The Huskers are 5-1, right where most people pegged them to be. Granted, the play behind that 5-1 record does little to inspire confidence for the rest of the season. Let’s look at some statistics, and then go to Four Downs.
Preseason AP Ranking: 10
Current AP Ranking: 14
Football Outsiders S&P+ Ranking: 34
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No shame in losing to Wisconsin, but when Nebraska loses like that it’s sad. As Bo Pelini said, “That was a joke.” No reason to belabor anything. Let’s get to it.
First Down: Russell Wilson is now a Heisman favorite – For awhile there, I thought the Huskers defense was playing well. They were making some stops, and they were getting pressure on Russell Wilson. It didn’t matter. Wilson would escape out of the pressure, most of the times, and make plays. When he wasn’t breaking ankles on the Huskers defense, he was throwing darts to his receivers. The good news? Nebraska won’t play a better QB this year, including Denard Robinson.
Second Down: Setting Taylor Martinez up to fail – Yes, Taylor Martinez threw three interceptions, but why was he being asked to throw so many times? The offense was performing well in the first quarter. Then Tim Beck seemed to panic and got away from the run in the second quarter. Martinez may have looked good passing in the first quarter, but that is a misnomer. There is enough of a sample size now to know he is not a passing QB. Getting away from the run led hurt the Huskers. So what if Jamal Turner is a difference maker at WR? You’re still reliant on Martinez getting him the ball.
Third Down: The more things change, the more they stay the same – Turnovers (Wisconsin scores 21 points off Husker turnovers), penalties (9 for 80 yards), panic on offense (giving up on run early in game, relying too much on Martinez), putting the defense in a difficult spot (and this year the defense isn’t as good to cover for the offense)…sound familiar?
Fourth Down: Can you fix it? – Bo Pelini said that he was confident he could fix the defense. Can he? It’s hard to say because I’m sure the repeated interceptions and stalled drives sapped the spirit of the Huskers defense. Plus, Russell Wilson is that good. Nevertheless, this defense is a work in progress, especially behind the front four (except Lavonte David). If the Huskers defense can improve, Nebraska should be in a rematch with Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game.
Looking Ahead: Wisconsin is the best team Nebraska has played since 2008 Oklahoma. The rest of the schedule for Nebraska? It should be downhill after this, but who knows? Does anyone know how good, or bad, this Huskers team is? If the play calls on offense are reminiscent of Shawn Watson, if Taylor Martinez is being asked to win games by passing, if the defense doesn’t improve, it could be a long season for the Huskers. I’ll still stick with 9-3 for the Huskers’ season, because no one else in the Big Ten is as good as Wisconsin. However, Nebraska can’t seem to get out of its own way.
With the addition of University of Nebraska, the Big Ten Conference is expanding to 12 teams, a move that inspired the league to unveil a new logo to be used for all sports beginning with the 2011-12 academic year.
According to ESPN, the logo was developed by Michael Bierut and Michael Gericke of Pentagram.
The logo’s lettering includes an embedded numeral ’10′ in the word ‘BIG,’ which allows fans to see ‘BIG’ and ’10′ in a single word.
The conference also announced today that its football divisions, starting with the 2011 season, will be “Legends” and “Leaders.” A breakdown of the divisions is listed below:
LEGENDS: Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern
LEADERS: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin
“‘Legends’ is a nod to our history and to the people associated with our schools who are widely recognized as legends – student-athletes, coaches, alumni and faculty. ‘Leaders’ looks to the future as we remain committed to fostering leaders, the student-athletes who are encouraged to lead in their own way for the rest of their lives, in their families, in their communities and in their chosen professions,” said Big Ten Commissioner James E. Delany.
That may be, but talking sports heads don’t like it and they’re not alone.
Everyday Should Be Saturday says of the “B” in Big Ten, “Those are clearly boobs. In graphic design school the first rule taught to incoming students is be sure to put boobs somewhere in your design. People like boobs, even ladies and gay men. Boobs are the cornerstone of any design work, and a design that lacks them is not going to be liked or recognized as words by anyone.”
What’s your take on the logo and on Legends v. Leaders?
Links to other Husker news around the web from the last week.
2010 Nebraska Football Schedule
(Huskerzone.com)
Tom Shatel: View of the Big Ten from here is great
(Omaha World Herald)
Puerto Rico Trip Highlight of NU Men’s Basketball Schedule
(HuskerExtra)
Ndamukong Suh Wires Up 2010 Huskers with 123 iPads
(SBNation.com)
QB tops list of burning questions for Huskers
(Omaha World Herald)
Big 10 Championship Goes to Indy
(Husker Mike’s Blasphemy)
Tracy Webster Rounds Out Husker BB Coaching Staff
(Nebraska State Paper)
Huskers Brace for Big 12 Hate
(Yahoo! Sports)
Huskers Buzz of Big 10 With a Year to Go
(Associated Press)
It’s done. Nebraska has officially joined the Big 10 Conference.
According to several reports, including this one from Chicago Tribune:
Chancellor Harvey Perlman said a major attraction of the Big Ten was stability “that the Big 12 simply cannot offer.”
Not only that, but there’s a promise of increased revenue once Nebraska becomes an equal member. The Big 12 paid out about $10 million to Nebraska in 2009, half of what Big Ten schools received.
Perlman and Osborne also talked about fit.
“We don’t feel like we’re walking into a room of strangers,” Perlman said.
Added Osborne: “We feel we share a lot of common values with what we know of Big Ten institutions.”
The last time the Big 10 expanded was 20 years ago when Penn State joined the league.
Personally, I’m totally pumped about the move. I want to see the Huskers line up against Penn State, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Iowa and Michigan. Those are five potentially epic battles, to say nothing of new rivalries, in the making.