Norm Peterson

Most accurate returning passer in the B1G. Now, will he have enough targets to throw to?

Two of the top 4 returning B1G interior defenders for pass-rush win percentage.

Khalil Davis: 2nd in B1G among returning interior defenders for total number of stops.

I like these PFF info-graphic things. As a true frosh, AMart had the 3rd best (returning) completion percentage on DEEP throws.

2nd lowest catch rate allowed for returning corners in B1G; 3rd best passer rating allowed among returning corners.

I read the other day in the LJS that DiCaprio Bootle had 15 pass breakups last year, which tied a school record. On the other corner, we have Lamar Jackson, whom we knew was good. Good corners starting on D.

Looks like it'd be easier just to bring Italy here.

Right. I was just trying to warn people not to have ridiculous expectations. I know when Creighton took an overseas trip to Italy a few years back (same year we went to Spain, I believe) they were destroying the competition by ridiculous scores. I'm saying that's probably not going to happen with us, in part because our guys have never played together before and have never played in Hoiberg's system.

It's the off-season. I just read something that tripped a memory and reminded me of one of the all-time funniest threads in board history. Must have been way back on the original, original board. I'm guessing 10-15 years ago. It started off innocuous enough. Something about basketball. But in the fine tradition of Husker Hoops Central, the thread got hijacked and it turned into people reciting the punchline of their favorite dirty joke. Maybe we could resurrect that thread in honor of the off-season. I'll start: "Ten bucks, father. Just like downtown."

One thing to keep in mind is that these teams we'll be playing have been playing together for awhile, in all probability. This will be a completely new experience for all of our guys to play together. Only Dachon and Thor have any prior experience with each other. So, that will somewhat offset the probable talent gap.

So, according to the official Husker twitter account and the video posted, it appears we're playing a Lithuanian team twice, on consecutive days, sandwiched in between Stella Azzurra Academy (which I assume is Italian for "Blue Star Academy") and the Italian Select program. Games are on 8/5, 8/7, 8/8, and 8/12. So, between game 3 and game 4, there's going to be plenty of time for some sight-seeing. Looks like the sites are roughly Rome, Florence and Milan. Just making some assumptions.

Matchups set.

OK, Imma gonna kick some ass with this one: "Road to Shambala." Original version by BW Stevenson (who also recorded the original "My Maria" redone by Brooks and Dunn.) One week later, (re)done by Three Dog Night in the kickass version.

When I've had a couple mediocre experiences at a restaurant, I don't generally say anything. I just stop going there. I don't expect kids to say anything about the schools they decide not to go to; I only see them saying positive things about the schools they're considering that they will go to. And, when I look at Nebraska's recruiting under Miles, I can just see that there was one category of recruits before he hit that skid of Miles not having a full extension, and then a different category of recruits once we started talking about his contract. Kids who go to Kentucky might not care if there are rumors swirling that Calipari may be headed to an NBA gig in the next couple of years, because many of them figure they'll be off to the NBA by then as well. But the kids Nebraska is going after probably enter school thinking or at least hoping they'll be at the one school for the duration. Unless there's a coaching change. I'd be very surprised if too many kids go into college planning their next move. Even though transfers happen at higher rates in hoops, I don't think kids head off to a school *expecting* to transfer any more than people plan their divorce before they get married.

ding ding ding ding ding Next year was set up to be a real struggle if Miles had stayed. My view is that he was hamstrung in recruiting by the non-extensions of his contract, and the fact that ONLY Thomas Allen winds up at a comparable program reinforces that view for me. I wasn't surprised that Hoiberg came in and cleared out a bunch of people; I was surprised by some of who he kept vs. who he got rid of. But it seemed to come down to anyone who was healthy enough to work out and show what they could do was allowed to stay. And anyone who was slowed/limited/out with injuries was invited to leave.

BJ Thomas's "Hooked on a Feeling" Kickass remake by Blue Swede:

Neal Diamond's "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" Kickass remake by Urge Overkill:

I don't want to take anything away from Gerry Gdowski or Bobby Newcombe. However, I don't think either was a "great" passer, despite what their passing numbers might suggest. In Osborne's offense, the run game started everything. It was overwhelmingly powerful and defenses had to line up to stop it. They stacked the box, the safeties played up, and the whole defense was within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. The passing philosophy involved getting defenses to bite on the run and expect it so much that you could slip a tight end behind them un-noticed and have them wide open over the middle. Typically, the ball was underthrown so that you were assured of a completion but no yards after catch rather than trying to hit the receiver in stride and risking overthrowing him. I don't know how Newcombe or Gdowski would grade out under PFF's grading system, but I know for sure that Adrian Martinez grades out extremely well in the passing department. Here's a little graphic about "Big-Time Throws" showing AMart as a freshman was 2nd in the B1G among returning players: And here's a discussion about what "big-time throws" are: What is a big-time throw? In its simplest terms, a big-time throw is on the highest end of both difficulty and value. While the value is easy to see statistically, the difficulty has more to do with passes that have a lower completion percentage the further the ball is thrown down the field. Therefore, the big-time throw is best described as a pass with excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tighter window. The idea of the tight window can often bog people down as they ask, “Why do you want your quarterback to make riskier throws?” But it’s less about taking a risk and more about executing a pass that perhaps makes up for a deficiency on the offense. If a receiver can only create a tiny window of separation and the quarterback can put the ball in an optimum spot, he’s now created a big-play opportunity despite the receiver, not because of him. “Throwing receivers open” is a necessary skill at the NFL level, and big-time throws are just one way to capture it statistically. Sometimes difficult throws are necessary, because every offense will end up in unfavorable down-and-distance situations at times, and completing a regulation 3-yard out doesn’t help on 3rd-and-15. Furthermore, we may see big-time throws under heavy pressure, turning a negative play into a positive, making a tight-window throw in the red zone where all passing windows are compressed, or perhaps throwing the beautiful 50-yard bomb down the field with good ball location. Hitting receivers #InStride is also important and more difficult to achieve the further the ball is thrown down the field. Well-thrown downfield passes that allow for further catch-and-run opportunities fall into the big-time throw category.

Most accurate among returning Big Ten passers. Not just comparing him to other dual-threats.

Best passing dual-threat QB in Husker football history. You heard it here first.

According to his Rivals profile, he's under 6'2". But Rivals ranks him top 90, so there is that.

Frost was a no-brainer. Homegrown Nebraska kid who played here and was one of the hottest young coaches in the game at the time. Even I would have gone after him if I'd been AD. The real coup was Hoiberg. We've never hired a basketball coach before who already had an established name and won at the P5 level before coming here. Yeah, we had some family connections. Maybe without that Jerry Bush connection and him being born in Lincoln, he might have held out for a different job. So, maybe we kind of lucked into the fact that there was an appeal to him to come to Lincoln. Add to that TO offering him a football scholarship. But, still, we've never pulled that off before. And we've been shunned by Dana Altman a couple of times, so just being from here isn't enough to get a coach to come here.

You mentioned class of 2022 Jasen Green but not his 2021 teammate, Hunter Sallis, whom we've also offered, and crosstown 2021 rival Chucky Hepburn who also has an offer.