HuskerTrucker

Here are my observations after swallowing the results of the game last night: 1. Nebraska should have never accepted a bowl game against an opponent that we have already thrashed for the following reasons: It was a slam against Nebraska to put us up against a team with a 6-6 record, one that we had already beat. What would be the motivation for the players to put a lot of effort forward for this game? I have a suspicion that the Big 12 offices had a lot to do with this choice of bowls for Nebraska. Nebraska should have just said thanks, but no thanks. Nebraska could have been viewed as taking the high road by just not taking a bowl game rather than taking this "slam" by the bowl selection committee. Nebraska fans should have boycotted the game, leaving the stadium empty, and let the selection committee for the Holiday bowl take it in the shorts for the San Diego community financially. This selection was a joke - and I don't blame the players for not being motivated or inspired to play. The University could have saved lots of money on transportation and lodging, because mentally nobody on this team showed up in San Diego. 2. Alex Henery looked like a kid with a hang over. This was probably the worst performance in his Husker career. 3. The offensive line couldn't stop a 3 man rush from a team that is smaller in size. Barney Cotton needs to be replaced. This is a coaching issue with this line. 4. Martinez is not a viable QB. He has NO pocket presence, and can not hold on to the ball. If the play does not call for him to run the ball or hand it off. He only makes this offense one dimensional. Unfortunately, we are probably stuck with this kid, if he was really thinking of transferring, because he has proven that he is not a NCAA level QB, and there is not a decent NCAA Division I team that could be serious about taking him now. 5. Watson needs to be fired, for allowing this to go on as long as it has. Watson has no ability to make changes as the game requires. If his game plan does not work, and the offense does not get good field position, his offensive scheme is void and null. 6. Finally, where was the leadership on this team? It seemed like once Nebraska went down, everyone just quit. The sideline was dead, heads hanging. Those are my immediate observations, like them or not. Bo needs to re-evaluate the coaching staff immediately, and start a search for at least 2 new coaches, replacing at least Cotton and Watson.

This game was just more evidence that Watson AND Cotton need to be replaced. The offensive line couldn't even stop a 3 man rush, that is freakin' sad.

I figured if he would ever take another job at another school, it would be Ohio State. This rumor makes me raise my eyebrows and wonder how committed to Nebraska Bo really is?

It is the media, NCAA, BCS, and bowl committees that I dislike. They are ruining college football with all the politics that they play. Just look at the politics that the media plays with the polls, but that is an old subject. If you are in the midwest, it costs you spots on the polls, because they favor teams on the coasts, and will report on them more, unless they have some really good dirt on a team in the midwest or their coach. They covered Bo's demeanor more than they did what was going on on the field when they covered Nebraska at all. Where was the NCAA's oversight when Nebraska was getting screwed over by Big XII officiating, and Beebe refused to do anything about it? They could have investigated it, and came to the same conclusions that everyone else around the country came to when they looked at the numbers, and who was on the officiating crew when Nebraska was getting hit with the high number of penalties, when the opposing teams were not. How does the BCS give Missouri a higher ranking when we beat them, and won our division over them? How does Boise State get ranked in the top five for so long when they weren't playing anyone of any significance? What the hell was the bowl selection committee thinking having Nebraska playing Washington a 3rd time in a year, after we kicked their butt the way we did the first time? Why should Nebraskans go to San Diego to see them play when they can wait until fall and see them play here? Hope they have a lot of unsold tickets with that game, it would only serve them right. What idiots!

Watson and Cotton need to go. PERIOD. We have made no progress in the play calling, O-line play, or the ability to change up during the game with these guys. Gentlemen we are back to where we were at the beginning of last season. We have regressd.

I wish Watson the best of luck with his interview with Vanderbilt, because I think it is time for a change here at Nebraska. Watson has proven once again that he can not make adjustments to the offense when his game plan is not working. Barney Cotton should maybe be looking elsewhere also, after the offensive line got beat the way they did by Oklahoma. Last year the O-line got better as the season went along - from terrible to mediocre. This season they have gone backwards as the season progressed - from adequate to less than mediocre (and that would be kind). I hope that Bo can make the necessary changes that need to be made, because if we don't, we will remain a mediocre team that is not taken seriously, and will take our lumps in the Big Ten.

Martinez did not do himself well if he is thinking about transferring, because he looked totally clueless, and I believe he showed that he is pretty much one dimensional, and if he is dinged up, he is pretty much worthless as a QB. Martinez, when healthy is a one man offense, but that is about it, and teams will pick up on that and exploit it. I think the Martinez experiment is pretty much about over.

IF his wheels aren't 100%, Martinez will be of little use to the Huskers tonight. IF the allegations of his breaking team rules, and his father rushing into confront Bo, he should either get his dad on a leash and take the punishment set forth, or he shouldn't be part of the Huskers - no matter how good anyone thinks he is. I hope all the rumors are not true, because I have serious questions about his maturity if they are. We need a QB that is a leader, not a smart a$$ who thinks he should get special considerations that the rest of the team doesn't get. I trust Bo will do what is right, no matter what the truth may be.

Whether or not this report specifically is true, with what some people have gotten of his attitude (could be a wrong impression - I couldn't say), I would say it will be for the better. You can keep him on and it is a situation that will just blow up in our face one day. Coaches want to be really careful about a decision like this, as Dirk Chatelain alluded in his article recently. It could cost a lot, intangibly, as well as risk a lot in the future. If it's a problem that isn't going to go away, sometimes it is just best for everyone to part ways. Now that's a real judgment call and I don't envy anyone in the position of making that decision. Quarterbacks and coaches have a way of being inextricably tied, IMO. Look at the absurd situation in Tennessee right now, or what happened to Kiffin with Russell. Of course, I don't think there's any reason to suspect Tom will whack Bo for losing patience with Taylor, so they are different, but they are situations nonetheless. Childress tied his ship to Favre and sunk. But he looked like a genius for it last year. Callahan made Keller the man and I think the whole team paid for that, even if Keller won that job. Even not talking about how it will intangibly leave us better off without a blow-up, I would not be extremely worried on the football side of it either. Taylor is electric and growing on the job. But Carnes is much more polished and is no slouch. Turner can be more electric than Taylor. So while there is the setback of a year's worth of patience and development lost, it will hardly be the end of the world. If we go with Carnes, it will be no different than if Zac had started this year and left, and we had to break in a young new starter again. It will look different, but at the same time it could show more promise, albeit in a different way. Granted I am speaking in hypotheticals that are not that related to the specific situation. It's hard to doubt that Taylor wasn't suspended on friday, but similarly hard to just take the email at its word on some of the other stuff. I'm not sure about this. It seems that it was a mutual decision, but it's hard to say. It also seems uncharacteristic of Bo to treat a player who wants to quit the team in this way. Not sure I would call Taylor Bo's horse, especially the way he blew up at him. Some deep seated, long term issues are brewing there it seems. If this is true, Bo should have just kicked him off the team, and been done with it.

Whether or not this report specifically is true, with what some people have gotten of his attitude (could be a wrong impression - I couldn't say), I would say it will be for the better. You can keep him on and it is a situation that will just blow up in our face one day. Coaches want to be really careful about a decision like this, as Dirk Chatelain alluded in his article recently. It could cost a lot, intangibly, as well as risk a lot in the future. If it's a problem that isn't going to go away, sometimes it is just best for everyone to part ways. Now that's a real judgment call and I don't envy anyone in the position of making that decision. Quarterbacks and coaches have a way of being inextricably tied, IMO. Look at the absurd situation in Tennessee right now, or what happened to Kiffin with Russell. Of course, I don't think there's any reason to suspect Tom will whack Bo for losing patience with Taylor, so they are different, but they are situations nonetheless. Childress tied his ship to Favre and sunk. But he looked like a genius for it last year. Callahan made Keller the man and I think the whole team paid for that, even if Keller won that job. Even not talking about how it will intangibly leave us better off without a blow-up, I would not be extremely worried on the football side of it either. Taylor is electric and growing on the job. But Carnes is much more polished and is no slouch. Turner can be more electric than Taylor. So while there is the setback of a year's worth of patience and development lost, it will hardly be the end of the world. If we go with Carnes, it will be no different than if Zac had started this year and left, and we had to break in a young new starter again. It will look different, but at the same time it could show more promise, albeit in a different way. Granted I am speaking in hypotheticals that are not that related to the specific situation. It's hard to doubt that Taylor wasn't suspended on friday, but similarly hard to just take the email at its word on some of the other stuff. I'm not sure about this. It seems that it was a mutual decision, but it's hard to say. It also seems uncharacteristic of Bo to treat a player who wants to quit the team in this way. Not sure I would call Taylor Bo's horse, especially the way he blew up at him. Some deep seated, long term issues are brewing there it seems. If this is true, Bo should have just kicked him off the team, and been done with it.

I damn sure hope that his crew or any part of it isn't part of the conference championship game...IMHO he and his crew need to be suspended for the rest of the season.

I am really disappointed in the offense in this way... I am disappointed that we were led to believe that we had at least 3 quality QB's, when in reality we only have one that is worth his weight in salt, and they almost lost him after Saturdays game. Green so far has been less than mediocre, and I don't know what is going on with Lee, but he is not even close to what he was even last season when he was hurt. If it wasn't for Martinez, this team would be sitting with maybe 3 wins at best. Watson's shine has definitely dulled...because his play calling is boring to be polite (and this comes from someone that was a huge supporter of Watson even after last seasons debacle). I can understand Bo being frustrated, and wanting to take it out on someone. The officials Saturday definitely had it coming, but I don't approve of his Bobby Knight display when he went after Martinez. Bo should know that all Martinez has to do is quit here, and he would have a dozen offers from other schools. What the hell was he thinking?

If the Big 12 had any class, they would review the films and suspend or even fire these officials, because they were definitely biased against Nebraska. It is like the Big 12 officials have taken it upon themselves this season to make sure that Nebraska don't take the Conference Championship with them when we leave.

The Big 12 should be apologizing for the hack job the officials gave us Saturday. No class.

It is still early in the season...I think it will iron itself out in the end. I just don't get how anyone can take Boise State seriously when they have such a weak schedule. And who were the homers that gave Oklahoma 2 first place votes over Nebraska...that is so laughable.

Alex has earned his keep in the past when he needed to. I am sure he gets plenty of work in practice, and probably has to be kept from over kicking in practice. As far as handling the game time pressure, we all know he can do that with no problem.

I for one, would guarentee to buy season tickets for the next ten years, or even buy them up front, if it wasn't for their ridiculous need to squeeze every potential season ticket holder for a "donation". As long as they are doing that, it is cheaper for me to keep on buying the tickets on the street. We, on this board, have had the discussion before when they expanded the last time - it does all come down to them wanting money, not allowing the "common folk" an opportunity to possess their precious season tickets...

...and we didn't get called for blocking in the back on that one? Amazing!

This would be my only complaint about last night: Pelini pulled the starters. I was hoping to see the starters in the game until the clock struck 00:00. Nebraska has their foot on KSU's throat. I wanted to see them crush their windpipe. I really wanted to see Pelini run the score up. I should say that "We have more class than that"....however....When you serve out the crap like they did back then, maybe you deserve to eat a little yourself.

IMHO I wish we would have seen some of these tactics long ago. I never liked the idea that everyone that started "automatically" got a blackshirt for the season when they were handed out. I always believed that you earned it, and had to keep proving that you deserved to keep it. Kudos to Bo and Carl for taking it away if he wasn't deserving. These guys need that motivation, otherwise we have guys running around thinking their crap don't stink like we had under BC, when in reality they didn't deserve toilet paper to wipe their noses so they could smell their own stink.

I have a feeling that teams are going to start putting more than one defensive back shadowing Martinez, and we will be force to start using the pass...but I also have the belief that we have some receivers that are finally up to NCAA Div I levels finally. It is about time. I can understand Niles Paul being frustrated right now, but I have a feeling that his day is coming...maybe sooner than we think. I believe Watson, when he says "We haven't shown anything yet, because we haven't had to". I think the rest of the Big XII has their hands full this year with this Husker team. GBR!

I am glad to see expansion, but what bothers me is that almost half of the "new" seats are in luxury boxes again. Maybe the could have not expanded the luxury boxes, and put in 10,000 seats for the little people instead of the total 5,000 they have planned. Even though I am like #950 on the season ticket list, I know that I will still be buying tickets off the street before the game, because I won't given them their annual donation. Once again, it IS all about money.

...and the scarey part is that Bo says he is still learning the system. He is definitely an animal...

It is really nice to see the O-line start to come on. Last year was so damn frustrating to watch, and it amazes me to see the difference. I really thought Cotton may be out after this year, but I would be the first to say now, that I think his job is definitely safe, and what ever they did between last season and this has worked out well. Good job.

Nothing has changed, Rome is still a talking head, who is more than willing to jump on any band wagon that happens to come by at the time. I don't put much into anything he, or his buddies over at ESPN have to say...after all, they are only going for ratings themselves.