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[gaines]

thanks for the kind words and its nice to know another in my boat.


heres the start of my write up for the huskers.



Nebraska

-offense- a lot of ?????? basically it will boil down to one man, Jammal Lord. Lord struggles reading defenses and makes bad decisions under pressure. I don?t see this changing drastically this season. David Horne takes over at the I-back position. He showed signs of brilliance last year and will need to improve upon that his previous performances and be healthy for this game. Look for a lot of the passes in this game to be thrown at Matt Herian the huskers tight end. He must have a great game for the huskers to have a chance. If Richie Incognito stays away from the personal fouls look for him to be a strong force in the line.

Looking forward I see Lord throwing 2 picks and the I-back fumbling the ball over at least once.

-defense- the secondary is the ????? here. The huskers have talent upfront but need to wrap up and make tackles. The secondary is very young and there performance is up in the air as new defensive coordinator Bo Pelini takes over. I look to an average performance from the defense in this game.

-special teams- the star Dejaun Groce is gone and another big play maker needs to show up to give the huskers some fire. I don?t see anyone taking over where Groce left off in this first game against okie st. Look for Lannie Hopkins to attack the punter and probably block at least one.

The good news for the huskers is that the cowboys have not won in memorial stadium since the 1960s. Home field advantage does play a key role especially on the season openers.

 

[Escrow_Tum]

Gaines, here is what I have gathered from some pretty reliable folks:

Offense:

Jammal Lord IS the best player on the offense. New OC Barney Cotton has simplified the calls and will run much less option. His goal is for Jammal to complete 60% but 55% is much more realistic. However with all players but Incognito checking in with over 35% BF, that is not the athletic, mauling Husker O lines of the days of old. These guys are marginal at best, and Cotton is cognizant of that. Lord will have less plays to check off into at the line of scrimmage. Another major factor is that our FB play is absolutely atrocious. Davies is the worst FB we have had in modern times. He has shown no improvement at all and it is going to cost them come conference play. Herian is a stud, but his secret is out. Ross Pilkington might be the best receiver we have never heard of out there, and LeFlore is long on potential, short on results.

I am not sure what film you were watching of David Horne, but the guy clocked in at 4.83 in the 40 this spring. Josh Davis is the much better player, but they insist on playing Horne. He will never take it to the house. While he has decent vision and cutting ability, he is easy to tackle and very fraile. He is not the answer for NU long term. Corey Ross has good vision and balance but the guy resembles a plump Gary Coleman and is running a 5.0 40. Not going to win you many games. Incoming RB Tierre Green (A Green's cousin, has the look of the next all american back, but he is injured and doesn't look to play early). As much as people dogged Diedrick last year, the running game will be even weaker without him this year.

On defense, this will be the fastest secondary that NU has fielded since the 99 season. The Bullocks brothers are going to be solid at saftey. Fabian Washington took his lumps last year, and is a future AA. Incoming JUCO Donald DeFrand is favored to start, but Titus Brothers has been making a huge impression during summer passing league. Doesn't hurt that he ran a 10.3 100M in Texas 4A either. Linebacker will be weak, but I totally agree that we need to get Hopkins on the field. He is our best athlete and is in the mold of Terrel Farley. If he can stay healthy, the dude will be All Big 12. The Huskers look to be solid upfront, and RE Adam CArriker is drawing comparisons to the great rush ends we have seen in our storied past.

Special teams will be an abortion. No kicking game. Sandro DeAngelis prob wont' have his scholarhsip renewed, and Endorff is not the answer. NU signed K David Dyches who has a big leg but he has no collegiate kicking experience. Josh Davis will return Kickoffs and is very good. Punt return duties could fall on FR Ronnie Smith (on film he has been compared to Johnny Rodgers). One of our incoming freshman could also be in the mix. But Groce as you mentioned is irreplaceable. Nebraska definitely needs to get back to their roots of blocking kicks and Hopkins and Super Demorrio might be what the doctor orders.

The Cowboys will not be nearly as strong in the trenches as last year, but NU is no longer dominant in that department eihter, so it will basically be a wash. OSU has their version of the triplets. You need playmakers. NU has very few left in the cupboard. (THANK YOU FRANK SOLICH AND DAVE GILLESPIE). I am sure Bill Snyder, Mack Brown and Bob Stoops would like to thank them too.

NU has something very special planned for their home opener, but when you are trying to gain a huge emotional edge, that is not a good sign.

The coaching staff is fresh, young and new blood is coming,but this current group of palyers are mediocre. I look for a 3rd or 4th place finish again in the Big 12 N. While I don't forsee any blowouts and some improvement, it wont' show up in the WL column.


Looking forward to the season.
GL

 

[NY Reb]

Coincidentally, I just happened to watch the tape of the Independence Bowl last night, where Nebraska lost to Ole Miss. I was astonished at how the Rebs pretty much dominated the 2nd half. And that fake punt was pitiful. I hope your team improves a lot from that game, otherwise they are in a world of trouble. Anyway, good luck, and enjoy the season.

 

[Escrow_Tum]

Lots and Lots of those problems could be attoned to their conditioning, it happened a lot last year. Former SC guy Boyd Eppley has been "reassigned". New SC guy Brian Bailey is making good strides, but I said earlier, you can only put so much paint on a Hyundai. While it may look pretty, have a racing stripe, that thing is still a 4 banger with a 1.4 L engine. And that is what NU has a lot of in the program right now. Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Colorado are all well ahead of Nebraska in the talent department.

Yeah, that fake punt is pure Solich. Until he goes, this team will never be elite again, and you can take that to the bank.

Best of luck this season!

 

[wcb4]

Yeah, that fake punt is pure Solich. Until he goes, this team will never be elite again, and you can take that to the bank.

Never have truer words been spoken.

 

[gaines]

escrow...thanks for all the info...i am trying my first write-up and that is all i had so far for neb. I am actually friends with josh davis and he is a great return man, although he lost a step or two when he tore his acl 2 years ago. as a freshmen he was one of the fastest on the team, but i really dont see him having the breakaway speed anymore. but he is still fast and tough and i look forward to seeing him return kicks again. as far as putting him at i-back, i think it would benefit the huskers if he can hold onto the ball (which i harass him about quite often). he said the team is up for the season and are very happy with the changes made in the coaching staff. if the initial line on this game stays where it is now i still say okie st. is the bet at +14. I envision the huskers only improving as the season progresses but i think there will be plenty of rust. and like you said about the o line, i think they will be quite fatigued by the third and fourth quarter. i love my huskers but i also like money and so i do believe i will be putting it down on oklahoma st.

 

[Escrow_Tum]

Gaines

Gaines

That is pretty interesting what you told me about Josh Davis. If the guy looks like he lost a step, he is still pretty damn fast, b/c he still ran an electronic 4.53 recently. I wish he could get more carries, b/c he is our best chance to win back there for sure. He will def be needed returning kickoffs to give us good field pos, b/c the offense will have a tendency to stagnate a lot.

I am excited about the coaching changes too. The Defense hated and disrepected Craig Bohl and Nelson Barnes was pretty worthless.

The conditioning will return under Bailey, but you can only make so many strides over 13 weeks.

I love my money too and I feel foolish betting Nebraska. I want to talk to my friend more at OSU and see what he is telling me; but one thing on our side is that they have been notoriously slow starters. Maybe that will come to pass again this year.

Good work young man. If you have any other interestig tidbits from Josh, let us know.

GL

 

[mw]

Great stuff, gentlemen.

Gaines -- where did you find a line on the OSU game?

 

[gaines]

escrow.....ya, josh is still faster than hell. he just said he still doesnt feel like his old self (or he said that last year anyway). and i did see him get tracked down where i thought he was going to the house on a kick off. he said he feels better this year and he has gotten bigger and stronger while retaining his speed.

as for the line...someone posted it in the other thread i started about the best conference for a beginning capper. i cant confirm this because carib has yet to put their lines up. i am anxiously awaiting the lines for the first full week of games.