We dominate Washington 33-0 on 12/30

[kchusker_chris]

Most of us cared little for the Washington game at the end of the season. The players were unmotivated and the play reflected that. The outcome ultimately sealed the fate of at least 2 coaches. How much of a "butterfly effect" do you think that game could have had? If we had won it as we had against Arizona the prior year, do you think the current negative publicity would be as bad? Maybe the outrage is less? Maybe Bo doesn't go on a 5 week vacation from the media so speculation is kept at a minimum? An 11-3 team that finished on a high note certainly would make me feel better than a 10-4 team that never "finished"

[darkhorse85]

If that happens do you think Bo rethinks the ineptitude of the offense again and possibly retains coaches? I certainly would have liked to see the win, but maybe it's for the best?

 

If anyone needs me I'll be lashing myself for just saying that.

[knapplc]

The fate of our offensive coaching departures was sealed before the Holiday Bowl. 33-0 wouldn't have earned them another year.

[huskerj12]

We might have been going through coaching changes still, but I doubt there would be this much negativity festering

[akita]

The fate of our offensive coaching departures was sealed before the Holiday Bowl. 33-0 wouldn't have earned them another year.

wow we agree. The coaches knew they were done before the bowl game. They knew before the ccg game. It was over and they handle it with professinalism. Cant ask for more then that.

[Hujan]

If that happens do you think Bo rethinks the ineptitude of the offense again and possibly retains coaches? I certainly would have liked to see the win, but maybe it's for the best?

 

If anyone needs me I'll be lashing myself for just saying that.

 

Agree completely. It was this sentiment that took the sting out of the losses to Kansas, Okie State, and Colorado in 2007. Ultimately, I knew it was for the best. Winning those games would only have prolonged the suffering until Emperor Petersen and Darth Callahan were finally destroyed by Luke Osborne.

 

The terrible offensive showing against UW in the Holiday Bowl punctuated a deplorable two years of offense and made this decision all the easier for Pelini to execute. The easiest decisions are the ones where you have no choice. And Bo had no choice after last year's display of coaching ineptitude.

[Skull&Bones]

Would've, should've, could've....Didn't!!! The overall problems on offense with zero leadership and not showing up for the big games I think sealed the deal before the bowl game. The only thing the offense did consistently all season was turn the ball over by going three and out or just fumble it

[GMoose]

The fate of our offensive coaching departures was sealed before the Holiday Bowl. 33-0 wouldn't have earned them another year.

Beat me to it. The only way the Holiday Bowl would have changed what's happening right now is if we had beat UW 70-0

[The Dude]

I bet we dominate Washington on 9/17/11.

 

45-3

[knapplc]

I bet we dominate Washington on 9/17/11.

 

45-3

They return Chris Polk, but they're going to start a Sophomore or a R-Freshman at QB most likely.

 

I would hope that the team is highly motivated to put another beating on them this year.

 

I would also hope we don't have another 2010 Texas game.

[Enhance]

I bet we dominate Washington on 9/17/11.

 

45-3

They return Chris Polk, but they're going to start a Sophomore or a R-Freshman at QB most likely.

 

I would hope that the team is highly motivated to put another beating on them this year.

 

I would also hope we don't have another 2010 Texas game.

Whoever is the OC, I just hope for discipline and focus. Every play last year, it felt like chances were nothing good was going to happen or we'd turn the ball over.

 

Beck as OC is an interesting concept, but I'm still curious about something. Our running backs had a lot of fumble problems at times last year, especially as the season began to wind down. Is that more of a reflection on coaching and preparation done by Beck or the coaching and preparation done as a cohesive offensive unit under Watson?

 

I tend to lean more towards the culture of the entire offense under Watson, because running back fumbles were definitely not the worst problem last year and the running backs were actually the bright spot of the team imho. Maybe I'm just over thinking it, though.

[PaulCrewe]

Whoever is the OC, I just hope for discipline and focus. Every play last year, it felt like chances were nothing good was going to happen or we'd turn the ball over.

 

Beck as OC is an interesting concept, but I'm still curious about something. Our running backs had a lot of fumble problems at times last year, especially as the season began to wind down. Is that more of a reflection on coaching and preparation done by Beck or the coaching and preparation done as a cohesive offensive unit under Watson?

 

I tend to lean more towards the culture of the entire offense under Watson, because running back fumbles were definitely not the worst problem last year and the running backs were actually the bright spot of the team imho. Maybe I'm just over thinking it, though.

Enhance, I don't know if I would overly put a lot into the RB's fumbling. Near the end of last year if Roy coughed it up it wasn't overly shocking because he had these issues all through his career. A lot of those probably are due to his plagmatic injuries throughout his time here. Rex, had a couple of drops, but the one that really sticks out was the bowl game in which he was trying to throw out of the wildcat something that he doesn't do regularly. He is the most surehanded of the RB stable and I am not concerned.

 

However, our QB continually coughing up the ball was. Maybe Beck can put Taylor through some RB protection drills(which I am sure he did a little, but not to the extreme the RBs do).

 

So I guess what my on and on blabfest is trying to get at is I think you are overthinking this. I do agree about feeling like almost every play last year very easily was about to blow up in our face and be negative.

[Hujan]

Whoever is the OC, I just hope for discipline and focus. Every play last year, it felt like chances were nothing good was going to happen or we'd turn the ball over.

 

Beck as OC is an interesting concept, but I'm still curious about something. Our running backs had a lot of fumble problems at times last year, especially as the season began to wind down. Is that more of a reflection on coaching and preparation done by Beck or the coaching and preparation done as a cohesive offensive unit under Watson?

 

I tend to lean more towards the culture of the entire offense under Watson, because running back fumbles were definitely not the worst problem last year and the running backs were actually the bright spot of the team imho. Maybe I'm just over thinking it, though.

Enhance, I don't know if I would overly put a lot into the RB's fumbling. Near the end of last year if Roy coughed it up it wasn't overly shocking because he had these issues all through his career. A lot of those probably are due to his plagmatic injuries throughout his time here. Rex, had a couple of drops, but the one that really sticks out was the bowl game in which he was trying to throw out of the wildcat something that he doesn't do regularly. He is the most surehanded of the RB stable and I am not concerned.

 

However, our QB continually coughing up the ball was. Maybe Beck can put Taylor through some RB protection drills(which I am sure he did a little, but not to the extreme the RBs do).

 

So I guess what my on and on blabfest is trying to get at is I think you are overthinking this. I do agree about feeling like almost every play last year very easily was about to blow up in our face and be negative.

 

Great post. Was going to say the same thing. I love Roy, but he was not super careful with the ball throughout his career. IIRC, Burkhead never had a true fumble in the sense that he goes into the pile and loses the ball. His only "fumbles" came from bad snaps or bad exchanges when running the Rexcat, or giving or receiving a handoff. The lone exception was the weird fumble thing in the Holiday Bowl v.2, where he was rolling back to pass. I have no idea what the hell happened on that play and would describe it as a freak occurrence. Otherwise, Burkhead is a stud and our fumbling problems among the RBs should improve considerably with Roy moving on.

 

T-Mart is another story. Dude is a fumble machine. Lots of those came during needless sacks when he should have either (1) thrown the ball away, or (2) put both arms around the ball and accepted the sack instead of trying to improvise. But a lot of them occurred when he was running with the ball, holding it like a loaf of bread.

 

I'd like to see him make a few adjustments:

 

1) He should consider wearing a glove on his non-throwing hand, the tacky surface of which should improve his grip on the ball.

 

2) He should consider wearing neoprene elbow/forearm sleeves on at least his non-throwing arm in order to provide a tacky surface to hold the ball snuggly against so it doesn't slide as much with contact.

 

3) Most important of all, he should learn to tuck the ball away in the crook of his elbow when running, and to cover up with both arms in traffic.

 

Having said all of that, tucking a ball away with one hand--or even worse, both hands---is a very unnatural thing that hampers a player's sprinting and juking abilities. For a player who makes money with speed and elusiveness like Martinez, you are going to have to give up some ball security if he is going to make those plays. This was true of all the big-time scrambling QBs, including VY, Vick, etc. So a certain degree of fumbling is going to happen unless you're willing to take away of lot of what makes T-Mart T-Mart.