the only QB of note to transfer for that one year and have a significant impact on their new team. He is the exception not the rule.

The B1G has historically stunk it up going to the West Coast to play the PAC-12, so I am expecting this to be as much us not playing up to par as Fresno State giving it one heck of a shot. It is their first home game, they will have played at USC and at Utah. They won't be scared out our athletes. They will be ready to give it a puncher's chance or they will be beat down already and we will push them around. Right now, I am more than scared of them, but I still expect a win. It will be a good game though.

Scared is pretty strong. They should be respected as a decent mid major team that if you don't take seriously they will give you fits. I would tend to lean more towards them being a little beaten up by USC and Utah than battle tested.

Did any of you watch their bowl game against USC last year. They got man handled and they had Carr as their QB.

I am not saying this will be a cake walk game, but if NU comes into the game and is focused and plays hard they should have at least a 17pt win in the end. Their offense was really good last year, but their defense was equally bad. They were winning games 52-45. They will most likely have some success offensively, but I have a hard time seeing them stop our offense.

 

[Landlord]

Does the "Better Than Hoke" Banner hang directly above the 2006 "National Championship Caliber Defense" Trophy? Crap! We really are running out of room here guys.

Is there anything I can do to help you process that I never said that? I feel bad that you keep mistakenly referring to something nobody said.