TheSker

Why would he leave Clemson? For an Alabama opening if Texas opens up their wallets even more. This was his suggestion for a new hire. So, why would Dabo leave Clemson for Nebraska? I was making the point that Dabo will not be coming to Nebraska. Period.

Except lead our offense to anywhere near midfield most of the second half.

That's what I'm so worried about. We have about as veteran an offense as we're going to see in college football in this day and age, and if we still have these utterly fundamental issues on offense, who's to blame for that? It can only be coaching. We have skill players. We have the right kinds of bodies on the line. These guys miss assignments, fumble, drop passes, make the wrong reads, and in general bumble around out there like an offense filled with Freshmen. It's one of two things: 1) we've all been looking wrongly at Bell, Enunwa, Turner, Abdullah, Cross, Newby, Martinez, Armstrong and RGIII, & we basically don't have a clue what we're looking at, or 2) these guys really do have quite a lot of skill, but the teaching and game planning are awry. I'm thinking the latter. And that's why something has to change. And if that change is replacing a coach or two, then let's do it. Veteran doesn't necessarily mean talented. I think it's more #1, but not across the board of who you listed. A quarterback might be an athlete, but just because someone is athletic does not make them a quarterback. Martinez' turnovers have always been worrisome and yesterday his lack of leadership seemed evident to me. An example I was talking about yesterday with a friend......I was at the Mizzou game in '97 and I was confident Frost could drive us down for that score to tie the game. With Martinez, my thought is often "please don't fumble". Pelini knows he needs to pick it up in recruiting and I think he has done so the past couple of years. We still need to do better with OL, but the DL recruits have more early potential than we've seen in a while.

Yes, primarily recruiting.....which in on Pelini.....and he has made swift changes in recruiting. Recruits make any coach, including Charlie McBride, look very good. And it's why Urban Meyer called out the Big 10 to pick up their recruiting. I think recruiting may be the steepest part of Pelini's learning curve and I think he's doing much better. It's why I would rather continue with what Pelini has going than start over every 5 years.

Mora is an uber genius compared to Bo and Beck. I knew they would come out the second half with adjustments just like last year. What I didn't realize was the total meltdown by both the offense and defense in the second half. I blame the offense more. They were horrible. I would trade Mora for Bo in a heartbeat. Why do we struggle so bad in picking good head coaches? Are we cheap? We need to spend some money and get some proven coaches here. We can succeed with good coaches. Bo is one of the best paid HC in college football. Yes, top 15 ish.

In Pelini's post game presser yesterday, he pointed out specifically it wasn't a one game issue for the offense either. Pelini knows we have offensive issues. Based on Beck's comments, I'd say he's well aware also.

Came close against Southern Miss.

Pelini is calling a spade a spade with the execution comment. Multiple whiffs in the second half when the defender needed to make the tackle. It's no different than on our side of the ball when Kenny Bell made UCLA defenders whiff the few times we were actually moving the ball.

All that really mattered was the 3rd quarter. Martinez was 5/6 for 15 yards passing on our first drive. From there he went 1/6 for the rest of the quarter for 3 yards. He threw 5 straight incompletions over the course of our first 3 drives, and rushed 3 times for -5 yards. His inability to complete a single pass downfield and avoid catastrophic negative yardage plays doomed us. His numbers for the 4th quarter were 4/7 for 56 yards and 1 rush for -6 yards. That was where he hit Abdullah on a short pass that went for 40 yards, we had nothing going downfield all second half. So the final 2nd half tally is 10/19 for 74 yards. 4 rushed for -11 yards. Keep in mind this guy only plays because he was thought at one time to be of of the best running QBs in college football. We don't play him for his passing ability. Now that the running game has bottomed out, there is no to reason to stay married to him as the only QB worth playing when the game is still in doubt. Yet the game will almost always be in doubt with him at QB. Rather ironic, but to say Armstrong would just come in and be a turnover machine is silly. As long as Armstrong was capable of leading us to 3 and outs we'd be breaking even. On a couple of drives in the middle of the 3rd and 4th quarter when we could have made this respectable,TM went 1/6 for 1 yard passing and those were 3 and outs. We had three 3 and outs in the 2nd half, and the two in the 3rd quarter were back breakers. Very very good and insightful post.

And very close to being ran off. Makes it sound like 20 years was the blink of an eye for Osborne, yet 6 is an eternity for Pelini. football was different then. At least that what people say Exactly, and they would be correct. Pelini has a lot more limitations now than TO did up until the formation of the Big 12.

And very close to being ran off. Makes it sound like 20 years was the blink of an eye for Osborne, yet 6 is an eternity for Pelini.

Eventually

Like Beck said though, it might have been the offense that started the avalanche. UCLA played the third quarter on a 50 yard field offensively.

Fify I'm good with this.

Why would he leave Clemson? For an Alabama opening if Texas opens up their wallets even more.

It wasn't because of turnovers, it was because of lack of offensive production. Average starting field position plays a huge role and it's how our offense directly affected our defense. Well the offense is responsible for the points being unanswered, no? I've answered this in detail. Go read the thread. As far as my inclusion in this, I've read the thread and my response is about how the offense directly affected the defense yesterday.

It wasn't because of turnovers, it was because of lack of offensive production. Average starting field position plays a huge role and it's how our offense directly affected our defense.

Scheme-wise or financially?

With much respect, player talent is not the issue. Urban Meyer would disagree. I posted this above, but Urban Meyer called out the entire Big 10 last year on recruiting......and he did it publically.

In regard to our head coaching position, I don't know that answer. Nor do you. And Pelini has actually made changes. Recruiting has significantly improved the past two years. Here's something to consider......Urban Meyer publically called out the entire Big 10 last year. Do you know what he called all the other schools out about? The answer is recruiting.

The question is, how long do the players believe in Pelini and "The Process"? It's gotten them precisely squat, and as the years roll by, the results seem to be getting progressively worse. Nebraska is trending down, and there can be a snowball effect from losses like this. He wants to wait until Bo completely turns in Callahan performances. Now i will give Bo til the end of year to see if he turns it around but at the end of the season we lose big to NW and Mich he has to go. In the big picture, sometimes "The Process" includes bringing in a new head coach. I don't want that, in part because of what it does to the players, but if the circumstances call for it, I am All In. Sometimes keeping a head coach in place pays better dividends than replacing them. Nebraska is a prime example.

Martinez lack of leadership concerns me far more than his physical abilities.

I agree with a lot of this. I also believe Pelini has addressed and continues to address the recruiting issues. A change at the top may be the answer......but it also may not be. It would be a much easier answer if Pelini weren't winning. The college football landscape is definitely different than when Osborne was coaching.....but TO's legacy was cemented by his final five years much more that his first 20 years.

You have no idea who Pelini seeks advice from.

I actually don't think this topic is an elephant in the room. Pelini expressed his disappointment about the offensive production over the past 3 games in the postgame presser.