I was looking at the Vegas odds today, and they have the 2015 Nebraska Cornhuskers over/under for wins at 8. When I first saw this I was a little surprised, but after taking it all in, looking at the schedule, I can see how Vegas came up with that mark. As a big Husker fan, I like to look at the schedule and say to myself “well there’s no way we are going to lose that game”, and then we play Iowa State, Northwestern, Iowa, etc, and I’m sitting there eating my own words. In this piece, I’m going to look at Nebraska’s “toss up” games and give you my opinion if Nebraska will win those games.
When looking at the 2015 schedule, I believe there are about 7 games where we can feel pretty confident that Nebraska will walk away with a win: S. Alabama, Southern Miss, Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue, Rutgers, and Iowa. Yes, I know Northwestern and Iowa have given us a couple fits in the last couple years, but a lot of that had to do with coaching, and not the players. I believe that Nebraska now as the roster talent and proper coaching staff, who are willing to make simple in game adjustments, and we will finally be able take care of these teams that we should beat.
The remaining schedule can be considered “toss up” games. Games where I believe Nebraska CAN win, but maybe not 100% sure they WILL win. To be honest, Nebraska has the roster talent to beat everyone on their schedule. They’ve had the roster talent to beat a lot of teams over the last few years, but instead have gotten blown out when there really was no excuse for it.
The Mike Riley era begins with no cupcake on the schedule. BYU is going to be a lot harder than some people think. I’ve seen very early polls where some people have BYU ranked in the Top 25, most likely because their stud QB Hill will be back from his injury. I expect this game to be high scoring, almost like last years Miami game without the fights. But in the end, I think Nebraska’s defense makes more stops than BYU’s defense. Nebraska will win this one in a shootout. (Side note, I really don’t like to predict scores, just giving my opinion on who wins and why)
Miami to me is a toss up game mostly because it’s on the road. But there are a lot of factors in this game that make me lean towards Nebraska. First, I think Nebraska fans will flock to South Beach and fill their stadium. Miami fans can barely fill that place half full as it is, so the full home field advantage won’t be there. Miami might have more raw roster talent than Nebraska, but they lost a ton of players from last years team to the NFL. They have more holes to fill on their roster than Nebraska does, so I give the experience side to the Huskers. Finally I think Nebraska wins because of the coaching. Al Golden has underachieved in his tenure as Miami’s coach and I think Mike Riley has the advantage when it comes to making in game adjustments. I think this one stays close throughout the whole game, but in the end Nebraska makes too many big plays and adjusts to Miami’s scheme, and the Huskers take this one for Mike Rileys first road win.
Now, it’s the only game I have circled on this year’s schedule: Wisconsin!! Oh Wisconsin; how you keep embarrassing the Huskers with Joe Stave as your quarterback is beyond me. But this year, IT STOPS!! That’s right Badgers, your days of running over 400 yards in 3 quarters are over!! This game is being played in Lincoln and I believe with this new attack style defense, Collins and Valentine will shut down Wisconsin enough to pull the upset and get Mike Rileys first signature win at Nebraska. I think the Huskers can stuff the run enough where they’ll make Joe Stave have to throw the ball, which is the blue print to beating Wisconsin, MAKE JOE STAVE HAVE TO THROW!! Do that, and Wisconsin is a very beatable team!
Now we come to the team that has beaten Nebraska two years in a row, Minnesota. Yep, as weird as it is to say, the Minnesota Gophers has beaten Nebraska two years in a row. But there is no way Nebraska can lose to Minnesota 3 years in a row right? This is the game that I can truly call a “toss up” game. After Nebraska beats Wisconsin they will be riding high into Minneapolis, which is the perfect recipe for a let down game. Minnesota is a very tough and physical team, and if I had to pick a game for Nebraska to lose, I might have to look at this game as the best possibility. Nebraska’s roster is still better than Minnesota’s as the Gophers lost their stud running back and tight end. But I have to look at this game as a trap game and will not be surprised if the Gophers find a way to do Nebraska in, again! I’m torn on making a prediction right now, but I will make one before the game starts.
Finally, we come to Michigan State, another team who has beaten Nebraska two years in a row, but that stat is a little less surprising since Michigan State has been averaging about 10 wins the last 4 years. Connor Cook is a stud and has the tools to be a very high NFL draft pick. But who is he going to throw to? Who will he hand the ball off to? The Spartans lost a lot of weapons on offense and lost their great Defense Coordinator Pat Narduzzi. This game will be PRIMETIME in Lincoln and you can bet Memorial Stadium will be rocking for this one as the Spartans could be a top 10 team heading into this game. I’m looking for this to be the 2nd signature win of the season for Mike Riley as Nebraska finally beats Michigan State in front of a national audience, and the media will finally notice that something special is happening at Nebraska and they better take notice!!
Looking at the schedule more closely, I believe Nebraska has the roster talent and coaching experience to make this a very special season. The schedule has a lot of toss up games that Nebraska will have to fight hard for, but I think Mike Riley put together a tremendous and experience coaching staff to lead Nebraska to those kind of wins we have been missing in the last 10 years.
Please feel free to comment on this and let everyone know how you think Nebraska will do this year. I’ve heard some people say Nebraska will go undefeated (I used to say that every year), and I’ve also heard people say Nebraska will lucky to win 7 games. It’s very interesting to see others opinions and I’m looking forward to hearing yours. Thanks for reading! GO BIG RED!!!
bettgerblog 