Big Ten Nebraska (BBCF, 2010+)

[arton86]

The Premise:

Quote:

Nebraska's in the Big 10 one year early for the 2010 season, and Bo Pelini's in his first year in charge. Coach Pelini and crew are trying to get these Huskers well acclimated in their new conference, hoping to establish a new winning tradition. Nebraska starts the season unranked as Bo Pelini inherits a roster that has some superstars, and a lot of holes. It's gonna be a process...

The Setup:

I'm using Greydog Software's excellent Bowl Bound College Football simulator to play this dynasty (all fictional players, etc).

I'm playing this with a playoff postseason, because however you feel about having one in real life, in games it's a whole lot more interesting. I also made a few personal mods to reflect the conference movements (NU, CU, Boise, Utah) and knocked down Nebraska's "Team Prestige" a notch so I'd start out with a weaker team - and give myself a challenge.

Current Season - 2011


History


2010: 7-6 (4-4), Music City Bowl-W, 437 OFF (20th), 388 DEF (67th), AP #35, Coaches #35, BCS #40, CPU #28
2011: 7-6 (3-5), Armed Forces Bowl-W, 427 OFF (25th), 332 DEF (11th), AP #38, Coaches #39, CPU #37, BCS #51



It's my first try at a dynasty here and I'm not sure how everything's supposed to work, so feedback's definitely appreciated - as well as any help or advice as to how to make this a better dynasty journal. You guys are the pros; I'm just the newbie. Thanks!

[arton86]

Electronic Sports Illustrated

New-look conferences to highlight 2010 NCAA season
Stuart Elmand
August 12, 2010

It's a baffling numbers-game situation right now, as leagues are swapping members around and retaining their current numbers-based names. I admit, it's been a mess trying to keep track of everything, with the Pac "12" and the Big EleveN...and most unfortunately, the Big 12, which now just looks like it's overcompensating for something. Did these conference commissioners ever think, back in the day, that they were building up huge money-making brands that were all too dependent on an ephemeral member count?! Fortunately, I've got the breakdown of the new conference splits:

Big 10

East
Ohio State
Michigan
Michigan State
Purdue
Northwestern
Indiana

West
Penn State
Iowa
Wisconsin
Nebraska
Illinois
Minnesota


Pac 10

North
Cal
Oregon
Oregon State
Washington
Washington State
Stanford

South
USC
UCLA
Arizona
Arizona State
Utah
Colorado

Training camps are in full swing around the country, as the regular season is just weeks away. I'll be back next week with my inaugural power rankings for the upcoming season, plus a breakdown of how things look in each conference - especially the new-look Big 10 and Pac 10.

Plus, a playoff preview! You've heard about it all offseason now, but the NCAA is now deciding its national championship in the old-school playoff team way. I've always been a bowl games proponent, as they offer a nice end-of-season reward and getaway for the players. They will continue to do so - for the mediocre teams.

[arton86]

Nebraska Cornhuskers - 2010 Depth Chart - Regular Offense

	Starter	2nd	3rd	4th
WR	Thad Abdullah	Art Turner	Chris Gamble
TE	Ray Krepfle	Jason Ameche	Ken Small	Isaac Chesser
LT	Quincy Holmes	Aaron Jenkins	Turk Walker
LG	Reggie Redden	Terry Horn	Rodney Bryson
C	Bobby Reese	Eric Taylor	Gary Barber
RG	Elbert Thrash	Troy Bowens
RT	J.J. Barnwell	Aaron Jenkins	Butch Downs
WR	Ryan Alexander	J.W. Swayne	Chris Gamble
QB	T.J. Flutie	Dameane Monk	Anthony Crowell
FB	Greg Asari-Dokubo	Windrell Swayne	Bert Natkin
HB	Flip Quander	Doug Lenda	Gary Brenner

Nebraska Cornhuskers - 2010 Depth Chart - Base 4-3 Defense

	Starter	2nd	3rd	4th
LDE	Ernest Boutwell	Bill Rackley	Dameane Shepherd
LDT	Rian Cesaire	Quentin Tarkenton
RDT	Terry Streets	Dan Meador
RDE	R.J. Kindt	Leon St. Louis
WLB	Tra Stevens	Charlie Harstad
MLB	David Stonesifer	Madre Brewster	Joe Bates	Dennis Metcalf
SLB	Jim Bates	Leon Manning
CB	John Satterwhite	Matt Manning	Terrence Fiss
SS	Dickie Brooks	Charles Shell	Mike Fazande
FS	James Johnston	Josh Walik	Walt Tuilagi
CB	Todd Bailey	Maurice Schobel

Nebraska Cornhuskers - 2010 Depth Chart - Special Teams

	Starter	2nd	3rd	4th
K	James Stewart	Erron Carolan
P	Billy Haselrig	Ernie Price
H	Billy Haselrig	Ernie Price	Dameane Monk
PR	Charles Shell	Mike Fazande	James Johnston
KR	Ryan Alexander	Thad Abdullah	Charles Shell
LS	Gary Barber	Isaac Chesser	Ken Small

OperationSports.com

N.B. - I'm playing this as a clean slate; treating it as an all new staff with no continuity. Another one of the departures from real life, but as I'm unfamiliar with the roster there's no sense in pretending the staff is familiar with the players in a previous context.

Offense

It remains to be seen what Shawn Watson will do with this offense, but there are a few budding stars on this roster. Redshirt junior T.J. Flutie is a strong-armed, smart passer that has all the physical tools (6'4-231) and has NFL scouts all over him already - despite never having started a game. He's got a go-to man in 6'5 junior Thad Abdullah. Senior Flip Quander will carry the load at tailback, with monster fullback Greg Asari-Dokubo (6'0-245) paving the way for him. It's going to be a tough go of it with a very thin O-line, however.

The Pelini-squared crew will have their work cut out for them as well. Robert "I can't believe the game named him Dickie, I mean, for real?" Brooks had a solid freshman campaign and will look to lead this year's Husker secondary, with senior run-stuffer Terry Streets trying to do his best Ndamukong Suh impression. There's really just not a lot of talent here, but the reclamation project is a big reason why Tom Osborne brought Bo back. They must be hoping that Shawnee, Kansas cornerback Maurice Schobel - a high 3-star recruit and one of the Pelini crew's late prize grabs after the hiring - to provide some spark to this shorthanded unit.

Is optimism high? After last season - not really - but word is the Huskers are nonetheless not far from the Top 25. You know the saying - a little preseason overhyping never hurt anyone.

Nebraska Cornhuskers - 2010 Regular Season Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result
1	Aug 21	Oklahoma	-
2	Aug 28	Buffalo	-
3	Sep 4	FIU	-
4	Sep 11	at Wisconsin	-
5	Sep 18	at Michigan	-
6	Sep 25	Minnesota	-
7	Oct 2	Purdue	-
8	Oct 9	at Michigan State	-
9	Oct 16	Iowa	-
10	Oct 23	at Penn State	-
12	Nov 6	Illinois	-
13	Nov 13	Troy	-

OperationSports.com

[arton86]

NCAA Scoreboard - Oklahoma (0-0) at Nebraska (0-0)

August 21, 2010 1 2 3 4 F #4 Oklahoma 10 3 0 17 30 Nebraska 0 10 0 7 17 Top Performers Oklahoma - Stats RB S.Crocker - 23 car, 141 yds OLB A.DeRogatis - 14 tak, 1 sack, 3 stf, 1 int, 1 PD Nebraska - Stats WR T.Abdullah - 7 rec, 126 yds, TD DE E.Boutwell - 4 tak, 2 sack, 1 stf, 1 defl	Team Stats Comparison OU NU First Downs 18 23 3rd Down Efficiency 4-13 11-21 4th Down Efficiency 0-0 1-1 Total Yards 358 491 Passing Yards 204 404 Rushing Yards 154 87 Penalties-Penalty Yards 2-20 4-35 Turnovers 0 2 Time of Possession 26:21 33:44
Scoring Summary First Quarter OU NU OU 9:11 Terrance McCrary 51 YD FG 3 0 OU 5:22 Brian James 13 YD Pass from Kemp Sutton (Terrance McCrary PAT) 10 0 Second Quarter OU NU NU 10:31 James Stewart 31 YD FG 10 3 OU 2:12 Terrance McCrary 38 YD FG 13 3 NU 0:32 Thad Abdullah 73 YD Pass from John Howton (James Stewart PAT) 13 10 Fourth Quarter OU NU OU 12:07 Brian James 53 YD Pass from Kemp Sutton (Terrance McCrary PAT) 20 10 OU 11:10 Al DeRogatis 14 YD INT Return (Terrance McCrary PAT) 27 10 OU 4:37 Terrance McCrary 30 YD FG 30 10 NU 1:17 Ray Krepfle 25 YD Pass from T.J. Flutie 30 17
Oklahoma Passing C/ATT YDS TD INT QB K.Sutton 10/21 204 2 0 Rushing ATT YDS AVG TD RB S.Crocker 23 141 6.13 0 RB K.Burton 5 19 3.80 0 QB K. Sutton 7 5 0.71 0 Receiving REC YDS AVG TD WR B.Kemoea 5 111 22.2 0 WR B.James 3 85 28.3 2 RB K.Burton 1 7 7.0 0 WR P.Milburn 1 1 1.0 0 Kicking FGM/A XPM/A PTS LONG K T.McCrary 3/3 3/3 12 51 Punting NO. NET AVG IN 20 P J.Riemersma 6 39.0 42.0 1 Nebraska Passing C/ATT YDS TD INT QB T.Flutie 20/35 256 1 1 QB J.Howton 7/14 148 1 0 Rushing ATT YDS AVG TD RB F.Quander 23 49 2.13 0 RB D.Lenda 9 38 4.22 0 QB J.Howton 1 9 9.0 0 QB T.Flutie 1 6 6.0 0 Receiving REC YDS AVG TD WR T.Abdullah 7 126 18.0 1 WR R.Alexander 6 88 14.7 0 TE R.Krepfle 5 63 12.6 1 RB F.Quander 3 49 16.3 0 WR J.Swayne 4 43 10.8 0 FB G.Asari-Dokubo 1 20 20.0 0 RB D.Lenda 1 15 15.0 0 Kicking FGM/A XPM/A PTS LONG K J.Stewart 1/2 2/2 5 31 Punting NO. NET AVG IN 20 P B.Haselrig 7 40.3 50.7 0

OperationSports.com

[hockeyplaya2724]

Tough start, good luck in the Big 10. Just don't beat my Spartans too bad

[arton86]

OU-NU Classic Once More
Nevin Nipple, Omaha Weekly Herald
August 28, 2010




How's this for a monumental start to the season. Consider the game we just witnessed: it kicked off the 2010 college football season, marked Nebraska's first game as a Big 10 member, and featured the return of one of college football's most classic rivalries. Yep, old school Big 8 and Big 12 buddies Oklahoma and Nebraska are bringing the heat once more, this time in an out-of-conference opener, but the energy and the anticipation are as fresh as ever.

And then there's Doug Flutie's kid making his first college start in rockin' Memorial Stadium before a record 86,900-count Sea of Red.

It was a sellout crowd that sat in stunned silence as they watched T.J. Flutie, the redshirt junior signal-caller for the Cornhuskers, writhe in agony as he struggled to pick himself up from the ground in just the first quarter - after a broken play and a first-down garnering 6-yard scramble on third down, deep in his own territory.

The shocked 'ohhh's' turned into tentative cheers as Flutie finally got himself up and, clutching his back, limped all the way to the sideline with the help of his teammates. Not exactly the way this was supposed to go down.

And it was followed with another shocker: Flutie's replacement, freshman dual-threat speedster John Howton, a 3-star recruit and January commitment from Wichita, Kansas. After a summer of speculation regarding the talented youngster, we finally have an answer: redshirt, off. Howton dazzled with his legs and with his arms - finding Thad Abdullah on a deep seam for 73 yards to end the half with the Huskers trailing by just 3. Do we have a quarterback controversy in Lincoln?

It's possible - as the established #2 man now, Howton has elevated himself to the status of Fan Favorite - but make no mistake, this is Flutie's team, as it has been since the day after the Huskers' season ended last November against Colorado. And Flutie showed it by returning, injury and all, to play the entire second half.

It was rough going. The Sooner defenders were talented and strong, brutally mauling a Husker OL that looked battered and beaten by the second quarter. Flutie was clearly hurting and yet, hung in there, taking hit after hit, sack after sack. He played Heisman candidate Ken Sutton, his Sooner counterpart, to a 0-0 draw in the third, before the wheels fell off for the entire team in the final period.

Long pass. Pick six. In sixty seconds, the Husker hopes were sent crashing down. From trailing the #4 team by a very attainable 3 points in the 4th quarter to staring at the tail end of a 27-10 deficit.

But there's a funny thing about this year's Cornhuskers: they don't quit. Flutie, the team's unquestioned leader, didn't, in spite of his back issues. And the team followed suit. Sooner tailback Scott Crocker was unrelenting in his punishment of the Husker D, but the Huskers kept grinding until they finally found an opportunity late in the game.

Call it garbage time if you want. But the Huskers played this game to the end. After Flutie's terrific 25-yard lob to tight end Ray Krepfle in the corner of the endzone, James Stewart, the freshman kicker from Gibbon, NE, converted a beautiful onside kick. That wasn't garbage time - it was just an incredible kick that would make any kicker proud. And Flutie had the Huskers driving again, down into the red zone, where time expired as he took another shot at the endzone - one that would have ended the game 30-23.

It was as rough a loss as any, but Husker fans can take heart after all the positives shown by a tough-as-nails squad battling the #4 team in the country - and knowing they will see these guys again next year. The Huskers will now be able to take a breather before their Big Ten slate opens up, with Buffalo and FIU in back-to-back weeks.

Word on Flutie is a strained oblique right now, so that's definitely a situation to watch in the coming week. The Huskers are also down starting outside LB Jim Bates with a strained knee ligament - awaiting test results.

Husker fans shouldn't take this next match too lightly, though: that's Turner Gill's team in Buffalo, and though the former Husker great has now moved on to coaching Kansas, he ingrained 'overachieving' firmly into those players and that's not something they'll soon drop. The Bulls lost their first match to Big Ten opponent Northwestern in a 38-45 shootout and put up one of the nation's Top 10 offensive performances in Week 1.

Week 1 Rankings - AP Top 25

RANK	TEAM	LAST WK	RECORD
1.	USC	1	1-0
2.	Texas	2	1-0
3.	Florida	3	0-0
4.	Oklahoma	4	1-0
5.	Georgia	5	0-0
6.	UCLA	6	0-0
7.	Michigan	7	1-0
8.	Penn State	8	0-0
9.	Iowa	9	0-0
10.	Boston College	10	0-0
11.	Wisconsin	11	1-0
12.	Utah	12	0-0
13.	Louisiana State	13	0-0
14.	Notre Dame	14	1-0
15.	Purdue	15	0-0
16.	Clemson	16	0-0
17.	Florida State	17	0-0
18.	Miami	18	0-0
19.	Colorado	19	0-0
20.	Ohio State	20	1-0
21.	Oklahoma State	21	0-0
22.	Auburn	22	0-0
23.	Alabama	23	0-0
24.	Virginia Tech	24	0-0
25.	Texas Tech	25	0-0

OperationSports.com

[arton86]

Quote: Originally Posted by hockeyplaya2724

Tough start, good luck in the Big 10. Just don't beat my Spartans too bad

Thanks! We're on the road this year and it'll be a tough draw...we're pretty evenly matched in this game, I think. you should definitely check back for that game!

[arton86]

I just lost to freakin' Buffalo! Not NFL Buffalo...COLLEGE BUFFALO!

Updates tomorrow. I'm seriously crying inside here...not cool at all. And it's a text sim without difficulty levels, so there wasn't much I could do about it...just one of those games...