My thoughts on Just About Everything that is Husker at the Moment

[Hunter94]

personally, i expected someone to post up in defense of Watson, but i didn't expect such an elaborate story.

 

i think the real story will be developing in the next couple weeks....but the longer Bo waits, the less likely a decent OC will be available...he should be looking hard for some new coaches now.

[EZ-E]

Wow.....where so many get the idea everything would have been Hunky Dory if we just would have started Zac freakin Lee is totally over my head.

 

He's a tough kid but Jeeez....his whole resume was a couple of good games last year vs SunBelt teams. That's it.

 

After that he "led" us to the worst offense imaginable essentially going 3 & out all year long. He's not a bad passer if you can give him his three hour lock down procedure before he unleashes the pass. That's his upside as seeing him lumber along on the option was extremely painful for any NU fan. Many claim he's fast but I never saw any quickness on the field at all. A-t a-l-l.

 

But I suppose it doesn't hurt to dream he would have magically been Dan Marino this year if he magically would have been healthy. Heck...why not?

 

It is very interesting that you can bash Zac Lee all that you want but when someone says anything negitive regarding TMart that you jump to his defense immediately. You also talked about the "excuses" that we made for Zac Lee but then make nothing but excuses for TMart. Stop. TMart helped us lose 3 out of the last four.

[Vince from ShamWOW]

I respect your opinion EZ-E, but it seems that you are trying to pass your opinion off as fact.

 

Do you have a source? How do you know that's how it all went down?

lol, yeah. I didn't even bother reading most of the post since it started with "this is how it went down...blah blah blah". It was obvious where most of that novella was going right from that point. I just skipped to the end where it was talking about coaches.

 

I do have a "source" as some of you call it. I have quite a few of them. I will not name them on this board.

 

EbylHusker - You are a moron.

 

Husker Richard - I am not trying to pass any of my opinions as facts. That "story" that I "made up" according to EbylHusker came from many people that I trust regarding Husker football. You will note that anything that I have concluded is based upon the premises of what happened.

 

 

I'm not sure where you got the information for your post but according to my newphew that plays for NU, who is sitting on the sofa at my house watching football with us, and has just read your post he smiled, shook his head, and not even close.

 

No I won't name him because I don't have to and I'm not into that.

 

Well, I do happen to know some players as well. This came from some of the things that I have heard from them, other people that are very close to the program that I know and what they have said.

 

I won't name any other names. But could it be that there are things that coaching staffs keep from players? That is my only question to you. Good day and have a nice New Years Vince.

 

 

That just got a HUGE laugh and request to go make a couple of deer drives out back.

 

We'll be back - hopefully with a deer or two.

[Count 'Bility]

As many of you know, I am not anti-Watson. I think he is a very great offensive mind. Here is how the whole TMart thing happened. If you understand this I really think you will understand why I feel the way that I do about Watson.

 

Two weeks before the season our coaches were ready to name Zac Lee the starting QB. Every last one of them. Watson had plans for TMart. TMart would be on the field in a 15 play package as a change of pace QB and he would be brought on slowly. It was not until the last practice where TMart broke 3 40+ yard runs on our first team defense that anyone had even thought about starting him. After that Bo made his decision and said we will start TMart at QB. So our offense went from being multiple with an experienced QB that could make multiple reads and go through multiple progressions and make all the pre-snap reads into an offense that can run around 25 plays. You saw last night that there are things that TMart just flat out cannot do. One of them is make good pre-snap reads. He can't slide the protection against the blitz, he can not throw the ball as accurately as some give him credit for. Will Muschamp is also on record saying that TMart never reads defenses, he just kind of guesses and pre-determines his reads. He is a one trick pony that when given the time to prepare for anyone can stop.

 

So with that above stated, Bo handcuffed him. I also strongly believe that we stayed with him down the stretch of the season because Bo was just too proud to admit that he had made a mistake.

 

I was in the Zac Lee camp before the year. It is hard to say that our senior QB with a year of experience could have done any worse. I do also know that Bo was angry at Zac for getting that surgery in the off season.

 

In regards to Watson though, a change needs to be made. The way that Bo wants to run an offense that does not suit him. It is not Watson's strong point. Bring in someone new and let them hire their own assistants. We can't have this mixed breed of coaches that don't compliment each other at all.

 

Barney Cotton should be ashamed of himself after what happened the other night. He needs to go. TO was not doing anyone any favors when he insisted that Barney be given the job. This is my only issue with TO. Loyalty to a fault.

 

Ted Gilmore, see yah. I wish I could say that it was a pleasure, but I would be lying. Every success that any individual WR has had has been in spite of you not because of you. You took a kid like Niles Paul and made him the brunt of ridicule and the punchline of our jokes when he should have been a first round draft pick.

 

Bo, you have to decide whether you are ment to be a HC or not. You have some big decisions that need to be made here.

 

Bo did recieve a lot more private scrutanty than he did public after the aTm game. He will be mentioned for other jobs this off-season. Stay tuned because these next 4 weeks are going to be very interesting.

 

So, you start off by saying you are NOT anti-Watson, but then later say that regarding him a change needs to be made. That is stupid and basically sums up this whole post.

That is all.

[zoogs]

No it's not.

[Hercules]

If Lee had started, the first Washington game is a dogfight, not a blowout. The Texas game doesn't really change, because it's not like Zac Lee can make the wide receivers catch the ball. The Oklahoma State game is a loss, the Missouri game is a dogfight, the Texas A&M game is still a dogfight, the Oklahoma game is still a dogfight, the Iowa State game is still a dogfight, and never mind that Zac Lee was injured the second half of the season anyways.

 

The QB isn't the only position on the field, folks. Everything doesn't magically change when you put someone else in, as we saw with Cody Green in the game the other night.

 

Saying that Bo didn't make a change at QB in the middle of the year because he was too "proud" completely ignores Bo's actions in 2009, when he DID make a QB change in the middle of the year.

 

Taylor can get 100 x's better between now and next year, it won't make a difference if our offensive line can't block and our wide receivers can't get open. We'll be the same thing - a scary running offense early on, and then once conference play rolls around we'll have to throw the ball to loosen up the run. If we can't pass protect, or catch the ball, or get open, or if we don't utilize the spread option passing game the way we need to, it won't matter how Taylor plays.

 

Taylor has a LOT to improve on, but I'm more confident that he'll make progress than I am in the rest of the offense.

[zoogs]

If Taylor really did become leaps and bounds better between this year and next year, it would make a huge difference.

 

The line would still be a limiting factor if they underperform, but don't kid yourself, it would be a tremendous difference. I hope that will happen.

[Big Red 40]

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.

[Hercules]

If Taylor really did become leaps and bounds better between this year and next year, it would make a huge difference.

 

The line would still be a limiting factor if they underperform, but don't kid yourself, it would be a tremendous difference. I hope that will happen.

 

Taylor's not going to become Joe Namath. He's probably not going to become Joe Ganz or Zac Lee either, in the passing game. At this point, just learning how to throw the ball away counts as a tremendous improvement. Wait and see, in the spring game Taylor's going to throw a ball out of bounds instead of taking a sack, and 70,000 people in red will actually cheer.

 

Even if Taylor becomes leaps and bounds better from where he is now, I don't think it will matter unless the offense around him gets leaps and bounds better. Taylor's got a long ways to go just to catch up with the likes of Tommie Frazier and Scott Frost in the passing game. I'd be extremely surprised to even see him get to that point before his junior year. We need the offensive line to become the strength of the offense, and we need our receivers to make huge strides. Brandon Kinnie is currently the best we've got, and I'm sorry but that's not very good.

 

I'm sure this is getting trite, but look at Oregon. They have an inexperienced first-year starter at QB, just a sophomore, who's really not a better passer than Martinez, and not as gifted a runner when Martinez is healthy. However, he is more comfortable in the offense (which is both time and coaching/playcalling). But the real difference is that the playmakers around him make him look a LOT better. The wide receivers catch whatever's thrown within a 2 yard radius of them, AND they block better than ours do. Their offensive line makes ours look like a joke, and they have better playmakers at running back, which is the strength of our offense (this year and going into next year).

 

If you compare our offense to other teams that run the same type of offense, we have less catching up to do at QB and more to do on the offensive line, in the wide receivers, and in scheme.

[Lincolnite]

I don't think I'd have a problem with the way Bo handled the QB situation if Taylor Martinez wasn't such a drama queen. I have no idea which stories are true, but from the sounds of it he is not a popular guy in the locker room and I'm not convinced they'll play hard if he's the starter next year. There were even hints at the beginning of the year that the upperclassmen thought Zac or Cody deserved the job.

[wilber24]

I don't think I'd have a problem with the way Bo handled the QB situation if Taylor Martinez wasn't such a drama queen. I have no idea which stories are true, but from the sounds of it he is not a popular guy in the locker room and I'm not convinced they'll play hard if he's the starter next year. There were even hints at the beginning of the year that the upperclassmen thought Zac or Cody deserved the job.

Makes alot of sense, sure seemed like the offense got worse the more games we played!

[zoogs]

I agree Hercules, but I still maintain it would make a huge difference from this year, simply because so many killer mistakes were 100% on Taylor. Cutting those out, probably is the difference of 2 games this year, everything else aside.

 

We were stuck in a bad spot by having to install a quick fix whole offense (which had to be limited) for Taylor this year at the end of fall camp. I think Shawn though, in the recent article, comes out and says though that there were things we could have done better with that scheme. Abandoning any WCO pass principles, however painful it would have been, probably falls into that category. An area Shawn looks back on as a failing, in my opinion. We had no choice but to limit ourselves a ton, but I think the message from that article was even more philosophical shift could have helped us this year. Not sure we had time to do that, but Shawn is pointing a thumb there. Much as most feel like he is throwing Taylor under the bus, he is actually defending Taylor's very visible struggles as freshman mistakes, and saying he needs to evaluate if he put his freshman QB into the best situations.

 

Personally I'm not sure it could have been helped, a large degree of it. The OL and WR I agree with you, they were a big liability this year. wilber, I agree, we certainly did poorly in game 7 and 8 compared to say, game 2 or so.

[jimk]

If this is the case how did Lee go from starting to mop up QB? I don't buy the Pelini being mad at him for having surgery. I just don't see how a coach can fault a kid for wanting to get healthy or that he would sit last years starting QB just to prove to him who is in charge.

[wilber24]

I agree Hercules, but I still maintain it would make a huge difference from this year, simply because so many killer mistakes were 100% on Taylor. Cutting those out, probably is the difference of 2 games this year, everything else aside.

 

We were stuck in a bad spot by having to install a quick fix whole offense (which had to be limited) for Taylor this year at the end of fall camp. I think Shawn though, in the recent article, comes out and says though that there were things we could have done better with that scheme. Abandoning any WCO pass principles, however painful it would have been, probably falls into that category. An area Shawn looks back on as a failing, in my opinion. We had no choice but to limit ourselves a ton, but I think the message from that article was even more philosophical shift could have helped us this year. Not sure we had time to do that, but Shawn is pointing a thumb there. Much as most feel like he is throwing Taylor under the bus, he is actually defending Taylor's very visible struggles as freshman mistakes, and saying he needs to evaluate if he put his freshman QB into the best situations.

 

Personally I'm not sure it could have been helped, a large degree of it. The OL and WR I agree with you, they were a big liability this year. wilber, I agree, we certainly did poorly in game 7 and 8 compared to say, game 2 or so.

You should be playing your best ball at years end if you want to contend for any kind of championship. A step back this year! Really interesting to see where we go next year. Hope Bo has a plan!

[Hercules]

I agree Hercules, but I still maintain it would make a huge difference from this year, simply because so many killer mistakes were 100% on Taylor. Cutting those out, probably is the difference of 2 games this year, everything else aside.

 

I understand what you're saying, but Taylor's not going to cut all of those mistakes out. He's still going to make costly errors, just like every QB, and he's going to make more of them then we'd like.

 

Fewer mistakes by Taylor could have won us the Oklahoma game, I think, but other than that, you still have dropped passes against Texas, you still have 16 penalties against A&M, and you still have that abortion of a team performance against Washington.

 

Here's what I want to see from Taylor (what I think is reasonable):

 

1. Be able to look to his third, or at least his second read on passing plays.

 

2. Be able to throw the ball away.

 

3. Be decisive in the pocket, whether it's scrambling or throwing

 

4. Progress in his footwork both in the pocket and running the zone read

 

5. Stop fumbling the football

 

You take care of ALL of that - and he's still going to be throwing into coverage sometimes, or miss reads here and there.

 

I do think that he'll get better over the offseason, but he won't be the difference between a championship team and this year's team - he can't be. He's not going to become Cam Newton over the next 8 months, it just isn't possible. Championships are won on defense, and we've got that, but we still lose battles in the trenches and that's on our line, who got manhandled the other night. Nebraska won't be a championship team again until we get back to our roots and build offensive lines that are the most dominant in college football.