What’s Scary About Texas A&M
Saving the best for last perhaps before we turn our full attention to Western Kentucky, we now focus on the Aggies. You see predictions for the Huskers ranging from eight wins to twelve in the regular season. But one of the most common losses you'll see is the road game in College Station. Even people picking Nebraska to go 11-1, often pick A&M as the one loss. There are some reasons to buy into that line of thinking.
First, the Aggies bring back ten starters on defense. Granted, their defense was HORRIBLE a year ago, but simple regression to the mean would make the defense a lot better. And if you didn't believe their defense would improve, then why would you expect the Nebraska offense to improve? The Aggies did hold three of the teams they faced to ten points or less.
Then there's Jerrod Johnson, an explosive quarterback who can kill you with both his arm and his legs. The kind that has been known to give Pelini defenses (or any defense) fits. He's a big reason that A&M was in the top 5 nationally in total offense a year ago. Granted they replace their starting offensive tackles with underclassmen, but they'll still be potent.
Then there's the stadium. They have their 12th man and can get pretty loud. Their schedule sets up nicely for them to have a very good record once the Huskers come to town. Perhaps their fans won't be as hostile to opposing fans, but they can make it plenty challenging to visiting players.
It's not the only tough game on Nebraska's schedule, but it may well be the toughest.
8/30/2010
i think A&M is a little far down the line up to be worried about, lets see how the Huskers play before we start touting a Big Twelve Championship, and a shot at the title, over confidence kill.
8/30/2010
Hey Steve. Corey and I are going to this one. Wanna come?
8/31/2010
I dont agree with this. I think it will be a K-State to upset us on this. With everyone picking Texas A & M to upset the Huskers, Bo will give them some material to get them fired up. I am going to the K-State game so I hope that doesnt happen. GBR
8/31/2010
The National Media is all over NU. It’s a national brand (as we all learned from realignment) that helps sell advertising. Does NU have a good team, absolutely, but this Husker fan is not sold on the preseason top 10 pick. Just imagine if the O-line performs similarly to last year. Do you really think we can win 11, 12, or 14 games like some are saying? I don’t think so. It’s nice to hear Nebraska in the conversation again, but they have a lot of work to do. I think most Husker fans understand this, but the opposing fan bases just assume all Husker backers drink ESPNs koolaid. I would think they’d know knowledgeable Husker fans are quite conservative when it comes to their team and understand the top 10 ranking should be earned. I’d rank them at 12-16, but it is what it is. Along with ATM, KSU will be a tough game in which we must win the turnover battle. On paper, NU should win that one by 14+, but we all know other factors will be in play that night.
Put them as a W…
WKU, Idaho, SDSU, OSU, ISU (not gonna get 8 turnovers), KU, CU
Could go either way…
Wash, KSU, TX, UM, ATM
I think NU should win at least 2 of the toss up games putting them at 9-3 if the offense is slightly better than least year. If the offense/offensive line is good, probably 10-2. If offense/offensive line is great, I’d say 11-1.
GBR!
8/31/2010
Good thinking, Stan. I happen to be in the camp of the offense being “good” compared to last year and have therefore pegged NU for 2 losses: KSU and A&M.
The rationale for assuming the offense will improve is not solely rooted in the number of returning starters (though that is obviously a factor). Rather, the major reasons why I believe the offense will be better are that we had an uncanny number of injuries last year, and I just got this overall sense that we underperformed. I really think the offense is going to surprised a lot of people this year.
9/1/2010
Ok, it would seem that the KSU game could be a trap, but lets remember, this is not Michael Bishop’s KSU. Its Carson Coffman’s, or any other QB they might have, for that matter. They have a good running back, but the rest of the offense? Their D is somewhat stout, but even if NU’s offense is in the “good” category this year, they hang 35 on them. And why is Manhattan so scary? Hit em in the mouth early in the 1st quarter and that fickle crowd gets quiet real fast. Don’t give KSU so much undue credit they don’t deserve. I’m more worried about Missouri at home, they have a viable QB.