carlfense
Heisman Trophy Winner
That's the most frustrating part. Sometimes Martinez was absolutely, unbelievably good. Great, maybe.
At other times he'd fumble three times in a single play.
Tommy Armstrong
- Thread starter carlfense
- Start date
At other times he'd fumble three times in a single play.
JTrain
All-Conference
I wish we could get a special, true dual-threat QB. Mariota, Manziel and Winston are all scary good, true dual-threat QBs. Taylor was a lighting-fast running back trying to play QB, and Armstrong looks solid but isn't the freak athlete like the aforementioned guys. When they have it you can tell pretty much right away (e.g. Frazier). Maybe Stanton does, but I don't know how fast he is.
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Saunders
Heisman Trophy Winner
He was a strikeout or homerun kind of guy. At this point, Tommy is a walk/single or pop-out kind of guy.
Landlord
Banned
Winston only has 190 ish rushing yards on the season. Maybe that's partly by design but I don't think he is comparable to the other two.
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I think back and I remember seeing a line that failed to block well against UCLA for an entire half and had struggles moving the ball in some quarters against relatively weak non-conference competition. At that point, the injuries started to crop up so we naturally declined in some areas. I also compare Nebraska to the best lines in the country, and if you're going to put Nebraska anywhere in the "A" range, then I think you'd have to mark Alabama at an A+ (which they weren't) and give Stanford like an A+++. Sure, MSU did well against them, but the overall body of work was very impressive and Stanford has a ton of line talent.
And though the NFL is not the end all be all for determining how talented your college team is, it certainly is a measuring factor. How many of our starters from this year are getting serious NFL consideration? How many will eventually start in the NFL? Compare that to a place like Alabama or Stanford, where quite a few of those players are getting serious looks. It's the same thing I said when comparing our 2009 defense to the 2012 defense. One of those was a great defense and sent several players to the NFL - the other wasn't, and it showed come draft day.
As I defend my position, I realize it's coming off as really criticizing the line. I didn't think they were bad, but I also didn't think they were great. And I think there are plenty of things that separate them from some of the better lines in the country. For that reason, I can't imagine why anyone would give Nebraska's line a grade that high, or as shark did, dub them "excellent." They simply weren't, even without injuries.
I think that's the last I'll say in here about it in order to not derail the thread further.
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JTrain
All-Conference
Fair enough. I still think his feet give DCs fits, which is the important part. In a zone read offense I don't think he'd struggle to rush for a bunch.
I really think Armstrong is going to have to make a huge step forward next season. Though Beck really did have the right game plan in place for him. 14 passes is right were he should be at this point.
side note I got bored and started looking through the Husker quarterback history...
http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/nebraska/passing.html
Touchdown Tommie... was just that. 4/1 td/int ratio... 10/1 as a freshman. and was a sub 50% passer for his career
Joe Ganz... how in the name of god did that kid not see the field sooner. If Becks insists on his 50/50 offense... Joe's stat line is basically what we are going to need to be back with the big boys.
Jerry Tagge threw at the 60% clip in 1971! with 17 td to 4 int. and the 70's were the dead ball era of football.
Gerry Gdowski... who the heck is this guy?!?! 1989... 19/2 td/int. oh and almost rushed for 1000 yards, with 7.9 a carry. i need to watch some film on 1989.
side note I got bored and started looking through the Husker quarterback history...
http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/nebraska/passing.html
Touchdown Tommie... was just that. 4/1 td/int ratio... 10/1 as a freshman. and was a sub 50% passer for his career
Joe Ganz... how in the name of god did that kid not see the field sooner. If Becks insists on his 50/50 offense... Joe's stat line is basically what we are going to need to be back with the big boys.
Jerry Tagge threw at the 60% clip in 1971! with 17 td to 4 int. and the 70's were the dead ball era of football.
Gerry Gdowski... who the heck is this guy?!?! 1989... 19/2 td/int. oh and almost rushed for 1000 yards, with 7.9 a carry. i need to watch some film on 1989.
In the Deed the Glory
All-Conference
One of my all-time faves and VERY underrated in Husker lore. He had an excellent season.
HuskerShark
Banned
Excellent might be a stretch, but they were easily the best line we've had in a long time. I said the same thing last year, and this unit continues to improve. I can't wait to see it continue to improve with all of the really good OL recruits we have pulled in the past couple recruiting classes.
GM_Tood
All-American
hskrfan4life
Heisman Trophy Winner
It will be interesting to see how he develops in the offseason.
StPaulHusker
Banned
Armstrong showed me enough this year to feel confident about him starting next year. If Stanton happens to beat him out for the #1 QB spot then that should tell us just how good he is.
Ulty
All-Conference
husker07
Special Teams Player
Agreed. Not a top-tier o-line, but they were pretty dang good. Probably the best in 10 years. Improved consistency game to game and the cutdown on penalties were especially promising.
