Oh yeah you think this writer is a blind NU fan that is too optimistic. NU won the North Division two years ago. What is the difference in talent and coaching from two years ago? The offense is better.
Joe Ganz is overall equal to Zac Taylor. Taylor threw a better ball but Ganz is mobile and with this offense, the Nebraska offense, it is big plus. Besides he can throw the ball too. He threw seven TD's in one game last year.
The running back position is better with Lucky, Helu, and Castille. Brandon Jackson is gone but overall we are stronger and more experienced.
The TE position is better with Dreu Young and Mike McNiel. Mike McNiel will have a great season.
The receiver positions have a lot of talent. We need a couple of younger guys to move up and show they have the home run threat. Purify is gone and hasn't been replaced yet. Look for Menelik Holt and Curenski Gilleyhen to step up this year. Hopefully Niles Paul will make some big plays too.
A strength of the offense is the offensive line. The overall line and the depth is better than two years ago.
On defense, Suh is an All-Big 12 player who is highly underrated. This writer thinks he is as strong a player as there is in the Big 12. Steinkuhler, Steinkuhler, and Terrance Moore will be good due to excellent coaching.
Linebackers are led by Phillip Dillard. The coaches are high on Cody Glenn but he has to show the team he is a leader. This writer thinks he will and he will have some takeaways this year. Matt Holt is showing some good things early and he is a true freshman. Wortman could be really good as he showed in the Red-White game. NU will play more nickel defense this year due to the offenses they will face so two linebackers will be used a lot during the games. So you take our weakness away to some extent. Two years ago, we had Stewart Bradley, Bo Ruud, and Steve Octavian. This writer would have to say that today we don't have these kind of players at linebackers but the coaches will make Dillard, Wortman, Glenn, and the rest very good.
Cornerbacks are pretty good again with Murillo, West, Blue, and Prince A. We also have Asante who will play safety, some CB, and probably act as a linebacker at times. That is this writer's guess after watching what Bo Pelini did with Demorrio Williams a few years ago. Asante may be that guy this year. Don't forget Ricky Thenarse, the hitter. He will make plays and cause takeaways.
Remember two years ago, we had we had Fluellen, Spain, and Brothers fighting for starting positions in the secondary. We are much stronger this year.
At defensive end, we don't have Jay Moore and Adam Carriker. We do have Zach Potter and Barry Turner. Moore and Carriker were hard to beat but Potter and Turner are close. They will need to show they are as good as those guys. It can happen.
Special teams are better than two years ago. Henery and Kunalic are better at kicking. Titchener is still our punter and has only improved from two years ago.
Overall, we have a better team than two years ago. Last year we were 5-7. Takeaways, schemes, coaching, and a renewed team spirit will win us three more games. We only had 11 tuenovers last year. We will have 1 turnovers after the non-conference schedule this year. The home games with Kansas, Missouri, and Colorado will help us win one more game. That gets us to 9-3 during the season. With better talent, we are looking at picking up another win which will get us to 10-2 with losses away to Oklahoma and Texas Tech.
The intangibles such as a renewed fan support and enthusiasm will offset the improved overall Big 12 competition.
If you don't believe me just watch!!!!
Pictured above is Lance Thorell. He is a walk-on from Loomis who will hopefully get some playing time this year and have the chance to excel on special teams!!!
3 comments:
I hope you are right and I think we can win the Big 12 North. The one thing you didn't take into consideration is, the teams we play are better than they were 2 years also.
What kind of offense is Nebraska expected to run? If Granz is that mobile, where there be some spread in the playbook?
The coaches call it the Nebraska offense. They don't want it to be called the West Coast offense. I think we will see zone, spread, option football, and some west coast.We will see many different looks and we will utilize our best players.
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