https://athlonsports.com/college-football/big-ten-football-2018-predictions?amp
Pundits not predicting much from NU this year.
Pundits not predicting much from NU this year.
Pundits not impressed
- Thread starter Purple Pile Driver
- Start date
This is an easy write for a national guy on a deadline. NU is not sure if their qb will be healthy, therefore, the uncertainty means mediocrity. I get it and I can't say its not entirely possible. If Clayton is just not near 100% next year, this team may struggle against better teams, but we won't be terrible either.
Seems like every time we have a good year, pundits aren't expecting much.
We almost always overachieve expectations.
Considering the light schedule Iowa has against the East and the fact that the Cats game with them is at Kinnick, it is pretty reasonable to predict Iowa 2nd. Like the Cats, they lose a few key players on the defensive side of the ball. Given the similarity of systems and player development, I think both Iowa and the Cats should be able to absorb those losses.
Purdue seems to be getting a huge amount of love this year relative to their performance last year. I believe they have 7 starters to replace on defense, which makes me a little skeptical of their ability to put together a top 3 season. I think they are pretty much the flavor of the month.
I would pick the Cats to be 6-3 or 5-4 in conference, but if Thorson comes to camp ready to play, that goes up to a solid 6-3 with possible upside if they can avoid injuries early in the year. Defensive front 7 will be very solid, corners on average should be better than last year, safeties will be down a little, O-Line will be on par with second half of last year, WR will be stronger with return of Vault and Brown, SB will be about same, QB will depend on Thorson's health, RB will see only small if any drop off with Larkin, return teams with Lees and Vault will be stronger, punter will be fine with grad transfer, and PK about the same. Overall, the Cats will be a little stronger than last year if Thorson is healthy. Since last year was 4-2-3 in regulation, I think 6-3 is reasonable in this scenario.
Iowa will be about the same, Purdue down a little, Nebraska better but held backk by really tough schedule, Minnesota and Illinois will have long way to go.
I would pick Wisky, Iowa due to schedule, NU, Purdue over Nebraska due to schedule, Minnesota, Illinois.
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I think I read somewhere that Minnesota is currently down to one viable QB, so we certainly aren't the only team with QB concerns.
I thought this was a pretty fair assessment. Hard to argue with the few things said about the 'Cats. You throw in the unknowns with Thorson and our tough schedule and a 6-6 year is absolutely possible.
For me, if you remove Thorson since he's a question mark, our lines and LB's are actually are strengths (not often you can say lines are our strengths). Our defensive front seven is strong- I'd say no lower than top five in conference. We will miss Tyler in the middle, but love Thompson and think there are others ready to step up there, and I also have cautious optimism in an o-line returning a ton of experience. Away from the lines/LB's, I really like Larkin as well. Obviously can't say he is an upgrade from Jackson, but I don't think the drop off is too significant, and I think Larkin has a bit more big play explosiveness in him, which is a plus.
Biggest worries...Thorson's health of course, but I also am worried about our secondary. Losing two safeties that started for multiple years is not easy to replace. We have some talent back there, but I fear of secondary coverage breakdowns, especially early in the season.
Can't wait until that last Thursday in August!
For me, if you remove Thorson since he's a question mark, our lines and LB's are actually are strengths (not often you can say lines are our strengths). Our defensive front seven is strong- I'd say no lower than top five in conference. We will miss Tyler in the middle, but love Thompson and think there are others ready to step up there, and I also have cautious optimism in an o-line returning a ton of experience. Away from the lines/LB's, I really like Larkin as well. Obviously can't say he is an upgrade from Jackson, but I don't think the drop off is too significant, and I think Larkin has a bit more big play explosiveness in him, which is a plus.
Biggest worries...Thorson's health of course, but I also am worried about our secondary. Losing two safeties that started for multiple years is not easy to replace. We have some talent back there, but I fear of secondary coverage breakdowns, especially early in the season.
Can't wait until that last Thursday in August!
Yep, pretty much agree with you on your West rankings, even given the questions surrounding Clayton’s health.
Well...maybe not so much on the years immediately after NU’s last two 10 Win seasons. So, this would be a great year to break the pattern!
I'm not so sure they have a single viable QB. Minnesota and Illinois are going to struggle this season.
Geez, I sure as heck expect, Smith, Green, or Marty to be better than anything Minny or Lovie has next year. Minny has one recruited QB and a walk on. Lovie has one QB who struggled mightily in Spring ball. Let’s not use them as a yardstick.
Purdue likely gets some love because they play us early and perhaps at a time we are not at full strength.
Also Purdue is getting a little extra love because the media really likes their new head coach, as opposed to the Rower in Minnesota who might be approaching the end of his honeymoon.
You didn’t. Their woeful situation was brought in the discussion and I just mentioned we need to be compared to the top of the conference not the bottom.
Playing Michigan and Michgan State in crossovers is a big disadvantage and I agree with the authors that the Purdue game will be critical.
We're looking at our QB situation as if CT is gone. A recent article on Carson Went z suggests he will be ready for September 1st opener. And there have been others with a ACL tear that have come back "early" and done well. While the people in the wings are unknown quantities they have been here a while and have played the game. All they need, if CT isn't a go, is the game plan to play to their strengths and the teams strengths, trying not to so the impossible. This "woe is me" approach accomplishes nothing. And if the pundits say so, all the better. It's still a team game.
My base case is for Thorson to return Sept. 29 against Michigan. Anything earlier than that would be fantastic.
I don’t think I am doing a “woe is me”. We have no idea if CT will be ready for the opener. Personally, I would be surprised if he were. What I do know is the combination of Green, Smith, Marty, and Whittaker have thrown a combined 1 collegiate pass. QB is the most important position on the field. Any of these fine four lads could elevate to a better than average QB at some point, but you are more optimistic than me if you think we can just revise our playbook, make our QB a game manager and roll to a fast start. Even if back, there is going to be rust with CT. The start of this season is critical with our brutal mid year schedule. I do think catching Purdue with an almost all new Defense in game 1 is a break for a new QB.
Agree with GCG2003... the less pub the better until post season when we earn it.
This is true. A knife that cuts both ways. CT may never really recover completely, he may play but be inhibited the whole season, or this may be the most insignificant knee injury that got the most comprehensive treatment. He might be able to play today for all we know, Fitz keeps a tight lid on injury info and he likes to wait to the last moment to reveal his hand.
I agree but some are more equal than others. Will just have to see his status but while hoping for the best still will remain practical and not count him in,until he is in.
Under the assumption he misses 1 to 3 games, yes. If he comes back later than game 3, 7-5 or 6-6 are likely outcomes.
The Pundits are a-holes.
#FakeNews
#FTP (Think NWA, but P = Pundits, not tha Police)
ECat, you know better than that. If a part of your body is not functioning well, the rest will not either.
When you freeze the frame which shows the actual injury, it looks like an impossible task to repair and recover. However, current techniques of repair and healing plus PT in a young healthy and nutritionally sound athlete may surprise us.
Actually some of the pundits, especially the ones on TV, have played football, and their predictions usually aren't much better than anyone else's.
Hope he can play before then. That would be a tough defense to debut against.
OK, Just playing the optimistic advocate. Over the years I've seen a few injuries that looked really horrible on replay and the guy comes back on the next series. CT was back on the field in a brace of some kind and on crutches before the game was over. I assume that NU was taking every necessary precaution post injury and yet, there he was crutching around and not on a cart or anything.
Until we get more reports (which I don't expect until someone sees him running around) I'm going to hold on to a 10% possibility that that one or more of these things could be true: 1) It wasn't as bad as it looked, 2) What injury there was was clean, without collateral damage, 3) The surgery was remarkable well done 4) CT is still young enough to heal quickly, 5) CT is disciplined in his rehabilitation being cautiously aggressive. 6) Fitz will go to great lengths to hide the truth (either way) in order to protect CT's privacy and any slight advantage NU gets out of the mystery.
He was on the sidelines because it’s difficult to do all that much more damage once a ligament is completely torn and the knee is stabilized, even on crutches on the sidelines.
Expectations are reasonable given that we have arguably the hardest schedule in the Big Ten and that nobody knows when CT will be available.
Oddsmakers have us as underdogs versus Purdue.
If we beat Purdue and start the season strongly, then expectations will be revamped. The same is true about CT's situation, if he's back early in the season and playing like he has the past 3 seasons... then expectations will change.
Of course, even if we start the season off poorly, that doesn't mean we'll finish 4-8; last year was a great example of that.
Oddsmakers have us as underdogs versus Purdue.
If we beat Purdue and start the season strongly, then expectations will be revamped. The same is true about CT's situation, if he's back early in the season and playing like he has the past 3 seasons... then expectations will change.
Of course, even if we start the season off poorly, that doesn't mean we'll finish 4-8; last year was a great example of that.