In 2016, Nebraska will be one year further into the Mike Riley system. Last year was a complete rebuild, with players that fit Bo's offense and defense, but were round pegs for square holes, in Riley's schemes. You could see the growth, offensively and defensively, as the year went along and the team learned the new system and more importantly, bought into it.
One very encouraging thing was, their ability to stop the run. Iowa had two long runs against Nebraska, but couldn't convert a single Third Down in their game against Nebraska. Wisconsin couldn't run up and down the field, like they could in the past, against Bo's defenses. Along with that, the pass defense was completely terrible early in the year, when they were lost in the new system, but very solid by year's end.
If Nebraska didn't throw four unforced interceptions against Iowa last year, they could have beaten three teams that were ranked in the top seven in the nation, at one point. So, some talent is there. Heck, if college football only lasted fifty nine minutes and fifty seconds, they would have beaten BYU, Illinois, Wisconsin and tied Miami. I don't say that to say they should have won those games because they did find a way to lose all of those them, but to point out that their record was close to being quite different.
2016 rests on Armstrong's ability to play smart, like he did vs UCLA. If he does that all year, they should be able to beat anybody on the schedule except OSU. I think with a second year under Riley and Langsdorf, Tommy will be good and it seems like the Big Ten West is Nebraska's to lose. I do think Iowa will be their best competition for the West, but with all the skill players back and some young, but talented Offensive Linemen, their offense should be better and able to put points on anybody.
