Big Red 40

Cody Green has shown more consistency than Martinez, I think Martinez was the most inconsistent player in all of college football he went from Heisman long shot to being benched several times. I think Bo likes Cody a hell of a lot more than Martinez and I think if he can grow the balls to get rid of Watson we will see Green as the starter next year I respectfully disagree. Aside from the SDSU game, Martinez showed great consistency until he was injured. Please give me an instance where Green has been consistent for a time period longer than a single drive; show me some stats. Martinez has had monster games when 100% healthy. People just seem to thrown that fact out of the window. Green on the other had has never lived up the 4 star hype the followed him to Lincoln. I honestly do not believe that Green or Martinez will be the starter at the end of next year, UNLESS we get a QB coach who can actually develop a QB. What do you think about the way Cody Green handled the Colorado game? I am not trying to start a big argument but we all know Oklahoma State's defense is awful and that even I could have thrown for a bunch of touchdowns. I do not think Martinez can be 100% healthy for an entire year and I think the juice is not worth the squeezin as they say on 1620. I think that Colorado game plan /personnell, should be the one used to start next year. Cody and Rex managed that game well.I really wish they would move TM to receiver.As a QB,when his running ability is hindered or just not working he doesnt have a plan B to go to.

I agree.I would add that they need to call plays that suit him when hes in there too. He doesnt have that first two steps=full speed like TM, so Zone read and QB draw stuff doesnt work as well, but roll outs allow him to get to full speed and get positive yds. Hes big and strong enough to run over some DBs too.

I love how the OP gets bashed for stating his opinion as fact. LMAO The majority of the posts on this board are just that. Unless your opinions agree with the norm (Watson should be fired, Gotta have playoffs etc.) they are easily dismissed, dont hold water, are lame, weak, blah blah blah. Some posters on here may have inside contacts, or first hand experience with the program, but most of it is just opinions.Isnt that what boards like this are all about? Sharing opinions, and discussing them with others? Jeez people relax.

I agree.IMO Burkhead should be the go-to guy when you need to make a play in a crucial situation but i think its hard to win against top level teams without the QB being the leader.

I agree with the whole post, especially about Jason. I wish every player on the team had his attitude.

I think that if you let him get settled in, those passes start to hit the targets throughout the game.

I agree with this.

I agree! Im an old guy, and ive been listening to or watching the Huskers for a long time. This season was disappointing, partially because of the way we lost, and the small margin in the losses (Except WU). It was no where close to the worst ever though.

I agree. I thought Cody did a very good job of managing the Colorado game, hes much better at that than Martinez.I also think he would have been successful last night running the same game plan.

Every body on here is saying to do this,do that, stay with whats working etc.. the only problem is NOTHING was working, no matter what plays were called! Tried to run , and offensive line couldnt block anybody, Helu couldnt even get back to the line of scrimmage because there were 3 WU defenders in the backfield.Same thing on passing., no blocking =Taylor scrambling and throwing underhand passes to nobody in particular , or he gets sacked. Doesnt relly matter what plays were called does it?

That is a good point, kind sir. I think we would hear that. Iowa still had the most important player on the field healthy. Sr. QB Ricky Stanzi. They ran for lots of yards on the same team we set season highs.They didnt drop 8 passes,or have 16 penalties, and best of all , they got the game thrown to them by Husker De-commit Blaine Gabbert. Not much to do with who their OC is!

If you don't care about stats that other teams put up, why are you basing your aguments on "top half defenses"? Those are mostly built on stats against other teams. 2 of the 3 we played a majority of the game with a gimpy quarterback that was forced into doing things that he doesn't do well at. In the Texas game the scheme and playcalling certainly wasn't the issue, it was the execution. I would also argue the same in the A&M game, Watson's play had Reed in position for a TD, but an awful throw by Martinez ended up as an interception. Even in the OU game, it was poor decision making by Taylor that cost us the game. I put the A&M and OU losses on the coach that wanted Martinez in the game, and that wasn't our OC. How very Callahan-esque. When the offense looks good (even if it's only against a bottom of the barrel defense) it's due to great coaches and the gameplans they designed. When it doesn't work, it's because of the players: injuries, lack of depth, lack of experience, execution, etc. Even when history dictates that our offensive coordinator has been mediocre at best, and other OCs seem to have better success with the same personnel issues. Talk to almost any coach, winning and losing almost always comes down to who executes better. Yes, sometimes the game plan is just crap and you get hammered, but 90% plus of losses come back to not executing the play the way it was supposed to be ran. See dropped TD passes, blown coverages, QB's that don't throw the ball away resulting in a sack and fumbles. Coaches can not go out of the field and execute for the players, we basically had the same offensive staff in the 80's when we could never win the big one as we did in the 90's when we won 3 titles. What was the difference? Talent and execution, you can't ignore the fact that up until the time that Martinez got hurt, we had a top 10 offense in the country with a freshman QB at the helm. You don't get there by pure luck, you get there by a good coaching staff and execution. When we had a gimpy QB, we lost the ability to execute our offense. The biggest mistake the coaching staff made this year, was not playing Cody Green in the A&M and OU games. Cody can't do what a healthy Martinez can do, but he is a better option than a gimpy Martinez. And the prodigal son is who made that call, not our maligned OC. Best post in here IMO. Agree on all pionts.

16 here

Wisconsin/Tcu , Oklahoma/Uconn, Missouri/Iowa, Auburn /Oregon and Ours are the ones im most interested in. I love College Football, and its almost over so i usually have all the bowls on when im home. you never know, even the FIU/ Toledo game was pretty entertaining last night.

Bang!

Why do people say stuff like this? Like the 1995 offense wasn't balanced? If I recall correctly, the first touchdown scored in the national championship game was a passing touchdown, by Nebraska. There are lots of ways to be balanced. You can use the run to set up the pass. The 1995 offense, and basically all of Osborne's offenses, were tremendous at that. They'd go 5 yards up the middle, 3 yards around end, 4 yards up the middle, 4 yards up the middle, 3 yards up the middle, 6 yards around end, and then 40 yards over the top on playaction. Our offense this year has been like that at times, so threatening with big runs on the ground that we've been able to pop Kyler Reed for big plays on playaction. Part of what is disturbing about Watson's offense this year is how much less effective they were running the ball once Martinez was hurt. Once they lost that home run threat, the offense didn't know what it was anymore. Instead of asking 3rd year starter Roy Helu or 2nd year co-starter Rex Burkhead to plow forward for 2-4 yards, we'd go into a west coast styled passing game, where we ask a redshirt freshman QB still raw in the passing game to make short throws that are all about timing and accuracy, and 50% of the time we'd waste a down in the process, also putting us into 2nd/3rd and long situations. Even when we complete those passes, the result is the same as a short run, and doesn't help to set up the run like the vertical passing game does. Rather than play to our strengths, we played to our weaknesses, and we seemed to lack the strategy and commitment needed to set up a strong running game once we didn't have two home-run threats on the field at the same time. That's just something we should be able to do, especially given the tools we had this year even without a healthy Martinez at QB. I say this because the offensive lines of the mid 90s were much better than the offensive line we played with this year. It's much easier to throw once in a while when there are 9 defenders close to the line of scrimmage. How many freshmen played on the line for Tom Osborne? We had several get playing time this year including redshirt freshman Jeremiah Sirles STARTING at left tackle. Aaron Graham has said in interviews that he would tell the defensive tackle across from him what play NU was going to run and chuckle because he knew that there was nothing that could be done to stop it. Would any of those lines have been overwhelmed like this years line was in the CCG? It doesn't make much sense to have Roy or Rex plow forward for 2 to 4 yds on first and 15 after a false start of 1st and 20 after a hold. We just don't have the horses upfront to dictate and dominate like we did back in the day. Then, throw in the running backs we had. Lawrence Phillips, terrible human being, great running back. Ahman Green anyone? Damon Benning was about as good as anyone on this years roster. Of course, if the hole appears where it is supposed to on a consistant basis, it can make average backs look pretty good. And coordinators look good, too. As far as a vertical passing game goes, I agree. Does Taylor have sufficient arm strength to go deep? He did look better at passing as the year went on. He looked horrible early, then better and better. His throwing motion definitely improved. But I think he was named the starter because of his running ability, not his passing ability. I think sticking with him was just to send a message that he was our guy, so as not to bring confidence issues into play. The QB position is a little different in that regard. Competition is good for most positions, but you don't want your QB playing tight, looking over his shoulder, feeling like one mistake could cost him his position. He needs to be relaxed and confident to perform at a high level. I'll equate it to something I know about. A 3foot putt should be a 3foot putt. The 3foot putt is a lot easier on the practice green than on the 72nd hole of the US Open. If you're worried about results, execution suffers. Competion before the season is desired. Once a QB is chosen, he needs to have the support of the team and he needs to support the team at the same time. He is the leader. I can think of 3 offensive plays in our losses that would have changed the outcome of those games. I can think of 3 defensive plays, also. Texas game. Offensive play that would have made a difference: Any of the dropped touchdowns, but I'll take Rex's because it was early in the game before the anal pucker factor rose to diamond producing levels. Defensive play: 2nd qtr. 3rd and 5 from about midfield. 40 yard pass to Fozzy Whitaker to our 10yd line, setting up their 2nd touchdown to go up 17-3. Whitaker caught 34 passes this year for an avg of 6yds per catch. This was his longest of the season. Stop that and Texas punts and we don't grip even tighter. aTm game. Offensive play: Kyler Reed is open in the endzone with zero defensive help inside. He has beaten his defender. Taylor throws the ball behind Kyler to the only defender in the area. He did not have to fit it in a tight spot, there was nobody inside, just lead Kyler to the inside and a TD is assured. Even an incomplete gets us 3 precious points. Defensive play: Gotta go with the Roughing the Passer. If Courtney jumps to block or tip the pass, that penalty is probably not called. It was a total BS call to begin with, but the officials were looking to give aTm every opportunity. Don't give them one. OU CCG. Offensive play: Taylor's interception in the endzone. He is the starting QB at Nebraska. He threw the ball back across his "bodeh" into a crowd of defenders. I would think that he learned not to do that in POP WARNER. You just don't do that....at any level. Brett Favre can't get away with it either. It cost the Vikings big time last year. Anyway, it cost us at least 3 precious points. Defensive play: How do you let a player from a team that is down 17-0 and getting it's azz kicked behind you for a 50yd TD? I was a believer until that play. I could feel the air just let out of the team. The confidence really dropped after that play. It seemed like that is when some players tried making plays instead of doing their jobs. Again, the bootyhole pucker was in full effect. This is what I mean when I say it's a team game, there were plays on either side of the ball that could have made a difference. It's not neccessarily just coachspeak. We were very close to having a "magical" season. 3 plays on either side of the ball. What were the expectations for this year? If anyone expected an undefeatd season, then cranial examinations are in order. I expected to win the north and have a realistic shot at the Big 12 title. I hoped to win the Big 12, but I realize that there are other good teams with good coaches, that have players who play hard. We had a good shot, we gave it a shot and fell just short. Boooo Hooooo. Waaaaaaaaa. I wish we had given it our best shot, but we didn't. We played hard. We tried, perhaps, just a little too hard. I don't think it's just one man's fault. To say one dude prevented the team from reaching it's goals is short sighted in my opinion. Next year could be even better. The depth and experience should be more apparant, especially on the offensive side of the ball at key positions, QB and offensive line. If we have to break in a new offensive coordinator and scheme, I will temper my expectations. There is no guarantee that the next guy will be any better. I hope he gets enough time to prove himself. There is a shortage of patience around here. I guess there always has been, according to TO. There is pressure at a lot places, I realize this. It just seems amplified around here. I agree on all points! Very well stated.

Agree, and i dont think too many Freshman QBs ever were good at that.

I think you have to run the most balanced offense you can to consistently win these days. Just running, just passing,all option, or any other one trick pony, will eventually be figured out and stopped by upper level defenses. Like it or not were gonna have to tailor it to fit the personnel on the field too. Healthy Taylor running Zone read= Success, Cody green did much better when he didnt try to run Z.R, or Qb draws, and went to more of a drop back, or roll out, passing style. Jamaal Lord as a drop back passer would have failed, as would Zach Lee trying to run the option Etc..

Not really, though im sure ill get one. LOL Just calling it as i saw it.

Ok back to the original question. nobody but the parties involved know the all the facts, but i think if Watson can get a division 1 HC job he'll take it.If the 2nd interview thing is true, he'll probably get an offer. I dont think him leaving is the solution to all of our offensive problems, as many of you do, but the show will go on with or without him.

Like I have said in numerous threads where people mention Scott Frost, Mike Grant (yes former NU QB) has done more in his coaching career then Frost has and with a lot less mind you. Anything he did with the WR corp while at Iowa State trumps ANYTHING Frost has done as a coach. http://www.wmubroncos.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=24292&SPID=1922&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=4600&ATCLID=1413825&Q_SEASON=2010 Disagree. Look at some of the minds that Frost has played for/coached with: Osborne, Walsh, Kelly, Belotti.... With that said, I'm not sure Frost is ready to be an OC yet, but I'd like to see him back. I also have heard that he and Bo don't see eye to eye. With that being said, how about a guy that is close, someone who knows a little about offense, a guy we could get for next to nothing, a guy who we know loves Nebraska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. Tom Osborne Dr Tom has done many great things for this program, but being a stellar OC wasnt one of them IMO. I grew up watching the 80s teams, and i swear we only had 10 or 12 plays in the book. My older brothers and i used to laugh at how easily we could watch the game and call the plays before they even happened. Basically the same playbook worked in the 90s when he finally got the horses to run his system to perfection. To answer the OPs question, I think it will probably be Beck.If not him it will need to be someone with strong Nebraska ties to put up with the scrutiny that they will endure here. Leach, or Mangino for that matter arent going to happen, but can you imagine either of them co-existing with Pellini. I think guys like that with Dynamic, hard-headed personalities (especially after already being head coaches) would not work well.

The 95 team won because they executed the plays they were told to run at a very high level,and had superior athletes at every position on the field, not because of any brilliant play calling. They didnt drop 8 passes in a game, have 16 penalties (justified or not),and they damn sure didnt fumble 44? times that year. Call them excuses if you want, but things like that are what separate national champions from 3 loss teams. Im not a huge Watson fan, but i wasnt a big Osborne as OC fan either.I just think people put too much emphasis on the OC either way. Execution by the players is the most important factor IMO.

4 times other teams MAY have had a beef on who should be there, but the best team still came out on top anyway,