Put...Those Expectations...DOWN!

It's a shiny, new season for Nebraska Football. Hope springs (or perhaps falls...get it? It's a season pun...) eternal this time of year. The air turns cool and we can't wait for the sounds of marching bands and the smell of hot dogs. We buy a new scarlet shirt to replace the one that is turning pink from too many trips through the wash, and let our expectations soar.

I'm here on a mission of mercy. I have a message for you:

PUT THOSE EXPECTATIONS DOWN. Expectations are for contenders only.

You think I'm fucking with you? I am not fucking with you.

It's not even September yet and here's what we know: Two would-be defensive starters are lost to season-ending injuries in Charles Jackson and Michael Rose, and a third is suspended for the year in Leroy Alexander. Why was Alexander suspended for a whole year? Nobody will say for sure, but in cases like these the reason very often has less to do with how the player did on his class tests and more to do with how he did on his urine tests.

Add to that the mysterious mid-camp quit of Aaron Curry, a DT would would likely have seen significant playing time. He's looking to transfer after having been practicing with the first and second string. Let us also not forget the absence of DL manchild Avery Moss, who is presently...and I'm not making this up...banned from UNL's campus due to a penchant for taking his dong out in front of unsuspecting female students.

WANNA SEE MY SCHOOL SPIRIT?!?!

By one estimate, that puts Dear Ol' Nebraska U at 77 available scholarship players. Some of you will know that teams are allowed 85 scholarship players. If the NCAA were to penalize a school 5-10 scholarships, that would be considered a pretty harsh penalty. The expectation level for that team would drop dramatically. So mix that with the way this team has limped around like something out of The Walking Dead in late October and November in recent years, and ask yourself if it sounds fun to start trying to ask guys to switch positions in game 10 again.

Oh, do I have your attention now?

You can keep your scarlet-colored glasses on until at least the first game. Every article and interview out of Lincoln until then will be all cotton candy and puppy dogs. Every player will be a "beast" or a "stud" or a "studbeast" according to some teammate. Everyone will be "doing some good things" despite "swimming in it" according to Pelini, and we'll be awash in tales of how hard everyone worked all summer. Not only that, but tales of how close the players are to each other. Like, for real you guys, you don't even know how much these guys love each other.

It will all count for nothing when Miami comes to town. This team, and especially this defense, desperately needed athletic veterans to right the ship from the wandering left turn of the last two seasons. Instead they're headed overboard like proverbial rats.

Much though we'd love to take a "next man up" mentality about that news, the reality is that Pelini's system has not been kind to young players. It's the sort of defense where young players who step in and flourish are the exception, not the rule. You either get it or you don't...and most underclassmen don't. This season, they'll likely be asked to on all three levels of the defense.

Now for the good news: Tommy Armstrong has a nagging injury and prior to that has been playing at a level that had him barely ahead of walk-on Ryker Fyfe. Former Elite-11 prospect Johnny Stanton has been little-mentioned. Stop me if you've heard this one: Bo Pelini walks into a Big 10 road game with a clusterfuck of mediocre quarterbacks...

Consider this: It was 2008 the last time Nebraska had a quarterback who didn't make you think, "Ok, let's see what this backup can do." I could do without knowing that after a couple of bad picks out of Armstrong, Nebraska fans will be in the stands like:

RYKEEEEEEEEEEEER!!!!!!!!!

If you expect anything more than a battle between Nebraska and Wisconsin for who gets to be the reason sports pundits say Ohio State and Michigan State should have been allowed to play for the Big 10 championship...you need to slow your roll.

All signs point to another painful year of watching Nebraska show flashes of promise only to get its teeth kicked in against ranked opponents. The offseason has played out according to Bo's script. Lose a handful of kids who would have seen playing time, act like there's nothing to see here, say, "we'll be just fine," and keep it moving. The best this team can do is play for second place in the conference.

Second place is a set of steak knives.

After the way things looked at the end of last regular season, I have my suspicions as to how Shawn Eichorst will feel about third place.