Ric Flair

I think Florida State is the best team in the country, but Alabama is the defending champion until someone beats them. So I'm hoping we get to see them play in the National Championship game. That will be a hell of a matchup. The SEC bias is overblown. Their conference champion has beaten the best the rest of the country had to offer seven years in a row. They have four teams that have won a national title since any team from any other conference has won one. So the argument that the conference is overrated rings hollow until someone else starts showing they can beat the best the SEC has to offer.

i think casey has developed a reputation of being overbearing and too involved, perhaps? that is just my guess. i really have no idea. I suspect Damon also may have some inside info that he can't discuss. There have been rumors floating around for years about Casey micromanaging things and being too involved.

Kinda. You seem to think Taylor was a poor qb in hindsight, when I think he is the Diamond we needed. You put him under an O-line like we had in the 90's and a D like 09, I honest to god think healthy freshman Taylor wins a NC and even a Heisman. But the kid was never given the opportunity to succeed like Frazier or Crouch or Tagge. I don't think any three of those qb's could have won any more of those games than Martinez did during his tenure here as none of them except Tagge could throw any better. And Martinez is just as electric as Frazier or Crouch with his feet in the read option game. I disagree. I think you put a guy like Tommie Frazier on that offense and in that locker room and you see a completely different looking team. People consistently underestimate the value of leadership and desire. Tommie would have made the team tougher, both physically and mentally and provided the crucial leadership that this team has so often lacked in key moments.

How about both.

I'm listening to 1620 and that's the topic of conversation. it strikes me as a really good question. Thoughts?

I agree with Mitch's assessment. The amount of butthurt some seem to have when even mild criticism of Martinez is aired is getting pretty tiresome. He put up some great numbers. He made some amazing plays. I don't know him personally, but he seems like a decent kid. I have no doubt he did his best and played through pain and injuries. But he was wildly inconsistent. He made some terrible decisions. He seemed to have a low football I.Q. He never seemed to be a real leader of the team. He never led the team to a legitimately big win or a conference championship. He was a mixed bag as a quarterback. That's why he's so controversial. And that's what Sherman's assessment reflected.

You're also on the outside in, and frankly don't have a clue. I don't mean that with hostility; none of us has a clue. It might be odd, but so what? Odd relationships with parents are not actually that odd because most people seem to have them. It's not fair or respectful to speculate about people's internal motivations, intentions and hearts based on a very small sampling of external factors. The one thing I think it is fair to say, though, and is quite obvious, is that Casey Martinez loves and supports his son dearly, which is something to celebrate in our time and culture where neither of those things exist as much as they should. You could use that "on the outside looking in" argument with 99% of the topics posted here. We're outsiders posting on a message board based on the limited information we're able to glean as fans of the program. But that doesn't stop us from expressing our opinions. No doubt Casey loves his kids. And that's a good thing, no question. But if as a result of loving your kids, you coddle, pamper, spoil and overprotect them from life, then you're not allowing them to grow as people and doing them a real disservice. That's becoming a very common and unfortunate social trend. And I see some real signs of it in the relationship between Taylor and his dad.

Well, that's one extreme way of taking this ... Link to this column? I've never heard of a person taking their parents to a job interview, let alone 15 percent. This study puts it at 8 percent. But I've seen others that have it higher. http://www.adeccousa.com/articles/Adecco-Graduation-Survey-2012.html?id=200&url=/pressroom/pressreleases/pages/forms/allitems.aspx&templateurl=/AboutUs/pressroom/Pages/Press-release.aspx And I've thought the relationship between Casey and Taylor was odd for some time. Didn't Taylor get into trouble with Bo for talking to Casey on his cell phone in the locker room during a game? I've always had the impression that Casey was a over-involved "stage mom" and that Taylor was unable to grow as a man and a leader as a result.

I think the way Taylor has been babied and protected and coddled by both his father and Bo Pelini has been very odd. It was strange enough when he was a 18 year old freshman. It's even stranger now that he's 22 year old man. It reminds me a little of a column I read recently that indicated that around 15% of college graduates take their parents with them to their first job interview. That just blew my mind. But in this age of coddling and infantilizing and helicopter parenting kids, I guess that's to be expected. The problem with never letting your kids grow up and take responsibility for themselves is that they never grow up and take responsibility for themselves. And that's ultimately unfair to the kids of those parents.

Good post. I respect Taylor's contributions, but think Tommy is the better QB. Let's give Taylor a big send-off on Senior Day and thank him for his time here.

It would be disappointing to wind up in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, but a nice blast from the past to play Oklahoma again. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20131111/college-football-bowl-projections/?eref=sihp

Aren't those teams both pretty mediocre and ravaged with injuries?

I'd like to find a "Michigan Man" and kick him in the vagina to celebrate.

I predict Gregory pulls an Incognito and craps in Gardner's mouth on this drive.

The way our defense is playing today, we may actually win this thing.

Love watching the option.

GO KENNY!

Good stop by the D. Time for the offense to step up. Just to make sure we don't ever develop any rhythm, let's bring in Kellogg.

Whoa...their receivers can actually catch? WTF.

He's hurting too. NO one is healthy. Is that just really really bad luck? Or is S&C an issue there?

Those ROTC kids look like they're 12 years old. I feel old.

Say what you want about this coaching staff, but they sure know how to use halftime to fail to make any adjustments and to kill any momentum we ever have.

I'm not a fan of playing Kellogg and think the hype of him as "the throwing QB" is way overplayed. Let Armstrong play and get into a rhythm.

Dumbest...drive...ever.

Tired of the QB rotation...