Big Red Rise in 2018?
- Thread starter Ivan Offelitch
- Start date
In order for them to win 8, they will have to win one of those killer road games, and/or beat MSU in Lincoln. Do you believe this year's team is at that level?
In order to win 8, they will have to win one of those killer road games, and/or beat MSU at home. Do you see Big Red being at that level this year?
Lets take a realistic look:
Although nothing is a guarantee. Lets just assume Akron, Troy, and Illinois are automatic wins. Lets assume Michigan, Ohio St , and Wisc or automatic losses, or odds very much against us. So we are are at 3-3. Lets say Colorado, Purdue, NW, Min, Mich St and Iowa or approx 50/50 games. Lets say we get 3 or 4 of those. My brain guess is 7-5. My heart guess is 10-2
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Although nothing is a guarantee. Lets just assume Akron, Troy, and Illinois are automatic wins. Lets assume Michigan, Ohio St , and Wisc or automatic losses, or odds very much against us. So we are are at 3-3. Lets say Colorado, Purdue, NW, Min, Mich St and Iowa or approx 50/50 games. Lets say we get 3 or 4 of those. My brain guess is 7-5. My heart guess is 10-2
I just can't call Iowa and NW killer road games.
7-5 or 8-4 is very realistic. A lot will fall on Chin and our defense and if Gebbia or Marteniz can grow enough throughout the season. Everything else is in place. I think we might be pleasantly surprised with our defense this year, the talent is there. We got some good players and with good coaching and schemes, our defense should be solid. Our biggest question marks is the DB play and our QB play. Can these two areas grow fast enough??
I don’t think we’re ready to beat Wisky yet. Our best chance at an upset is at home against MSU.
If Riley can come seconds away from beating Wisky in 2 of his 3 years, Frost should have us in the game or winning it.
Wisconsin is as good as anyone in the conference at home and they’ll be one of the better offenses in the conference...
Riley’s first two teams no doubt had their chance to beat them but Wisconsin was much better last year than in 2015 and 2016.
Michigan and Wisconsin are far from unbeatable. Both teams have a lot of flaws that can be exploited. Ohio St. Is maybe the only "unwinnable" game though it's still possible to beat them if we play well enough. Mich. St. and Iowa are tossups. The rest of the games we should be favored to win, with 4 of those being automatic.Lets take a realistic look:
Although nothing is a guarantee. Lets just assume Akron, Troy, and Illinois are automatic wins. Lets assume Michigan, Ohio St , and Wisc or automatic losses, or odds very much against us. So we are are at 3-3. Lets say Colorado, Purdue, NW, Min, Mich St and Iowa or approx 50/50 games. Lets say we get 3 or 4 of those. My brain guess is 7-5. My heart guess is 10-2
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The more I look at it, the more I think our schedule really isn't that tough. I see 7-5 as the floor. 8-4 or 9-3 is most likely with 10+ wins being possible as well.
I am just hoping we get better this year and there are signs Frost is the right guy. Some of things I expect we will see are
- More turnovers on defense
- Ability to run and be more explosive
- Smart QB play but tempered with the understanding these are freshmen
I have a big rise nearly every morning. Part is kind of red.
Other than that, anything over six wins will make me happy this season.
Other than that, anything over six wins will make me happy this season.
The Big Ten will have to play "killer" Nebraska. Killer Nebraska has THE coach of the year; 10 intact cohesive assistant coaches; coming off of a undefeated season; has exotic defensive and offensive schemes; a coach who instills "belief" in his players; top notch strength and conditioned players; etc.
So who is the "killer" in the Big 10? Nebraska 12-0.
So who is the "killer" in the Big 10? Nebraska 12-0.
Love your enthusiasm.
Already have full confidence that Frost is the guy. Just need to give him time and support.
Quite frankly, that's kind of the attitude you want your olayerp and coaches to have. You want them to believe they can win every game and not circling the wins and losses. If you played well and got beat, so be it. But you don't ever want to feel like you didn't leave it all on the field.
We will know a lot more after the Colorado game. Not sure exactly what they have coming back other than a very good QB. Threw for nearly 3000 yards - 60% completion 18 TDs - 9 Ints.
When the talent levels are close the determining factor in many of these games is going to be QB play. Aside from OSU I believe the only teams we play without a returning starter at QB are Illinois and Minnesota.
I have no idea what type of QB play we are going to get this year. With Milton starting as a Freshman in 2016 UCF finished the last half of the season 2-4. Unless we have a very special QB in the fold I think we are going to struggle at times at this position which might tip some of these close games to an L. UCF struggled in Frost's 1st year with a Freshman QB who in year 2 was getting Heisman mentions.
When the talent levels are close the determining factor in many of these games is going to be QB play. Aside from OSU I believe the only teams we play without a returning starter at QB are Illinois and Minnesota.
I have no idea what type of QB play we are going to get this year. With Milton starting as a Freshman in 2016 UCF finished the last half of the season 2-4. Unless we have a very special QB in the fold I think we are going to struggle at times at this position which might tip some of these close games to an L. UCF struggled in Frost's 1st year with a Freshman QB who in year 2 was getting Heisman mentions.
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I think between Ohio St, Michigan and Wisc. Wisc is our best bet to get a win.
What you mentioned, in particular about QB play is no minor thing. Let’s face it, teams live and die by the QB spot. If one of our guys is legit, that helps but they are also very green.
Even assuming the defense makes a big leap (another big assumption), I’m just concerned that the QB spot will be too much to overcome. I believe we will see sparks of what this team CAN be, but without the consistency. Even Frost is giving us hints by saying “get us while you can” as I believe he knows this isn’t the year yet.
I’m hoping for 7 wins but wouldn’t be surprised by a 6-6 finish.
I also think Frost is playing it safe. He doesn't want to get anyone's hopes too high. Think of it like this , what if he was going around saying we are going to win the the Big10 this year, get 10 wins and be ranked top 10.
Then the season ends up 6-6 or 7-5. Fans would be frustrated and disappointed. Players would be second guessing things.
Now if he plays it cool. Doesn't hype up expectations. Keeps saying things like next year, or in the future. Then we go and get 6 or 7 wins or more. Everyone would be happy. All would feel like progress was made and it gives something to build on.
Yes, I agree. I think every coach in the world, outside of maybe Jim Harbaugh likes to come in saying "whoa is me" for that exact reason. Osborne was the king of telling us how Northeast Tennessee State has a really nice team and if Nebraska didn't come to play, they may lose. So I agree Frost may be of that same ilk.
The good news is that we are officially on the clock for when the season starts and we'll soon find out. I, for one, am ready for the speculation and hopes to end and to see the real product on the field. Honestly, this is probably as excited I've been about the Huskers since when Pelini was hired (I know... I fell for it back in the day.)
My feeling is that Frost gives us a chance to win every game we play. That's not to say we'll win 8 or 9. I just think his coaching ability gives us the chance that IF the chips fall right we can beat anybody on our schedule. My personal belief is that 8 wins is possible and maybe likely. I can guarantee you that Frost will tell his players that they can win every game.
This. I don't know how many we win. Depends on so much... injuries, lucky bounces/calls etc... I suspect 8-4, but could be worse. What I expect to see is just more competitiveness. Closer games.
Exactly. No more one or zero opponent punts per game.
Yeah, OSU, Michigan, and probably Wisconsin might be considered ‘Killer’ games. But NW and Iowa aren’t as good as NU made them look last year. MSU In Lincoln is obviously a winnable game too.
I’ll take Frost’s surprisingly blunt assessment at face value when he said NU should have won more games last year except that the culture was awful, the schemes were terrible, and they were weak and out of shape. Changing those things should position NU for 8 wins
I’ll take Frost’s surprisingly blunt assessment at face value when he said NU should have won more games last year except that the culture was awful, the schemes were terrible, and they were weak and out of shape. Changing those things should position NU for 8 wins
What do you mean NW didn’t look much better in that game than we did. That was just another game why Smiling Mike was a horrendous hire..
After that OT loss the team diffidently packed it in.. You must mean the Minnesota game.
Well, Minnesota too. But I meant NU made NW look better than they were. I mentioned NW because I assume they were included in the ‘Killer’ group.
I tend to agree that Northwestern is maybe getting more respect than they deserve, but they are a nice squad and have a talented QB. I think people who continue to undervalue Wisconsin are the ones who are off-base. This Wisconsin team is very salty in the trenches and have an all-american caliber running back, underrated receivers and a QB who seems to avoid mistakes. They are a legit top 10 team and while I think they are more beatable than say Ohio State, I do think Nebraska will be sizable underdogs against them.
