Hayseed

I prefer the 11:00 games against bottom half teams.....night games against teams like that seem like overkill. If I'm the networks I'm featuring rivalries between not-so-great teams over inconsequential games between strangers. I listen to Sirius sports talk and none of the guys on there ,who are supposed to know, think much of the BIG this year....I'm sure that factors into the decision-making process when it comes to playing also-rans vs. heated rivalries.

I think he'll play but the question is will he run the ball control gameplan Beck has used when RKIII is in the game or will he go back to the Cosby plays for Martinez? I like the "catch the Jefferson Street bus and have them open the doors at 3rd Street" play as much as anybody ,but I'm okay with handing the ball to Ameer most of the time combined with intermediate passes as well. For that matter, if Armstrong is in the game will Enunwa be the Coke bottle top or the piece of glass, or will Tommy run that option style that he does so well?

It's way too early to have the inside track. The UCLA loss doesn't count in the conference standings, does it? We have that, I guess. At this point we could go either way....win them all or lose them all.

It's hard to tell these days how good a team really is. FSU looks like a world beater today, they could stink it up next week. From what I saw them do tonight I'm thinking maybe Bo should change his name to Jimbo. I think Minnesota showed they're not a pushover like many people thought they'd be and wins over Minn and NW would be more impressive to rankers than anyone we've beaten so far. FSU, Auburn, Stanford, Missouri and Baylor are big winners this week and we take a hit if UCLA gets beat two weeks in a row....I believe their next game is Oregon.

I was just thinking how I miss watching Joe Ganz at QB.....not the most talented we've had but certainly a gamer and an exciting player to watch. Jammal Lord is another guy who was fun to watch.....had eyes in the back of his head, could scramble with the best of them and was pretty good at flinging long bombs.

They looked great....the d-line was in their backfield pressuring and sacking the whole game, the lb's were flying all over the place, well-timed blitzes, interceptions......couldn't ask for more.

Well yeah, will this great performance carry over against a mobile qb or will it be more of the 500 yard games.....in your opinion? Oh yeah, I suppose I should reiterate that they played great today but I still have no idea if what they did will have any effect against an Ohio State team with a mobile qb and accurate passer. I'd like to think we're making great strides, but who knows?

Yeah, RKIII floated one out there sidearm that was a poor choice, but he made up for it many times over.

We did what we usually do against a slow stationary quarterback. Every aspect of the defense looked better today. What does it mean when we play against a Braxton Miller? I got nothing.

What does the fullback do? And is there some reason Imani Cross can't do that so we can have two good runners on the field....just for laughs?

Seeing the replay it was like SJB was doing a demonstration for the rule. What he should've done was tackle in a way that didn't involve a head butt and then not act cocky afterwards. It would've been a really boneheaded move in a close game against a top team....kind of like getting a 15 for pushing the qb after the pass is gone. If you don't like the rule then take it up with the NCAA and be sure to mention all the other ones I don't like, but don't lose the game over it.

We've been noticing a similar decision-making ability running the option for a while. Maybe TA needs to stop the long bombs and start throwing bullet passes like Tommie?

No, not when you get pummeled by UCLA and give up 10,000 yards in a half....if we beat Northwestern then we'll get the ranking we deserve. Your analysis only shows that Okie Lite is over-rated. I think Nebraska is one of those teams that gets as much respect as any and we don't need to whine, just prove it on the field and let the weekly rankings take care of themselves.

Yeah, completely sucks....tremendously sucks.....I hope it's minor.

I'm not as worried about rust from a four-year starter. As long as he practices the week before the game I think he'll be fine. not even worried about him being out of condition? Martinez is a physical specimen, the last thing I would worry about is him being out of shape. If he can run 4.3 then ,assuming he would try to run, we'd see an explosive offense...at least until we played a good defense that boxed him in and he started running around our backfield like his hair was on fire. Who knows...maybe he'd learn from this and come back composed? Whatever the qb situation, I'm still not sure we have the overall talent to beat the best teams in the conference.

I think it's good that we tried that in a game like this. Obviously he's way overshooting receivers, but what bothers me more is my misjudgment of our receiver's ability to get the ball. You always tend to exaggerate the ability of your own guys but I think I was way off...these guys are nothing special compared to the players on any other top conference team.....certainly no Biletnikoffs out there. I think you're right that we need to run a more ball-controlled and manageable offense that fits what we can do well. Armstrong is capable of throwing over the top but I doubt you want that to be the main plan. Really the same applies no matter the quarterback.

Not me. We already know what he'll do against good competition. Win more than any QB we've had since Crouch? Against who?

All the "bench Martinez" threads after every loss over the last three years have trained you well. True, that's how it always is. I feel like I've been very patient with Martinez; recommending off-season pass coaching, de-emphasis on his need to make decisions under pressure. I don't put players on a pedestal in the first place and I actually expect them to struggle at times, but when it becomes a predictable pattern then it's time to try something else. I'll give Armstrong and Kellogg the same benefit of the doubt. Kellogg ,by the way, played an outstanding game today....but you won't hear that from the 'Martinez has a beautiful suit' crowd.

I learned that Purdue is the worst offense we've played. With the exception of Enunwa our receiver's talents have been greatly exaggerated. None of our qb's are great and Stanton has as good a shot of starting next year as anyone. Newby seems to be getting worse the longer he's here. Our linebackers are pretty good and should get better with experience. Gregory is a monster and always seems to be in on the big plays. Abdullah must be a cross-country runner because he doesn't appear to ever tire. Frazier looks like a potentially great back. Long is a great o-lineman and it sucks that he got injured in a scrimmage like this. Even at our best we may not be better than Northwestern, Ohio State, Wisconsin , or Michigan State.

Not me. We already know what he'll do against good competition. I'm not happy about Armstrong's lousy passing this game but I still think he's better under pressure and makes better reads. I was expecting a knee-jerk reaction at the first sign of trouble. Kellogg played an outstanding game today.

I'd like to see Kenny Bell catch a pass on a short slant and run it for about 60 yards.

I'm hoping Ameer has another big day....take your pick on defense. A big day for the lb's, especially in the middle of the field ,would be tremendous.

Maybe if we alter our S&C program... We went from WAY ahead to probably behind everyone else that is of consequence. Further, people keep harping on Pelini and his scheme. This scheme is not the same as it was in 2009 or 2010. They have made adjustments to fit the players that they have. They obviously aren't running a full playbook playing 12 freshman/sophomores in the 2 deep. Still think they make a pretty significant jump here pretty soon, and then next season will be MUCH better defensively. It's really unfortunate about our S&C program. Our admin has been proactive about it from the sound of it though. What's wrong with our strength and conditioning? Other than an OC who calls all or nothing plays that put our D back on the field with 2 minutes rest, it looks to me like our new guys have pretty good motors and do their best with what they're asked to do. I doubt any S&C program is going to build up a 290 lb DT to the point where he can chase a 200lb dual threat qb all day. I'd be more concerned with positioning and getting players with a nose for the ball.

But we're SUPPOSED to be playing chess. We set up looking like dummies, then when they think they know what they see and they try to exploit it, we're supposed to change coverage or something that gets us the advantage. Then after the game we wouldn't have to hear the opponent say, "it was easy.....we knew exactly what they were doing." Usually the coach figures out their weakness and hides the counter until the second half....then a good coach knows that's coming and counters their counter.....because he's a good coach and thinks ahead like that. Rarely does the strategy involve spending the second half yelling at the refs or telling the qb to run around his own backfield in circles. So the fact that Zenner gained around 5 yards in the second half means nothing????? What does this have to do with that? These are just general things that coaches do or don't do in big games. I guess to answer the Zenner question, we're getting very good against cupcakes....hopefully that will translate to the teams that are our own size.

Yeah, and if the receiver is intentionally decoying you away from the run....there's that....kind of hard to turn around on a dime.