ESPY

Rex is your man.

Good point about the bolded. I meant to include Carnes when I said those "QBs entering the program." He's been playing QB much longer than Martinez (started as a frosh in HS) and may not be as "raw." Time will tell, but methinks he'll have much more polished skills as a QB than Martinez.

I hope you know I was mostly having fun with my sarcasm. I think you're right about the leadership qualities that need to develop. Way too many signs of disconnect from the rest of the team for my liking. Marty is not your typical kid. Maybe he can still win being atypical. Maybe we need to change. I'm not going to predict a starter other than Martinez without some pretty solid proof, though. Of course, I'm the guy who adamantly refused until just about kickoff vs. W. Kentucky to believe that anyone but Lee was going to start, and I had a litany of excuses why he'd be the guy back in August, so maybe I don't know Jack? No worries about the sarcasm. Didn't mean to get defensive on you there. Just wanted to back up why I hope our 2011 starter is NOT Martinez. Honestly it seems like the QBs entering the program have loads of talent + leadership qualities, and that's a dangerous combo, which may not be enough for Martinez to overcome if this QB battle is truly meant to be competitive to the point where the best man wins.

Winning the turnover battle usually gets you the W. It's as simple as that.

I have my reasons. And suffice it say, they go a bit deeper than where he ranks in those categories. Obviously it's tough to compare him to the new faces we'll see next year, but based on some things I've heard, he has A LOT to learn as a QB and as a leader in order to steer this offense in the right direction. To me, that's not promising and not what we need from our starting QB. That's not to say he can't or won't make some big strides in his play at QB because that's definitely possible. But, I get a sour feeling about him that I don't have about any of our other QBs. And what if his teammates have some of those same feelings? Would they stand up for Martinez as their QB? I'm not so sure.

Well the article is sort of titled 'Quick fix backfired on Bo and Tom.' Haven't read it yet, but I would agree with that line a lot. I think Dirk has it in a little about Watson. And maybe somewhat for Bo too, I'm really not sure there. I like Dirk for the most part, however. And he sheds some negative light on TO in this article too. Dirk ain't out to make friends in the great state of Nebraska. That much is fo sho.

First and foremost, there's the fact that LSU has a head coach right now. Agreed. I'd think the Michigan job would be just as likely at this point (yes, even though Bo is tOSU alum) because there actually is a need for a new HC there.

My prediction: Taylor Martinez My hope: NOT Taylor Martinez

Three or four transfers? Yep Cody Green? Taylor Martinez? Who are you thinking?

D-Tray's transfer makes me wonder if there's something going on with the coaches that he really doesn't like and won't stick around for. He was our 3rd string guy this year, which would've put him in great position to get even more PT in 201l, potentially as our #2 behind Rex. I know we have talent coming in that will compete for lots of PT, but you gotta think Tray stood a great chance considering he's been in the system for 2 years now. IMO there's more than meets the eye with this unfortunate transfer.

^ Actually this article is more about TO and Bo than it is about Watson. And I'm glad he questions the philosophical differences among the three. In my mind, that has to be the leading factor in the decision to keep Watson or let him go as NU heads into the B1G.

If Martinez is returning, I'm more convinced then ever that Watson will not only have lesser role as our OC next year, he won't be our OC at all.

IMHO, if he does not land a HC job somewhere, this is the route he'll take. I think he knows he's not wanted anymore as NU's OC, so methinks he'll take about any job...or even take some time off. I mean who wants to deal with another year of the heat he's been taking?

Does anyone else think it's a little fishy Watson is even mentioned for this job? Considering the other HC positions he's pursued so far, this is definitely a step down. IMO this further proves Bo is leaving the door WIDE open for Watson. My guess is that he doesn't want to fire him, but he doesn't want Wats back either. For all our sakes, I hope he gets this job, even if it is small beans compared to other offers. If he doesn't get this or any other job, I have little doubt we'll see him back in the box trying to find an identity for the Husker offense next fall.

Guy is thin as a rail. His #1 priority this offseason has to be putting on mass. He'll get broken in half if he doesn't. Funny. That's how I feel about Martinez' legs in the B1G next season, especially considering the way he runs.

+1 to knapplc for beating me to the punch. to John Barleycorn for ... well....yeah

I'd be happy with 9-3 in our 1st B1G season, especially if that 9-3 gets us to the CCG for the Legends Division. Btw, sweet sig JD-Red. "Husker Jesus" = brilliant! Welcome aboard.

I keep forgetting this, but I'm glad to see Carnes is 6'1". He's only 190-200 lbs right now, but at least he's got some decent height. I had it stuck in my mind he was only 5'10" or 5'11", but I must be thinking about Turner, right? That's almost too small for a QB, especially in the B1G.

Simply based on how our offense finished this season, I'd say there's no way we could beat Stanford. Make no mistake - they would put points on the board even against our beloved Blackshirts, not 40 like they did vs VaTech, but I'd say they would reel off at least 20-25. And against their tough-as-nails D, that would be far too much for our inept offense to overcome. A game vs VaTech, on the other hand, would be much more winnable. As long as our D could contain Tyrod and their running attack, we would force their hand in the passing game, which would play right into our greatest strength. I don't see VaTech doing any better against our current D than they did vs the Suh D of 2009. Based on how VaTech's D struggled so mightily against Stanford's run, I'd like to think we could reel off at least 3 TDs on them...unless of course we played another game like we did in the Holiday Bowl.

Couldn't agree more. One of Tyrod's biggest strengths is his ability to keep his eyes downfield as he's scampering around the pocket and rolling out to create more time for his receivers. And as John Gruden pointed out, Tyrod has the uncanny ability (because he's been well-coached) to set his feet before passing, even when he's on the run. From what I've seen of Brion Carnes, that's an important ability he possesses as well. In response to the bolded - Not true because Tyrod is incredibly nimble, even at the collegiate level, and we can't say that about Brion...yet. TT got sacked several times by Stanford last night because of all the blitzes and VaTech's inability to pick those up. But, Tyrod evaded at least 5 more sacks all on his own, and then turned those missed sacks into positive yardage (eg. his amazing TD pass in the 2nd qtr). And I love hearing what Pelini had to say about Carnes. Those are the kind of traits/qualities I expect from a winning QB. How many times have we heard or read about the success of players who are diligent and detail-oriented? Obviously it's too early to tell what kind of impact Carnes will have on our offense moving forward, but so far so good from my standpoint.

If Watson remains, methinks we lose 4 games in the reg season. If Martinez remains our starter, we lose 4 games. If Green becomes our starter, we lose 4 games. If another frosh leads the way at QB (Carnes, Turner, Starling), we lose 4 games. Obviously there's a theme here. Regardless of who our QB is, we'll have trouble putting points on the board because our O-line is still the same and will struggle as long as Cotton is here. Therefore, I'll add this "If" scenario to cap it off. If Cotton gets canned, we lose 3 games. Basically I'm trying to say if we keep the status quo, we'll lose 4 games. And chances are good we'd lose those games on our own accord too.

One enormous difference between Frank and Bo - TO. Bo has him. Frank didn't.

Hehe. That funny is.

About 2 weeks before the bowl game, I heard Beck had become the QB coach, and he also was much more involved in the game plan and prep. I'd also heard the offense had some great practices with Beck at the helm. Too bad none of that made its way onto the field. If that was an audition of any kind, it was a bad one, especially after seeing that we really had no Plan B once Washington shut down our run. (Then again, how can you plan on your O-line sucking as bad as we did.) Even so, to have virutally no Plan B after a full month of prep is completely inexcusable. Whether that failed part of prep falls on Watson or Beck, I'm not sure. One thing I am sure of is that there is no room for such inconsistency, poor execution/planning, poor motivation, weak blocking and undisciplined play.