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Not Worth a Hill of Beans
You got quarterback questions? I got your fertile testing grounds for whoever starts and it comes in the name of the Hilltoppers. These Hilltoppers gave up no less than 21 points to every opponent they played last year. The average number of points dropped on them almost hit 40 and the yardage given up per game was close to 480. They have lost 20 straight and it most certainly will hit 21 on Saturday. The defense has switched from a 3-4 to a 4-3, but I’m not sure a 12 man would help them that much. They do roll in with a new coaching staff, so perhaps the mentality of the team will change. However, the outcome will not.
This leads me to a puzzling question and that is why Bo would not release the name of his starting quarterback by now. Perhaps he truly doesn’t know yet and wants at least a couple quarterbacks to get in some time over the next couple weeks prior to the Washington game before he commits to one guy. It is not like holding the starter back from the media/public is going to put W. Kentucky, or Idaho for that matter, at a disadvantage. Neither is any real threat to beating us, so why wait. If our first game was against Washington, then sure it makes sense. He might just be doing it to be a pain in the side of the media, who knows. I have to think he is not ready to commit to one guy and then pull the rug out from under him, if the starter performs poorly over the next few weeks. Regardless of who starts, they should have success with whatever they want to accomplish on Saturday. One thing is for sure, if we post a 40 spot or higher I’m not going to get overly excited about how the offense is back. Please refer to paragraph uno for my reasoning.
The defense will be outstanding and if they are in the same ballpark as last year’s team, then we will have little to worry about on Saturday. The Hilltoppers didn’t have a very impressive offense last year and that means a lot of 3 and outs. Their new head coach is bringing in a different offense this year too so perhaps they will have more bullets to fire at our defense. Well, regardless of the number of bullets they have, I’m guessing by halftime the white flag will be flying.
I know I can’t wait to see this defense in action. The secondary is deservedly getting a lot of attention but the front 4 will be just as impressive, if you ask me. My prediction is these Hilltoppers are not worth a hill of beans and will be disposed of early.
Huskers: 45
WKU: 6
Spread: 37 - NU covers
Straight Up: 0-0
Against Spread: 0-0
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Huskers 2010 Preseason Opinions:
The Huskers will be starting the fall with very high expectations and to be honest it is a little scary. There is no doubt they have the talent on defense and special teams to win close to a dozen games. However, the offense is what still bothers me about Nebraska winning that many games. Nebraska’s offense last year had more holes than Sponge Bob Square Pants and key players need to step up big time for them to improve. A defense can carry you a long way, but if you want to win them all, you need the offense to win at least a couple games for you. This offense has a lot of question marks to erase before I start to even think about them running the table.
In the over excitement on how we finished last year, a lot of people point out the fact that Nebraska could have very easily won every game last year, except the Texas Tech game. There is no disputing that with the V-Tech collapse, the Iowa State butter fingers and the Texas last second add back loss they could have had those outcomes reversed pretty easily. Nebraska did have the ball bounce its way too last year. The Kansas game was closer than the final score indicated and if it wasn’t for some magnificent punt and kickoff returns by Niles Paul and some superb runs by Helu in the 4th quarter, the result could have been different. The Sooners obviously felt bad about Nebraska’s turnover fest against Iowa St and decided to give some back to the home team as an early Christmas present. The Missouri game was given up for dead until the wheels fell off in the 4th quarter for Tiger fans. The Colorado game never seemed in serious doubt, but they double us up in yardage and that rarely produces victories when you are on the losing end of those statistics. I would conclude that the Huskers got more bad breaks than good ones last year, but not as one-sided as some people would have you believe.
That being said, I still think the Huskers are a Stonehenge top 15 team. I would slate them toward the bottom of the 15 and not in the top half like some people have them. Preseason rankings really are a joke, but in my version of this joke I’ll put the Huskers at #12.
Defense: The defense will be one of the top in the country for sure as long as the injury bug stays away. The coaches have said this year’s defense can be stronger than 2009. I find this hard to believe just for the simple fact that I don’t know how you improve from last year.
The defensive line loses Suh but Jared Crick and Steinkuhler/Moore will be just fine and I’d look for Pierre Allen to have a great year. The defensive backs are what really excites me about this defense. Amukamara will be the one to watch, but I really like the depth here compared to last year. Hagg and Gomes really seemed to take a step to the next level late last year and I expect P.J. Smith to make an impression or two on wide receivers coming over the middle. This unit will determine how great of a year it will be for our Big Red. If they are anywhere in the same neighborhood as last year, then Husker fans will enjoy the 2010 season for sure.
Offense: They certainly have the potential to be mediocre to slightly above average. If they could just get to slightly above average, the Huskers could win it all. The running backs were banged up most of the year and Zac Lee’s flexor tendon issues contributed to his inconsistencies. I would like to think that injuries had a lot to do with our issues last year but certainly couldn’t be blamed for all of them.
Our strength will be the tight-ends and Running backs. It would be nice to have one of the other wide receivers step up to help out Niles Paul, but last year nobody could play that role. The line had some bright moments but was wildly inconsistent and needs to take it up a notch or two. I would assume, at this point, Zac Lee will be the starter. He may not be a playmaker kind of QB, but for the most part took care of the ball, and I’m hoping his receivers can help him out a little more this year by holding onto the ball. They without a doubt need to improve from last year and have the talent to be an average offense. All we need from them is average and take care of the ball; our defense and special teams will do the rest.
Special Teams: Alex Henery is returning and if he isn’t the best P/K in the country then I don’t know who is. He was by far our best offensive player last year and help the defense out quite a bit by pinning opponents deep several times last year. The Huskers also will be sitting just fine with Niles Paul returning kicks. We don’t need to worry about this part of the 2010 Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Schedule: The schedule really is quite favorable, so matching last year’s record should not be a problem. The question is can we top last year’s record and it most certainly will be expected to be topped.
Easy Street - These games should be wins unless we pull a 2009 ISU and that might not even help a couple of these teams. Western Kentucky, Idaho and South Dakota State. Prediction 3-0
Don’t Count Your Chickens Just Yet - A win should be recorded in these games without too much trouble, but far from a gimmie. @Iowa State, Kansas and Colorado. Prediction 3-0
Must Come With Their Game Faces - I would expect a win in these games but the offense needs to give us something, if we don’t win the turnover battle. @Washington, @Kansas State, @Oklahoma State and Missouri. Prediction 3-1
Coin Flip - Well, I think this is self explanatory so I’ll leave it at that: Texas and @Texas A&M. Prediction 1-1
So with a little addition, I have the Huskers going 10-2 and headed to the Big 12 Title Game. This would be a great year for the Huskers and an outstanding turn around by Bo Pelini in only his 3rd year. I really hope we don’t lose Bo to another program, because he is the real deal. We will have write-ups both before and after Husker games throughout the year.