Nebraska Football 2018-2019

[Huskerpapa]

Wowser.  Big week culminates with a huge commitment today.  Great job Coach Ruuuuuuuuuuud!

Edited July 22, 2018 by Huskerpapa

[huskerbaseball13]

On ‎7‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 10:43 PM, Huskerpapa said:

Wowser.  Big week culminates with a huge commitment today.  Great job Coach Ruuuuuuuuuuud!

 

Should get another commit today out of Iowa's backyard.  I don't think Ruud will be responsible for the commit today but he has been kicking ass and taking names.  Now we just need to get back to owning Iowa on the field. 

[Huskerpapa]

31 minutes ago, huskerbaseball13 said:

 

Should get another commit today out of Iowa's backyard.  I don't think Ruud will be responsible for the commit today but he has been kicking ass and taking names.  Now we just need to get back to owning Iowa on the field. 

Excellent,  thank you for the heads up! 

[khoock]

4 commits in like 48 hrs. Niiiiiice.

[AuroranHusker]

GO B1G RED !!!!

[brfrad]

If we can find some players in the secondary, we could surprise some teams this year.  I'm thinking 8 wins this season.  Losses to Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Wisconsin.  Maybe it's my rose colored glasses, but I think this team has much more talent than what was displayed last year. 

[khoock]

Agree with brfrad.

 

We have solid talent. Not great by any means, but much more talent than our 4-8 record last year. It sounds as if culture and accountability was extremely lacking under Coach Riley. I see us winning 7-8 games in the regular season. 

 

I also think we pull a massive upset against one of the marquee teams we play this year.

[Huskerpapa]

With no intent to put pressure on any one group or player, our season will be predicated upon the performance of our QB, Offensive line and cornerbacks.  

[Norm Peterson]

On 7/26/2018 at 5:37 PM, brfrad said:

If we can find some players in the secondary, we could surprise some teams this year.  I'm thinking 8 wins this season.  Losses to Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Wisconsin.  Maybe it's my rose colored glasses, but I think this team has much more talent than what was displayed last year. 

 

Scott Frost agrees with you.

[Norm Peterson]

I've sort of answered my own question from earlier in the thread about the type of QB best suited for this system, and my conclusion is that Martinez is not a shoe-in to start even though he's clearly the best runner.

 

Kinda of getting antsy with anticipation about the start of the season, so spent some time this weekend watching our spring game condensed to 40 minutes as well as UCF's games against Memphis and USF condensed to 40 minutes. (Basically cuts out everything from the end of the last play until just before the snap of the next play, so it really shortens your watching time.  Very nice.)

 

What I saw was a UCF offense that ...

 

1.  Forced the defense to cover from sideline to sideline;

2.  Forced the safeties into man coverage by getting all the eligible receiving options downfield;

3.  Relied on a QB who could make very quick and very accurate throws;

4.  Took advantage of a QB who could be an opportunistic runner, but running wasn't his primary job.

 

In Pelini's offense, the QB tended to be one of the primary run threats in the offense and passing was a secondary responsibility that he tended not to be great at.  His zone read job was to read the end and decide, based on that read, whether to hand the ball off to the back or keep it himself.  Our QBs under that system did a lot of running.

 

Frost's system is completely different.  Passing was far and away the most important tool that McKenzie Milton brought to the table.  He could run when he needed to but the QB runs primarily were designed to get the QB in space when the defense was expecting a pass.  Mostly, it was a precision passing game where his receivers are in man coverage with no safety over the top, and even a little bit of separation was enough for them to be "open" for a throw.  And Milton could fit the ball into tight spaces and get it out there quickly.

 

I think all the QBs we have can run well enough to be effective in this offense.  What's going to separate them is how well they can sling the ball around, how quickly they can fire it out there, and how good they are at intersecting the flight of the ball with the route of the receiver.  Milton's receivers were catching most of his balls in stride and had to do very little adjusting on the flight of the ball.

 

I expect the best passer to win the starting job.  And I'm not saying that's going to be Gebbia either.  But it could be.

[Huskerpapa]

Interestingly,  in Bo's time here, his best offense may have been Joe Ganz led.  Joe was a pass first QB who could run when he had to run, or perhaps there was an occasional set run.  I am not certain which of our three quarterbacks will win the job, but I would strongly suggest all better prepare each game like they will be on the field.  

[Norm Peterson]

I was looking for depth chart info for this coming year and I happened to come across the 2-deep depth chart for the Iowa game last year.

 

Six seniors on offense made the 2-deep; 4 seniors on the defensive 2-deep.  Out of 44 2-deep spots, only 10 were seniors.  That's less than 25%, far below what you'd normally expect.

 

Only 1 of those 10 seniors was a lineman on either side of the ball.  The linemen are basically all back and bigger than ever.  Crazy how much weight our veteran offensive linemen have gained this off-season.  The presumptive O-line starters gained an average of 22 pounds.  This suggests strongly that they weren't very developed under the old regime.  Our offensive line got pushed around a lot last year.  I think that might not happen so much this coming season.

 

We had a very young secondary last season and we return that secondary nearly intact, but we add some talented transfers who are immediately eligible.  Plus, Frost picked up a couple of 4-star DBs in this latest recruiting class. You'd expect at least one of them to break into the rotation.  So, we've basically taken what we had last year, subtracted Josh Kalu and Chris Jones, and added a ton of talent and experience.

 

I think O-line and defensive secondary were the two biggest question marks going into this season.  But if you dig a little bit, there's certainly some reason for optimism.  I can't wait, man.  I'm as enthusiastic for this season as for any in maybe the last decade.

[49r]

Don't get too excited @Norm Peterson, RealTimeRPI has us going 3-9:

 

NCAA Men's Football - Nebraska Cornhuskers (2018-2019) Rank: 88    SOS Rank: 11     Record: 0-0 (0-0) Conference: Big Ten  Only games against Division I opponents are counted.  Rankings update every 5 mins.  Last updated - Thu Aug 2 15:56:32 PDT 2018     NCAAF Power Rankings    NCAAF Conference Ratings    NCAAF Standings    NCAAF Predictions  Date Opponent Opp. Rank Results GAMER Predictions   09-01     Akron   0-0 (0-0) 70  Scouting 28-22  W 09-08     Colorado   0-0 (0-0) 95  Scouting 31-21  W 09-15     Troy   0-0 (0-0) 26  Scouting 22-29  L 09-22   at  Michigan   0-0 (0-0) 31  Scouting 11-35  L 09-29     Purdue   0-0 (0-0) 54  Scouting 23-25  L 10-06   at  Wisconsin   0-0 (0-0) 6  Scouting 9-40  L 10-13   at  Northwestern   0-0 (0-0) 17  Scouting 13-37  L 10-20     Minnesota   0-0 (0-0) 84  Scouting 22-28  L 11-03   at  Ohio St.   0-0 (0-0) 5  Scouting 6-45  L 11-10     Illinois   0-0 (0-0) 117  Scouting 33-16  W 11-17     Michigan St.   0-0 (0-0) 14  Scouting 15-25  L 11-23   at  Iowa   0-0 (0-0) 33  Scouting 13-37  L GAMER Projected Record: 3-9

 

But hey, at least they got us favored to beat Colorado!!!

[Norm Peterson]

One thing you have to give Frost credit for already is that he has addressed the weaknesses in the returning roster.  He's transformed the O-line with work in the weight room and the training table, and he's transformed the defensive secondary with recruiting.  It just about can't help but yield some results.

 

Plus, this reminds me of Doc Sadler's last season or Tim Miles' 5th team.  They had more talent than their final records would have reflected.  I think the same is true for last year's football team.

[Norm Peterson]

4 minutes ago, 49r said:

Don't get too excited @Norm Peterson, RealTimeRPI has us going 3-9:

 

NCAA Men's Football - Nebraska Cornhuskers (2018-2019) Rank: 88    SOS Rank: 11     Record: 0-0 (0-0) Conference: Big Ten  Only games against Division I opponents are counted.  Rankings update every 5 mins.  Last updated - Thu Aug 2 15:56:32 PDT 2018     NCAAF Power Rankings    NCAAF Conference Ratings    NCAAF Standings    NCAAF Predictions  Date Opponent Opp. Rank Results GAMER Predictions   09-01     Akron   0-0 (0-0) 70  Scouting 28-22  W 09-08     Colorado   0-0 (0-0) 95  Scouting 31-21  W 09-15     Troy   0-0 (0-0) 26  Scouting 22-29  L 09-22   at  Michigan   0-0 (0-0) 31  Scouting 11-35  L 09-29     Purdue   0-0 (0-0) 54  Scouting 23-25  L 10-06   at  Wisconsin   0-0 (0-0) 6  Scouting 9-40  L 10-13   at  Northwestern   0-0 (0-0) 17  Scouting 13-37  L 10-20     Minnesota   0-0 (0-0) 84  Scouting 22-28  L 11-03   at  Ohio St.   0-0 (0-0) 5  Scouting 6-45  L 11-10     Illinois   0-0 (0-0) 117  Scouting 33-16  W 11-17     Michigan St.   0-0 (0-0) 14  Scouting 15-25  L 11-23   at  Iowa   0-0 (0-0) 33  Scouting 13-37  L GAMER Projected Record: 3-9

 

But hey, at least they got us favored to beat Colorado!!!

 

Well, that just reflects one of the shortcomings of computers.

 

They have us losing at home to Troy?  I'm sorry, but that's not going to happen.  Nor are we going to lose at home to Purdue, Minnesota or Michigan State.

 

We are not losing at home next season.  And Northwestern and Iowa better both watch out.

[HuskerFever]

51 minutes ago, 49r said:

Don't get too excited @Norm Peterson, RealTimeRPI has us going 3-9:

 

Yes, but how many of those are Quadrant 1 wins? 

[huskerbaseball13]

15 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

I was looking for depth chart info for this coming year and I happened to come across the 2-deep depth chart for the Iowa game last year.

 

Six seniors on offense made the 2-deep; 4 seniors on the defensive 2-deep.  Out of 44 2-deep spots, only 10 were seniors.  That's less than 25%, far below what you'd normally expect.

 

Only 1 of those 10 seniors was a lineman on either side of the ball.  The linemen are basically all back and bigger than ever.  Crazy how much weight our veteran offensive linemen have gained this off-season.  The presumptive O-line starters gained an average of 22 pounds.  This suggests strongly that they weren't very developed under the old regime.  Our offensive line got pushed around a lot last year.  I think that might not happen so much this coming season.

 

We had a very young secondary last season and we return that secondary nearly intact, but we add some talented transfers who are immediately eligible.  Plus, Frost picked up a couple of 4-star DBs in this latest recruiting class. You'd expect at least one of them to break into the rotation.  So, we've basically taken what we had last year, subtracted Josh Kalu and Chris Jones, and added a ton of talent and experience.

 

I think O-line and defensive secondary were the two biggest question marks going into this season.  But if you dig a little bit, there's certainly some reason for optimism.  I can't wait, man.  I'm as enthusiastic for this season as for any in maybe the last decade.

 

Frost and staff have done an amazing job at turning over the roster but it scares the bejesus out of me that we have a true freshman taking reps at Center and QB.  Bodes well for the future, but we will certainly take our lumps this year.  If we go undefeated at home Frost should be in the running for Big 10 coach of the year. 

[Norm Peterson]

2 hours ago, huskerbaseball13 said:

 

Frost and staff have done an amazing job at turning over the roster but it scares the bejesus out of me that we have a true freshman taking reps at Center and QB.  Bodes well for the future, but we will certainly take our lumps this year.  If we go undefeated at home Frost should be in the running for Big 10 coach of the year. 

 

Our toughest home test is Michigan St., on Nov. 17, in game #11 on the year.  We'll have a seasoned QB by then, no matter who gets the starting nod.

 

Toughest early test, according to the RealTimeRPI graphic above, is Troy.

 

I'm sorry, but it's Troy.  We are NOT going to lose to Troy at home.

 

Aside from that, we have a few middling games against Akron, Purdue and Minnesota, and we host a couple of bottom dwellers in Colorado and Illinois.

 

Illinois, by the way, might start former Husker QB AJ Bush, who grad-transferred to Illinois after riding the bench at VA Tech after transferring from Nebraska when Mike Riley was hired.  How 'bout them apples?

 

I firmly believe last year's team had more talent than the final record reflected.  I think the wheels kind of fell off and we couldn't harness the talent we had to succeed on the field.  A new staff with a strong sense of purpose and high expectations is going to probably produce some pretty immediate results in the "everyone on the same page" department.

 

We're being underestimated this year.  That's a good thing.

[Norm Peterson]

I'd heard from my son a few weeks ago about rumors of offensive linemen remaking their bodies this off-season under our new strength and conditioning program.  I saw an article in the LJS that showed weight gains over the off-season, but I wanted to put things in some perspective and compare the weights of these linemen over their time in the program.  I gotta say the results are eye-popping and somewhat revealing.  As a caveat, I'd say it's totally possible that these guys won't play any better with the added weight.  Maybe they'll be even less mobile.  It's yet to be seen.

 

BUT, we're talking offensive linemen.  Typically, the bigger and brawnier the better.  And the changes are so remarkable that it makes you wonder what in the actual heck was going on while Riley was in charge of the program?

 

There are big weight gains up and down both the offensive and defensive lines, but I chose to look at 4 OLs who've been around longer and who are also likely starters, and here's what I found:

As true freshmen in 2014, Cole Conrad was listed at 6-5, 280#, Tanner Farmer was 6-4, 310#, and Jerald Foster was 6-3, 310#.

In 2015, Cole Conrad was listed at 290#, Farmer at 310#, and Foster at 310#.

In 2016, Conrad was listed at 305#, Farmer at 295#, Foster at 310#, and Matt Farniok at 300#

In 2017, it was Conrad at 300#, Farmer at 305#, Foster at 310#, and Farniok at 315#.

This year’s roster has Conrad at 330#, Farmer at 325#, Foster at 335#, and Farniok at 330#.

 

Here are the trajectories over time: 

Conrad:  280-290-305-300-330

Farmer:  310-310-295-305-325

Foster:  310-310-310-310-335

Farniok: NL-300-315-330

So, Conrad hovered around 295-300# for 3 seasons before shooting up 30 pounds this year.

Farmer hovered around 305# for 4 seasons before shooting up 20 pounds this year.

Foster stayed steady at 310# for 4 years before launching up to 335# this year.

Farniok came in at 300#, added 15# last season, and added another 15# this season.

Obviously, there's a difference.  And not just in these players, but up and down both lines.  And it's yet to be seen whether these linemen are bigger and stronger or just fatter.  But I'm thinking the safer bet is that they're bigger and stronger.  Which begs the question:  What the hell was the last staff up to?

 

 

 

 

[royalfan]

What will be refreshing is watching us not be afraid.  We will compete our tails off.  The days of having to bring all 11 guys into the box to try to stop Wisconsin from running it on our home field and still failing are going to be a thing of the past.  

[Huskerpapa]

What should not happen this season is that our offensive lineman getting shoved backward by the opposing defensive linemen at the snap of the ball.  Over the past few years that seemed to be a recurring theme.  When Tommy was the QB, it was not unusual to see nine men chasing after him...four defensive linemen along with our five offensive  linemen.  Very embarrassing for a team with an offensive front nicknamed the pipeline.  

 

Hopefully the aforementioned weight gain also is accompanied by quick feet and increased strength and leverage! 

[Norm Peterson]

1 hour ago, royalfan said:

What will be refreshing is watching us not be afraid.  We will compete our tails off.  The days of having to bring all 11 guys into the box to try to stop Wisconsin from running it on our home field and still failing are going to be a thing of the past.  

 

There were some pretty substantial gains on the DL also.  Damian Daniels gained 30 pounds this off-season and now weighs in at a staggering 340#.  Imagine him plugging up the middle on 4th and 1 situations.  And he can move from what I understand.  Quick first couple of steps.  Imagine you're an opposing QB and you have 340# of Damian Daniels running you down.  Ouch.

 

I think a lot of the problems during the Riley era can be traced to just poor strength and conditioning.  Players getting shoved around and not having the stamina to last an entire 4 quarters.  I'm guessing that's changing.  I'm just going to assume until I see evidence to the contrary that the weight all these linemen have put on is good weight and that they'll be bigger and stronger than they were a year ago.

 

And that will yield readily obvious dividends.  Solid line play will take pressure off the backfields on both sides of the ball.  Quarterbacks who have all day to throw will eventually find an open target.  Conversely, QBs who are being rushed are often forced into bad throws or eat the ball altogether.  And that makes your secondary look better.  And, of course, the same thing is true talking about your offensive line when they can assert their will over opposing defenses.

 

The massive weight gains among the linemen seems to me to be a very good sign for our prospects for the season.  Oh, and we have plenty of depth, too, compared to past years.

[Bugeaters1]

17 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

There were some pretty substantial gains on the DL also.  Damian Daniels gained 30 pounds this off-season and now weighs in at a staggering 340#.  Imagine him plugging up the middle on 4th and 1 situations.  And he can move from what I understand.  Quick first couple of steps.  Imagine you're an opposing QB and you have 340# of Damian Daniels running you down.  Ouch.

 

I think a lot of the problems during the Riley era can be traced to just poor strength and conditioning.  Players getting shoved around and not having the stamina to last an entire 4 quarters.  I'm guessing that's changing.  I'm just going to assume until I see evidence to the contrary that the weight all these linemen have put on is good weight and that they'll be bigger and stronger than they were a year ago.

 

And that will yield readily obvious dividends.  Solid line play will take pressure off the backfields on both sides of the ball.  Quarterbacks who have all day to throw will eventually find an open target.  Conversely, QBs who are being rushed are often forced into bad throws or eat the ball altogether.  And that makes your secondary look better.  And, of course, the same thing is true talking about your offensive line when they can assert their will over opposing defenses.

 

The massive weight gains among the linemen seems to me to be a very good sign for our prospects for the season.  Oh, and we have plenty of depth, too, compared to past years.

I think a lot of the problems during the Riley era can be traced to just poor strength and conditioning.

Riley is just a poor coach.

[HuskerFever]

Not to derail from the current conversation, but it appears they've caught their first suspect in the Scott Frost robbery case. I'm sure there's plenty more to come:

 

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/police-arrest-17-year-old-girl-in-burglary-case-of-nebraska-coach-scott-frosts-house/amp/

[Huskerpapa]

6 minutes ago, HuskerFever said:

Not to derail from the current conversation, but it appears they've caught their first suspect in the Scott Frost robbery case. I'm sure there's plenty more to come:

 

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/police-arrest-17-year-old-girl-in-burglary-case-of-nebraska-coach-scott-frosts-house/amp/

Lincoln is having a rash of recent incidents  involving minors...including this crime.  I am not sure what the heck is going on.