The Rain started slow, but ultimately their aerial attacks were too much to overcome for Nebraska.
The Big Red Breakdown:
Ok but really. It stinks that the game got washed out. But it definitely makes this upcoming matchup against Colorado all the more interesting. Old Big 8/12 "rivals" squaring off for the first time since 2010 before both teams split in their own direction (Colorado to the Pac-10 which would be then renamed the Pac-12, and Nebraska to the Big Ten that's still called the Big Ten even though there are 14 teams.) I say "rivals" because we all know that Nebraska has had Colorado's number both historically and fairly recently before the conference break up. But this Saturday presents an interesting case where we might end up with a closer-than-expected game. We still don't know what we're working with for Nebraska because their first game got rained out. As far as we know, we're still expected to have a fairly lit, but nervous offense, and a stout defense to get them out of tough spots. Colorado meanwhile, is coming in fresh off destroying the living daylights out of Colorado State. But let's take a further look at that shall we?
Hawaii vs Colorado State started off with Hawaii just going ham in the passing game to jump out to an early first half lead. In the second half however, Colorado State was able to turn it back into a close game before ultimately losing. Ok. We expected a tough tight battle between two shitty teams, and well, maybe that's what we got? Fast forward to last weekend, Hawaii ends up beating Navy in a close one. Is Hawaii truly good? If they're good they showed it in the first half against Colorado State. Is Navy bad? Because then they lost to a Hawaii team that almost blew it to a shitty Colorado State team. Is Colorado State really that bad? Well, they did just let the Colorado QB throw all over the place in a bloodshed game, so lets go with that timeline.
I think the payoff point for this game will be seeing how the Colorado defense holds up. Yeah they held Colorado State pretty tight, but come on, it was Colorado State. They haven't really been super great as of late. They really shouldn't have let McElwain walk.
Nebraska O vs. Colorado D: Edge Nebraska. Since this will be the true first game for the Huskers (fingers crossed), expect some first game jitters from the young squad, but to eventually get it going. This could present a situation where the Colorado defense might look good, but ultimately they won't be able to keep up for four quarters
Nebraska D vs. Colorado O: Edge Nebraska. The only thing that scares me is maybe the Colorado QB is pretty good. Against an always shaky Nebraska secondary, this could spell trouble, so let's try to limit the damage here and prove to me that we actually have a decent secondary this year.
Special Teams: Man, that kickoff set up against Akron looked great, don't you agree?
Prediction: I'm a bit more scared of Colorado this week than I was last week, all things considered. First game jitters, and Colorado indeed looking pretty well over an inferior opponent. Expect a close first half, maybe tied, maybe down by 3-7, but I think Scotty and the boys will get it together in the second half and finish strong. Forecast is calling for a slight chance of rain, so who knows, maybe Rain will go 2-0 against Nebraska.
Nebraska 38, Colorado 30
The Rest of the World in College Football:
Again, the computer rankings won't be publicized until after the 3rd week for an accurate sample size. I did however update the regression formula to count the 2017 season stats, and when reapplying that new formula to last year's results, Alabama still held the top spot while Central Florida dropped to #3 in favor of Penn State. Nebraska was still ranked pretty lowly, earning a nice old 3.5 wins as opposed to just under 4 the first formula gave.
Over(rated)Watch:
Now that we have some results, let's take my anger out on the pre-season AP poll and how shitty of a job they're doing with this whole "ranking by poll inertia".
#5 Wisconsin - Being Watched. Wisconsin this past season and a half reminds me of the 2006-07 Chicago Bears. Really good defense, great run game, but just a god awful QB. Is Wisconsin a top ten team? Sure. Are they the favorite to win the Big Ten West? Again, sure. But until I see better QB play out of Hornibrook, I think Wisconsin is far and away from being in the Top 4 and thus in the playoff discussion. Their average play against Western Kentucky showcased that. They continue their non-conference schedule with New Mexico.
#7 Auburn - Being Watched. This is just me and my anti-Auburn bias going right now. They proved their worth last year, but they're going to need to do it again, and a tight win over Washington is too early to determine one way or the other. They play Alabama State next lol.
#8 Notre Dame - Being Watched. Again, just for the sake of putting them on the list. I don't think a win over an obviously overrated Michigan can justify one way or another at this moment. They play Ball State as the non-conference continues to wind on.
#9 Washington - Overrated. You can't lose to a currently questionable Auburn team and still remain in the top 10. Cmon AP voters. They play North Dakota so please prove me wrong.
#10 Stanford - Being Watched. Stanford has continually proved that you can have one really good running back carry your team to success. I don't think such a team should be in the Top 10 but here we are. They're like Wisconsin, but worse. They do get USC this week in what should be an interesting test for our "non-conference" slate.
#11 LSU - Being Watched. Chill out, you only beat an overrated Miami. They play South East Louisiana next. Woo.
#12 Virginia Tech - Being Watched. Again, just for the sake of monitoring how they do. They play William & Mary next. Thrilling.
Hot Take Central:
Quick recap of last week's hot takes:
-Well, we almost got a few upsets? There's still time...
-Its only been one week but unfortunately no stand out defensive studs yet
-There are currently 13 Power 5 teams not named Kansas that are 0-1 (14 if you include Kansas)
-Nebraska hasn't even played a game yet
-Way too early to even think about championship season standings
New Takes:
The Big Ten will NOT have a representative in the playoffs this year. I think there will be some self-cannibalization that will ultimately hurt the Big Ten unless we see some cannibalization from other conferences (maybe the ACC?)
With that being said, this will probably be another year of 2 SEC teams making it, with the other two spots being occupied by the Big 12 and the ACC (RIP Pac-12 parity)
Prediction Center:
Let's get some predictions started this year!
#3 Georgia @ #24 South Carolina: Georgia 34, SCAR 15
South Carolina is coming off a better than expected season last year, but unfortunately they'll be plateauing at that 9-win level. Jake Fromm State Farm and Georgia meanwhile are out for revenge.
#17 USC @ #10 Stanford: Stanford 24, USC 20
Even though I said Stanford is overrated, USC doesn't have The Darnold anymore and nearly screwed the pooch against UNLV. Look for some LOL in this game (Lots of Love)
Upset Alert: #15 Michigan State @ Arizona State. I think the Spartans should be able to take care of business, but boy did one team look really good last week and the other looked like hot overrated shit in a near loss. Then again the last time I put a team on upset alert, they blew the other team out of the fucking water (looking at you FAU).
No comments:
Post a Comment