cm2010

September 10th, 2012 at 10:06 AM ^

I think their program is a bit stagnant right now. Pelini was definitely an improvement over Callahan, but he has yet to get them "over the top", and I don't foresee that happening. However, to claim that Illinois and Iowa are on the same level as Nebraska is either drastically underplaying Nebraska's significance, overrating Iowa and Illinois, or both. Nebraska will dominate Iowa in their new rivalry.

However, if Nebraska can figure out offense and get itself a QB they can rely on in big games, they become a much more dangerous team.

GoBlueInNYC

September 10th, 2012 at 10:29 AM ^

However, if Nebraska can figure out offense and get itself a QB they can rely on in big games, they become a much more dangerous team.

So, if Nebraska can improve an entire phase of their game and find someone to man the most important spot on the team they'll be good? Also, they weren't that hot on defense last season (42nd in scoring D, not bad by any stretch, but not exactly dominant either).

I lived in Austin for the past 6 years and sort of followed Nebraska when they were in the Big12. They're a good team, but they were overrated by virtue of being in a very weak division and being a historic power.

jabberwock

September 10th, 2012 at 10:47 AM ^

I think it currently stands like this:

OSU

medium gap

MSU

small gap

Michigan/Wisconsin

small gap

Nebraska/Iowa/Illinois

everybody else in a pile of random suckiness with NW & Purdue offering an occasional surprise.

I think in the future our recruiting will put us back up @ 1 or 2, but MSU has played in the B10 Championship 2 years running and beaten us (handily) 4 years in a row.  I know Sparty could collapse at any time but . . . they haven't.  We looked no better against AFA than they did against Boise.  

Nebraska will compete, but they aren't there yet, they seem too inconsistent to predict owning Illinois & Iowa every year.

Seriously

September 10th, 2012 at 12:48 PM ^

How do you figure UM is two rungs below OSU?  Buckeye DBs have spent a lot of time during the first two games arguing on the field about who was responsible for blown coverage.  The pass rush has been nothing special either.  If Denard consistently hits open receivers (there will likely be many), you probably win that game.  (Different story if the secondary figures out what it's doing over the next 9 games.)

jabberwock

September 10th, 2012 at 1:55 PM ^

but I think last years team was over-rated; lovable yes, but still over-rated.  We had a last second win against ND, beat a bunch of midling teams, & had our asses handed to us by MSU.  Our most convincing wins were an honest-to-goodness win against a "good but over-rated" Nebraska, and a relatively ugly win over a comprimised OSU team.  We also looked inconsistent against V-tech.  I'll take every one of those wins and enjoy the 11-2 record but this years team at this point doesn't look much better .  . . in fact they look a bit worse although the competition so far has been either NFL ready or quirky.

OSU isn't perfect tjhis year, they have a  lot of flaws but I think they have a great coach, solid lines, a very talented/raw-but-improving every week QB.  I agree with you that If our best chance against them this year comes down down to Denard passing vs their DBs I think we lose that game & I think Hoke would agree as well.



Those rank/placeholders are just that, regardless of record thats how I see the B10 so far.  3 weeks from now things may look drastically different.  I think the ND game will tell us a lot, but the MSU game will tell us everything.  Injuries & freshmen development are going to mean SO much this season.

Scarlatina

September 10th, 2012 at 2:43 PM ^

OSU's coverage has definitely left a lot to be desired and it definitely needs to be resolved. I will say that Travis Howard has gotten 3 INTs in the first 2 games and is finally making plays like a senior CB is expected too.

Pass rush-wise OSU hasn't been stellar either, but two of their top 3 DEs are still injured. Michael Bennett has been out the last two weeks due to a groin injury, and Nate Williams is coming back from microfracture surgery and is on a permanant week-to-week basis (Williams played a few snaps in week 1 and was held out in week 2 due to soreness). So OSU has had to depend mostly true freshmen and sophomores to fill their absence, leaving John Simon to face mostly double-teams both weeks. Hopefully, all this gets resolved when Bennett comes back.

maizenbluenc

September 10th, 2012 at 11:05 AM ^

that guy, gal (I know you were defending), other guy, or transgendered person.

Seriously folks, there is something wrong with an unrestrained compulsion to correct minor grammatical errors of an unknown poster on a blog. You have no idea of the poster's socio-economic background, state of mental alertness, or input device keyboard and autocorrecting software.

Would you have stood up in Chicago and corrected Denard during his speech knowing his background and the situation in which he is speaking?

I for one, resist the urge to correct someone's grammar, and instead overlook the obvious error, and read along with the poster's intent. Your attempt to educate comes across as arrogance, and it discourages many reasonable Michigan fans of various backgrounds from commenting on this blog.

[FYI, I spell and grammar checked this post in word, just so you jerks could focus on my message rather than my grammar and spelling.]

EGD

September 10th, 2012 at 11:19 AM ^

I generally agree with you when the grammatical errors are truly minor and the person doing the correcting is picking nits.  But where the errors are significant, as here, I think it's okay.  It's sort of like that story about the person walking around with his fly unzipped: while most of his so-called "friends" didn't say anything about it becuse they didn't want to hurt his feelings, the true friend was the person who told him to zip up.

Also, I figured this might be the only chance to use the phrase "trans-gendered grammar cop" I would ever have, and didn't want to blow it.

snarling wolverine

September 10th, 2012 at 11:25 AM ^

I agree that it can come off the wrong way (and people should try to be polite about it), but at the same time, we are mostly a group of well-educated people, and I think it's nice to have some basic standards as far as proper grammar and such goes.  There are a lot of message boards where the writing is degenerating into text-speak and you sometimes can't even tell what the person is trying to say.   

As for someone giving a speech, well no, I would not correct them there, because it's understood that speaking is by nature off the cuff and will result in more mistakes.  Writing gives you the chance to reflect because you can see what you're typing before you send it.  If our informal guidelines cause people to reflect a little more before they post, that's not a bad thing in my opinion.

SWFLWolverine

September 10th, 2012 at 11:33 AM ^

I suppose that if I focus on your intent, you are saying that the poor and disadvantaged, and persons of various ethnic groups are incapable of using proper English in their speech and writing? I find what you have written to be much more offensive than what any person has ever written in response to the grammar used in a post. While I understand the underlying message you are purveying, what you have revealed about your belief system is somewhat disturbing. I am sure you find the President surprisingly well-spoken.

maizenbluenc

September 10th, 2012 at 12:10 PM ^

a Michigan degree, and yes it is perfectly possible for someone with a disadvantaged background to speak and write correctly. However, not all Michigan fans from families with lower economic or education backgrounds are like the President. Yet their opinion is still one that should be considered on this site.

Mr Miggle

September 10th, 2012 at 4:28 PM ^

Your last sentence is missing a comparative word to go with than. Change "hope" to "prefer" or use "rather than" rather than "than". Your first sentence needs to end with a question mark.  This is not grammar, but "downright" should be one word in your usage. I hope that helps you.