Osborne: "We'll be better"

Tom Osborne told Steve Sipple of the Lincoln Journal-Star that he thinks Nebraska will be better in 2008.

How much better?

That's the big question.  Does that mean just cutting the margin of defeat?  Or does that mean winning more games?  And if so, how many wins?

Osborne also said that the coaches were pleasantly surprised by the amount of talent on the team.  But talent isn't the only thing that matters:

"There's a lot that goes into having a good team," Osborne said. "You've got coaches getting to know the players, and vice versa. You've got a different scheme on defense that has to be installed and taught. You've got a similar scheme on offense, but there will be some changes, I'm sure. It's all got to come together.

"You can never predict at the start of the year exactly what the chemistry's going to be, what the leadership's going to be like on the team. It's hard to predict those things even with coaches who have been someplace a long time. I really didn't know what was going to happen each year because although you might have a lot of the same players back, the chemistry always changed.

"Just a few people coming and going can make a huge difference."