OK sure, I'll be the first....

I don't know how you could watch Tommy and not think he's a better passer than Taylor. There was only one pass today from Tommy that looked bad and should been picked off but that may have been a mistake by the WR. He had touch passes in the air before the receiver had looked back and they were perfect strikes. There were zero four feet over the head of the receiver passes like we get from Taylor. Tommy looked composed in the pocket, something that has really plagued Taylor.

On passing ability alone Tommy is miles ahead of Taylor, regardless of competition. Seriously, it's not close.

Running ability is a lot harder to judge due to the competition. I think Tommy is a more confident, decisive, and elusive runner but Taylor, when he's healthy, is probably the better homerun hitter.

I won't be surprised if Taylor starts the next couple games if he's healthy but when T-Magic inevitably morphs into T-Panic he needs to have a short leash.

 
I like all of this talk. It has been a while since Taylor has been able to play with a chip on his shoulder like he has something to prove. He has shown in his career that he is at his best when that's the case.

 
One possible interesting point - last year, and so far this year, it seems that Taylor has been a hesitant runner. The question is why? Is he being asked to remain in the pocket and not bail out to the run so quickly? Are the coaches limiting his running to prevent injury? Is he trying to prove that he's a passer who can run rather than a runner who can pass? What will be interesting is whether that changes after the performances by his backups. If the coaches have been limiting his running to prevent injury, today's game may have given them enough confidence in the backups that they will let Taylor run more. Or perhaps it will trigger Taylor and the coaches to recognize that the threat of the run by Taylor is one of the offense's best weapons.

 
I'm as happy as anybody that our QB play looked so good today. But it's beyond ridiculous to start calling for a starter change based on this game.

It was South Dakota State. Our players, across the board, are bigger, stronger, and faster. By a lot. SDSU had no chance on defense today. Go back, watch the film, and watch our offensive line obliterate their front seven. Our WR's consistently had a step on the coverage. I guarantee our offensive line will not look like that in Big Ten play, nor will our WRs will be that open, and I guarantee that none of our QBs (including TM) will look that good when they play a Big Ten defense.

As far as our offense was concerned, today was as revealing as the Red-White game. Lots of reason to be optimistic and excited, but it ultimately tells us very little about the team.

 
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nuhuskeralum said:
2ndNnine said:
Does not matter who plays QB when you have a Pa-poop-cheese defense. You will lose.
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This is Bo's defense 100%
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Is this assumption or fact? Genuine question. I know many of us sit here and say it's obvious Pelini's calling the shots, but if that's the case, then what's Papuchis' role and where does he fit into the equation? Some teams don't even have offensive coordinators and the head coach calls the plays, so hypothetically speaking, the same could be done here.

 
Enhance89 said:
shyndy said:
I knew the qb derp was going to be strong after this game but I always underestimate our fanbase
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One game is always the best way to judge any QB, obviously...

I love the way TA looked, and I also thought Kellogg played really, really well.

TM is still the best quarterback on Nebraska's roster. Obviously that toe is a big concern, because you take away that running ability and you take away a lot of what TM can do. If TM still can't run very well, is he the guy you want just sitting in the pocket throwing the football? I don't know.
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Turf toe doesn't just affect his ability to run either. It affects his ability to plant the foot and throw. If the injury is affecting him at all, I think you take him out of the game. If he's fully healthy though, cut him loose - he's one of the most dangerous players in college football.

 
This is likely just a hypothetical discussion, as Bo has shown no wilingness to pull Martinez, even when he's not 100%.

I prefer Armstrong. He's everything that Martinez is not and has never been. Armstrong is a better leader and commands the respect of his teammates. He's poised, confident, has a high football I.Q., makes good decisions under pressure, is an accurate passer and also poses a threat to run the ball. Martinez is a one-dimensional runner even when healthy, is an inconsistent passer, turns the ball over far too much, makes poor decisions especially under pressure, is not a natural leader and seems to have a below-average football I.Q.

Given that Martinez is hurt, the coaches have a good excuse for playing Armstrong. But even if Martinez is 100%, I would prefer to see Armstrong under center. I'm willing to live with the mistakes he'll make due to inexperience as he learns the position...far more than I am to live with the mistakes Martinez makes due to low football intelligence, lack of poise, questionable decisionmaking and being careless with the ball.

 
I would say Taylor commands the respect of his teammates. The only time that may have not been true was in 2010, with his rapid ascension and some unhappy seniors.

 
Gonna wander into this one delicately, since any thread about Martinez here seems to be controversial, and I got bashed pretty good last week when I suggested he get benched.

I thought Armstrong was fantastic, but I'm not going to go ahead and anoint him the starter yet simply because of the opponent. No disrespect to SDSU but I don't believe that's a measuring stick. I don't think Taylor deserves to lose his job just yet simply because he's injured, and was probably playing injured last week.

But I think going forward, Martinez should be on a shorter leash. I'm not saying Taylor needs to be replaced, but maybe if the threat of being replaced is there then he will perform better, because everyone has now seen the backup and he appears to be very capable.

So what I would like to see is a bit of what we saw today, but with Taylor platooning 2 or 3 series at a time with Armstrong instead of Kellogg. Get TA some first-team reps against some real B1G level defense, and then let performance win out. If the offense struggles for a quarter, make a change. If you get a hot hand in there, keep it there until it backfires.

Competition should make all of these guys better, I would think.

 
HuskerFowler said:
It's not necessarily just about the opponent. Both our QBs looked more poised in the pocket than Taylor ever has. Both are better decision makers, more accurate, and avoid pressure much better. Tommy is all around better for our offense. Taylor is at his ceiling and has been a good transition QB for us, but his time should be up. I don't see how anyone can argue against it. How nice was it to see a QB stand in the pocket confidently and deliver a strike? Breath of fresh air to me. Even RKIII who is probably the slowest person on the team knows when to pull it down and run.

Taylor will start and will probably play fairly well, but it's quite obvious who the better QB is and it didn't take until this game for me to see it. A couple snaps against s miss is all it took. He is confident, a leader and smooth running the offense. A good game manager and a play maker. It's all about decision making and Taylor is way too hesitant and way to inconsistent. Taylor lacks the mental side of it and panics under pressure, something a QB should never do. He leads all the come backs because he plays balls out un afraid to make mistakes with the game on the line. He just doesn't play that way all the time, thinks to much and panics. This is why he needs wide open lanes to run through, can never make up. His mind when or where to run unless its obviously wide open. Just my opinion.
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100% spot on

With the "required" qualifier: I like Matrinez, love his heart and competitiveness, great kid- Im not a hater

 
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Right now Taylor is injured so it creates this "controversy" if you want to call it that. As long as Taylor's injured I'm fine with either of the two though Tommy is the future so I lean towards him, he's a true dual-threat QB. When Taylor is 100% healthy the job is his to lose, if Bo and Co. see him lose that job in practice then I'm confident they'll make the right decision. I agree that Taylor has been hesitant so far this year and he needs to stop doing that, make a decision, and go with it right or wrong. Watching Tommy play yesterday and Kellogg showed me they both pass the ball better and Tommy has the moves to make people miss, but I still love Taylor's toughness and determination. I'm not forgetting that..............tough decision though people across the nation have been very critical of Taylor and his throwing motion. When they limit how much Taylor can run through offensive play calling they hurt his play. He's not a throw first QB and never will be, he needs to get back to what he's good at and I realize arguments can be made that he's not as good at that anymore.

 
If it were up to me my depth chart would be the following. Of course it would be subject to change just like anything else.

1. RKIII

2. Tommy Armstrong Jr.

3. Taylor Martinez

In this game at least I thought both QB's looked real good but I didn't like Armstrong's overthrow/near INT and the fact that he fumbled. RKIII looked SOLID and poised. Only 1 incompletion yesterday.

Pelini will start Martinez however vs Illinois if he'll be able to play which I'll just go ahead and assume that he will and my interest in Nebraska's offense will wane once again. Rinse, repeat...

 
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My son and I text a lot during the game and we had this "conversation". I stated to him that with TM in the past it was a 30 yard gain 30% of the time or an 8 yard loss or fumble 70% of the time. We score a lot of points on poor teams but good teams tend to stifle him too easily. Our offense is disrupted when we get 2nd and 18 or 3rd and 24. With TA the offense seemed to flow better (granted it was vs a SDTU D that wasn't Big 10 quality). His fake handoffs were crisp and his passes were accurate and tight. On deep throws he usually put the ball out there so our big receivers could run under it. To his credit Ron K looked good as well.

 
Bucky said:
Why is there so much support for Armstrong? He played against an FCS team, I don't get it.
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Because he looked like a real live college football quarterback. I don't care if you watched him run around and play smear the queer, you can see the difference. I saw him layin out linebackers after he pitched the ball, you'll NEVER see Tmart do that. I don't hate the kid, the difference is just staggering in my eyes.

 
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