Myer talked Nebraska up, but that's mostly to cover his backside on an outcome he felt needing explaining away.
Last fall I spent a ton of time following the OSU media, watching press conferences, etc., from the week before Ohio State played Purdue through the bye week and then Nebraska week. Besides wanting to know what to expect from them, talent-wise (I hadn't watched Haskins until then), I was looking for clues in what the coaches and players were saying (and NOT saying) to see how seriously they were taking Nebraska. I wrote about it back then, and my opinion of what the OSU staff thought of Nebraska evolved as the game got closer. Putting 2 & 2 together, here's what I saw: They did NOT take Nebraska seriously enough to have the coaching staff spending any time watching Nebraska film during the bye week before our game. Ohio State, top to bottom, was focused on Ohio State. The Monday press conference of the Nebraska game week was different, though. Urban suddenly started talking about Nebraska's defense with specificity, and he was openly complimentary of the coaches, scheme, Martinez, and Ozigbo. I don't think he or the other coaches watched Nebraska film until the weekend before, which is typically what happens in a normal week, but they put it off during the bye week. As it got closer to game time, the interviews with the players and assistant coaches got more specific and more respectful, too. Our game film had their attention by that point, and they were no longer taking the game lightly. During some of the press questioning, a couple different times the reporters made light of Nebraska's record, etc., and Urban (twice) and Schiano (at least once) shut that down and basically said, "This is a really good team that has a bad record, and it's not going to be easy." The press didn't believe them.
In watching all of the above, it put Meyer's quotes about Nebraska after the game in a better context. The media's response to all of the above was that Nebraska was a bad team, so OSU must have been playing so poorly that it made it a closer game than it should have been. Had that been the case, Urban has no problem throwing his players under the bus and letting them take the blame. He didn't do that. I am convinced that Urban was being genuine when he spoke of Nebraska and Frost and the schemes, etc., with respect.
Iowa and Wisconsin both won last year and have dominated in recent games, so I don't know that they're that enamored yet.
My impression of how Iowa and Wisconsin
fans currently view us would be mirror images of how
@cthusker and
@Huskerthom view Minnesota, including thinking that the coach is over-rated. With the players and coaches, it's hard to say. It is safe to say that Paul Chryst apparently is
not a fan of Nebraska based on what he was caught saying on the sidelines during our game last year.
They played solid football after the NU game last fall (@Middle-aged_Ball_Coach, I went back and watched) and had Nebraska played them again in late November or in bowl season, we wouldn't have been playing the same team that Frost & Co beat for Nebraska's first win.
I can't tell you how much I respect that you took the time to watch those games. I'm pretty much convinced that a lot (probably most) of the people who are so certain that Minnesota can't beat us this fall haven't really watched those games, or at least watched them closely to see what they'll look like this year. They were a very good team from mid-November onward, and it wasn't the same team that we played anymore.
All the discussion about Minnesota, got to ask the question 'how much home field advantage' does the Gophers get considering how well Husker fans travel?
They may not have the homefield advantage in the sense of a loud, raucous stadium that makes it hard for our offense to hear the count, etc., but there's a lot of value in NOT having to travel, keeping a regular schedule until Friday afternoon, and eating and sleeping in familiar places.
They play 3 fairly easy non-cons then get a bye in Week 4 before playing at Purdue which should be their toughest game before Nebraska.
Minnesota's non-conference schedule could have been a nightmare for them, and it's still not as easy as it might look. They're fortunate in that SDSU's QB graduated along with some other very good players because SDSU would have been a tough first game a year ago. Fresno State is at Fresno State, and that won't be easy. Even Georgia Southern isn't a simple win as Georgia Southern runs a Flexbone offense, and last year they led the nation in fewest turnovers. (The Flexbone and "fewest turnovers" are not phrases that should go together.) They won their bowl game last year, but I think they had quite a few seniors, but I don't remember for certain. Regardless, option teams often give good teams fits on defense, though Minnesota had no problems with Georgia Tech's in last year's bowl game.
As for the Purdue game, I am very curious to see how that turns out. Both teams have a lot of potential and a lot of question marks. Either could win the conference or struggle to finish .500. Having a bye the week before should help Minnesota, but it's at Purdue. The week after that they have Illinois at home, but don't forget that Illinois took them to the woodshed last year. That game was so bad that the press were starting to call for Fleck's head, which was why they made the change at DC. Because of what happened last year, I expect Minnesota to drill them this year, but Illinois should not be a bad team.
I think their fans should be fired up for the game. More so considering Minny could be 5-0 when Nebraska rolls into town.
Minnesota NEEDS to be 5-0 coming into our game due to how their schedule gets so much tougher down the stretch. They could lose a game or two, and because of their lack of depth, they could be looking awful if they have a key injury or two. If they're 5-0, their fans will be pumped up, and it won't feel like any Minnesota-Nebraska game in my lifetime. At the other extreme, if they're 3-2, Fleck might be desperate to beat us to save his job. If they're not at least 4-2 after our game, it would be a tough road to qualify for a bowl game.
When Morgan came in Minny was a different team.
Even having watched them and having been impressed with them as a whole at the end of the year, I hadn't really noticed Morgan until I recently went back and watched the Wisconsin game again. He's a decent QB. Fleck wants a QB who can run the ball better than what he can do, so that limits their offense, but he throws the ball quite well.