What did we learn: Iowa edition?

Guy Chamberlin said:
I don't think you understand or appreciate "pocket passing."

It's just a pass play. Quarterback drops back, receivers go out, and the more time they have, chances are they get deeper and/or more open. If a QB can hold his ground one extra second, good things can happen.

If the pocket is collapsing, he can scramble. And because it's a pass play, an athletic QB can take advantage of the big cushion of green that calling a pocket pass created.

That's not "swimming upstream." It's just good football. And it looks like our freshman QB is good at all phases. 

I would have called a few more QB draws myself, but Scott Frost was the highly coveted offensive guru, not me. Or you. 
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i sure wouldn't say he is good in all phases of the passing game......took 2  consecutive sacks when he could have thrown the ball away........he needs to learn when to throw it away or run sooner....think he was sacked 5 times or more?

 
Hunter94 said:
i sure wouldn't say he is good in all phases of the passing game......took 2  consecutive sacks when he could have thrown the ball away........he needs to learn when to throw it away or run sooner....think he was sacked 5 times or more?
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He was sacked 3 times against Iowa.  He probably could have thrown the ball away the first sack you mention above, but the 2nd time the RT was beat so badly that Martinez had nowhere to go.

I am not saying Martinez is perfect, but you sure expect him to be. He led all freshman QB’s in total yards per game.  That’s in the entire country. You want him to be able to handle every situation and every play without making any mistakes. One play you want him to not get nervous in the pocket, and another play you want him to get rid of the ball sooner.

You probably think he had a bad play on the 2-point conversion to tie it at 28 against Iowa.

 
perfect?  no, but he is not there yet........lots of positives for the kid, but back to back sacks, he still needs to work on his vision.......Frost needs to roll him out when he sees that pressure.  put him in a position to succeed.   use those feet to avoid the pressure.

 
Hunter94 said:
perfect?  no, but he is not there yet........lots of positives for the kid, but back to back sacks, he still needs to work on his vision.......Frost needs to roll him out when he sees that pressure.  put him in a position to succeed.   use those feet to avoid the pressure.
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Which is exactly what he did in the 2 point play. The initial read wasn’t there, he felt the pressure, rolled to his right, and put a beautiful pass to only where his guy could catch it.

Rolling out to avoid the pressure isn’t always the best thing to do. That cuts the playing field in half or even in a third, and it takes away some receivers who may be open. Sometimes the best thing to avoid pressure is to step up in the pocket, while still reading the defense, and then running when needed. I think that’s something Martinez does decently, and should get better as he gets more comfortable playing in the college game. 

 
ColoradoHusk said:
He was sacked 3 times against Iowa.  He probably could have thrown the ball away the first sack you mention above, but the 2nd time the RT was beat so badly that Martinez had nowhere to go.

I am not saying Martinez is perfect, but you sure expect him to be. He led all freshman QB’s in total yards per game.  That’s in the entire country. You want him to be able to handle every situation and every play without making any mistakes. One play you want him to not get nervous in the pocket, and another play you want him to get rid of the ball sooner.

You probably think he had a bad play on the 2-point conversion to tie it at 28 against Iowa.
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He couldn’t see the first sack coming. 

Neither sack were his fault. 

 
After the Michigan game, Martinez was sacked more than twice in a game only twice (Illinois and Iowa). That is with an average offensive line and NU’s offense running more plays than the average offense. I don’t get why where Martinez has a “problem” of taking too many sacks. 

 
I think Martinez needs to improve his pocket presence and footwork, too. 

But given how good he is as a freshman, that's hardly a complaint. 

 
Moiraine said:
When people say “defensive front” is it the front 7 or just the linemen?
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Good question. I personally take it as a general statement that the front seven needs to get better with particular emphasis on the linemen and the players they prioritize as pass rushers. I think the line got pushed around far too often this year and, when they did dial up blitzes, they didn't have the dudes to get there consistently.

One guy I'm hopeful and excited for is Caleb Tannor, the true frosh OLB. I don't think he got here until summer/fall camp so he hasn't had the full Duval experience, and yet he was still close to making big plays a few times this year. He finished with 10 tackles and one credited sack. He's a guy they need to see pan out at the OLB position. I'm excited to see what he's capable of after a full off season.

 
Some actual numbers for comparison.  Just a reminder that this is comparing a true freshman who didn't play as a senior to a fourth-year college player who was an NFL draft pick.

Nebraska gave up three more sacks this year than in 2017 but seven more sacks were attributed to poor blocking by the OL.  Removing those, Lee was sacked 12 times in 2017 while Martinez was sacked 8 times this year.

Lee was hit 44 times last year - Martinez was hit 15 times this year

Lee threw the ball away 6 time out of 517 passes last year - Martinez threw the ball away 16 times out of 494 pass plays

Lee scrambled 6 times - Martinez 31 times

So pretty much what I said earlier.  Martinez does have things he can improve upon.  But he was noticeably better than an NFL draft pick from last year so there are a ton of good things to offset a few things that could be better.  And part of Martinez holding onto the ball longer is because he is able to do more with it when he does.  Eight sacks attributed to Martinez compared with 31 times he was able to scramble and make a good play from a bad one.  The yardage gained on those plays wasn't listed but basically a 4:1 ratio seems like a pretty good trade-off to me.

Edit: 31 scrambles for 297 yards, 9.7 ypa

 
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