Anyone else excited?

[Pennsyhusker]

I don't know what the overall mood of posters is, but I have not been this excited for the start of a new season in a long, long time. Call it a gut feeling or "drinking the kool aid" but I just have this strong hunch that we are going to have a special season this year. And I am normally a pessimist by nature. But I grew up in Lincoln and have followed Husker football since 1964, and my "Husker radar" is reading two thumbs up for this year.

Am I crazy?

 

[DudznSudz]

As long as we get 8 wins or more and land some of these big time recruits, I'll be very happy.

247 Sports is reporting Darnay Holmes is now a UCLA lean. That's...annoying. But, we may be able to land Lewis, which is really awesome.

 

[mkbrkloster]

Like most teams, our QB and defense will dictate the season. Both have to play significantly better than last year, so my caution flags are out.

 

[mwulf]

This year to me feels a little like a bridge year to better times...I am not expecting much so if they do happen to exceed my low expectations its a win win

 

[HuskerLLM]

As long as we get 8 wins or more and land some of these big time recruits, I'll be very happy.

247 Sports is reporting Darnay Holmes is now a UCLA lean. That's...annoying. But, we may be able to land Lewis, which is really awesome.

247 also just downgraded Gebbia to a 3*, and one of their national analysts have outright said NU should be focusing on 3* only

 

[mwulf]

If Holmes makes a college decision on his girlfriend that will be disappointing

 

[HuskerLLM]

If Holmes makes a college decision on his girlfriend that will be disappointing

With Holmes I'm not certain if it is a girlfriend issue or a parent issue.

 

[mwulf]

True I have seen his girlfriend (she is maybe 15 and only going to be a sophomore) get follows from Husker fans on twitter talk about wanting him close . The only school I would be ok losing him to would be Stanford

 

[nebcountry]

As long as we get 8 wins or more and land some of these big time recruits, I'll be very happy....

Sounds pretty reasonable. I'm definitely ready to start watching football again.

 

[bomber89]

Yes, you are crazy. 8 wins max, I'm thinking 7.

 

[Pennsyhusker]

Yes, you are crazy. 8 wins max, I'm thinking 7.

Why?

 

[chicolby]

Here's the way I break down this coming season:

The cons first:
Team was 5-7 regular season last year and returns a lot of the same players
Team loses 2 dependable interior d-linemen to the NFL
Team loses a difference maker at fullback to the NFL
Offensive line was serviceable and lost a couple players to graduation
QB position is so important and Nebraska's QB was the definition of inconsistency resulting in 16 interceptions which undoubtedly led directly to some losses
Nebraska defense was nearly laughable at times last season, particularly against the pass

The pros:
The same QB is now a senior and in the second year with real offensive/QB coaches. The upside is there for a breakout season
Several of the 7 losses were downright gut punch losses where the games could have gone the other way. Flip a couple tough break losses to wins and you're talking about 7-5 vs. 5-7.
The defensive backfield looks to improve dramatically after a season under their belt and some playmakers who are a year older - if they can mask the D-line in the early part of the season, the defense should make a major leap this year
The wide receivers may be the class of the B1G
The running back spot may not have one elite runner, but they are deep and can afford injury should the bug bite them
Special teams should be salty at punter, FG kicker, and punt returner

It's usually hard to see a team make a 3 game improvement when you have most of the same characters, but in this case, I think there are circumstances that should work in the Huskers' favor. I've seen Vegas' line of season wins for Nebraska at 8.5, the same as Iowa's. To go from 5 wins to 9 wins (regular season only) is a pretty dramatic leap that should normally beg gamblers to take the under, but I think they sneak over and win 9 games this season - which will certainly make the season a little more palatable than last year.

 

[rrthusker]

With Holmes I'm not certain if it is a girlfriend issue or a parent issue.

Parent

 

[nu2u]

Good teams, B10 championship contender teams, almost always field very good, if not great, defenses. I would wait and see how the Nebraska D-Line develops. DB and LB play should be very good but you will get killed in the B10 if you can't consistently stop the run. If the D-line comes together Nebraska will certainly be a strong contender to win the West.

 

[bomber89]

Why?

History. Our HC barely has a winning %. Before you say he was at OSU, well Bill Snyder took over KSU and has done much better. I hope he proves me wrong, I will be glad to be wrong. History says I will be right.

 

[Hoosker Du]

Here's the way I break down this coming season:

The cons first:
Team was 5-7 regular season last year and returns a lot of the same players
Team loses 2 dependable interior d-linemen to the NFL
Team loses a difference maker at fullback to the NFL
Offensive line was serviceable and lost a couple players to graduation
QB position is so important and Nebraska's QB was the definition of inconsistency resulting in 16 interceptions which undoubtedly led directly to some losses
Nebraska defense was nearly laughable at times last season, particularly against the pass

The pros:
The same QB is now a senior and in the second year with real offensive/QB coaches. The upside is there for a breakout season
Several of the 7 losses were downright gut punch losses where the games could have gone the other way. Flip a couple tough break losses to wins and you're talking about 7-5 vs. 5-7.
The defensive backfield looks to improve dramatically after a season under their belt and some playmakers who are a year older - if they can mask the D-line in the early part of the season, the defense should make a major leap this year
The wide receivers may be the class of the B1G
The running back spot may not have one elite runner, but they are deep and can afford injury should the bug bite them
Special teams should be salty at punter, FG kicker, and punt returner

It's usually hard to see a team make a 3 game improvement when you have most of the same characters, but in this case, I think there are circumstances that should work in the Huskers' favor. I've seen Vegas' line of season wins for Nebraska at 8.5, the same as Iowa's. To go from 5 wins to 9 wins (regular season only) is a pretty dramatic leap that should normally beg gamblers to take the under, but I think they sneak over and win 9 games this season - which will certainly make the season a little more palatable than last year.

Nicely written. Very similar to my thoughts, although I would say that 4 of our games could have easily been wins vs losses. With a slight break here or there, we could have won 9 or 10 games.

 

[chicolby]

Nicely written. Very similar to my thoughts, although I would say that 4 of our games could have easily been wins vs losses. With a slight break here or there, we could have won 9 or 10 games.

Thanks, and I agree that 4 could have gone either way, which is why I'm saying flip two of them, because I think to be in so many toss-up games, you can't expect something good to happen in all of them - just like normally you wouldn't expect all bad to happen, which unfortunately happened last year. BYU - certainly. Miami - I felt we were pretty lucky to be back in that one and the better team (that day at least) won. Wisconsin - probably Wiscy deserved it since they had already missed one FG. Illinois - definitely a game we should have won if we had only run instead of passed. So I say 2-2 out of those 4.

 

[Husker Sledge]

History. Our HC barely has a winning %. Before you say he was at OSU, well Bill Snyder took over KSU and has done much better. I hope he proves me wrong, I will be glad to be wrong. History says I will be right.

Lol.....Snyder had to compete against the mighty Jayhawks in state! I little different than that Nike school down the road from Corvalis. Riley will have a lot of success in Lincoln before he hangs em up.

 

[Hoosker Du]

Thanks, and I agree that 4 could have gone either way, which is why I'm saying flip two of them, because I think to be in so many toss-up games, you can't expect something good to happen in all of them - just like normally you wouldn't expect all bad to happen, which unfortunately happened last year. BYU - certainly. Miami - I felt we were pretty lucky to be back in that one and the better team (that day at least) won. Wisconsin - probably Wiscy deserved it since they had already missed one FG. Illinois - definitely a game we should have won if we had only run instead of passed. So I say 2-2 out of those 4.

Completely agree on the Miami game, and your point on winning 2 of the 4 tossups. We got roasted by Miami for most of the game, and after they lost interest, we got back in the game.

The Northwestern game, we simply couldn't get their offense off the field in the waning moments. That one hurt. Purdue was just a nightmare waiting to happen. You would like to think we win that one if we have a healthy TA. Didn't they score like 24 or 28 points off of turnovers? That one I tried to forget as soon as it was over.

 

[HuskerO]

History. Our HC barely has a winning %. Before you say he was at OSU, well Bill Snyder took over KSU and has done much better. I hope he proves me wrong, I will be glad to be wrong. History says I will be right.

Bill Snyder is an anomaly. Plus if we're going off Riley's history then Nebraska's recruiting classes should be in the 40s and 50s every year.

I understand that Riley has never shown us why he'll do better, but we've only seen 1 season with him at Nebraska and I'm sure Snyder was glad he didn't listen to disgruntled KSU fans after his first season winning only one game.

 

[bomber89]

Lol.....Snyder had to compete against the mighty Jayhawks in state! I little different than that Nike school down the road from Corvalis. Riley will have a lot of success in Lincoln before he hangs em up.

Your right schools ONLY compete against other in state schools.

 

[red rover 70]

I'm totally jacked for this season.

 

[Bill_Callahan2.0]

Always excited for the season, but I'm not drinking any Kool Aid.

 

[Pennsyhusker]

I guess one of my reasons for optimism is the same reason many on here are pessimistic: Tommy Armstrong. I like Armstrong. I think he is a leader and a gifted athlete who can make plays. The dude can run and has a canon for an arm. Yes, he throws too many pics. But if we were without him last year we would have been 2-10 instead of 5-7. This is year two in the new system. Langsdorf can coach. I predict Armstrong improves in the turnover department and has a great season.

 

[NikkiSixx]

I'm excited, but my expectation level is way down.

I had what I thought at the time was a pretty low expectation last year of 7-5, and when they didn't even reach that, I was a little more than shocked. I'll keep the 7-5 guestimate this year, but hope they do better. With a new D-Line and a long history of turnovers by our QB, I'm thinking it's going to be a similar deal.

There is a part of me that thinks they should play the freshman pro style QB, since he fits the pro style offense.. Otherwise one could argue that Mike is sandbagging the first two seasons.

 

[DudznSudz]

247 also just downgraded Gebbia to a 3*, and one of their national analysts have outright said NU should be focusing on 3* only

Lol wow. Ouch.

 

[DudznSudz]

Here's the way I break down this coming season:

The cons first:
Team was 5-7 regular season last year and returns a lot of the same players
Team loses 2 dependable interior d-linemen to the NFL
Team loses a difference maker at fullback to the NFL
Offensive line was serviceable and lost a couple players to graduation
QB position is so important and Nebraska's QB was the definition of inconsistency resulting in 16 interceptions which undoubtedly led directly to some losses
Nebraska defense was nearly laughable at times last season, particularly against the pass

The pros:
The same QB is now a senior and in the second year with real offensive/QB coaches. The upside is there for a breakout season
Several of the 7 losses were downright gut punch losses where the games could have gone the other way. Flip a couple tough break losses to wins and you're talking about 7-5 vs. 5-7.
The defensive backfield looks to improve dramatically after a season under their belt and some playmakers who are a year older - if they can mask the D-line in the early part of the season, the defense should make a major leap this year
The wide receivers may be the class of the B1G
The running back spot may not have one elite runner, but they are deep and can afford injury should the bug bite them
Special teams should be salty at punter, FG kicker, and punt returner

It's usually hard to see a team make a 3 game improvement when you have most of the same characters, but in this case, I think there are circumstances that should work in the Huskers' favor. I've seen Vegas' line of season wins for Nebraska at 8.5, the same as Iowa's. To go from 5 wins to 9 wins (regular season only) is a pretty dramatic leap that should normally beg gamblers to take the under, but I think they sneak over and win 9 games this season - which will certainly make the season a little more palatable than last year.

Yeah, about the 5-7 7-5 thing; I've read some articles by a few writers who crunch a lot of numbers in their analyses, and they pointed out that Nebraska last year actually had the stats of a 7-5 team, not a 5-7 team. We had some incredibly unlucky games, but we played about as good as a 7-5 team does, essentially. So we deserved to have a better record than we did, but we still weren't that great.

Last season was hard, because it seemed like we traded pretty solid Pelini teams that would always have an embarrassing meltdown at some point versus a team that was both unlucky and had some serious problems. Looking at it now, I'm optimistic. I think we'll be 8-4 or 9-3 with some luck.

 

[huskerfan1414]

Nicely written. Very similar to my thoughts, although I would say that 4 of our games could have easily been wins vs losses. With a slight break here or there, we could have won 9 or 10 games.

If my aunt had a penis...
We shouldn't have been in those situations in the first place. Illinois and BYU should have been wins had the coaches done their job.
With a bad break here or there, we could have easily lost another game or 2 as well.
Sorry to be a debbie downer but I hate this mentality. You ARE what your record says you are.
(Having said all that I do think we have the chance to have a 10 win season. Tommy could have a great 2nd year in under these coaches.)

 

[timnsun]

Your right schools ONLY compete against other in state schools.

I'm curious why you responded to husker sledge's post but not to the following from husker O...

Bill Snyder is an anomaly. Plus if we're going off Riley's history then Nebraska's recruiting classes should be in the 40s and 50s every year.

I understand that Riley has never shown us why he'll do better, but we've only seen 1 season with him at Nebraska and I'm sure Snyder was glad he didn't listen to disgruntled KSU fans after his first season winning only one game.

Husker O makes a great argument here... Is your silence on this because you can't refute it? If you carry over record from one place to another surely you have to do the same thing with recruiting. since his recruiting at Nebraska has improved dramatically, are you saying that's not gonna matter?

 

[JohnRossEwing]

I'm curious why you responded to husker sledge's post but not to the following from husker O...

Husker O makes a great argument here... Is your silence on this because you can't refute it? If you carry over record from one place to another surely you have to do the same thing with recruiting. since his recruiting at Nebraska has improved dramatically, are you saying that's not gonna matter?

Didn't Snyder take over the team that had like one win the previous five seasons?

 

[bomber89]

I'm curious why you responded to husker sledge's post but not to the following from husker O...

Husker O makes a great argument here... Is your silence on this because you can't refute it? If you carry over record from one place to another surely you have to do the same thing with recruiting. since his recruiting at Nebraska has improved dramatically, are you saying that's not gonna matter?

My response is slow because I have a job, a wife and 3 kids.
In regards to the recruiting; hes at Nebraska. Any coach should get us in top 25 in recruiting. Even Bo did that and he sat on his butt most of the time.

Listen I hope I'm wrong, I hope he wins NC and makes me eat crow. I just believe history more times than not (notice I didn't say always) is a good prediction of future action. 8 wins this year I believe is what to expect at most. It's just my opinion.

 

[bomber89]

Didn't Snyder take over the team that had like one win the previous five seasons?

K state was at that time the losingest team in ncaa d1 history.

 

[timnsun]

My response is slow because I have a job, a wife and 3 kids.
In regards to the recruiting; hes at Nebraska. Any coach should get us in top 25 in recruiting. Even Bo did that and he sat on his butt most of the time.

Listen I hope I'm wrong, I hope he wins NC and makes me eat crow. I just believe history more times than not (notice I didn't say always) is a good prediction of future action. 8 wins this year I believe is what to expect at most. It's just my opinion.

i hear you, but a big part of the reason for his record was his inability to get difference makers consistently when recruiting. It's fair to say that if he can recruit difference makers consistently, his record will improve as well.

You absolutely may be right, and only 8 wins happen this season. But I think (rose colored glasses here, admittedly) he is ready to change his history over the next several years.

 

[timnsun]

Didn't Snyder take over the team that had like one win the previous five seasons?

Yes something like that... Why do you ask?

 

[Husker Sledge]

Your right schools ONLY compete against other in state schools.

I never said it was the ONLY school he competed against. Riley competing against the Nike empire was a BIG challenge! But now he's at Nebraska and things have changed. Let's give Mike a couple more years before we are so critical. And comparing him to one of the best coaches all time is a little unfair wouldn't you think? Lol

 

[HuskerO]

K state was at that time the losingest team in ncaa d1 history.

Another example is Charlie Strong. Did great at Louisville so you would think year 1 in Texas would've been much much better considering the recruits and resources at Texas.

Or Rich Rodriguez. Started off crappy at West Virginia then every year he improved. Good thing WVU gave him more than 1 year. But then he flakes at Michigan and is now doing okay in Arizona (maybe actually doing very well by Arizona standards).

The point is is that history isn't the only indicator or even the best indicator of how successful / unsuccessful someone will be. Just like your recruiting, anyone can get a top 25 class except Frank Solich. Even Bo's top classes mean very little if none of them can stick around.

 

[JohnRossEwing]

Yes something like that... Why do you ask?

I just didn't think the comparison of Snyder to Riley was a very good one… I thought I remembered the Kansas State almost ended it's football team that they almost disbanded the program because it was so bad. Riley did a really good job in Oregon State.

 

[bootleg11]

I like Mike Riley but comparing him to Bill Snyder is unfair. I don't think anybody is saying Mike Riley is one of the greatest coaches of all time. Many would argue that Snyder is a top 10-15 coach of all time. Some put him higher than that. Not me personally but some do. So basically you picked the coach who's success has literally never been duplicated at a school like Oregon State/Kansas State etc etc.

I think this team can win the Big 10 West. I think they'll be favored in every game they play in except Ohio State and the Big 10 Championship (if they get there)

 

[jimbosc]

Hard to get jacked about a team that is likely 8-4 at best, not going to win our division and headed for another mid-tier bowl. I will watch the games but not generating much excitement right now. You sunshine pumpers have fooled me for the last time.

 

[Pennsyhusker]

Hard to get jacked about a team that is likely 8-4 at best, not going to win our division and headed for another mid-tier bowl. I will watch the games but not generating much excitement right now. You sunshine pumpers have fooled me for the last time.

Ha. First time I have ever been accused of being a sunshine pumper on this board. Usually I am a Debbie Downer. Like you, I have grown jaded since around 2001. But my gut instinct is still intact concerning this season. I think we go 10-2 in the regular season and win the West.