Not to be overly repetitive but as I read through the comments, I rarely see any mention of the 'special teams' which is almost 1/3rd of the team in many respects. I see no reason why we arent markedly better and we've had very little to show for this part of our team for quite some time. If we are, this can and should turn one or two losses into wins. So, by this simple measure, instead of being 8-5 or so, we could make the jump upto 10 wins. And, assuming we actually have better defensive coordination and improved quarterbacking (as opposed to having another RB with some passing thrown in there 'just to keep them honest'), the offense has a chance to be more difficult to defend because of diversity and effectiveness in scheme more so than by talent upgrade.
So many seem 'down' on our RBs and while I don't see tham as being all time Husker greats, I think we will have more than enough RB capability to get the job done. If a defense thinks that they can overplay the passing game because the RBs are not real threats they will be mistaken. While our receivers may not be 'prototype' (6-4,210 speed burners that are hard to cover), they will be faster as a group and much more able to make people miss and turn a 8 yard catch into a 20 or 30 yard gain and now and then they will go the distance. Teams will need to tackle in space very well to stop us in my view. We will need to tackle well and our D line will need to play several notches better to have the kind of season we all are yearning for. This will be critical.