knapplc

Absolutely incorrect. Mike Rozier was a BOSS. Eric Crouch was good. There is a very distinct talent gap between the two. This is what I'm talking about regarding time - people forget, or gloss over, the reality of the situation. Suddenly Crouch is this paragon that we just wish Martinez was like. Ten years ago about half our fans couldn't wait for Crouch to graduate and get out of the program - that's how much he was disliked. Suddenly, Crouch is so good that he's on par with one of the single greatest players in the history of college football - and this is a guy who's widely regarded as the worst Heisman trophy winner in the past 20 years. The point you're trying to make about Gill, Rozier and Fryar actually goes in favor of what I'm saying. Rozier played on a team of giants. And among those giants, he stood taller than the rest. Put Crouch on that team and he's barely an impact player.

Yes, there is. Burkhead is a good runner of the football. Kenny Bell is fast. Used properly, both can not only be effective, but make important contributions to the team. And Mike Rozier was miles ahead of Crouch running the football. Rozier was better than Crouch by a greater degree than Crouch was better than Martinez. But somehow, both Crouch and Rozier seemed to have pretty successful careers. It's funny that Crouch is used as a benchmark for Martinez. Crouch was Martinez when Martinez was still in third grade. Crouch was a superlative talent with public relations problems. He had awkward relations with his teammates, he had a weak passing game, but with the ball in his hand he could score from any point in the field. The fans bitched about Crouch every week. He was a ball hog, he was a prima donna, he would NEVER pitch the ball, it was all about Crouch, me, me, me, me, me.... that's all you ever heard. Fast-forward ten years and we're wishing Martinez was more like Crouch. Time really does heal all wounds.

Confirmation information:

If ever there was a game to "release the hounds," it's this one against an immobile Cousins. I'd love to see it, but I'm not holding my breath.

I wish there was a storybook ending like that for every great Husker fan's last game.

That is good to hear. He is a weapon that needs to see the field.

It does fit Martinez to a "T" with the main difference being experience. Martinez has all of last year to draw on, and there were a TON of teaching moments for him last year. When you have a Martinez and a Carnes, you don't simply bench Martinez to give Carnes reps hoping that he'll eventually get to where Martinez is. It's unfortunate for any player to come in and be a year behind a good player at his position. He has to be patient, and willing to be that team guy who bides his time and helps the team while he's doing it. A great example of that is Rex, biding his time behind Helu. You can't take Helu off the field and just give Rex all the snaps, but Rex needs to get his touches, too. It just requires patience being that #2 guy.

In limited action Rome seems to be a good addition to the defensive line. With all respect to Crick, his injury may be addition by subtraction. I believe there was something not altogether right about Crick this season, even before the ear-holing he got against Washington. Rome's personal foul was good fire - although he (rightly) got a butt-chewing for it. But just like Osborne, Smith, Washington, Green, May, Fisher, Compton, Whaley, Ankrah, Martin, etc, it rests on Bo and his staff to properly develop Rome. He may have all the raw talent in the world, but if they're not capable - or not willing - to bring that out of him then he'll never amount to much more than he is today - a guy with talent. Everyone I listed in the first sentence of this paragraph has talent. It's up to Bo & Co. to draw that talent out of them. So far this season.......

But that whole "I'm going to kill you for stepping on the field" attitude isn't Bo's defensive philosophy. We are never going to see those Charlie McBride attacking defenses that we all know as the Blackshirts under Bo, unless he gets another superlative phenom like Ndamukong Suh, whose sheer abilities cannot help but be that way. Bo's philosophy is bend-but-don't break. He wants to force the opponent to grind out long drives, to make their own play beat them. Bo's defenses don't dictate to their opponent, they're a read-and-react style of defense. That's what makes it so much harder to figure out what the benchmark is - they're always going to give up yards, and they're always going to give up points to high-powered offenses. It's just part of the style Bo runs. So if he's waiting for them to shut a team down.... he needs to switch what they do.

Right there with you. It's a dog-and-pony show. Give me a football game without the claptrap of ESPN and I'm happy.

I know the Marlowe catch in the third was a superhero-type grab, but what others were tough catches?

What kind of prizes are you giving out, Landlord? I could grow a fierce beard in a week. I just hate having a beard. Too itchy.

Holding the Blackshirts out is BS. The fact that this team doesn't have their Blackshirts is as much the fault of the coaches as anyone else. You cannot tell me that it's possible that Bo recruited these players, has trained these players in his system for two/three/four years, and they are flat not good enough: P.J. Smith – four years in the system, not even starting Ciante Evans - two years in the system, started as a Freshman Courtney Osborne - four years in the system, not even starting Austin Cassidy – four years in the system, making many errors Andrew Green – third year in the system, responsible for about half of all TDs caught against NU Lance Thorell – four years in the system, making many errors This is just a quick run-through of the secondary. Go through the D Line, go through the linebackers, it's the same thing. Bo has been here too long for the former regime to be at fault. These are his guys, his schemes, his coaches. You cannot blame this on Raymond, you cannot blame this on Els. If they are at fault, Bo is at fault more for bringing them in. If Bo is holding these guys to some benchmark that they have not earned, then he has not given them the tools to earn it, and withholding the Blackshirts is a completely BS motivational tool. It all rests on Bo. If the players aren't good enough, then he failed somewhere, not them.

At halftime Martinez' QB Rating was 212. At the end of the game it was 135. There's blame to go around, though - he got wild on several passes, and several passes he threw were flat dropped.

We were warned by our Big Ten guests before the season started that the refs we bad in the Big Ten. I've seen some very good in-game calls (the option fumble for first down was a weird call, but called correctly the first time) and then some really bad calls, like this Minnesota reception you're talking about, Enhance, and the holding call against Enunwa in the second half which gave us First and Two. How some of those calls were made by refs who clearly know the rules is one of those questions we'll likely never get good answers to.

Last year we had Paul (when he can catch), Kinnie, McNeil, Helu, Burkhead, Enuhwa (sp?), Cooper, Burkhead, Cotton and yet Reed was utilized well and was a huge playmaker in our offense and he hasn't been utilized as he should have all year. He's been used in some games but not in all 7 games. Which leads to the second part of my post as a possible explanation. See the part about blocking.

Couple of things. There's only one ball to go around. You've got Martinez, four very capable RBs, Cotton, Enunwa, Bell, Turner, Kinnie and Khiry Cooper who can all also catch the ball. Heck, Rex can catch the ball, and I presume from film that the freshmen can, too. That's a big factor in Reed's diminished role, I'm guessing. The other thing, and I hate to say this because I love the heck out of the guy, but he has been very bad on blocks this year. Maybe I'm only catching mistakes and this is unfair, but SO MANY times I've seen him whiff on a block, only to have his guy blow up the play. If you're going to be part of this offense, being a pass-catcher also means you MUST be a good blocker.

Last year, it's entirely possible that he didn't know enough of the offense to effectively signal in plays. He had only played QB in that system since mid-Fall Camp. I doubt that's the reason, though - likely it's what Hercules said, that this is what Beck wants Martinez to do, and Watson didn't require it of him. He was very much cracking up out there, though, and it was quite clear that he was the decoy. If he gets injured again and Carnes has to go out there, Martinez will absolutely need to look the part, not look obviously like he's messing around.

I think what we're seeing is the fact that there are Mobile Quarterbacks and there are mobile quarterbacks. MarQueis Gray is a mobile quarterback. Dennard Robinson, Braxton Miller, Keith Price and Persa (when he's not gimped up) are Mobile Quarterbacks.

It's too bad we blottzed on those field goal drives. We gotta punch those in against a weak opponent like this.

This for the win. The starters need another series in the second half. Grind out a TD, then time to step back, watch and learn, and let the backups get their reps.

Let it be by the code,