Having been to a game in Eugene before I wouldn't call it a real difficult environment. I would't call it a Wisconsin or Penn St. type environment.
I guess I don't understand how you see instant improvement from an 4-8 Oregon team that is transitioning a whole staff yet only see significant improvement in Nebraska as the season progresses.
How many starters does Nebraska officially have coming back? I don't know. I know you certainly put a lot more stock in returning starters than I do. I think returning O-line starters is very important and I count NU as having 4 and if Conrad starts at Center that would mean everyone has starting experience.
I know Lee is not a returning starter, but having started 19 D1 games has got to count for something.
Returning starters at RB and WR is less important to me because the rotate them so much. Are Morgan and DPE considered returning starters?
TE is a worrisom group.
On defense Stolt and Freedom have starting experience on the line that is 67% starters back.
LB Young and Newby are returning starters, but Weber and Gifford have starts from the year before it is not like they are inexperienced.
Lots of experince coming back in the secondary.
I guess TE experience wise is a worry, but other than that I see a lot of experience.
There is absolutely no doubt Oregon has more returning experience than Nebraska. FWIW, they lost 3 starters on offense and 2 on defense. Sure, I understand it's not just about starts when it comes to experience. And certainly, that applies to Oregon as well -- as it's likely the majority of replacements for their handful of lost starters also played meaningful minutes in the past.
Regarding improvement -- I don't know what Oregon's improvement will be any more instantaneous than Nebraska's. But I do know Oregon has a lot more room to improve (as they were bad last season) than Nebraska does.
Regarding Tanner Lee ... yes, there is a definite benefit that he has started college games previously. He's certainly not as "green" as Patrick O'Brien would have been. There's value there. But he really hasn't played in many/any tough environments before. In 2015, he did start at Georgia Tech (certainly the most difficult road environment on his slate of starts), and he was 14 of 30 for 165 yards with a TD and an INT. And regardless, I highly doubt the Jackets fans were overly loud and energized with Tulane rolling into town. For that matter, I highly doubt he faced any truly raucous environments before.
By any measurement, Eugene has always been listed as one of the top 5-10 most difficult stadiums for the road team. Agree, Wisconsin and Penn State are up there as well. Eugene's Autzen Stadium has recorded the 4th loudest decibel level for any college football stadium. Yes, it's less than 60,000 -- but it's a perfect bowl and the fans get loud when there's a quality opponent in-town. Yes, when Tanner starts at Penn State, it will likely be at least as difficult of an environment -- if not more so. But at least this will be late-season, when he's got a lot more comfort under his belt. He hasn't played in most of two years. And getting greeted in Eugene in his second start will be a challenge. Doesn't mean he will crumble, but it also can't be discounted that it could be an issue (for the team as a whole).
That said, I'd take Lee over Tommy in a heart beat. That's not a question for me.
Do you really believe Nebraska will "handle" Oregon, as SoCal said in the post I quoted? That's what I was debating.
