Wins/Losses for Clones
- Thread starter CyCub13
- Start date
6-6, I'm banking on improvement in our offensive production to help us pull off some upsets. The defense will need some magical moments as well. The schedule is tough, but if we can improve (compared to last year's team) we have a good chance at becoming bowl eligible.
I tend to be in the 5-7 camp at this point. I see it this way:
NIU W
@Iowa L
vs KSU W
UNI W
Tech L
Utah L
@OU L
@ UT L
KU W
Nebraska L
@CU W
Mizzou L
I'm not completely sold on putting wins vs. No. Ill or KSU in permanent ink ... but a few other L's were a way to balance that (for example, the Utes).
My most realistically optimistic forecast is 7-5. I also think 4-8 (or worse) is inexcusable, unless extreme circumstances arise (such as: massive injury problems; the majority of opponents achieve above expected level).
6-6 is possible but an upset or 2 will be required.
If all goes well these are the best chances at wins
NIU, UNI, KU, KSU, CU, MU
It's going to be difficult for them to win them all. Hoping for 4-2 at worst.
Very tough home games
Utah, NU, TTU
Need an upset special in the bunch. Lets make it NU again!
Gonna need some Lincoln magic
IU, OU, UT
Muffed punt returns, a few tipped balls, and perhaps a storm with sideways rain.
I'll throw down a 6-6 prediction. Paul Rhoads and the FB program just feel like a "we'll find a way to get it done" squad. With that said, there will be no margin for error.
What Paul Rhoads needs is to get that upset each year that McCarney could not.
If all goes well these are the best chances at wins
NIU, UNI, KU, KSU, CU, MU
It's going to be difficult for them to win them all. Hoping for 4-2 at worst.
Very tough home games
Utah, NU, TTU
Need an upset special in the bunch. Lets make it NU again!
Gonna need some Lincoln magic
IU, OU, UT
Muffed punt returns, a few tipped balls, and perhaps a storm with sideways rain.
I'll throw down a 6-6 prediction. Paul Rhoads and the FB program just feel like a "we'll find a way to get it done" squad. With that said, there will be no margin for error.
What Paul Rhoads needs is to get that upset each year that McCarney could not.
I will caution people.
KU returns virtually all offense(and all O-line) except the obvious QB/WR trio. They also have experienced WR's coming back as well from the multiple wr sets they have run. I assume the plan is to run the ball under Gill, and shorten games similar to what ISU did last year.
KU returns virtually all offense(and all O-line) except the obvious QB/WR trio. They also have experienced WR's coming back as well from the multiple wr sets they have run. I assume the plan is to run the ball under Gill, and shorten games similar to what ISU did last year.
I don't know what to think about the Tech game. I've read a bit about how Leach ran his practices and his system, and it sounds like it's a lot different than the "spread" they tried to install at Auburn (the Franklin system). I've also read that none of the coaches at Auburn really supported the move towards a spread offense - since none of them bought it to it, they never gave it the time it needed in practice to make it work. I doubt that Tuberville is going to continue using much of a spread as his base offense and that may play totally against their personnel for a season or two. It will be interesting to see what happens to Tech over the next few years, but I highly doubt they will maintain their offensive efficiency.
Oh, and just to stay within the topic of the thread...
NIU - winnable game
Iowa - loss, defense is too much
K-State - winnable game, could have won last year, neutral field
UNI - win
TTech - winnable game, new coach at our place
Utah - winnable game, don't really know anything about them but it's a home game so...
Oklahoma - loss
Texas - loss
Kansas - winnable game, should have won last year
Nebraska - winnable game, they look tough on paper but paper doesn't win games and it's in our house
Colorado - winnable game, but we always seem to play our worst in Boulder
Missouri - winnable game, at our place and could have bowl eligibility at staek
Basically, there are 3 games on the schedule that I will go into hoping that no one gets hurt. The rest of the season I will expect at least a competitive game. I think there are a lot of winnable games on the schedule, but I expect growing pains on the defense and a constantly-hyped-but-yet-to-really-produce offense keeping us somewhere around 6-6. My official prediction has been 6-6, +/- 1 game as someone mentioned earlier.
NIU - winnable game
Iowa - loss, defense is too much
K-State - winnable game, could have won last year, neutral field
UNI - win
TTech - winnable game, new coach at our place
Utah - winnable game, don't really know anything about them but it's a home game so...
Oklahoma - loss
Texas - loss
Kansas - winnable game, should have won last year
Nebraska - winnable game, they look tough on paper but paper doesn't win games and it's in our house
Colorado - winnable game, but we always seem to play our worst in Boulder
Missouri - winnable game, at our place and could have bowl eligibility at staek
Basically, there are 3 games on the schedule that I will go into hoping that no one gets hurt. The rest of the season I will expect at least a competitive game. I think there are a lot of winnable games on the schedule, but I expect growing pains on the defense and a constantly-hyped-but-yet-to-really-produce offense keeping us somewhere around 6-6. My official prediction has been 6-6, +/- 1 game as someone mentioned earlier.
Tech will have a severe talent advantage no doubt.
When discussing Auburn going to a passing spread, I believe you can toss Tubberville in as a coach who did not support the change of direction to that offense as well. I think there was a contract dispute and it was basically an "F-U" move by the administration to push Franklin or at least the style.
When discussing Auburn going to a passing spread, I believe you can toss Tubberville in as a coach who did not support the change of direction to that offense as well. I think there was a contract dispute and it was basically an "F-U" move by the administration to push Franklin or at least the style.
We could actually be a better team on the the field than last season but wind up winning less games because of our schedule. Adding Utah, Texas, and Oklahoma right away makes it tough, playing at Iowa against an already good team and you know Nebraska is coming to Ames with last year's loss on their minds so we can't afford to cough one up that we should win if we want to have a shot at even matching last year's record.
I see
NIU W
@Iowa L
vs KSU W
UNI W
Tech W
Utah W
@OU L
@ UT L
KU W
Nebraska L
@CU W
Mizzou W
8 W's next year!
NIU W
@Iowa L
vs KSU W
UNI W
Tech W
Utah W
@OU L
@ UT L
KU W
Nebraska L
@CU W
Mizzou W
8 W's next year!
This is pretty spot on. We don't have many "for sure" wins but you can say the same thing about the losses. The only two games that I would be "walk in on my wife with another dude" shocked if we won would be OU and Texas. Iowa, Utah, Neb etc. would be a bit of a surprise but not completely shocking.
It's going to be fun! We have a lot of question marks, especially on defense but it's a group of hungry guys who have finally tasted a little success. The bigest question mark to me is AA. Will he make the necessary strides from year one to year two that we are hoping for?? A strong senior season out of him can take a ton of pressure off the young defense.
I think we'll be a better team than last year, but the schedule gets harder. If I'm being honest, I think 5-7 is optimistic and realistic.
Did the schedule really get that much harder from a W-L standpoint?
Last year our three south teams were OSU, Baylor and A&M and we went 1-2 against them. This year it's OU, Texas and Tech. If we go 0-3, that's only a 1 game swing on the record. If we can beat Tech, that's EVEN with last year.
Last year we lost to Iowa - losing to them this year is a wash with last year regardless of how good they are.
We were competitive with every team in the BigXII North last year, no reason to expect that to change drastically this year. Yes our team is different, but the other teams are different too. I trust our coaches to put together the right game plan to minimize/maximize talent differences as appropriate. Last year we went 2-3 against the BigXII North - this year 3 of those games are at home and 1 is on a neutral field, and the one true away game is against Colorado. You don't think we can do better than going 2-3 again?
The swing games are NIU and Utah. Both are good teams, but we're playing both of them at home. Probably go 1-1 here, beating NIU and losing to Utah.
I'm not discounting UNI, but I think we will be the better team that day. Regardless of the score, I think we win.
So, I think we go 0-3 against the south, 3-2 against the north, lose to Iowa, beat UNI, beat NIU and lose to Utah. That's 5-7 without knowing anything about how good Tech or Utah will really be this year. Those are the games that will be critical for us this year. We'll probably get our ***** kicked a few more times (scores like 49-14 instead of 24-21), but a loss is just a loss. We're not competing for the BCS so how badly we lose doesn't really matter. For ISU, for the next few years at least, it's a race to 6 wins and bowl eligibility. Any more is icing on the cake.
Last year our three south teams were OSU, Baylor and A&M and we went 1-2 against them. This year it's OU, Texas and Tech. If we go 0-3, that's only a 1 game swing on the record. If we can beat Tech, that's EVEN with last year.
Last year we lost to Iowa - losing to them this year is a wash with last year regardless of how good they are.
We were competitive with every team in the BigXII North last year, no reason to expect that to change drastically this year. Yes our team is different, but the other teams are different too. I trust our coaches to put together the right game plan to minimize/maximize talent differences as appropriate. Last year we went 2-3 against the BigXII North - this year 3 of those games are at home and 1 is on a neutral field, and the one true away game is against Colorado. You don't think we can do better than going 2-3 again?
The swing games are NIU and Utah. Both are good teams, but we're playing both of them at home. Probably go 1-1 here, beating NIU and losing to Utah.
I'm not discounting UNI, but I think we will be the better team that day. Regardless of the score, I think we win.
So, I think we go 0-3 against the south, 3-2 against the north, lose to Iowa, beat UNI, beat NIU and lose to Utah. That's 5-7 without knowing anything about how good Tech or Utah will really be this year. Those are the games that will be critical for us this year. We'll probably get our ***** kicked a few more times (scores like 49-14 instead of 24-21), but a loss is just a loss. We're not competing for the BCS so how badly we lose doesn't really matter. For ISU, for the next few years at least, it's a race to 6 wins and bowl eligibility. Any more is icing on the cake.
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Dude, UNI is going to be terrible. Just ask one of their fans...this will be a rebuilding year for them. They lost a TON from last year. I suppose we could lay a complete egg and it could be close but don't assume just because of the past that UNI will be the UNI of the last few years this year.
This.
The 2010 version of UNI is not the same one that took Iowa to the edge last year nor is it the version that beat us back in 2007. If we somehow lose to UNI this year then by all accounts this season will most likely end in disappointment.
The only sure losses I see are OU and Texas. The talent gap b/w them and us is too great, and they're road games. Every other team is beatable.
Could be scary, i remember the last time we played oklahoma and texas, we walked away with a ton of injuries so hopefully that doesnt happen. Were lucky they are later in the season, I am hoping for 6 wins.