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College Football 2016 Week One: UCLA MEGATHREAD

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Nialrot

Member
No more ironic than the lack of WiFi or the fact it took until last year to install TVs in the concourses.

But it'll get done. Framing is likely finished today and the rest of the panels will likely be up by tomorrow. Improvements on the opposite side have been delayed for a few weeks, though. They were going to install some ribbon boards, etc.

Pretty excited about seeing the new video board Saturday.

The old one was terrible and I really hope they stop playing that shitty/distorted cannon sound clip.
 

Lonestar

I joined for Erin Brockovich discussion
if they don't that will be horribly ironic stadium name :jnc

No more ironic than the lack of WiFi or the fact it took until last year to install TVs in the concourses.

But it'll get done. Framing is likely finished today and the rest of the panels will likely be up by tomorrow. Improvements on the opposite side have been delayed for a few weeks, though. They were going to install some ribbon boards, etc.

As a Bright House customer, I fully expect the stadium to fall apart around 10 pm CST, from "Service Issues".



OTOH, Season Tickets Am Got. Nice little 10 Seasons emblem for Corch Saban.
 
Also factor in that I have to watch my team play Furman in week 1 because Alabama backed out of a home-and-home series with the Spartans.

Thanks, SEC.

I went to Alabama and was asking my friend who went to Michigan State if he watched the game the day after the playoffs. He immediately started shitting on his own team and saying that they didn't belong in the playoffs and that they were overrated and could never compete with UA in football. It was like we crushed his soul. I couldn't even gloat over the win after that, I just felt bad. I think it's best for the MSU fanbase that they don't see Alabama on the field for a while.
 

jstevenson

Sailor Stevenson
#GBR

Got my new College Football viewing setup ready and I'm looking forward to a decent year for us. *crosses fingers*

Couple breakdowns from me:

Hype Ratings for the B1G contenders:

Michigan - overhyped
tOSU - probably correctly hyped / slightly underhyped?
Michigan State - underhyped
Penn State - underhyped (just kidding, they aren't a contender)

Iowa - Overhyped
Wisconsin - overhyped
Northwestern - underhyped
Nebraska - hyped correctly / slightly underhyped

Nebraska in a nutshell this year is interesting.

They probably have the best WR corp in the B1G (or second behind tOSU), and maybe the best tight end too in Carter. But they have a QB who against P5 competition last year threw a pick every 30-31 attempts. No bueno. The Husker skill positions are stacked to a level that only the Michigan schools and tOSU compete with.

The offensive line should be solid over time, but it starts the season inexperienced right now and may not gel right away, plus the 2nd best lineman (LG) was lost for the season, his back-up is injured until maybe Oregon, and a walk-on or true frosh will be in that slot. That said, it returned the players that graded well, has one of the best OL in the B1G (Gates), and lots of young potential. Nebraska may be able to redshirt a full class of younger OL from this past class that are the foundation for solid future OL.

Defensive is tricky. LB was a huge problem last year but is now 6 deep and looks good. The secondary is strong and should be way better than last year but potentially thin with a drop off after the first 6 DBs or so.

DL is a problem for Nebraska in that it lost a ton of contributors to the NFL and transfer. It won't be bad, but it's the glaring weakness.

The ability to generate pressure on the QB will be tough. Last year Nebraska, despite having a good players at DT and shutting down most teams' running games, failed to generate much pressure with its defensive ends. Expect Nebraska to run 3-3-5 in nickel/passing down situations to keep its talented linebacker core on the field and disguise where it will send pressure from. How it manages to stop the run with the degradation of the DL positions will be something to watch, though improved LB play may cover some of that.

Special Teams should be better with the return of All-American Punt Returner De'mornay Pierson-El. Nebraska had to replace its punter who passed away, true frosh Lightbourn is good, but is still a frosh, so look for some shanks and other shenanigans you get with a freshman punting.

Tons of the team returns, and this team did lose 7 games last year, but by a total of 31 points. (yes, I know it lost to Purdue, but it was with a back-up QB so god damn nervous he couldn't remember any running plays and gave up five turnovers himself). Assuming some improvement, it could be a big jump. The schedule is tougher this year though (road trips to NW, Wisc, tOSU, Indiana, Iowa... plus Oregon at home).

Honestly it's all going to come down to Armstrong though. If he can find a way to limit the mistakes, Nebraska could take the division. But it could be another 7-8 win type season with multiple toss-up type games on the schedule (Oregon, Indiana, Iowa, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Minnesota and a probable loss at Ohio State). Figure they get a 50/50 split on the toss-ups, and it's 8-4 in all liklihood.
 

Lonestar

I joined for Erin Brockovich discussion
http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/17424455/usc-trojans-lb-osa-masina-investigation-multiple-states

USC LB Osa Masina being investigated by police in 2 states

USC linebacker Osa Masina is under criminal investigation in two states -- California and Utah -- for separate incidents, a spokesman for the Cottonwood Heights, Utah, Police Department confirmed Tuesday.

"We have an active investigation on Osa Masina," police Sgt. Dan Bartlett said. "We are working with (the Los Angeles Police Department), who also has an active investigation."

Bartlett would not confirm any specific details about the investigation in Utah, only that a search warrant was served to Masina on campus at USC last week. The alleged incident happened last month, before Masina reported to USC training camp, Bartlett said.

Seems like it was already known he wasn't making the trip to Dallas.
 
Fuck.

My bf got access to two tickets for Ohio State on Saturday, but we can't go because he can't get any for the kids. He ended up letting the other manager he works with take the tickets. Being a non-selfish grownup sucks!
 

FelixOrion

Poet Centuriate
Couple breakdowns from me:

Hype Ratings for the B1G contenders:

Michigan - overhyped
tOSU - probably correctly hyped / slightly underhyped?
Michigan State - underhyped
Penn State - underhyped (just kidding, they aren't a contender)

Iowa - Overhyped
Wisconsin - overhyped
Northwestern - underhyped
Nebraska - hyped correctly / slightly underhyped

Nebraska in a nutshell this year is interesting.

They probably have the best WR corp in the B1G (or second behind tOSU), and maybe the best tight end too in Carter. But they have a QB who against P5 competition last year threw a pick every 30-31 attempts. No bueno. The Husker skill positions are stacked to a level that only the Michigan schools and tOSU compete with.

The offensive line should be solid over time, but it starts the season inexperienced right now and may not gel right away, plus the 2nd best lineman (LG) was lost for the season, his back-up is injured until maybe Oregon, and a walk-on or true frosh will be in that slot. That said, it returned the players that graded well, has one of the best OL in the B1G (Gates), and lots of young potential. Nebraska may be able to redshirt a full class of younger OL from this past class that are the foundation for solid future OL.

Defensive is tricky. LB was a huge problem last year but is now 6 deep and looks good. The secondary is strong and should be way better than last year but potentially thin with a drop off after the first 6 DBs or so.

DL is a problem for Nebraska in that it lost a ton of contributors to the NFL and transfer. It won't be bad, but it's the glaring weakness.

The ability to generate pressure on the QB will be tough. Last year Nebraska, despite having a good players at DT and shutting down most teams' running games, failed to generate much pressure with its defensive ends. Expect Nebraska to run 3-3-5 in nickel/passing down situations to keep its talented linebacker core on the field and disguise where it will send pressure from. How it manages to stop the run with the degradation of the DL positions will be something to watch, though improved LB play may cover some of that.

Special Teams should be better with the return of All-American Punt Returner De'mornay Pierson-El. Nebraska had to replace its punter who passed away, true frosh Lightbourn is good, but is still a frosh, so look for some shanks and other shenanigans you get with a freshman punting.

Tons of the team returns, and this team did lose 7 games last year, but by a total of 31 points. (yes, I know it lost to Purdue, but it was with a back-up QB so god damn nervous he couldn't remember any running plays and gave up five turnovers himself). Assuming some improvement, it could be a big jump. The schedule is tougher this year though (road trips to NW, Wisc, tOSU, Indiana, Iowa... plus Oregon at home).

Honestly it's all going to come down to Armstrong though. If he can find a way to limit the mistakes, Nebraska could take the division. But it could be another 7-8 win type season with multiple toss-up type games on the schedule (Oregon, Indiana, Iowa, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Minnesota and a probable loss at Ohio State). Figure they get a 50/50 split on the toss-ups, and it's 8-4 in all liklihood.

Pretty much agree with this word for word. But I'd like to add two things about Tommy and the QBs:

First, now that he's got a full season under his belt in the Riley/Langsdorf system, I think he'll be a lot more comfortable and have a better grasp of what he's doing. He's clearly a dual threat QB and a darn good one at that athletically, but he lacks the smarts and composure to handle certain situations. I think the bowl game against UCLA showed that if the coaches have a good game plan and can limit the amount of quick, complex reads Tommy has to do, then they'll get great results out of him.

Second, with Tommy's back-ups and the younger kids coming through the pipeline, I'm super excited to see what Patrick O'Brien can do someday, but I think the depth in experience is better too. Say what you will about Ryker Fyfe and that disastrous Purdue game, but it should be a lot less easy to rattle him and getting someone like Tanner Lee as a transfer should help as a stop-gap too.

To be honest, on the offensive side, I'm more concerned with the RBs and the OL. I was just not impressed last year with their ability to get big runs going and I just don't think we have the raw, speedy talent back there. I think we have a lot of really big backs that can play a sort of old school Nebraska smashmouth, but the OL needs to get those gaps open better if we're gonna go that route. If they can't, we're gonna struggle, cause I don't think any of the experienced RBs have the speed we need. And speaking of experience, our RBs are not very deep; you've got Newby and that's about it; I like Ozigbo but he's not played a lot and neither has Wilbon. And what's worse is that, if we're gonna play a little smashmouth, our FBs need to be ready and with Janovich graduated and with the Broncos now, the FBs are kinda an unknown.

But, on the sunny side, I think that as long as the defense shores up and stops being as flammable as nitrocellulose, and Tommy can limit his turnovers, we'll be contenders for the West for sure.

I also had no idea you were a Husker fan, lol, so I followed you on Twitter. I need more non-sports media Husker stuff in my timeline.
 

jstevenson

Sailor Stevenson
Pretty much agree with this word for word. But I'd like to add two things about Tommy and the QBs:

First, now that he's got a full season under his belt in the Riley/Langsdorf system, I think he'll be a lot more comfortable and have a better grasp of what he's doing. He's clearly a dual threat QB and a darn good one at that athletically, but he lacks the smarts and composure to handle certain situations. I think the bowl game against UCLA showed that if the coaches have a good game plan and can limit the amount of quick, complex reads Tommy has to do, then they'll get great results out of him.

Second, with Tommy's back-ups and the younger kids coming through the pipeline, I'm super excited to see what Patrick O'Brien can do someday, but I think the depth in experience is better too. Say what you will about Ryker Fyfe and that disastrous Purdue game, but it should be a lot less easy to rattle him and getting someone like Tanner Lee as a transfer should help as a stop-gap too.

To be honest, on the offensive side, I'm more concerned with the RBs and the OL. I was just not impressed last year with their ability to get big runs going and I just don't think we have the raw, speedy talent back there. I think we have a lot of really big backs that can play a sort of old school Nebraska smashmouth, but the OL needs to get those gaps open better if we're gonna go that route. If they can't, we're gonna struggle, cause I don't think any of the experienced RBs have the speed we need. And speaking of experience, our RBs are not very deep; you've got Newby and that's about it; I like Ozigbo but he's not played a lot and neither has Wilbon. And what's worse is that, if we're gonna play a little smashmouth, our FBs need to be ready and with Janovich graduated and with the Broncos now, the FBs are kinda an unknown.

But, on the sunny side, I think that as long as the defense shores up and stops being as flammable as nitrocellulose, and Tommy can limit his turnovers, we'll be contenders for the West for sure.

I also had no idea you were a Husker fan, lol, so I followed you on Twitter. I need more non-sports media Husker stuff in my timeline.


I think all the hopes and dreams about Armstrong are putting lipstick on a pig at this point. You're right that by running him more, and limiting the damage he can do, you can potentially stop the turnovers. Of course, you risk ending up with Fyfe or O'Brien starting if you break Armstrong. But chances are if we can't get pressure, we're going to need lots o points, esp against Oregon/Indiana/tOSU and maybe Northwestern, which will mean throwing.

All the "Armstrong has gotten better" is the same thing Nebraska fans/media did with Taylor Martinez every off-season, and every year here was the same thing. It's the Bo Pelini curse of not recruiting any QBs actually worth a damn.

The depth of Lee doesn't really effect this season since he is sitting out his transfer year, though right now he seems to be the favorite to start in 2017/2018. POB has a lot of learning to do. Next year having Lee, POB and Gebbia battling for the position will be amazing. Real quarterbacks. Finally!

I think the OL will be ok, Cav is a good OL coach, and the talent overall is upgraded from last year, just needs to gel. At RB, the answer is this: Tre Bryant. He is the best looking RB frosh at Neb in a long time. Even better than Aaron Green or Abdullah looked. NFL talent there. I could see Bryant starting later on this season if he keeps developing.

I actually expect Nebraska to not play the fullbacks too much this year with Janovich gone (god he was underused by Pelini), lots of 11/12 personnel with a RB, Reilly, Westerkamp, and DPE/Moore on the field. Or take off one of those WR to add Cotton at TE if you need more blocking.
 

andycapps

Member
I think all the hopes and dreams about Armstrong are putting lipstick on a pig at this point. You're right that by running him more, and limiting the damage he can do, you can potentially stop the turnovers. Of course, you risk ending up with Fyfe or O'Brien starting if you break Armstrong. But chances are if we can't get pressure, we're going to need lots o points, esp against Oregon/Indiana/tOSU and maybe Northwestern, which will mean throwing.

All the "Armstrong has gotten better" is the same thing Nebraska fans/media did with Taylor Martinez every off-season, and every year here was the same thing. It's the Bo Pelini curse of not recruiting any QBs actually worth a damn.

The depth of Lee doesn't really effect this season since he is sitting out his transfer year, though right now he seems to be the favorite to start in 2017/2018. POB has a lot of learning to do. Next year having Lee, POB and Gebbia battling for the position will be amazing. Real quarterbacks. Finally!

I think the OL will be ok, Cav is a good OL coach, and the talent overall is upgraded from last year, just needs to gel. At RB, the answer is this: Tre Bryant. He is the best looking RB frosh at Neb in a long time. Even better than Aaron Green or Abdullah looked. NFL talent there. I could see Bryant starting later on this season if he keeps developing.

I actually expect Nebraska to not play the fullbacks too much this year with Janovich gone (god he was underused by Pelini), lots of 11/12 personnel with a RB, Reilly, Westerkamp, and DPE/Moore on the field. Or take off one of those WR to add Cotton at TE if you need more blocking.

As someone that follows Nebraska well (you write for a Nebraska blog as well IIRC) do you believe that Nebraska's best days are behind them in the Osborne years or can they get to that level again?

Now this is interesting, former UGA kicker Kevin Butler, is now a 54 year old student assistant and is helping out with kickers. He was a two time All-American at UGA and was on the Bears when they won a Super Bowl. Believe he's taught kickers on the side for years. He's enrolled as a student so this is an interesting thing that Kirby worked up.

Butler also works on the UGA pregame show and call in show.
 
That would mean he'll play against Oklahoma State after missing Northwestern State, SMU, and Rice.

Coach probably wanted a guy down on the depth chart to get experience during those games anyway. It would have been a different story if they played anyone decent in the first few games
 

jstevenson

Sailor Stevenson
As someone that follows Nebraska well (you write for a Nebraska blog as well IIRC) do you believe that Nebraska's best days are behind them in the Osborne years or can they get to that level again?

Osborne years and that level of dominance might be tough, given that some of those old advantages are gone.

But I've seen Bill Callahan recruit to Nebraska at the national level and bring in terrific classes that Bo Pelini turned into top tier defenses (if Joe Ganz had one more year of eligibility, Pelini's 2009 team plays for or even wins the national championship that year, he was a QB away).

[Aside- Bo's fatal flaws were recruiting and development. Which is why he was a killer journeyman DC, but failed as a head-man. i think if he landed in a talent rich area and managed to get over his own paranoia so he didn't hire a yes-man staff of his brother, legacy leftovers, the Ohio Mafia, and high-school/golf instructors, he might do well again)

Riley is bringing in great talent (his guys have way more Power 5 offers than Bo's did), Nebraska is loaded at RB/WR/OL, LB and DB looking good. QB has some strong prospects but no one has proven themselves yet. TE, and DL are the two big remaining areas but things are trending up there too. The new rule allowing official visits to pay for parents to come along too will be huge for Nebraska.

So it's definitely possible to recruit to Nebraska, despite what some in the national sports media seem to want to make you believe. Nebraska's division is eminently winnable in the B1G

I think it comes down to that holy trinity in a coach, a guy who emphasizes recruiting and can do it, and then takes advantage with great development of the players and can put it together schematically on gameday.

There's a lot of ways to get there. I don't know if Riley will or won't, but his staff and recruiting are top notch, and we've seen solid development of the players in the system. His offense seems brilliant- we had receivers running wide open constantly last year... Armstrong just couldn't find and/or hit them with the ball.

Can Riley deliver on Gameday (those last-minute losses were somewhat on his game management)? Are his teams physical enough (seemed ok on this front last year... but will they be going forward?)?

I ultimately think Nebraska will be great when they finally just get so tired of not being great that the AD spends a fortune and gets the right coach. Riley might be that guy, but Nebraska has the components to make it possible. The trick of course is, mitigating the disadvantages.


Nebraska was talented at DT last year (DE was the position that was at issue), but crazy a Nebraska 2nd stringer last year is starting at MSU, what happened to their DT depth?

Also, Kevin Williams will break. He's so injury prone.
 
GT as a sensible option to win the Coastal? They went 3-9 last year, you think they can make the jump to 8-4 or more that it will take to win the division? That's a lot of improvement year to year.

I think that GT has the possibility of the biggest turn around due to their option play. If they get a good QB, anything can happen.

What is the deal with pick ems this year, there was nothing in the OP?
 

andycapps

Member
I think that GT has the possibility of the biggest turn around due to their option play. If they get a good QB, anything can happen.

What is the deal with pick ems this year, there was nothing in the OP?
Option play how they do puts a lot of strain on their defense due to being on the field a lot when those drives are over quickly on the offense. QB is definitely very important in the system, though.

Jstevenson - thanks for the breakdown. I'd be interested to see them compete for the division. Like you said, it's not a great division and I don't see any reason why they couldn't compete for it and win it at least every few years.
 
So you want to see Bama continue to destroy Sparty? Were the last couple of times not enough? Even UGA thanked the SEC schedule makers for giving them a break. ;-)

I went to Alabama and was asking my friend who went to Michigan State if he watched the game the day after the playoffs. He immediately started shitting on his own team and saying that they didn't belong in the playoffs and that they were overrated and could never compete with UA in football. It was like we crushed his soul. I couldn't even gloat over the win after that, I just felt bad. I think it's best for the MSU fanbase that they don't see Alabama on the field for a while.

Fuck that shit. Gimmie Bamer.
 

Tankman

Member
I ultimately think Nebraska will be great when they finally just get so tired of not being great that the AD spends a fortune and gets the right coach. Riley might be that guy, but Nebraska has the components to make it possible. The trick of course is, mitigating the disadvantages.

It seems like Riley was picked to improve the programs reputation rather than the teams performance on the field. Though, I'll take his nailbiters and the occasional upset over Pelinis antics and blowout losses.
 

jstevenson

Sailor Stevenson
Jstevenson - thanks for the breakdown. I'd be interested to see them compete for the division. Like you said, it's not a great division and I don't see any reason why they couldn't compete for it and win it at least every few years.

Nebraska's bare minimum should be winning that division every 2-3 years.

Bo hit that clip actually just about reasonable (3 division titles in 7 years). The problem was he never won the big game at the end and got blown out a lot of other times too.

It seems like Riley was picked to improve the programs reputation rather than the teams performance on the field. Though, I'll take his nailbiters and the occasional upset over Pelinis antics and blowout losses.

I don't think that's exactly true. I think there was certainly a pendulum swing in that Riley is a polar opposite of Pelini in demeanor.

I do think Riley was more of a sabermetrics/moneyball type hire. It'd be like a bigger school who tried to grab Bill Snyder or something. If you can win like Riley did at Oregon State (which is so behind the rest of the P5 in football advantages it's incredible), what can you do with real football resources.

That's what we're in the middle of finding out. I thought the first year was encouraging, despite the 6-7 record. I just hope they can keep the momentum up, I think 4-5 years of his recruiting and system could get special, but he burned so much capital with the 6-7 season (and really, it came down to a badly defended Hail Mary and Armstrong going full Bad Tommy against Illinois... otherwise it is a respectable looking 8-5).
 
Fuck.

My bf got access to two tickets for Ohio State on Saturday, but we can't go because he can't get any for the kids. He ended up letting the other manager he works with take the tickets. Being a non-selfish grownup sucks!
You could have bribed your mom?

There are two "M"s in "Bammer." Mike Dantonio would not approve of your shenanigans.
He would tell them to take that other M and shove it up you know where
 

dskillzhtown

keep your strippers out of my American football
No more ironic than the lack of WiFi or the fact it took until last year to install TVs in the concourses.

But it'll get done. Framing is likely finished today and the rest of the panels will likely be up by tomorrow. Improvements on the opposite side have been delayed for a few weeks, though. They were going to install some ribbon boards, etc.

I never understand why stadiums wait until the last minute. UH was doing upgrades during the season last year and are JUST finishing the exterior now.
 

FyreWulff

Member
Nebraska will go 6-7 this year.

fresno - w
wyoming - L
oregon - L
Northwestern - L
illinois - w
indiana - L
purdue - w
wisconsin - L
ohio state - L L
minnesota - w
maryland - pity w
iowa - w

My mind is blown.

we've also never beaten texas since 1999, including facing them in.. the you guessed it, the conference championship game.
 

FyreWulff

Member
It seems like Riley was picked to improve the programs reputation rather than the teams performance on the field. Though, I'll take his nailbiters and the occasional upset over Pelinis antics and blowout losses.

I outright made a post in a cfb thread a ways back that they were going to hire a PR-fixing transitional coach. No surprise that they did.
 

FyreWulff

Member
The last time Nebraska won a conference championship, the N64 and PS1 were both the active consoles for their respective companies

AOL keywords were still used on TV ads

LSU was a 3-8 team

Alabama lost to Lousiana Tech somehow
 
Alright boys and girls, since were only a few days out lets see those Arm Chairs we all QB from during the great Saturday nights of the fall.

This will be my first season in my house and ive finished up nearly everything in the "man cave" (terrible term). Built the bar and finished a lot of the basement myself, previous owner only had it half done.

Post em up!

yH1fEqG.jpg

Im still working on some shelves for next to the fridge to put glasses and stuff. I also have a table and barstools behind the couch you cant see.
 

ryseing

Member
tOSU - probably correctly hyped / slightly underhyped?

I'm sure you know this but it's worth repeating that OSU has the fewest returning starters in FBS. I don't doubt Urban's ability to win with young guys but if UM figures out their QB situation they're winning that conference. Having such a huge early test against OU doesn't help matters. I'm sure they'll have a fine 9-3/10-2 season and maybe sneak into the NY6 but I don't believe they're a top 10 team.
 

Lkr

Member
I hate that FSU is ranked high this year because everyone will circlejerk when we lose to NC State or Wake Forest
 
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