Guy Chamberlin

Also, Joe Dailey wasn't a gamer. He wasn't misused by the coaches. He just wasn't a gamer.

Statistics don't prove much either way. Whatever you think of Martinez or Armstrong, it's pretty obvious that the healthy Armstrong is encouraged to read-option to his heart's content, while the injured Martinez was often held back, and typically went down early in the open field to avoid injury. Between the more aggressive play-calling and visible QB confidence, Nebraska's offense is in a better position now with Tommy Armstrong. I think we can say that without slighting Taylor Martinez, who played his ass off trying to prove his injuries weren't limiting.

Why were the Nebraska, Wisconsin and Georgia QBs grouped together in the first place?

They're the same voters who voted Jameis in last year, when he was merely accused of sexual assault. But character might be more of an issue this year, and we can give the NFL some credit for that.

It's an unfortunate truth that Taylor Martinez's public shyness, often mistaken for Southern California disdain, contributed to the mixed feelings he still engenders.

Gotta admit, it's interesting that the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, who threw for 365 yards and four touchdowns on Saturday, doesn't make the nine player cut.

Gotta be careful because the argument being made here cuts both ways. If accomplishment is nothing without a high-caliber opponent, we'll be hearing that the Big 10 signifies nothing, regardless of Saturday's outcome. If our first five games were cupcakes and padding, what does that say for Ameer Abdullah's Heisman campaign? I'm still determined to wait till the end of the season to make my predictions.

No question TA has a better arm than Jamaal Lord. Jamaal was a helluva athlete, but that 2002 - 2003 Nebraska offense was painful to watch imo. Lord broke the record because he called his own number a lot, and was quick to scramble on pass plays that weren't allowed to develop. His per carry average was never impressive. Our broken plays tended to get more yards than designed plays. Lord put up some numbers, but they weren't in service of a successful offense. I think his place in Nebraska history is about where it should be. But he and Armstrong do carry themselves in a similar way, so I get the comparison.

And a mediocre performance shouldn't disqualify anyone. But man, the volatility of these polls suggest little margin of error. The reigning Heisman trophy winner put up massive numbers in a legitimate conference win and remains off most lists. Missing a game seems to have hurt Gordon. And where the hell did Hundley come from?

I find it interesting how often we choose to dissect the offense and engage in "what ifs" on a team where the defense has been the model of inconsistency, and the reason Taylor Martinez had to be a hero with virtually no margin of error. Truth is, we wouldn't still talk about Tommie Frazier if he had to play with the Nebraska defense 2010 - 2013. I also agree with Count Bility and Carlfense above. We can move on without carving up the past.

Agree, sort of. I guess because Bo Pelini has lost the other biggest games of his era, it makes the next big game feel like a tipping point. Still, I voted bacon.

A couple kickoff returns for TDs would look nice on the resume.

Interesting combination of unsourced evidence and paranoia. A five second search of the actual ESPN website has their Heisman Experts currently voting: 1) Gurley 2) Mariota 3) Cooper 4) Abdullah Gurley and Abdullah were both trending upward. Winston wasn't even listed. Gurely and Mariota significantly ahead of everyone else.

I do hope some folks here will stop confusing optimism with naivete.

Right. Gordon entered the year as the premiere RB candidate for Heisman, and Ameer jumped him. Even with Gordon getting his numbers. Just saying Ameer has everyone's attention now. National media is on board. Didn't see the BTN clip, but they've been churning out Abdullah love on a weekly basis. Randy Gregory gets a lot of attention and respect himself. Nebraska is far from overlooked this year. We just need to pay it all off.

Can you explain your criteria?Easy, apparently a guy that completed 62-63% of his passes is a horrible qb, yet a guy that completes 52-53% is excellent in all areas. For about 3.3 years, a guy that had ball security issues was horrible, but a guy that has similar ball security issues has "avoided turnovers," For 3.3 years, a guy that had defensive coordinators shaking in their boots sucked, but a guy that defensive coordinators ignore is totes choice. I guess that sounding better in interviews really is a big deal. There's a lot wrong with this post, but I am bushed tonight. Big Taylor Martinez fan, myself. Defended him often on this board. Look it up if you want. But I'm really excited about Tommy Armstrong right now. Don't see how those two positions conflict.

From subject to subject, you are the most negative poster on this form. Are you trolling?Just keeping it real, brah. Things aren't all lollipops, rainbows, and unicorns. And a 50% completion ratio isn't Armaggedon. but an average of 50% or less WILL eventually catch up with you! I'll be sure to call you when it does.

Yet the media rarely mention him! They only talk about the top 3. However, I was excited to see that he won the Capital Bowl Impact Play of the Week last week. His picture was right there when you opened espnu's website. National attention is what we need. WE know that Ameer should win the Heisman-it's the rest of the nation that needs to know. A win against MSU would really help seal the deal. Ameer is getting tons of national attention and specific raves from every commentator I've seen the last two years. He was all over the highlight bar on ESPN yesterday -- calling out his "monster day" and the voiceover on most every highlight clip features the word "Heisman." AA's climb up the Heisman ladder has actually been pretty swift. Melvin Gordon must be wondering what he has to do to get that kind of love. I read the San Francisco Chronicle and they had two positive mentions of Ameer Abdullah last week, out of the blue for a player nowhere near the local conference. Ameer has also earned a lot of national fame for his conduct, character and backstory. Ameer Abdullah wasn't especially underappreciated last year when he got college football's attention with big numbers, and he entered the year on early Heisman Trophy lists. He's a bigger story this season. Honestly not sure what media you're watching. Gordon is a product of Wisconsin. Their RBs look good because of volume. Look at Ron Dayne. Heck, even Montee Ball hasn't done a thing in the pros. Even if he is an immensely talented player, most Wiscy RBs get dinged a bit for that. Meanwhile, Ameer has beasted all over Illinois and Miami, singled handedly won us the McNeese game, and has been solid as hell in the other two. I'm calling it now. I'd be willing to bet all the money I have Ameer outrushes Gordon when we go to Camp Randall. As poor as our run defense has lookked at times, it has shown flashes at others. I've seen Wiscy's defense play. They're just straight bad. Just making a different point. The day Ameer rushed for 229 yards on 35 carries and 3 TDs, Melvin Gordon rushed for 253 yards on 13 carries and 5 TDs. The media that day was all about Ameer, and Melvin actually dropped a notch in the Heisman talk.

Pretty much this. Well since that post allows for virtually any possibility, I'd have to agree.

Not to be a broken record, but there were two crucial sequences in the Miami game (one where we started after a turnover on our 5, the other first and goal on the Miami 5) where Beck tried to ram the ball down their throat with three consecutive rushing plays to Abdullah. That strategy failed both times. In that second and third game, Ameer had 107 yards on 35 carries (and 56 yards on one carry). Did Beck then go away from the running game? No, he didn't. But some people conveniently forget that consecutive runs can fail as often as consecutive passes. Near as I can tell, the accusation of "too cute" is mostly the decision to pass instead of run, or perhaps the decision to take a shot deep. I can't remember if it was a direct quote or some reporter's speculation, but it was suggested that Beck fully intended to work on the passing game during the cupcake portion of the schedule because he wasn't all that worried about our ability to run. Armstrong needed in game training for a passing attack we would need -- if not as often -- in conference play.

From subject to subject, you are the most negative poster on this form. Are you trolling?Just keeping it real, brah. Things aren't all lollipops, rainbows, and unicorns. And a 50% completion ratio isn't Armaggedon.

Beck has done well all year minus the mcneese state game. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. The games Beck called against Miami and Illinois were noticeably improved from the previous three games. Specifically he seemed to stick with what was working while also exploiting what the defense was giving us. Previously he would try to out guess the D, force things he thought would be there, and generally get in his own way. IMO the change from the first three games to the last two has been quite remarkable and obvious. Against FAU and Fresno State, pretty much everything Beck called was working. Against Fresno State, the passing game was actually working better than the running game. So when you say Beck needs to stay with what works, that would include everything in the two games where we ran and passed with an exciting array of offensive weapons, scored 55 points, and logged the single highest offensive output in Big 10 history. "Exploiting what the defense gives you" isn't a phrase reserved for rushing the ball. The whole point of the concept is to be reactive and flexible. Everybody, and I mean everyone, loves that we've been able to run over the last two opponents. But a big part of that has been OL adjustments that have helped the running game break out. If we end up passing the ball more in future games, it won't necessarily mean Beck has gone away from what's working. It may simply mean the running game wasn't doing the job by itself. I'm with TonyStalloni here. Mental toughness makes a huuuge difference. Playcalling is a lot easier when everyone is executing.

Nebraska is better this year. Michigan State a little worse. Going "on the road" is not a big killer for this team. Sometimes it seems Memorial Stadium adds more pressure. Much of this same team did not look intimidated by the best defense in the nation last year. A raw Tommy Armstrong, an injured and cobbled offensive line and the same Ameer Abdullah moved the ball with confidence when they weren't being so generous. Let's imagine Nebraska not handing MSU the ball five times in our own territory. The defense is better. Although they really need to be better than better. Schemes aside, they need to get in MSU's head. A win isn't that much to expect. A national coming out party is certainly a possibility. As usual, I won't be putting my money on anything.

Ummmm, yeah. There is this cat that wears #8. We saw the difference when he was out of the game even with #4 at QB. I think that the word I'm looking for to desribe this line of thinking is delusional. Ah....actually it's your line of thinking that's hard to follow, Hunter. What are you saying exactly? That Ameer is the only reason the offense looks better this season? Even though it's Ameer's fourth season?

I'm gonna cull my list down to one thing. This team looks tougher. Offense. Defense. Between plays. Standing on the sidelines. Mental. Physical. They just look tougher.