FOX News

Monday, December 07, 2015

Nebraska Sports Journal

There is a debate going on whether Nebraska should go to a bowl or not when they had a losing season. Some say you don't reward a team that has five wins with a bowl. However, I have to be honest that I am excited for the bowl and there is no guarantee we will have a win. In fact I will guess that UCLA has a four point advantage or something close to that.

UCLA used a true freshman this year at quarterback. Josh Rosen is from Manhattan Beach, California and stands 6'4" and weighs 210 lbs. He was 226-447 in passing which is 60%. He threw 20 touchdowns and only 9 interceptions. He directed UCLA from one game of being in the PAC-12 Championship game.

It is very rare for a freshman quarterback to do well in college football. Rosen was the BEST freshman quarterback in college football this year. The only freshman quarterback in recent history to direct their team to a National Championship was Jamelle Holieway in 1985 after Troy Aikman broke his leg. It just doesn't happen very often.

Many think Patrick O'Brien can come in next year from San Juan Capistrano, California with a build similar to Josh Rosen. Can he start over Tommy Armstrong?? It will be hard but I believe he will push him to get a chance at starting. I think Patrick O'Brien is the real thing with a chance to start as a freshman. It will be great competition.

A win over the Bruins on December 26th will go a long way into the 2016 season. Next year our schedule includes Ohio State and Oregon in addition to many of our normal Big 10 opponents.

I'm really glad we aren't playing Navy, Air Force, or some other 5-7 team. Navy is good but UCLA was rated as high as No. 7 just a few weeks ago.

Practice for the bowl game starts this Friday. This gives Tommy Armstrong some time to work on his throwing and footwork. I think Tommy Armstrong wants to do well, really well but to do that he will have to make better decisions in the bowl game. In fact he has to get better to win the job for next year.

I have to say that the defense really has improved from earlier in the season. They have been awesome against the run which is UCLA's best part of their game. They have really improved their pass defense with yet a ways to go.

One part of the offense I am interested in is our running game and who we play at running back. Terrel Newby had a few good games but we seemed to improve with Imani Cross and Andy Janovich running most of the plays. I think Devine Ozigbo needs to play more also. He has played real well when he is in the game. The better we run the better Armstrong will be passing.

So, I am looking forward to the evening of December 26th and a Nebraska victory.

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