Yea, not so sure. Being neither a Pollyanna or Debbie Downer, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see young Thorson rattled by the Big House and Memorial Stadium game day environments.
The Case for an Undefeated Season is Reasonable
- Thread starter Turk
- Start date
Yea, not so sure. Being neither a Pollyanna or Debbie Downer, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see young Thorson rattled by the Big House and Memorial Stadium game day environments.
Winning at least two of those four would be good and really don't think that Io-a has the offense you seem to think they have, Pen St. didn't find a way last season. UNL was getting hammered for most of that game and Michigan is really not strong this season and remember Harbaugh can't suit up. Get the wins against Minny, Purdue and Illinois , the four non-conference games and a couple from those mentioned above and you have 9 wins and an invite to a pretty good bowl game. Think positive.
I was impressed that we were even mentioned here and it wasn't totally in jest.
http://collegefootballnews.com/2015/path-to-the-playoff-week-3-are-usc-and-alabama-dead
http://collegefootballnews.com/2015/path-to-the-playoff-week-3-are-usc-and-alabama-dead
Very very sad that our own pollyannas are the first ones making a case that its silly to consider us in playoff talk, when national football publications say we should be considered. If it comes down to us and stanford then i really wish fitz wouldnt have taken off 7 pts from the scoreboard.
C'mon, man, if it comes down to NU and Stanford, don't you think NU winning the game will matter infinitely more than what the score was?
Sorry Turk, but this is a flimsy straw man.
How many Power 5 teams go undefeated? When was the last time a B1G team went undefeated? With a RS a Frosh at QB? When was the last time NU went undefeated?
It's mathematically possible. I will leave it at that.
No I dont. I saw this crap between baylor and tcu. Ive followed football enuf to know that pts do matter. In fact i wouldnt b surprised if stanford leap frogs us soon even though we beat them. No way if we didnt take pts off the board.
Since we are now in position, i gotta think that fitz would be bright enuf to tack on extra points on wisconsin if he has a chance. All last year the voters were comparing "good victories" and slotting playoff teams accordingly. Especially nu has to make the case and you dont do that by taking a knee on a pick 6 or first and goal. If we arent in playoff contention then this wouldnt matter.
One of his turnovers did become points against Duke and the second likely prevented points. Call it 10 points.
THat said, he is likely to see things better as the game slows down for him He won't throw those balls into double and triple coverage. He squares up a bit and that missed 3rd down pass to Schuler to close out the game is a TD. I would guess that the improvement will be pretty quick. Same thing for Nagle and other receivers and passes will be held onto.
This. So far we're averaging 17.5 points a game against P5 teams and that includes a TD off a kickoff return. I don't think we'll have to worry about running it up against Wisky.
The question is whether our offense will improve. You would hope that CT will get better and that possibly the O-line will start playing better. If so, then we have a chance. I would not call our schedule easy, but we are entering the west division in a time of transition. New coaches at Neb and Wisconsin. Minny and Iowa are strong but not overwhelming. Purdue and Illinois struggling. We even catch Michigan and PSU while they are still vulnerable. The chances we run the gauntlet is slim but it isn't impossible. What was really good to see is that there was not a drop-off when putting in the second string, which means we have depth needed for a long season.
As far as comparing against 1995, Schnur wasn't a proven QB. He threw only 9 TDs that season and had 6 interceptions and averaged 154 yards passing. We lost to Miami of Ohio. The team improved as the season went on. And the competition that year was a lot stiffer as we played 5 ranked teams. We may see 3 this year. I agree we have to get better on offense but I think we can do it. I'm still thinking 8-4 or 9-3 but that can change if the offense all of a sudden clicks in CT's mind.
As far as comparing against 1995, Schnur wasn't a proven QB. He threw only 9 TDs that season and had 6 interceptions and averaged 154 yards passing. We lost to Miami of Ohio. The team improved as the season went on. And the competition that year was a lot stiffer as we played 5 ranked teams. We may see 3 this year. I agree we have to get better on offense but I think we can do it. I'm still thinking 8-4 or 9-3 but that can change if the offense all of a sudden clicks in CT's mind.
Actually if you read the College Football Playoff selection criteria, "taking points off the board" as you put it, has very little to do with selection (boldface is my emphasis).
What criteria does the selection committee use to rank the teams?
The committee selects the teams using a process that distinguishes among otherwise comparable teams by considering conference championships won, strength of schedule, head-to-head competition, comparative outcomes of common opponents (without incenting margin of victory) and other relevant factors that may have affected a team’s performance during the season or likely will affect its postseason performance.
It's all BS. Not what what you posted, but what they say. A lot of subjectivity in team performance affecting posteason performance. And although everyone always says margin of victory doesn't fit in, it most certainly has been a built in ghost figure. The playoff committee is different than the weekly ratings, so when they got together, they decided that TCU should go from #3 to #6 and have OSU leap frog them. The reason? Because OSU overcame obstacles at the QB position. So, that's how OSU got in. And the BIG12 left itself open by deciding everyone should play eachother and not have a championship.
I don't think we should leave anything off the board and leave it all on the field with such a subjective methodology since NU most likely would be a less favorite if it got itself engaged in the conversation, due to $$$$. Even though I think NU would be a playoff darling that would draw plenty of interest nationally on TV if they got selected. Who knows?
It's an exciting time but it is just as reasonable to talk about undefeated as it is to talk about losing 1, 2 or 8 games. I'd prefer giving credit to beating two tough teams where we were dogs, and the hope of an undefeated season, over talking about which games we are going to lose. It's amazing that most of the posters today have counted this thread as incredible as they talk about which games we are going to lose. What the hell? Why in the world talk about which games we are suppose to get our ass handed to us??? That's just silly.
Is it crazy to talk about an undefeated season? Of course! Is it fun to do so? Yes, it is! Are Oregon, Alabama, Wisconsin, Auburn fans talking about undefeated seasons? No they are not. NU fans are at least in the position that they can still talk about it, so they might as well.
As for the playoff committee - I know they say they ignore margin of victory and such, but they're only human. If they see a team win 59-0 in a conference championship in December, that's going to mean something. These earlier games? Probably not at all. I don't think 16-6 vs. 23-6 in the Stanford game in Week 1 is going to move any theoretical needle, but if the same situation occurs in a theoretical Big Ten Championship game, it might.
As for the playoff committee - I know they say they ignore margin of victory and such, but they're only human. If they see a team win 59-0 in a conference championship in December, that's going to mean something. These earlier games? Probably not at all. I don't think 16-6 vs. 23-6 in the Stanford game in Week 1 is going to move any theoretical needle, but if the same situation occurs in a theoretical Big Ten Championship game, it might.
Similar threads
Latest posts
-
-
-
-
FB RECRUITING O’Brien furthers relationships during Northwestern Prospect Day visit
- Latest: Purple Pile Driver
-
