Smell that Fall, Bring on Football!

So, have you been antsy this offseason?  Have you missed Husker football at all? How could you not, right?

Nebraska had the type of offseason that makes you want the season to start yesterday.  The Huskers final six games ended with a loss to Iowa, but the 4 wins down the stretch and the close loss to Iowa showed that Scott Frost had finally figured his new team out and that the players had figured out Coach Frost as well.  

A quiet spring game led way to a long off season.  Maurice Washington has been dealing with legal issues all summer and the offseason marijuana possession seemed to touch several incoming freshmen.  So far, nothing has come of the weed stories and Washington still awaits his fate in California that won’t be settled until after the first game against South Alabama.  We just found out Andre Hunt and Katerian Legrone have been suspended. That has to be the biggest thing that has happened this entire offseason.

So as the wait for games has consumed some of us, we followed recruiting and basically any other nuggets that we could obtain.  Cam Jurgens out with a foot injury? Of course. Graduate transfer wide receiver from California? Why not. These stories seem important, but small potatoes compared to the beginning of fall camp.  

Now that we have read all the articles, both local and national, we begin to see a swell of momentum for the Huskers like we haven’t seen in at least three seasons.  Several national prognosticators have listed the Huskers as the favorites to win the West division in the Big Ten and the Huskers are ranked in the initial AP poll for the first time in what seems like forever.

Is this too much, too soon for a team coming off a 4-8 regular season?  Probably. I think the Huskers are on the right track, but it would be easy to see any number of injury scenarios that could keep this team from finishing in the top 2 in their division.  Nebraska has slowly stock piled players at wide receiver, running back, quarterback and tight end on offense, but the offensive line still seems like it has shallow depth that can play in the Big Ten.  We all know that Adrian Martinez is the reason many think the Huskers are the odds-on favorites to win the West. Any regression or missed time by Martinez would certainly hurt the Huskers chances to do anything outside of reach a modest bowl game.

Omaha World Herald Carriker Chronicles

Defensively, the Blackshirts were anything but solid in 2018 and there are only a couple of names on the depth chart that are different from a team that couldn’t stop anyone the first six losses of last season.  Darrion Daniels was a nice grab from Oklahoma State at nose tackle, but no other new player looks to make much of an impact early in the season. Scottsbluff’s Garrett Nelson may be the only true freshmen to see regular time and late added junior college sensation Jahkeem Green arrived in camp so late that he may not play regular minutes until the conference season starts.  Any improvement must come from within the current roster.

It’s easy to be pessimistic, especially coming off back-to-back 4-8 seasons.  This season however, I expect that record to flip completely, if not turn into a 9-win season.  

There is no doubt that Adrian Martinez, should he stay healthy, will be an All-Conference type quarterback.  We have seen enough of his talent to know that if he takes the next step in the Scott Frost offense, he will win games based on his talent alone.  When Scott Frost left Central Florida after his second season, his offense was considered one of the best in the country. Even if he only raises the Husker offense to top 20 status in the country, Nebraska should eclipse seven or eight wins.

If the Blackshirts can show any type of improvement over last season, Nebraska will be a lot to handle as the season wears on.  Special teams need to improve as well, as it was abysmal in Frost’s first year. It really has nowhere to go but up.

When it comes down to it, an easier schedule, along with a surging offense, a defense that is bound to be better and a special teams group that can’t get much worse, should propel Nebraska into bowl season in 2019.  Will it be enough to win the division? Consider us cautiously optimistic, but realistically tempered. We have heard it almost every season since 2011 that Nebraska is a contender to win their division. It is time for the Huskers to make that move.

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ON WITH THE REWIND…

We don’t have a previous score from the Spring Game, but I would have bet on the team wearing red.  Our recollection from that game? Luke McCaffrey is fast. Other than that, not much really stands out.

Quick Notes:

Offense… This group is young everywhere.  Kanawai Noa is the only senior on the team that expects to see big minutes.  This group is also very quick. You can say that it is small, with the addition of Wan’dale Robinson to pair with J.D. Spielman, there won’t be a group that is quicker in the conference.  The question is, will Nebraska’s running game continues to improve with the loss of Devin Ozigbo? I suspect that JUCO transfer Dedrick Mills and Maurice Washington, when eligible, should be able to cover what Ozigbo and Washington did last season.  I also expect the offensive line, in its second year with Greg Austin, to make a big step overall in 2019. The offense is by far the strength of the team and it has been overhauled in less than two years. It is very impressive. 

Darrion Daniels…. It goes without saying, but Nebraska struggled to put a true nose tackle on the field last season.  Carlos and Kahlil Davis are not true nose tackles, and Damion Daniels wasn’t ready to play full time last season.  Bring in Damion’s older brother Darrion from Oklahoma State and #boom now you have a real person to man the middle.  With Darrion coming in and Damion being a year older, what was a weakness last season just got a nice shot in the arm.  Throw in Deontre Thomas as another option and the Huskers should be much improved along the defensive line.

Linebacker …Nebraska’s next big jump in recruiting needs to come at this spot.  Nebraska has done such a good job addressing deficiencies all over the field but finding immediate playmakers at both the inside and outside linebacking positions has eluded the coaching staff.  There are plenty of young players with promise in the pipeline, but in 2019, outside of Mohamed Barry, you don’t have many players that have proven themselves on the field. If this position group even plays average this year, the Blackshirts will make a large jump in yards against and probably points given up as well.  This position group really is the question mark that may make the season a bust or success.

Season Prediction…I could see the Husker season going any number of directions.  Face it, they have under performed to their talent severely that last two seasons.  If they just play close to the level that they should, they would win 7 games easily.  I think we get a mix of second year explosion, but a dose of hard reality that Nebraska, while on the right track, still doesn’t have the horses or depth to win 10 games.  I expect Nebraska to win 8 during the regular season. For some reason, I think it will be difficult for the team to go much better than 5-4 in conference. If they do better than that, they could certainly win the west, but I think the lack of depth and lack of big-time playmakers on defense will hold this Nebraska team from breaking through.  They are close, but not ready for playoff football just yet.

Big Red Rising Shirt

Nebraska 40 – South Alabama 17

I expect the Huskers to have some inconsistency on offense the first game.  I also expect them to be explosive in the game and put up 4 touchdowns on plays longer than 25 yards.  North Alabama won’t get the team that played Troy last fall. They won’t get the best of the Huskers this year either.  Nebraska will work to get a lot of young players on the field to get the jitters out, knowing that going to Boulder the next week is the first big challenge of the season.  I expect this game to be over moving into the 4th quarter.  If it isn’t, this season may not have the promise it seems prior to the kickoff.  GBR!!!