Hard Numbers

With all the top coaches Nebraska could have gone after last year, does it surprise anyone that Tom went after Bo Pelini? I mean, really, is Pelini the right guy for Nebraska?

Time will surely tell.

The more I look at the numbers, the more I love the decisions that Tom made this year.

First - hiring Bo (a defensive guy) is going to be huge and here's why:

In 2004, Nebraska vs conference opponents score an average of 22.3 ppg - vs winning teams it dropped to 16.8 ppg - and against the 3 ranked AP teams Nebraska could only muster 12.3 ppg.

2005, vs conference opponents 25.1 ppg - against winning teams 26.1 - and against ranked AP (2 games) averaged 27.5

2006, vs conference opponents 27.0 ppg - against wining teams 24.3 - and against ranked AP (4 games) averaged only 12.8

2007, vs conference opponents 32.1 ppg - against winning teams 23.8 - and against ranked AP (4 games) averaged 25.3

How did this offense rank nationally?

(Against conference opponents) - (against winning teams) - (against ranked AP opponents)

2004 - (NU ranked 80) (ranked 87) (ranked 79)
2005 - (NU ranked 67) (ranked 36) (ranked 14)
2006 - (NU ranked 29) (ranked 28) (ranked 66)
2007 - (NU ranked 34) (ranked 57) (ranked 31)

Many fans, including myself, saw the improvement in the offense between 2004 and 2005. Now this is not total offense but scoring offense.

But after the 2005 season, Nebraska went down hill and never came close to reaching their offensive level of the 2005 season. Remember to, I have thrown out the teams that did not have a winning record outside of conference play.

What is this telling me?

Tom not only made the correct choice in selecting a defensive minded head coach, but he had the presents of mind to hold on to Shawn Watson. Look at the offensive numbers against winning and AP opponents. Although not outstanding, they are very good.

Bill's offense hit it's peek in 2005 and was never going to go any higher. Shawn is going to take this offense, mixed with a little ole fashion power running and option, and be very effective with it.

This is also going to take some pressure off the defense and keep them on the sidelines a bit longer. Our defense had little to no chance last year as they were off the field and then right back on.

We do not need to score quickly to win, but we do need to score effectively.

For me, the season is going to start against Virginia Tech. We have had problems in the past winning quality games and this one is going to be good.

Let's get the season underway - I am ready!

GBR

NDHusker

All stats taken from cfbstats.com