Relax, Southern Miss is Next

(First of all this post is going to be REALLY LONG. So grab a snack and get cozy)

Before I get into any recaps, analysis or any other mumbo jumbo, we need to start with the fan base. You guys are why we can't have nice things. So ok Nebraska is 1-2 (should be 2-1 sure, and the way we lost Miami was pretty crummy, so there was a hope for 3-0) But people need to chill the f out. Sure I'm a bit upset at the way the season has started and the way it's gone with those two losses, but I'm a realistic fan. I'm that fan that will initially boo at what seemed to be a bad call from the ref, but when they show the replay I'll be like "Oh, ok, yea maybe he did get a bit of jersey" when the rest of the crowd will resume booing. I'm also realistic in the way that I expected the Miami game to be a loss (sure the first half was frustrating and the epic comeback was pretty epic) but everyone is making it seem like we should've beat Miami from the first minute. No. Nebraska did not match up well against Miami and they quickly exposed the weakness as such.

Forget About the U, It's All About the N

Recap vs South Alabama:

Well that looked better. Sure it was against a bad foe, but that's what bad foes are meant for, to work out the kinks before they get truly tested. The run game looked better...

The Big Red Throwdown:

...but it's not quite Miami better. And this is what I'm concerned about, among other things about Nebraska. The only saving grace I have to say is that Miami is similar to Nebraska in a lot of ways, which makes for this awesome rivalry. Speaking of rivalries, did you not go to the Miami game last year? Oh man, hands down on the top 3 of best Nebraska games you should've been at (The other two being "The Northwesterkatch" (Northwestern 2013) and Colorado 2008 (You know, when Henery broke the FG record followed shortly by Suh's pick-six in the last minute of the freaking game. Headaches for ages man)).

And I am fairly fortunate that I was able to watch the Miami game with some of my good friends, we had a hell of a time yelling and screaming and booing our asses off. Oh and people flipped out when they 1) Did the flashback Tunnel Walk and 2) This masterpiece (Image courtesy of Wall Street Journal)

Just simply because it was Miami. The team that Nebraska faced seemingly every damn year in a bowl game, including a few national championship bouts. But enough dwelling in the past, I say that Miami is very similar to Nebraska because of recent success as well...or lack of. Both of these programs have had high expectations, great talent, and post-season aspirations, but yet seem to fall short, thus putting their coaches on the hot seat to do better, one eventually getting fired (Take a wild guess folks)

But as my tagline/this weeks/Miami Week/the student section slogan says: (Source, Boneyard Twitter)

Nebraska's run game looked significantly better, but it isn't Miami ready. I liked that Newby was getting some more confidence in the running game, but the freshman that shined in the BYU game (Wilbon) hardly got any looks if any! The pass defense still smells so Kayaa will have a field day with that, the only hope is if they can score just as much and enter a shootout. Miami is favored by 3, and I will concur to that spread, sadly. It would be a big win though to counter the loss to BYU

Nebraska O vs. Miami D: Edge Miami. The run game will not last against Miami's front line, and that means they will have to rely on Armstrong's...arm. *shudders*. The good thing is the pass game is looking better under Riley. But I would still never put faith into Armstrong.

Nebraska D vs. Miami O: Edge Miami. Has anyone seen Nebraska's pass defense? Or lack of? Now look at the other side of the ball and bring in Brad Kayaa. Praying for a shootout because Nebraska will not stay competitive in the passing game.

Special Teams: This will actually be the first game where Nebraska will see a distinct difference in what kind of team they really are when they do not have Demornay (RIP).

Prediction: Miami 37, Nebraska 31. (Sorry)

The Rest of the Week in Football:

AP Top 25:
1) Ohio State (Not unanimous anymore...)
2) Alabama
3) TCU
4) Michigan State (Up 1, the win over Oregon is a great confidence booster as the Spartans might be more of an offensive team this year. Watch yourself Ohio State...)
5) Baylor (Down 1)
6) USC (Up 2)
7) Georgia (Up 3)
8) Notre Dame (Up 1, only a matter of time before injuries catch up to them, still overrated otherwise)
9) Florida State (Up 2)
10) UCLA (Up 3, still overrated)
11) Clemson (Up 1)
12) Oregon (Down 5)
13) LSU (Up 1)
14) Georgia Tech (Up 1)
15) Ole Miss (Up 2)
16) Oklahoma (Up 3, perhaps the talents of the Sooners are overrated with their struggle against Tennessee...or Tennessee honestly does deserve some credit)
17) Texas A&M (Down 1, still not 100% sold on the Aggies)
18) Auburn (Down 12, finally the AP voters have woken up and have placed the frauds to where they truly belong (maybe still a bit generous, the season is still young). I actually really wanted to see them lose last week to prove my point, but an overtime win is good enough)
19) BYU (NR, sure they play well, but two game winning hail marys isn't quite justifying a ranking entirely, but I'll bite for now. Not bad for a backup anyway I suppose)
20) Arizona (Up 2)
21) Utah (Up 3)
22) Missouri (Down 1)
23) Northwestern (NR, generous?)
24) Wisconsin (NR)
25) Oklahoma State (NR)
Dropped: Arkansas (Yikes...Toledo wasn't one of the 8 ranked teams they face), Boise State, Tennessee (Shouldn'tve been ranked), Mississippi State (Give them time...I still believe)
Trending: Temple (Hmm, they might be on to something), West Virginia, Toledo (Calm down AP voters), Kansas State, Houston, Florida

What to Watch for:

Last Week 7-1 (Mississippi State couldn't quite pull it off over LSU). Overall 10-4.

Auburn @ LSU - LSU 38, Auburn 20
Why oh why is Auburn still ranked...LSU by a mile. Also because LSU looked poised against Mississippi State.

Georgia Tech @ Notre Dame - Georgia Tech 38, Notre Dame 34
Mm, highlight of the week. One of these teams will walk out of this game as a national contender, the other exposed as a fraud *cough Notre Dame cough*. A small fluke if they do pull off the upset.

Ole Miss @ Alabama - Ole Miss 41, Alabama 35
Jk lol this might be the highlight of the week. Who would have ever thought that Alabama's defense might not be enough? Well that's exactly what I am saying. Sure, Ole Miss has only lit up bad teams, but there is a lot of potential to shatter Alabama's defense, mostly because they specialize in run defense...well Ole Miss is getting it done through the air. Bama doesn't quite have enough offense to keep up so hope that their defense does stay with it.

BYU @ UCLA - BYU 31, UCLA 24
The bold prediction of the week...mostly because I can sleep better at night when Nebraska loses to an eventual quality team. And UCLA is overrated. Oh and BYU will win via Hail Mary.

Meanwhile...in the NFL:

Thurs Night: Broncos @ Chiefs - Chiefs 24, Broncos 20
The Broncos did not look so tough against a stout Raven's defense...the Chiefs aren't quite as stout...but they ripped apart the Texans and cost me fantasy points there. Chiefs with home field.

Sun Night: Seahawks @ Packers - Seahawks 24, Packers 21
Neither team looked particularly outstanding in their openers (Seahawks lost...Packers weren't putting away the Bad News Bears) and historically (aka the last two years) the Seahawks have had Rodgers number. Thankfully he isn't my fantasy QB this time around.

Mon Night Jets @ Colts - Colts 34, Jets 17
Colts with a quick fluke against the Bills, but the Bills are also contenders. The Jets meanwhile only beat up on the equally struggling Browns. Luck will be able to bring the air raid brigade Monday night.

Recap on BYU, Preview of South Alabama

Recap

Argh. Those sneaky Mormons. I figured it would be a close game, and frankly the way Nebraska was playing they deserved to lose, but it’s always heartbreaking to lose like that. Oh wait…*cue Northwestern feels*: 

Game Day vs. BYU

It's game day here at Memorial Stadium and there's no place like Nebraska!

The time has come. Ushering in a new era for the Huskers is Mike Riley, the chipper, seemingly-nice guy from Oregon State. Now while his record with the Beavers wasn't very great, he has a great track record of developing players to be NFL ready, which is something Nebraska needs if they want to be successful. They have the talent, but someone needs to whip them into shape of not being total goofballs about their game *cough Armstrong cough* and I think this is where Riley comes in. If he can turn Armstrong into a Sean Mannion, that'd be great. Or maybe turn the slew of RB's into Steven Jackson or Jaquizz Rodgers...you know turn the chumps into talent.

The Big Ten

As I was compiling the data for this one, there were A LOT of local commercials supporting Nebraska with the fight song playing in the background of the commercial and I may have shed a tear of nostalgia hype or two. Safe to say football season is coming quickly and I. AM. PUMPED.

But the story for the Big Ten is an interesting one. Defending national champions Ohio State came out of the blue last year, and they seem to have an endless supply of QBs as they look to defend their title (and they look extremely poised to do so). Meanwhile, Michigan State is behind them trying to upset that bid (the Spartans are more likely not national contenders, but if they can get Ohio State, they can be Big Ten champs at the least). And then there is a slew of average teams (8-9 wins) that can vie for the Big Ten West spot while hopefully getting cracks to upset either or both the Buckeyes and Spartans. Am I being generous for this division? For some teams perhaps, but it’s about time the Big Ten steps up all together.

The SEC

First of all, apologies for the delay on this article. I've been recently hired to be a RA for my University so training for that was pretty extraneous and time consuming, so I hardly had much time to get the data and break it down for the SEC. But finally here it is! Thank you for the patience, and with that being said, the school year is coming pretty quickly so I might be changing up how often/when I will be posting and about what. I'm thinking Fridays will be a preview for Nebraska football (because bias), as well as a tiny outlook for the slate on Saturday (Unless there is an interesting game on that Thursday, then I might post Thursday). Sunday will then be a recap as well as an update on my personal rankings based off of my formula. We'll figure it out, this will be an adventure for all of us, so I appreciate all of the support on this project! The post for the last preview, The Big Ten and the season overview, will be posted at some point, hopefully by next Sunday, but just know that it might not be on a Sunday, like this wasn't on a Sunday.

Pac-12 Preview

In the national scheme, the Pac-12 is a fairly overrated and underrated conference at the same time. I mean this in a slightly gentle way, meaning there are teams that are getting the wrong kind of attention. Which in turn, makes this a very balanced and interesting conference to watch. They have a national contender (Oregon) but a slew of everyone else that can knock out Oregon if the cards are played correctly. But this past week I’ve been sitting here listening to experts call Stanford and UCLA as major contenders for the Pac-12, and even national championship aspirations. What? UCLA first of all lost their already overrated QB (so glad he went to the Packers) so there’s a new guy in town who has seen some looks in games and he’s even worse than Hundley. And he’s in charge of an already mediocre offense. On the other hand, Stanford? Really? Some people are calling last year an off year, but I think that was an accurate representation of this Stanford squad. Really bad offense but they played tight D to keep them in games. The outlook for Stanford this year (which will be detailed later) is roughly the same.

And then here we have some underrated teams that could easily become the dark horse of the conference, much more so than UCLA or Stanford. I’m looking at you California and Utah, both of whom are returning key starters on their forte of the ball (Cali on offense, Utah on defense). Hell, even the Arizonas aren’t getting enough love, they have the power (and the schedule in some regard) to run the table. And let’s not forget, this is USC’s “peak year” as I like to call it. So enough chit-chat and let’s break down the favorites, the overrated, the underrated, and the mediocre.