Time to own up : Expectations

[Hercules]

Are you saying we have had an interceptions problem? I would say that we really don't.

 

Taylor has an interceptions problem. Ganz, we all thought he would, but he cut it down really impressively. 2008 saw him put up arcade style numbers. Lee was OK for the most part. He had a tough game against one of the best secondaries in the nation, and two fluky-as-heck picks against Iowa State. His problem was not enough production in terms of yards/touchdowns, not being particularly pick-prone.

 

The rub is this. I could go on a rant on Taylor's lack of abilities in various departments, but you will respond, quite accurately, that he's just a freshman and he shouldn't be expected to be a mistake-free model of consistency. It's not the coaches' fault that he is a freshman on the bottom side of a steep learning curve, and can be more hot and cold than Katy Perry. That's just how Taylor is at this stage of his development and it will take a long time to work it out of him. You could say it's the coaches' fault for choosing Taylor as the best option though.

 

I'm saying that we've had a pattern over the past few years of our QBs making stupid decisions in critical situations in big games. Taylor's only the latest installment. It's more than one guy that's thrown those game-deciding and stupid interceptions, but it's the same coach who hasn't figured out how to teach his players not to make those mistakes.

[huskerfan333157]

Zoogie, you defintely have to blame Watson fo the inconsistencies o offense. Isnt it a coaches job to get a team mentally prepared and disciplined? In the past few years, when has the offense ever been discipline and not make bonheaded mistakes? Granted, you cant blame the coaching staff when it happens once in awhile but when it happens game in and game out, year in and year out then you have a problem offensively. I know you think Watson is a genius and maybe he is, but he does get out offense mentally prepared and our offense ALWAYS make mistakes whether it would be holding calls, fumbling, missed assignments on the offensive line or all of our qbs staring down just one wr. I think now is the time to blame watson for the offense consistently messing up, turning the ball over and shooting themselves in the foot since it has happened CONSISTENTLY. You can say its on the players all you want but its obviously the coaching staff's problem since we contiue to have this problem

[zoogs]

When your quarterback is a streaky player by nature and is very raw in terms of critical QB skills, you should realize that the output is going to be streaky along with him. Our offense is not going to be consistent, when its QB isn't, and frankly that is true of any offense ever. There is nobody in the world that would get Taylor mentally prepared and ready to quarterback like a QB should, and be consistent. I don't know, I see this situation as appreciably different from others we have had, such as Joe Ganz averaging 1 interception per 38 attempts as a senior, mistakes or not.

[Enhance]

I'm really interested to see if a young Jamal Turner or Bubba Starling could uphend Martinez with more sound passing skills and the legs to boot.

 

They probably couldn't, especially because of Martinez' knowledge of the playbook. But we're going to have at least one guy next year that people have said have that 'it' factor, and he probably won't even play for three more years.

[huskerfan333157]

When your quarterback is a streaky player by nature and is very raw in terms of critical QB skills, you should realize that the output is going to be streaky along with him. Our offense is not going to be consistent, when its QB isn't, and frankly that is true of any offense ever. There is nobody in the world that would get Taylor mentally prepared and ready to quarterback like a QB should, and be consistent. I don't know, I see this situation as appreciably different from others we have had, such as Joe Ganz averaging 1 interception per 38 attempts as a senior, mistakes or not.

 

 

You pretty much ignored most of my points. Martinez is streaky but isnt it a coach's job to teach discipline and mentally preparing the players for the game? Remember, Colorado had a lot of dumb penalties when he was there as well so obviously there is a trend going on. You can be the most knowledgeable guy in the world but it wont make a difference when you dont mentally prepare or teach the players well. For instance, why does our offensive line always have dumb penalties? Why do our WR's always drop the ball? Why do all of our qb's only make one read instead of going through progressio in their reads? Isnt it a coach's job to say "ok, if option #1 isnt open this play then look at this option?" You even admitted that our offense is inconsistent, which could fall on the offensive staff for not peparing them the way they should. We had troubles last year with turnovers and colorado complained about a lot of the dumb penalties they had when he was the OC there. In conclusion, he may be a very bright guy and understand the game of football as well as anyone but he obviously doesnt get his players ready to play consistently throughout the year and we always have mental lapses every game.

[bball_backer]

I'll own up to my quote: I completely agree. However, I can tell you right now we don't need to worry about the grumblers giving Wats credit, this is going to be a LOW scoring game. (I think that's mine, I know said something very close to this at some point... pretty sure it's mine. )

 

For the most part I'd say it's pretty well right on.

 

As for the OP, you're missing the point. I don't know this as fact, but I'd guess everyone who said "score 17-20,etc." assumed that if we were actually scoring a TD or two, it meant the offense was moving the ball a little and GIVING THE DEFENSE A CHANCE. Two TD drives that probably took up less than 3 minutes combined and 5 turnovers (with several setting up OU with good field position) is not giving the defense any help. Also, I think people assumed if we scored a TD or two, it meant we weren't self-destructing and taking points off the board (which is essentially what happened 3 different times).

[zoogs]

When your quarterback is a streaky player by nature and is very raw in terms of critical QB skills, you should realize that the output is going to be streaky along with him. Our offense is not going to be consistent, when its QB isn't, and frankly that is true of any offense ever. There is nobody in the world that would get Taylor mentally prepared and ready to quarterback like a QB should, and be consistent. I don't know, I see this situation as appreciably different from others we have had, such as Joe Ganz averaging 1 interception per 38 attempts as a senior, mistakes or not.

 

 

You pretty much ignored most of my points. Martinez is streaky but isnt it a coach's job to teach discipline and mentally preparing the players for the game? Remember, Colorado had a lot of dumb penalties when he was there as well so obviously there is a trend going on. You can be the most knowledgeable guy in the world but it wont make a difference when you dont mentally prepare or teach the players well. For instance, why does our offensive line always have dumb penalties? Why do our WR's always drop the ball? Why do all of our qb's only make one read instead of going through progressio in their reads? Isnt it a coach's job to say "ok, if option #1 isnt open this play then look at this option?" You even admitted that our offense is inconsistent, which could fall on the offensive staff for not peparing them the way they should. We had troubles last year with turnovers and colorado complained about a lot of the dumb penalties they had when he was the OC there. In conclusion, he may be a very bright guy and understand the game of football as well as anyone but he obviously doesnt get his players ready to play consistently throughout the year and we always have mental lapses every game.

 

You are missing the point here. Martinez is streaky because he is completely raw as a QB as well as a redshirt freshman. This is on Taylor for being that streaky, he needs time. It's not for lack of coaching. This is just the nature of what Taylor is. A dedicated offseason or two can go a long way to addressing that if he puts the work in. This is the downfall of playing a guy like Taylor who knows next to nothing about the QB position. You can be the best teacher in the world but Taylor wasn't going to be anything different this year. Taylor and Cody are BOTH raw passers who aren't able to handle multiple complicated reads, though Cody is a lot farther along than Taylor (and a lot less capable as a runner, on the flip side). Why do we have QBs that are this unprepared? Because Bo prioritizes athletes playing QB and wants to get those kind of guys into the system, instead of people who come in more polished but can't dust off a 50-yard touchdown run.

 

bball backer, you have fair points and I'm not saying the offense lit it up or anything. Taylor's mistakes definitely qualify as self-destructive, taking points off the board. Helu's fumble not so much as that was a takeaway by OU. Caputo's snap hurt us. But I am saying that mistakes that were largely on Taylor freaking out aside, the offense actually showed some life, which is more than most expected.

[OGNebraska]

In all honesty, I really wanted Green to start the Big XII Championship game. My reasoning being that T-Magic wasn't 100% -- he may have only been 75% -- for Saturdays game.

 

If Cody would've started there would, without question, be a serious commitment to run from single back & I-formation sets, with C. Green taking direct snaps from the center. The wildcat formation with Burkhead would've been intermixed in nicely. Even though Cody has pretty good speed and can run with the ball, he's not explosive like T-Magic. Therfore, Shawn will call the game conservatively -- which will allow our other offensive playmakers & impact players the opportunity to do the heavy lifting so that it isn't solely on Cody to make it happen. He can more-or-less manage the game and hit defenses with the occasional shock & awe play due to the opposing "D" not being primarily tuned in to him.

 

 

When T-Magic is under center, Watson has a tendency to get too cute with the offensive gameplanning. It's great when T-Magic is 100% and can do everything the offense requires. When he's less than 100% (around 90% or less), it becomes problematic because the offense is essentially based entirely around T-Magic's athletic prowess and decision making and doesn't allow any of the other offensive playmakers and impact players the opportunity to shoulder the load if T-Magic faulters.

[southernoregonhusker]

We're actually a little better than I expected coming into the year. I knew the defense would take a step back, and they did a little. The rushing defense wasn't as good because the D-line wasn't as good without Big Suh. That was expected. The pass defense was great, but we play a lot of pass defense (peso) and that's why it looked so good and also hurt the run D's stats. Still outstanding.

 

The O, overall, is way better than I thought it would be because of Taylor's running. Especially early in the season. Remember, the O last year was horrible. Easily the worst O I have seen at UNL and I've been a fan since the early 80's. Sure there were some bad times, but there were some good times too and that didn't happen last year. Last year's O was just plain ol' inept. This year's O was better, but still has a long way to go before we can think about competing for a National Title.

 

Somebody above said that Zac Lee wasn't a liability. Wow. Zac Lee was horrible, especially in UNL's losses. Not one TD in any of those losses if memory serves. As frustrated as I was in the O in this year's title game, it wasn't nearly as frustrating as last year's title game where UNL didn't even sniff the endzone.

 

What really, really hurt the team this season were the fumbles. Even the ones we didn't lose hurt because they helped in stalling the O. A few dropped passes against Texas didn't help either, but the fumbles really, really hurt...along with some questionable playcalling.

 

Next year is a little scary. I'm not worried about the schedule, but I'm worried about all the losses we'll see in the defensive secondary. I'm worried about the loss of our All World kicker. I'm worried about the O without Taylor. I don't believe the rumors, but if Taylor does leave then what? I don't think Cody Green is a D1 prospect let alone a four star QB. CG appears slow on his feet and inaccurate as a passer. And I think the coaches feel the same way or else Taylor would not have played in the games where it was obvious he wasn't 100%.