Decision to Bench Taylor

[bshirt]

It was a knee jerk reaction from a coaching staff that has proven themselves panicky in big games. He is a RS Freshman that is going to have growing pains and needs the experience to get better.

 

Yep.

 

 

That and SW sure as heck can't coach his way out of anything so......throw another qb out there to get zero TDs.

[knapplc]

I'm just sick of hearing from Watson that Martinez is a good passer. Clearly he is not or we would have game-planned more passing. Unless it comes out that Martinez audibled out of called pass plays (which would warrant benching, since they would have been the wrong check), it's clear that they simply do not trust him to throw the ball.

 

You do not run the same offense for five straight games, consisting of maybe a dozen plays, then face a Texas defense that has so much film on you that they may as well have a copy of your playbook, then run those same damned dozen plays over and over. It's asinine. They knew exactly what we were going to run, as well or better than Martinez, on every single play. THIS was Watson's failure - you cannot continue to do the same thing game after game after game and expect to win. Competent defenses will stop you. Hell, an incompetent defense (SDSU) largely stopped this offense.

 

You simply CANNOT have a game like SDSU which gives your opponents a blueprint on how to shut you down, then go into the Texas game and run that same offense.

 

The fact that some idiot schmoe like me sitting in my easy chair can figure that out means that Watson should have self-scouted this ages ago, and planned accordingly. If he didn't, Bo should have. The fact that they were unable or unwilling to change their plan makes me very concerned for the rest of this year.

 

At this point 11-2 sounds like an unattainable goal, simply because of the offense we're capable of running, and the kinds of defenses we're likely to face.

[Nexus]

Sean Callahan's twitter:

 

Pretty interesting to hear Bo Pelini say pulling Taylor Martinez against Texas "may have not been the right thing to do."

 

LINK

 

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

Sean Callahan's twitter:

 

Pretty interesting to hear Bo Pelini say pulling Taylor Martinez against Texas "may have not been the right thing to do."

 

LINK

Coach is still learning too

[zoogs]

Hm. I always thought we wouldn't like it if we changed our offense five games into the season.

 

Honestly I'm not sure how much Taylor has accessible to him, that we can run. We have to play to his strengths. If he doesn't have the entire playbook open to him, it's not unexpected and it can't really be pinned on Watson, except that he chose him. And coaches will say all sorts of good things about their players even when it's stretching the truth. Like how nothing fazes Taylor, he's calm in the pocket all the time. Where did all that talk go? Like Bo telling us how much confidence he has in Taylor, it's talk that is there to protect his guy and show that you are behind him.

 

And what stopped us against SDSU was a complete flat effort by everyone, including coaches. Not this offense.

[Lonestar_Husker]

I had no problem with it. Zac and Taylor both played good enough to win. Gotta catch the ball.

 

I think having a young QB will limit plays that are called in the beginning of a big game. I think coaches feel that they need to start with some easy throws, plays that we have been running so far this year, get him comfortable first, then the plays start to open up. You just hope that this is able to be done in one series not after 3 or 4 three and outs when the pressure starts building.

 

I never thought that we would go undefeated, it just sucks it was Texas. Dammit!!!!

[bshirt]

I'm just sick of hearing from Watson that Martinez is a good passer. Clearly he is not or we would have game-planned more passing. Unless it comes out that Martinez audibled out of called pass plays (which would warrant benching, since they would have been the wrong check), it's clear that they simply do not trust him to throw the ball.

 

You do not run the same offense for five straight games, consisting of maybe a dozen plays, then face a Texas defense that has so much film on you that they may as well have a copy of your playbook, then run those same damned dozen plays over and over. It's asinine. They knew exactly what we were going to run, as well or better than Martinez, on every single play. THIS was Watson's failure - you cannot continue to do the same thing game after game after game and expect to win. Competent defenses will stop you. Hell, an incompetent defense (SDSU) largely stopped this offense.

 

You simply CANNOT have a game like SDSU which gives your opponents a blueprint on how to shut you down, then go into the Texas game and run that same offense.

 

The fact that some idiot schmoe like me sitting in my easy chair can figure that out means that Watson should have self-scouted this ages ago, and planned accordingly. If he didn't, Bo should have. The fact that they were unable or unwilling to change their plan makes me very concerned for the rest of this year.

 

At this point 11-2 sounds like an unattainable goal, simply because of the offense we're capable of running, and the kinds of defenses we're likely to face.

 

Bingo!

 

Even when they put "cement shoes" Lee in the game, what do we do? Run the zone read. Even with his "perfect" reads with him plodding along we get....3 yds.

 

Every team we play, just like Texas, is going to go all out to stop the zone read and they will. Our response.....bench the qb. Insert another that gets zero TDs.

 

SW is a dismal at best OC and his only redeeming feature is that Bo continues to employ him. Obviously Bo thinks the guy is great so that's the only thing that puts doubt in my mind. Nevertheless "something" is very, very wrong with this offense and it's been putrid vs decent defenses for years.

[Chaddyboxer]

I'm just sick of hearing from Watson that Martinez is a good passer. Clearly he is not or we would have game-planned more passing. Unless it comes out that Martinez audibled out of called pass plays (which would warrant benching, since they would have been the wrong check), it's clear that they simply do not trust him to throw the ball.

 

You do not run the same offense for five straight games, consisting of maybe a dozen plays, then face a Texas defense that has so much film on you that they may as well have a copy of your playbook, then run those same damned dozen plays over and over. It's asinine. They knew exactly what we were going to run, as well or better than Martinez, on every single play. THIS was Watson's failure - you cannot continue to do the same thing game after game after game and expect to win. Competent defenses will stop you. Hell, an incompetent defense (SDSU) largely stopped this offense.

 

You simply CANNOT have a game like SDSU which gives your opponents a blueprint on how to shut you down, then go into the Texas game and run that same offense.

 

The fact that some idiot schmoe like me sitting in my easy chair can figure that out means that Watson should have self-scouted this ages ago, and planned accordingly. If he didn't, Bo should have. The fact that they were unable or unwilling to change their plan makes me very concerned for the rest of this year.

 

At this point 11-2 sounds like an unattainable goal, simply because of the offense we're capable of running, and the kinds of defenses we're likely to face.

 

-With your first paragraph...i think Watson didn't even gameplan for Taylor to the throw the ball....after the zone reads ineffectiveness in the first quarter..they should've immediately started throwing more often...once again...like we all had witnessed....no one could catch anything! Watson sucked on Saturday....gotta get ready for next week.

[Hercules]

Sean Callahan's twitter:

 

Pretty interesting to hear Bo Pelini say pulling Taylor Martinez against Texas "may have not been the right thing to do."

 

LINK

Coach is still learning too

 

I love Bo. He just isn't capable of politics or BS or anything. It's awesome. I love his postgame comments both on this and on the onside kick.

[krc1995]

the whole damn drop passes crap was a fluke- i mean when burkhead drops a ball that is right in hand you know the moon and stars are alligned against you. The zone read didn't work when the passing game failed.

 

WHat I don't get it how are you going to "shake" things up with lee? You already got guys out there with hands of stone and now you have no threat of the zone read either. Maybe for a series- but for the rest of the game? That I don't understand

[zoogs]

Actually, Lee improved the zone read in this game. Martinez not only got stuffed himself, he allowed his RBs to get stuffed. His biggest run was a 13-yard designed draw on 3rd and 15. There was no threat to run at all. We had to go to the air. And while we focus on the drops because they could have been touchdowns, Martinez was also missing wide open receivers. His running threat opened things up for the receivers, but his arm didn't allow us to maximize on that. Gotta throw to the receivers and not behind them. That'll come with time, in future seasons. When that comes, he could be unstoppable.

 

But Lee did provide us with a spark. His last pass if I'm not mistaken was a near touchdown to Brandon Kinnie - in a situation when Texas KNEW we had to go for the pass. So I'm not sure how you would question that unless you are only considering Martinez's feelings.

 

the whole damn drop passes crap was a fluke...WHat I don't get it how are you going to "shake" things up with lee? You already got guys out there with hands of stone and now you have no threat of the zone read either.

 

I think you answered your own question before you asked it. You have to look at those dropped passes as a fluke and give your guys a chance to redeem themselves. Instead of what you seem to suggest later, which is that we may as well give up on the pass since they were just going to be dropped anyway.

[suh_fan93]

I'm just sick of hearing from Watson that Martinez is a good passer. Clearly he is not or we would have game-planned more passing. Unless it comes out that Martinez audibled out of called pass plays (which would warrant benching, since they would have been the wrong check), it's clear that they simply do not trust him to throw the ball.

 

You do not run the same offense for five straight games, consisting of maybe a dozen plays, then face a Texas defense that has so much film on you that they may as well have a copy of your playbook, then run those same damned dozen plays over and over. It's asinine. They knew exactly what we were going to run, as well or better than Martinez, on every single play. THIS was Watson's failure - you cannot continue to do the same thing game after game after game and expect to win. Competent defenses will stop you. Hell, an incompetent defense (SDSU) largely stopped this offense.

 

You simply CANNOT have a game like SDSU which gives your opponents a blueprint on how to shut you down, then go into the Texas game and run that same offense.

 

The fact that some idiot schmoe like me sitting in my easy chair can figure that out means that Watson should have self-scouted this ages ago, and planned accordingly. If he didn't, Bo should have. The fact that they were unable or unwilling to change their plan makes me very concerned for the rest of this year.

 

At this point 11-2 sounds like an unattainable goal, simply because of the offense we're capable of running, and the kinds of defenses we're likely to face.

+1 That was very well put. You're right about the SDSU game too. Great reference.

[Malth]

It was the right decision. Some of the dropped balls were the receivers fault, but other passes were in the dirt or behind them. He was also consistently making the wrong reads on the zone.

 

He had almost 3 quarters to help us get some points, and all he had was 2 ok runs. There comes a point when you need to bench a player. Just leaving TMart in regardless of what's going on because he's a freshman and 'needs to learn' is just absurd. Calming down on the sideline and just watching the big picture can be a very good learning experience, as well

[Blackshirt39]

It was the right decision. Some of the dropped balls were the receivers fault, but other passes were in the dirt or behind them. He was also consistently making the wrong reads on the zone.

 

He had almost 3 quarters to help us get some points, and all he had was 2 ok runs. There comes a point when you need to bench a player. Just leaving TMart in regardless of what's going on because he's a freshman and 'needs to learn' is just absurd. Calming down on the sideline and just watching the big picture can be a very good learning experience, as well

 

Agreed, however there was about 10 other players in that game that needed it before Martinez. He probably should have been brought back in at some point because he is the only quick-strike we have. Truth is up to this point, we have been a One-trick pony and Will Muschamp is too good of a DC for that.

[zoogs]

Taylor is the one-trick pony, though. I think it was abundantly apparent that there were going to be no quick strikes from him in that game. Just like if the Tennessee Titans are down big, they aren't going to simply ride Chris Johnson to make their comeback.