Husker_x
New member
Well, here we are again.
I could stop there and have said everything that need be said. Nebraska has once again gone on national television and humiliated itself in yet another legendary meltdown. Notice how you didn't flinch when you read that? Notice how ordinary, maybe even comfortable, the idea has become?
Once again our defense looked dazed, lost, and that after defensive coordinator John Papuchis--that is, coordinating assistant, whose main job seems to be coffee runs and flapping his arms around on the sideline--declared, "I must have watched that game tape twenty times." That's an awful lot of times. An incredible amount of times, since even to my untrained football eye, it looked like UCLA ran about five plays with an occasional wrinkle. What was so surprising about UCLA's game planning that required such Zen-like single-pointed concentration on last year's tape? And what was the benefit of all that analysis? What creative new strategies were adopted? What effective blitz packages? What stunning new innovations to give UCLA fits for four quarters?
Once again our offense found itself inept, useless, on the big stage (the biggest, some of the conference pulse takers from the B1G Network claimed, in three or four years). Despite flashes of greatness and a comfortable lead, Beck's offense yet again slowed, stagnated, and eventually imploded, assisting the defense in sitting by and watching a gargantuan lead melt away into one of the biggest second-half massacres I've ever witnessed in college football. At home.
Once again Taylor Martinez proved himself to be exactly what he is: a liability. I like Taylor as a person. As a quarterback I have little understanding of his strengths or why his occasional explosive plays are seen as such a terrifying advantage when compared against his mistakes. He is adequate as a passer, nothing more, and when he takes a sack it looks like a lumberjack felling a tree. He is not a natural runner, something of a deficiency in an offense that purports to run the option. He does not take care of the football. He does not and has never looked comfortable when playing against equal talent. He has yet to prove himself in signature game. Maybe it's Beck's part-time this, part-time that vision, or maybe it's his insistence that Taylor run plays he simply cannot run, like the speed option. Whatever the case, despite his gaudy numbers, the true picture of Taylor Martinez has been on display, was on display today, and will be again the next time we play an opponent of greater or equal talent.
Once again we as a fanbase were forced to endure a comedy of errors--missed assignments, sacks, needless penalties--incomprehensible play calling, personnel substitution, and execution. All of this amassed into only the latest meltdown of Cosgrovian/Watsonian proportions. This is the spirit of Pelini's tenure. It is an endless rerun of poorly coached, undisciplined, unprepared teams self-destructing when the stakes are high. The players change, the song remains the same.
What was different about today's game for me personally was that I had no reaction whatsoever. When the meltdown began, I identified it, like a spousal abuse victim seeing that familiar gleam in the abuser's eye, but I could not generate the feeling of surprise. The only emotion I could seem to conjure towards what unfolded was, "Well . . . that's pretty typical." And that is the only thing I can contribute to this conversation. Everything I've written up to this point has been said and said again, hashed and rehashed, case argued and made. Beck and Pap were lazy, comfortable, nepotistic hires and we are paying for those decisions as a fanbase. Taylor Martinez will go down as an anomaly on the stat sheet but contribute little of real value to the storied history of this program. Pelini teams do have a reputation for consistency: they are consistently out coached, undisciplined, and unable to maintain anything resembling composure when threatened. It's not surprising, it's not baffling, it's not puzzling. It's just typical.
What is different about this game for me, and I'm guessing for a few of you, was how little I seemed to care.
Each game like this that goes by takes something from you as a fan. I used to get upset about the blowout losses. Now I see them as inevitable. Any time Nebraska plays anyone close to our talent level, I expect the worst not out of fear, but logic and hard experience. When we win it is a temporary enjoyment, quickly replaced by the expectation of what will happen when we play a ranked team. I do not expect the future to be any brighter. I do not expect Pelini to make any staff changes; I honestly believe he'd go down with the ship first, damn the torpedoes. What I expect is a prolonged stay in limbo, locked between mediocrity and incompetence. Nine wins. Maybe ten. Who's counting? I don't know.
What I do know is I am now numb to Nebraska football.
I could stop there and have said everything that need be said. Nebraska has once again gone on national television and humiliated itself in yet another legendary meltdown. Notice how you didn't flinch when you read that? Notice how ordinary, maybe even comfortable, the idea has become?
Once again our defense looked dazed, lost, and that after defensive coordinator John Papuchis--that is, coordinating assistant, whose main job seems to be coffee runs and flapping his arms around on the sideline--declared, "I must have watched that game tape twenty times." That's an awful lot of times. An incredible amount of times, since even to my untrained football eye, it looked like UCLA ran about five plays with an occasional wrinkle. What was so surprising about UCLA's game planning that required such Zen-like single-pointed concentration on last year's tape? And what was the benefit of all that analysis? What creative new strategies were adopted? What effective blitz packages? What stunning new innovations to give UCLA fits for four quarters?
Once again our offense found itself inept, useless, on the big stage (the biggest, some of the conference pulse takers from the B1G Network claimed, in three or four years). Despite flashes of greatness and a comfortable lead, Beck's offense yet again slowed, stagnated, and eventually imploded, assisting the defense in sitting by and watching a gargantuan lead melt away into one of the biggest second-half massacres I've ever witnessed in college football. At home.
Once again Taylor Martinez proved himself to be exactly what he is: a liability. I like Taylor as a person. As a quarterback I have little understanding of his strengths or why his occasional explosive plays are seen as such a terrifying advantage when compared against his mistakes. He is adequate as a passer, nothing more, and when he takes a sack it looks like a lumberjack felling a tree. He is not a natural runner, something of a deficiency in an offense that purports to run the option. He does not take care of the football. He does not and has never looked comfortable when playing against equal talent. He has yet to prove himself in signature game. Maybe it's Beck's part-time this, part-time that vision, or maybe it's his insistence that Taylor run plays he simply cannot run, like the speed option. Whatever the case, despite his gaudy numbers, the true picture of Taylor Martinez has been on display, was on display today, and will be again the next time we play an opponent of greater or equal talent.
Once again we as a fanbase were forced to endure a comedy of errors--missed assignments, sacks, needless penalties--incomprehensible play calling, personnel substitution, and execution. All of this amassed into only the latest meltdown of Cosgrovian/Watsonian proportions. This is the spirit of Pelini's tenure. It is an endless rerun of poorly coached, undisciplined, unprepared teams self-destructing when the stakes are high. The players change, the song remains the same.
What was different about today's game for me personally was that I had no reaction whatsoever. When the meltdown began, I identified it, like a spousal abuse victim seeing that familiar gleam in the abuser's eye, but I could not generate the feeling of surprise. The only emotion I could seem to conjure towards what unfolded was, "Well . . . that's pretty typical." And that is the only thing I can contribute to this conversation. Everything I've written up to this point has been said and said again, hashed and rehashed, case argued and made. Beck and Pap were lazy, comfortable, nepotistic hires and we are paying for those decisions as a fanbase. Taylor Martinez will go down as an anomaly on the stat sheet but contribute little of real value to the storied history of this program. Pelini teams do have a reputation for consistency: they are consistently out coached, undisciplined, and unable to maintain anything resembling composure when threatened. It's not surprising, it's not baffling, it's not puzzling. It's just typical.
What is different about this game for me, and I'm guessing for a few of you, was how little I seemed to care.
Each game like this that goes by takes something from you as a fan. I used to get upset about the blowout losses. Now I see them as inevitable. Any time Nebraska plays anyone close to our talent level, I expect the worst not out of fear, but logic and hard experience. When we win it is a temporary enjoyment, quickly replaced by the expectation of what will happen when we play a ranked team. I do not expect the future to be any brighter. I do not expect Pelini to make any staff changes; I honestly believe he'd go down with the ship first, damn the torpedoes. What I expect is a prolonged stay in limbo, locked between mediocrity and incompetence. Nine wins. Maybe ten. Who's counting? I don't know.
What I do know is I am now numb to Nebraska football.
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