Alright, it's Nebraska Week on RMN...much more opportunity for real discussion instead of fake "Tell me what you know about Nevada/Buffalo" discussion...
1 - 2007 was horrendous for Nebraska. How much improvement can be expected in 2008? In other words, how much blame can you pin on Sam Keller and Kevin Cosgrove, and how much will getting rid of them help?
2 - Give me your MU-NU prediction. And yes, Doug, somebody will win and somebody will lose.
3 - Here's NU's schedule for 2008. What's their record going to be?
8/30 - Western Michigan
9/6 - San Jose State
9/13 - New Mexico State
9/27 - Virginia Tech
10/4 - Missouri (really? 5 straight home games?)
10/11 - at Texas Tech
10/18 - at Iowa State
10/25 - Baylor
11/1 - at Oklahoma
11/8 - Kansas
11/15 - at Kansas State
11/28 - Colorado
4 - Historically, who's the Husker you hate the most? (I'd ask which Husker you hate the least, but I think 99% of respondents answer "Tommie Frazier" to that question, so I won't ask it.)
5 - How unfair is it that Lincoln, Lawrence, and Manhattan all have their places on Google Street View and Columbia doesn't??? (Subquestion: where do you stand on the whole 'Street view' thing? Do you fall on the "awesomest thing ever" side of the line, or the "too creepy for words" side?)
The Beef: 1 - I think some improvement can be expected, but considering where they were to finish the season, I don’t think that is too much of a leap. I think Keller was certainly bad, but I have my doubts as to the true depth of talent that is there NOW. I was not terribly impressed with the NU O-line at times, and I feel that is being lauded as a area of strength this coming season. As for the defense…well…I feel Pelini will have some impact on them, but again…I am not sure the true depth there. Also, I am still not terribly impressed with the defensive stylings of Pelini, considering what we did to them in 2003 with better players on their defense than they have now. But, I guess time will tell on a lot of things for NU. But yes, getting rid of Cosgrove and Jesus Keller will help them some.
2 - Wow…am never entirely sure I can pick us to win in a place we have not won in some since some in this chat have been alive. But, if there is ever a year…this would be it. No way I can pick another 41-6 thumping, but we will be coming off a bye week and they will likely be coming off of home loss to the Hokies and staring us and TTech down in the next two weeks. I like us to win 31-20…though I think I am giving their offense a little too much credit, so we will say turnovers will play a role for us early.
3 - I am going to say 7-5…win the first 3…lose the next 3…win the next two…lose to OU… "upset" kU…beat kSU and lose at CU to close the season 7-5 and a bowl.
4 - I would have said Matt Davison, but he did a nice job of lodging his former program under the bus while on ESPN last year during our game. That, and he already received my wrath at the 1999 Big XII Basketball Championships….at least I think it was 1999. Anyway…I will say…um…Crouch.
5 - I do love the street view thing, though of all things I am most mad at is that STL has now been done to some extent and my current house is not on there and I grew up 40 miles from NYC and my OLD house is not on there either….bastards.
rptgwb: 1. I don't think you can blame all of last season on Kevin Cosgrove and Sam Keller. I think you can put MOST of the blame for their offensive woes on Keller as the unit seemed to come to life under Ganz, but Cosgrove, as dumb as he was, was coaching a unit that flat out quit on him. It sounds cheap but I think motivation alone wins Nebraska an extra one or two games this season. The defense will be better than last year (not exactly a stretch, I know) and the offense should be a lot tougher to predict.
2. 31-20, Missouri. Nebraska puts up an early fight while the Mizzou offense struggles to get going. In the third quarter (Q3, baby!), the offense jumpstarts and Mizzou puts it away.
3. I'm torn between 8-4 and 7-5. I'll guarantee losses to Va Tech, Missouri, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma. Then, I'm wavering on whether or not they drop either the Kansas or Colorado home game. I'll say they drop one of the two and end up 7-5.
4. Hate power rankings:
1. Kellen Houston
2. Scott Frost/Matt Davison
3. Eric Crouch
4. Fan base
5. Maurice Purify
5. Let the football team know about the street map snub. They can finally play the disrespect card again! And on a scale of "awesomest thing ever" to "too creepy for words," I'll rate it about a "meh."
ZouDave: 1 - I think some improvement is definitely expected, and some of that may be because their schedule is more favorable. Keller was awful, Cosgrove and Callahan were absolutely abysmal, so anything has to be an improvement. But without USC on their schedule, plus not having to go to Missouri and to kansas in the same year definitely helps. Ganz is a better QB than Keller, there's no doubt. Lucky is still a good RB. Their line is experienced. They should be better. We should be talking about a bowl team.
2 - Mizzou 31, Nebraska 20. We probably won't score absolutely at will up there, but we're going to score. Their secondary is weak, and our passing game isn't. And our defense will probably still be in their heads from a year ago.
3 - Either 8-4 or 7-5. The swing game is Colorado. I think they win their first 3, then lose to VA Tech, Mizzou and Texas Tech (at which point Pelini will have a website about him getting fired), then they'll beat ISU and Baylor, lose to OU, beat ku and KSU, and Colorado is up in the air.
4 - Whichever one I can smell. But seriously, Eric Crouch. I hope his testicles are involved in a vice accident.
5 - I fall in the "don't really care because I never use it" camp. It's definitely cool that it can be done, and I'm not worried about privacy because that stuff can be viewed by standing at that location physically so what's the difference? It's not like it's a live view. But seriously, if anyone actually talked trash about this it would officially be the weakest smack talk since "Your state allowed slavery in the 1860s."
ZouDave: Good Lord, all 3 of us picked 31-20 without collaborating at all? That's just not right.
The Boy: And I'm pretty sure 31-20 was pretty close to predictions for the Illinois game too...31-20 is the new 666...
The Beef: Too early for this?
Just. Not. Right.
ZouDave: Well it would be stupid to predict us scoring under 30 since we've only done that once in our last like 16 or 17 games, it just seems weird that through 3 responses we're all on such similar wavelengths. 31-20, 8-4 or 7-5 for record....is this a roundtable or a hive mind? rptgwb: We just redefined the term "community projection."
ZouDave: If you look up "community projection" on google images....this is a hit.
Michael Atchison: Why is David Yost squeezing Jason Varitek’s ass?
The Boy: Dave, it was silly of you to do that to Beef with cameras around...and I wonder how long Beef has owned a Varitek jersey?
1 - A lot of the optimistic chatter from NU fans seems to be that significant progress can be expected on defense simply because the D so obviously quit on Cosgrove. As my BTBS post tomorrow will discuss, I think that's partially true, especially in the Kansas and Colorado losses, but...well, that was a crappy defense before the Kansas and Colorado losses. Pelini's defensive style seems to be just attempting to get everybody to go crazy fullspeed all the time, and while that will help NU quite a bit...well, there's still not a lot of talent there, particularly with the Front 7.
Here's the thing, though--I think it's possible that NU is significantly improved on both sides of the ball, but here are the margins of their seven losses last year--18, 35, 31, 22, 3, 37, and 14. If they improve by a TD on both sides of the ball, that changes 1-2 losses to wins. Getting MU, KU, and CU at home will help tremendously, and 'best case scenario' can certainly be placed in the 8-4/9-3 range simply because of their home field advantage, but...yeah, they should be extremely happy if they hit 7-5 this year.
2 - 31-20!!!!!!!!
3 - I could certainly envision a scenario in which they lose to WMU and run off the rails quite early on, but...honestly, I can easily see them beating a rebuilding Virginia Tech team that doesn't have any sort of offensive explosiveness. That means a 4-0 start and a "WE'RE GOING TO WIN THE NATIONAL TITLE THIS YEAR!!!! PELINI IS GOD!!!1!!!1!!!!!" explosion. If they do start 4-0, then I think 8-4 certainly isn't out of the question--just go 3-1 at home and 1-3 on the road in conference. However, it hinges on WMU and VT. Lose to WMU, and you almost certainly lose to VT, and 4-8 becomes a distinct possibility. But I'll go for overhyping them for now...8-4 it is.
4 - From an "awful human being" perspective, it's a tie between Lawrence Phillips and every Peter brother. From the "ripped Mizzou's heart out" perspective, it's got to be Matt Davison (and Shevin "You're damn right I kicked the ball intentionally" Wiggins). From the "total a-hole" perspective, it's Scott Frost. But it's just too much fun hating Eric Crouch now, so I'll say Crouch.
5 - I have killed many a lunch hour with Street View. Love it, love it, love it. With it, you can capture the two greatest BBQ restauarants known to man...
Ken's in Amber, OK...
And, of course...
Doug: Wow... you're all insane.
Anyway... my smart-ass answers as follows.
1 - I think NU can be a bowl team, but it'll be a minor bowl... a very minor bowl. Is there one in Fargo this year? I think Pellini has a chance to turn it around, but he's got to be almost as good on the recruiting trail as Callahan appeared to be... and he has to be a 100 times better as a head coach.
2 - MU 31, NU 20. I like to go against society.
3 - 3 and 1 in non-con, Big 12 losses to MU, KU, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and... what the hell, either ISU or KSU since both are road games. So final record of 6 and 6, like I said, minor bowl.
4 - I can't say that I hate a paticular player... but Lil' Red freaks me right the hell out.
5 - See, I knew posing naked in my front yard would pay-off eventually. I think it's pretty cool. Sure, it does have a touch of weirdness to it, especially when they drove all the way up a private drive right into somebody's front yard, but I think for the most part it could be very handy. If you're like me and couldn't navigate your way out of a paper bag, having the imaging could be very helpful when trying to figure out where you're going in an unfamiliar part of town.
Michael Atchison: 1 - As Barry Switzer used to say, the alignees are more important than the alignment (or the aligners). I don’t know if they have enough alignees to make a quantum leap. If they hit 7-5 for the year, they ought to be really pleased.
2 - There’s something about going to Lincoln that gives me pause, but Mizzou just has too many weapons. Good guys 42 Blackshirts 16
3 - That looks like 6-6 to me.
4 - Herbie. That guy creeps me out.
5 - Really struggled to come up with five questions this week, huh?
The Boy: a) Yes, the fifth question was a struggle, but I reeeeeeeeeeeally enjoy google maps.
b) The only thing creepier than Lil' Red is Baylor's version...nothing like an inflatable Bear whose eyes randomly pop way out of its head...scaring all children (and adults) in proximity.
ZouDave: You guys are creeped out by this?
The Boy: Actually, yes. But not as much as this.
Mizzourobot: I'm at a conference, so I don't have time to answer all the questions but my prediction is 310 to 20. We're really good. They're really bad. The fans have turned against them. The end.
ZouDave: 310-20
BUT
Chase Daniel will be held to under 1200 yards. You know the record is 716 yards.
Yeah...WAS.
