[Husker] Early 2009 Prediction

[Steve Gomez]

It certainly isn't that relevant to the point that you're making...however,
KU's conference schedule in '09 begins with Iowa State and @ CU.  Their
final 6 regular season games are:

24OCT - OKLA
31OCT - @ TX TECH
07NOV - @ K STATE
14NOV - NEBR
21NOV - @ TEJAS
28NOV - MIZZOU

If they make it through that gauntlet unscathed, then they can play in
Dallas (Arlington) for the Conference Championship on 05DEC.   I doubt that
will happen.

~~~
Nebraska gets TT and OKLA in Lincoln this year.  Road trip to Blacksburg
will be interesting.  Mizzou, Baylor, Kansas & Boulder round out other road
trips...  The game in Lawrence on 14NOV might make the difference on B12N
representative.

Cheers,

Steve G

-----Original Message-----
From: husker-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:husker-bounces at tssi.com] On Behalf Of
Duane Feldman
Sent: Friday, January 02, 2009 11:37 AM
To: scott71lawson at yahoo.com; husker at tssi.com
Subject: Re: [Husker] Early 2009 Prediction

Neither a top 25 finish this season nor a preseason B12N favorite will be
easy to attain.

There are several teams who received more points than NU but did not reach
the top 25 in the previous poll.  Many of those teams won their bowl game. 
Whether NU actually makes the top 25 may have as much to do with luck as
anything.

Preseason B12N is "iffy" as well, although we will get some votes.  I think
we can rule out KSU and ISU as contenders (new coaches, KSU will have a new
QB, et al).  CU probably won't be a favorite by most, but they might get a
vote or two (returning coaching staff, two returning QB's, veteran
defense).  Still CU hasn't shown much under Hawkins and someone would be
sticking their neck out to pick them as B12N champs.

Of the remaining trio of Mizzou, NU and Kansas, only Kansas has a returning
QB.  They also have the most returning starters on both sides of the ball. 
Be cautious though, KU plays Texas, OU and TT from the South so they will
probably be saddled with three conference losses before playing any of the
B12N teams.  If so, they must sweep the North to claim a title.  Still, they
ended on high notes by beating Mizzou and Minnesota and will be upbeat going
into spring.

Missouri is the returning champ (OK, co-champ and B12N representative) but
they lose a LOT with Chase and Chase graduating, Maclin probably going pro
and perhaps the greatest number of starters overall (haven't seen the final
count).

So that paves the way for NU to win the North, right?  Weeeelllll, not so
fast my friends (as a former Indiana coach is wont to say).  NU plays OU and
TT in the South and Baylor is improving.  And in the North, we get MU, KU
and CU all away.  Our QBs have very limited experience even taken as a
group.  We lose our leading receivers, all-purpose back and two Olinemen. 
Defensively we lose our best CB and one or two LB's depending on who you
consider starters, plus two DLinemen.  Overall, we are close to Mizzouri in
lost starters.

My prediction:

Despite the above caveats, I look forward to a 10-2 season before facing
Texas in the Championship game.  Look for a much improved offense (we
already ranked #3 in the conference defensively) because line play continues
or further improves, LB's will be much, much better next year and the
safeties finally figure out pass coverage.  And while offensive production
may be down, special teams will be a huge improvement over this year as
Pelini finds the time to put some focus on this part of the game.  I think
we return to the top 25 in takeaways/TO margin.  And look for miscues to
drop substantially from last year.  Overall, we sweep the North and win 1 of
VT, OU and TT next year.  Perhaps a loss in the B12CG will put us in the
Cotton Bowl or the Alamo Bowl at worst.  Recruiting will continue to improve
as well.  Steady improvement overall.


________________________________
From: Scott Lawson <scott71lawson at yahoo.com>
To: husker at tssi.com
Sent: Thursday, January 1, 2009 9:15:03 PM
Subject: [Husker] Early 2009 Prediction

"The Cornhuskers (9-4) finished the season with a four-game winning
streak and won six of their final seven games. They should finish the
season ranked in the Top 25 and will likely enter the 2009 season as a
preseason favorite in the Big 12 North."

So says Tim Griffin who covers the Big 12 for ESPN. I like the optimism!

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/ncfnation?tag=gator%200901


Scott in NY