[Husker] Non-expert opinions

[Steve Reichenbach]

> You are the eternal optimist.  I think you look at an empty glass and think
> it is half full...  I wish I had your sunny outlook.  I look at an empty
> glass and see dirty dishes.

Empty?  NU is 4-1 with one loss on the road to a top-5 team playing
great football.  NU still controls its destiny in the conference.

Which of us is more of a realist?  The one who sees a 4-1 record and
says there are positives and negatives or the one who sees a 4-1 record
and calls the glass empty?

Using Massey's computer calculations as objective, NU is favored in every
remaining game except the road game against Michigan.  Realistically, it
is likely that NU losses another game or two.  It is unlikely they will
lose more (the probability of three or more losses is less than one in
three according to Massey).

> I never understood this "it's a young team"
> thing.  College teams are always young teams.  Our DL's are seasoned, our
> DB's are not all freshmen, our safety's have been around, our LB's are not
> young.

Let me explain.  Some years, you have many talented juniors and seniors
as starters and on the two deep.  Other years there are more freshmen
and sophomores.  Ideally, you'd get players time to mature and play only
as juniors and seniors, but it doesn't work like it did in the 1960s
any more.  This has been true for a long time.  Look at the team in
1997 and the team in 1998.  After the 1997 season ended, everyone knew
that 1998 wouldn't bring the same result.

> How does a D line that has been unable to stop the run, put pressure
> on or contain the QB for the last 5 games all of a sudden play like Suh and
> company?  Same for the secondary.

What I don't understand is how some fans suddenly regard coaches who
have been acknowledged as defensive experts with highly successful
defenses as suddenly incompetent.  Yes there are problems, but there
are cycles in players and coaching and NU lost some players especially
in the secondary that are proving difficult to replace with younger
players.  We have good defensive coaches, so I hope we see progress,
even if they don't "all of a sudden" play like one of the most dominant
defensive players in the history of Nebraska football.  Expecting that
is unrealistic, but so is seeing the glass as "empty".

> Not sure our QB is improved over last
> year.  He looked great early last year and then looked lost just like he
> looked yesterday.  He had two fumbles, none lost, and lost control of the
> ball when he was tackled several times. I hate to criticize him because he
> is a terrific athlete.  Playing QB is wasting his talents.  You don't race a
> Porsche 911 in the Baja.

I can't disagree.  Given that Martinez is the QB, Beck may want to
re-evaluate a game plan that had Burkhead carry the ball 6 times in
the first half.

> The thing that upsets me most about the Pelini teams is the lack of focus
> and poor fundamentals.  Too many penalties, too many fumbles, too many
> missed tackles, and too many defensive players taking the fake and
> abandoning their responsibilities.  This has been a continuing trend.  The
> announcers reported that Pelini was heard to tell his secondary that they
> were dogging it during the game.  I know he sees the same things that I do,
> but has not been able to correct them.

What do you suggest?

> I watched the MSU OSU game yesterday.  Both of those teams play better
> defense than NU (and OSU gets their 3 suspended players back next week).  If
> NU plays like they did yesterday they will lose those games.  D. Robinson
> will cut them to pieces when they play UM.  He is just as good a passer as
> the WU QB and runs like a deer on steroids. The UM defense, terrible the
> last few years, is 100% improved and getting better.  I live in MI and
> follow OSU, MSU and UM (but that doesn't mean I like them).

Wisconsin is far better than any other team in the B1G.  If NU plays like
they did in the first quarter on Saturday, NU will be fine, but I look
forward to Nebraska playing a complete game.  OSU looked incompetent and
MSU not much better.  Penn St looked bad and Northwestern couldn't beat
MSU.  Michigan looks to be improving and playing them on the road will
be tough, but not as tough as Wisconsin.

> Except for Minnesota, I see the rest of the games as toss ups.  My guess
> would be 3W's and 4L's in the last 7 games. 

Again, who is the realist?  Massey has NU favored in every remaining game
except Michigan and puts the odds of 4 losses in the last 7 games at less
than 8%.