The straight scoop from
Colonel Mustard
August 31, 2007
The best time of the year has finally arrived. It always seems to take too long to get here and passes much too quickly. I am very excited because I feel that this season holds a great deal of promise. Bill will have a great QB to operate his system. So if his offense is going to succeed at Nebraska he certainly has the QB to do it this year. The schedule is demanding but in the Big 12 it is going to be every year.
This will be a fun team to watch because of Sam if for no other reason. He is the best passer we have had since the days of Ferragamo, Humm and Tagge. The QB competition was staged to motivate Sam because there was never any real doubt as to who the starter would be. Sam has the arm strength to make all the throws and has experience in big games we need. Bill has to thank his lucky stars every day that transferred here.
QB depth remains a problem even though Witt is an intriguing prospect. I hope we get a chance to see him play this year and thereby create experience for next year. The offensive line should be improved. We have more experience this year. Additionally the young talent that has been recruited in the last couple years will mature this year to provide depth. Even though Sam is more mobile than Zac, he is a pocket passer so protection will be key. Hopefully the line will do a better job than the last couple of years. As was the case with Zac the last couple years we can ill afford to lose Sam to injury.
We have a solid corps of WRs and one star in Purify. Guys like Nunn, Swift and Hardy need to do a better job of hanging on to the ball than last year. I personally think Swift will have another fine season as he did two years ago. It seemed he had concentration problems last year.
The RB situation looks like a big problem this year. Lucky is dinged and although he is brilliant in the open field he struggles to find the holes at the line of scrimmage. I think Glenn is the best back that we have and if he can stay healthy can carry the load. Lucky can then assume the role of the third-down back, a role that he excels in. If Glenn is out, we must hope that one of the freshmen emerges. Let's hope Glenn gets healthy.
The defensive backfield will be improved this year. We now have four corners that can play when Bowman is fully healthy. The safety play will be better with Asante but I would still like to see Green improve his tackling ability. We have tremendous depth and versatility at LB and this will be the strength of the team. Incorporating 3-4 looks with the 4-3 is smart because it allows us to get our best players on the field. Suh is on the verge of becoming a star. He appears to be a disruptive force like the Peters were in the '90s. Potter and Turner to me are the wild cards on the defense. With the improvement at LB and DB, if the ends are solid the D should be very good.
The special teams were in need of improvement. With a new kicker and new return men, this area is a work in progress. It will be interesting to see how this situation plays out. Because if they are improved that would be a leap forward over Bill's first three teams.
We are now in year four of Bill's tenure, and he has his system in place. These are his players now — either he recruited them or they chose to stay and play for him. He has the right QB for his offense and an extremely bright OC in Watson. I hope Bill uses Watson's input because I know he was hard on us. The season's record to me will be decided in the October stretch of games. All those games are winnable and losable. I believe we will be between 10-2 and 8-4 depending on the outcome of those games. As I prepare to attend my 46th home opener, I will close with a comment the Bobfather would have said: Let's have a real fine season and get back in the national picture.
Keep the Faith. GBR.
-- The Colonel