Saint Boseph

The OWH has really been favorable to Bo as of late. never thought I'd see the day

TECHNICALLY Rozier was a Number 1 draft pick that same year - USFL I thought it was the supperlemental draft. Which getting picked 1st in the SD is nothing to sneeze at, but isn't something that registers on the same level as the NFL draft.

As I stated in my comment above, I've never seen a runningback more talented and as fun to watch as LP. Not Adrian Peterson, not Barry Sanders, not Ahman Green. Since him and Allen Iverson are my two all-time favorite athletes I always have to add the standard "only on the field/court" disclaimer. I absolutely think LP should be on that list. Why it's so difficult for some to separate LP the player and LP the person is beyond me. But I've gotten enough admonishments whenever I've said that LP is one of the all-time Husker greats that I've learned to just keep my mouth shut about it. It's refreshing to hear that others feel the same way I do. LP was great, one of the best ever. I just think all of the off the field stuff should hurt his ranking. Plus career statistics push Green above all other RB except Rozier. ********Interesting side note could we be talking about Ameer on a list like this next year at this time? All time rushing leaders: 1. Mike Rozier, IB (1981-83) 4,780 yds 2. Ahman Green, IB (1995-97) 3,880 yds 3. Eric Crouch, QB (1998-01) 3,434 yds 4. Roy Helu Jr., IB (2007-10) 3,404 yds 5. Rex Burkhead, IB (2009-12) 3,329 yds Ameer Abdullah IB (2011-14) 2,977 yds 1500 yds puts him solidly in second and 1804 sets the record. That would be impressive in the least. Abdullah gives LP a serious run for his money In the "fun to watch" department.

The one on Courtney Osborne was the nail in the coffin. We could have withstood the other 15 penalties and still won the game had that joke of a call not happened. It Extended their drive and led to the game winning points.

^this. He thinks very highly of Bo, Maybe others can enlighten me as to other instances outside of that best team of all-time voting segment where he displayed an unreasonable amount of vitriol towards NU, Making fun of Herbie's fit on that segment is entertaining but I'm surprised that there are husker fans who have a legitimate beef with him. Save it for Mark May

As I stated in my comment above, I've never seen a runningback more talented and as fun to watch as LP. Not Adrian Peterson, not Barry Sanders, not Ahman Green. Since him and Allen Iverson are my two all-time favorite athletes I always have to add the standard "only on the field/court" disclaimer. I absolutely think LP should be on that list. Why it's so difficult for some to separate LP the player and LP the person is beyond me. But I've gotten enough admonishments whenever I've said that LP is one of the all-time Husker greats that I've learned to just keep my mouth shut about it. It's refreshing to hear that others feel the same way I do.

I wasn't saying that is when Bo all of a sudden started getting heated on sidelines, I remember 2003. I was referring to the ESPN's Bo sideshow, as in that's when ESPN started dedicating an entire separate "Bo Cam" on him at all times during our subsequent games. It's so irritating whenever a penalty gets called against us and the reflex speed in which they cut to the split screen of the official and Bo, waiting for a reaction.

And the birth of the Bo sideshow at that game probably didn't help our perception with those voters either.

+1. I think the end of the relative goodwill and benefit of the doubt from the AP voters disappeared after the 2010 A&M game. We took a #8 ranking into that game, after losing earlier in the season to a dumpster fire of a Texas team when we were ranked 5th. We were supposed to stomp that horrendous Texas team to the ground. recovered pretty well from that in the rankings, probably because convincing wins over way-too-generously ranked Mizzou and OSU squads soothed things over after UT, but A&M sealed it. Fool me once...

I realized I didn't need that part since you ignored the latter part of my post, which was not opinion. It is useful as a reminder to not get so excited and overly verbose. I stand by my main point, which is fact: Including HS, Tommy had more snaps playing QB under his belt than Taylor did as a redshirt freshman. Don't underestimate his four years of HS QB experience to Taylor's one.This is a bet for sure, but one I'm confident in making. He'll have a more advanced QB acumen by the time he leaves than Taylor did. We watched Taylor learn the position in real-time, my bet is that we won't have to do so with Tommy anywhere close to as long as we did Taylor. You're not disproving my point, the Heisman is a popularity contest heavily weighted towards whoever produces sexier highlight reels. I highly doubt Tommy will ever sniff Heisman consideration or come close to matching Taylor's stats, we don't need him to. Our team strategy is designed for strong defense and ball-control run game. All he has to do is become better at limiting mistakes and calculating risk, and in that department he is further along than Taylor was at that time. And I'm betting he will learn it quicker and do a better job at it than Taylor did. I know he hasn't proven it yet, but the more nuanced observations of his decision making (ex. his habit of overthrowing receivers, knowing when to take a sack) make me bullish on his development.

That is interesting, I would have used those words to describe Taylor over Tommy. I can't recall ever seeing Tommy appear nervous or indecisive, quite the opposite, he always was calm and decisive. A big reason I'm so high on Tommy's upside is that the interceptions he threw appeared to be the result of incorrect reads not nerves/indecisiveness or bonehead decisions once the play broke down.The former is much more fixable than the latter. He threw most of his picks with little pressure in his face and within the first few seconds of the play. Incorrect reads are to be expected from a freshman quarterback in his first few starts. Taylor's improvement in that area and command of the offense showed around 2012 and cut down on his nerves much more (2012 MSU was a near flawless performance), but he still had occasional lapses of nerves/indecisiveness once the play and/or pocket broke down (portions of OSU, CCG Wisco and Georgia come to mind). And before you jump on me, I realize that he had pressure in his face constantly. Sirles and Qvale would get beat on the first two steps by any pass rusher worth a lick. The reason in my mind why Tommy is more advanced than Taylor was at the same point of his career is that Tommy has a much easier learning curve than Taylor did. It's the most noticeable when you look at what each did when the play broke down, it came down to instincts. All Taylor ever knew was that he had to make a play, sometimes it resulted in ridiculous highlight reel runs, but more often it ended in a turnover or a extra yards lost on a sack that otherwise wouldn't have happened had he ate the ball when he knew he was cornered. He's been accurately described as high-risk/high-reward style of player, but more often than not, we ate the risk and not the reward. I've heard complaints about tommy's propensity to float the ball well over the receiver's head but that is smart football, it negates the opportunity for a pick. "Live to fight another down" is something that Taylor never mastered, but it's not all his fault, he was playing against a stacked deck. He had no help from the defense, shoddy pass protection, and above all he only started playing QB his senior year of HS and never played in the same offense for consecutive years until 2012. That would explain why Tommy appears to be a more natural QB with better instincts and feel for the position, having had more experience playing QB Taylor did at that point. It's not bashing Taylor, it's just reality.

That's a tough one between those two, but I agree. Still boggles my mind that at a school like Nebraska, our only Number 1 draft pick in the modern era NFL is a Wide Receiver, who played in the middle of the option era no less. Up until 2011 I had pretty much resigned myself to the thought that we were cursed for eternity and we would never attract elite receivers, especially after Niles Paul never really lived up to his 40 something ranking in the Rivals 100. Maurice Purify was elite and one of the most fun offensive players to watch that I've ever seen strap on a husker helmet, but he seems somewhat forgotten by Husker nation since most people have decided to bury memories from those times. Needless to say I have been like a kid at a candy store watching the recent WR talent we've acquired the past few years (Kenny Bell & Quincy onward). I'm especially high on Demornay Pierson-El and Monte Harrison, I think they'll end up as two of the greats by the time they leave.

Does anyone know how Bob Brown was when he was at NU? I don't know hear much about him beyond that he was a successful enough pro to get a bust in Canton. Was he a late bloomer?

I maintain that he is the best runningback on any level of football that I have ever witnessed (strictly speaking in terms of on the field)

he holds the NCAA record for career YPC I believe. Add a heisman and a 2500 yard season, I think you could make a case for him as number 1. Here's a question - why, when we're talking about quarterbacks, are championships a humongous part of the equation as far as their greatness, but when we are talking about defensive tackles, for example, it doesn't seem to really matter? It isn't entirely fair, but it's just the way it is. QB's impact the game more than any other individual position on either side of the ball

Ok It looks like I'm fighting a losing battle so all I'll say is this: Tommy has a nice winning percentage for this early in his career and that makes me higher on TA than most people. To each his own. That is all

This is a very valid counter argument. Maybe I'm just being a negative nancy, but whenever someone mentions Taylor's records, it feels empty since there isn't much to show for it in terms of team accomplishments. In terms of individual accomplishments no one in their right mind would argue against Taylor. I'm speaking from a broader perspective.

As a side note I just have to take issue with two things you said. Tommy had only one turnover against Georgia, it was in the third quarter, while we were ahead, and they did not score any points off of it, so I would disagree that he almost cost us the game. And if you'll recall on the 4th & 2 on the game winning drive at Michigan, it was TA who made the audible to the play that netted Kenny Bell 26 yards.

I did acknowledge that TA had mediocre statistics and never said he was a finished product. Just keep in mind we all have different criteria for success. In my book, even if TA were to never play another snap, he has already had a more succesful career than TM for one simple reason: He has more postseason wins. Different criteria, You put more weight on stats and broken records, I put more weight on postseason wins. Neither of us is wrong or right, it's a subjective topic.

I'm very surprised at the amount at which people lack confidence in Armstrong. I'm very excited that he's likely to start at QB and that is largely for one reason that I don't think gets enough mention: The dude is 7-1 as a starter. Granted he contributed most to that one loss, but given how mediocre his stats were over the season, that is still an impressive stat. Until that winning percentage becomes significantly worse, I say keep on keepin on. I can't tell you how much more relieved I felt during those 8 games than TM's years as a starter. I was nervous and clenched my butt before every snap Taylor took and it was like a huge weight off my mind to watch TA's calmer way of operating. Not saying TA was flawless, but I think everyone can agree that a QB with more wins and lesser stats is more desirable than a record-breaking QB with no postseason wins to show for it.

I'll eat crow on this one. I saw a bit of the kid's HS film and was shocked to see the kid even get an offer to walk on, thinking he was not suited for anything beyond Doane and Concordia level competition. He was twig-thin and did moderately well against weak competition. Credit to him, he looked 10x better in the spring game. I would not be worried if TA went down and this kid went in. He looks like a serviceable game manager that would not play outside his strengths.

Exactly. We see similar stories like this every year. Guys need to step, leaders need to emerge, people need to be 'all in', etc. To me this is just more off-season fodder talk for the fans to get excited about. +1. There is virtually nothing meaningful, good or bad, that can be gleaned from the quotes in the article. They either get it done on the field in the fall or they don't. Just sit back and take the article for what it is, something to read and satiate our thirst for Nebraska football in the offseason

Apologies, I hope it didn't come off as me ridiculing the Georgia board because I think we are the undeniably more prestigious job. Quite the opposite, I think claiming UGA over NU or vice versa is not as cut-and-dry as claiming Texas is better than Nebraska (which no one would deny). Both sides have merit to their arguments. I was just surprised at the levels of intensity and conviction that Georgia posters were saying there is no way NU could be considered a better job. I think in the group of teams listed after Michigan there is very little separation and it becomes more difficult to say one is better than the other.

That was my fault for not specifying and using "unique obstacles" so broadly. Media pressure wasn't what I was referring to, that's consistent all over the place. I was mostly referring to our geography/recruiting disadvantage & the fact that we have to recruit on a nation-wide level as much as, if not more than, any other major program in the country. It requires a significantly greater amount of time, energy, charm, and effort to convince a star recruit to travel hundreds of miles to play for NU than for a coach in a hotbed like Bama, UF, UGA, or UT would. Nick Saban can visit a blue-chip prospect and be back in his office the same day while Bo has to spend days at a time away from the team flying to New Jersey & Florida to reach a similar-caliber recruit. That extra time Saban gets to devote to other team-tasks is a luxury that Bo does not have. For a while Bo had to fly commercial on recruiting trips up until about a couple years ago, when the athletic department could finally afford to give Bo access to a private plane solely for recruiting. Recruiting via private plane is exponentially more efficient and time-saving, and the top programs have had private planes for their coaches for a while now. It was unsettling when I found out that piece of info, unaware that we were lagging so far behind most other power programs for this long in that regard.