What we learned today???

[tab-neb]

1. That Taylor Martinez has a chance to be a damn good QB. His confidence is on par with last year right before he got hurt against Missouri, and his game management skills have caught up with that blinding speed.

2. We may have found another cornerback in Andrew Green. He quietly had a very good game. I can't believe more people haven't commented on how well he played, especially since he was probably our worst CB at the beginning of the season.

3. Green, Heard, and Abdullah have to get more touches, although I'm not convinced Abdullah is suited to play running back. I think he'd do better as a slot receiver or cornerback.

4. I don't care what JT did... get him on the field.

5. There were two guys on defense who killed us all game long. The coaching staff has to find someone who can cover their man for more than half a second.

[HuskerinSunDiego]

That Bo has no idea how to get his team up for games against sh**ty teams

 

Bo has no idea how to get his team up against any other team.

 

In 4 years Bo's teams have played fewer than 5 games where they were focused and intense both sides of the ball all 4 quarters --- one was last week against MSU... but that was the first one in 15 games or so. No... Bo rarely ever has his team playing intense , focused football.

 

 

Agree, Bo has only won 9, 10, 10, and (likely) 10 games this year. What a complete loser.

[Mulletpelini]

Turner was in on the onside kick. Now he'll have to sit since he didn't recover the ball.

[lo country]

You play your playmakers period. I can't imagine JT's practice habits being that bad. I understand the coaches position in tht you have to practice hard to p,ay, BUT what does it Los say to guys like AA, Green and Heard who bust heir collective a$$es to sit while an injured Rex gets the carries. Or a guy like Mitchell, who IMHO, played lights out in his first start sits behind Evans who has regressed beyond words under the coaching of Raymond. WTH has happened to Osborn? I know we are running Stafford and Cassidy, but he can't come in as the nickel or dime? Didn't he get a blackshirts lat year and now e ides the pine.

 

This staff as serious adjustments to make in the way thy handle the personnel issues.

[lo country]

That Bo has no idea how to get his team up for games against sh**ty teams

 

Bo has no idea how to get his team up against any other team.

 

In 4 years Bo's teams have played fewer than 5 games where they were focused and intense both sides of the ball all 4 quarters --- one was last week against MSU... but that was the first one in 15 games or so. No... Bo rarely ever has his team playing intense , focused football.

 

 

Agree, Bo has only won 9, 10, 10, and (likely) 10 games this year. What a complete loser.

 

HIS, I usually agree with you, but if you take out he Sunbelt tour and our FCS wins, hi record doesn't look all that impressive. Look at Sabans record the past 3 yrs. he is like 26-3. Look at his record against SEC opponents. Bo has winning records for ure, but the statistics are not as great when you look into who we bet, their records, rankings etc......

[Mulletpelini]

If you're gonna compare Saban you have to compare when he first became a head coach............at MSU.

[bshirt]

Rome had some kind of muscle injury. not sure where I heard it though. As far as Turner goes, WR coach said he wasn't practicing well, and he will only put the player's on the field that are practicing well and know the routes

 

Comments like this make my blood boil. I've heard the same thing about Turner. That kid is SPECIAL. You don't have to be a professional scout to see it. Has anyone else noticed on his occasional plays how even when it looks like a defender has him dead to rights, the kid sprays some fairy dust all over the place and somehow eludes it? Turner's got IT, whatever it is, and he's a true freshman. Unlike some I have nothing against Marlow. He makes a play from time to time. However...

 

Get. Jamal. The rock.

 

So "special" he gets a free ride for dropping easy TD passes? So special he gets a free ride for getting cremated when he attempts to block somebody?

 

Yes, he's a special talent. He's also a freshman weighing in at what....150 lbs? I'm honestly afraid he'll get beheaded by some stud Big10 safety.

[Husker Richard]

Rome had some kind of muscle injury. not sure where I heard it though. As far as Turner goes, WR coach said he wasn't practicing well, and he will only put the player's on the field that are practicing well and know the routes

 

Comments like this make my blood boil. I've heard the same thing about Turner. That kid is SPECIAL. You don't have to be a professional scout to see it. Has anyone else noticed on his occasional plays how even when it looks like a defender has him dead to rights, the kid sprays some fairy dust all over the place and somehow eludes it? Turner's got IT, whatever it is, and he's a true freshman. Unlike some I have nothing against Marlow. He makes a play from time to time. However...

 

Get. Jamal. The rock.

 

So "special" he gets a free ride for dropping easy TD passes? So special he gets a free ride for getting cremated when he attempts to block somebody?

 

Yes, he's a special talent. He's also a freshman weighing in at what....150 lbs? I'm honestly afraid he'll get beheaded by some stud Big10 safety.

 

If they can catch him.

 

But in all seriousness, his slight frame is an issue when it comes to blocking. Especially considering we are a run-first team. However, it should be noted that Bell isn't that much bigger. We need like 3 more Enunwa's on offense and defense.

[bshirt]

Rome had some kind of muscle injury. not sure where I heard it though. As far as Turner goes, WR coach said he wasn't practicing well, and he will only put the player's on the field that are practicing well and know the routes

 

Comments like this make my blood boil. I've heard the same thing about Turner. That kid is SPECIAL. You don't have to be a professional scout to see it. Has anyone else noticed on his occasional plays how even when it looks like a defender has him dead to rights, the kid sprays some fairy dust all over the place and somehow eludes it? Turner's got IT, whatever it is, and he's a true freshman. Unlike some I have nothing against Marlow. He makes a play from time to time. However...

 

Get. Jamal. The rock.

 

So "special" he gets a free ride for dropping easy TD passes? So special he gets a free ride for getting cremated when he attempts to block somebody?

 

Yes, he's a special talent. He's also a freshman weighing in at what....150 lbs? I'm honestly afraid he'll get beheaded by some stud Big10 safety.

 

If they can catch him.

 

But in all seriousness, his slight frame is an issue when it comes to blocking. Especially considering we are a run-first team. However, it should be noted that Bell isn't that much bigger. We need like 3 more Enunwa's on offense and defense.

 

Yes, it is an issue that many simply ignore.

 

Sure, I "love" the talent the kid has and agree he needs the ball but......I think it ain't easy having to design plays for our "run first" offense knowing full well he can essentially block nobody. When he gets to the point where he reliably catches the ball maybe it's worth the trade? You're right, Bell is no Niles Paul either. I suppose that's why they put up with his stone hands for years?

 

Shell the offense, start all over (again) and try doing Texas Tech? Uhhhh....imo, nope. We just tried that with Callahan. No thanks.

 

Heh...well, that's why ya make the big $$$ Tim. You can figure it out!

 

GBR!!

[Igetbored216]

Rome had some kind of muscle injury. not sure where I heard it though. As far as Turner goes, WR coach said he wasn't practicing well, and he will only put the player's on the field that are practicing well and know the routes

Comments like this make my blood boil. I've heard the same thing about Turner. That kid is SPECIAL. You don't have to be a professional scout to see it. Has anyone else noticed on his occasional plays how even when it looks like a defender has him dead to rights, the kid sprays some fairy dust all over the place and somehow eludes it? Turner's got IT, whatever it is, and he's a true freshman. Unlike some I have nothing against Marlow. He makes a play from time to time. However... Get. Jamal. The rock.

 

Damn straight. Turner has that "it" factor. Reminds me of a Jeremy Maclin type player.

[junior4949]

Here's what I have learned. There isn't one single team in the Big 10 that actually even wants to play in the Big 10 Championship game. Iowa loses to one of the poorest teams in D1, yet they somehow beat Michigan. Michigan State beats a team which seemed almost destined for a shot at the NC, then loses to us and nearly loses to one of the poorest teams in D1. There isn't one single Big 10 team that can be counted on week in and week out to play good football. This is what I've learned.

[True2tRA]

Jamal Turner, Aaron Green, Ameer Abdullah and Braylon Heard. That kind of athletic ability on this team, and all of it sitting on the bench says a lot about this staff in my opinion. I'm not abandoning ship on this coaching staff, but the fact that none of these coaches can find a way to use these fellas abilities says a lot about their abilities to coach.

[Igetbored216]

Rome had some kind of muscle injury. not sure where I heard it though. As far as Turner goes, WR coach said he wasn't practicing well, and he will only put the player's on the field that are practicing well and know the routes

Comments like this make my blood boil. I've heard the same thing about Turner. That kid is SPECIAL. You don't have to be a professional scout to see it. Has anyone else noticed on his occasional plays how even when it looks like a defender has him dead to rights, the kid sprays some fairy dust all over the place and somehow eludes it? Turner's got IT, whatever it is, and he's a true freshman. Unlike some I have nothing against Marlow. He makes a play from time to time. However... Get. Jamal. The rock.

So "special" he gets a free ride for dropping easy TD passes? So special he gets a free ride for getting cremated when he attempts to block somebody? Yes, he's a special talent. He's also a freshman weighing in at what....150 lbs? I'm honestly afraid he'll get beheaded by some stud Big10 safety.

If they can catch him. But in all seriousness, his slight frame is an issue when it comes to blocking. Especially considering we are a run-first team. However, it should be noted that Bell isn't that much bigger. We need like 3 more Enunwa's on offense and defense.

Yes, it is an issue that many simply ignore. Sure, I "love" the talent the kid has and agree he needs the ball but......I think it ain't easy having to design plays for our "run first" offense knowing full well he can essentially block nobody. When he gets to the point where he reliably catches the ball maybe it's worth the trade? You're right, Bell is no Niles Paul either. I suppose that's why they put up with his stone hands for years? Shell the offense, start all over (again) and try doing Texas Tech? Uhhhh....imo, nope. We just tried that with Callahan. No thanks. Heh...well, that's why ya make the big $$$ Tim. You can figure it out! GBR!!

 

Yeah, he's small and he doesn't block well. Isn't it the offensive coordinator's job to find ways to use players like that? If he was just going to sit the bench most of the year, why not redshirt him (along with one or two of the freshman RBs)?

 

We are a run-first offense but I'm pretty sure Turner's speed, elusiveness, and athleticism can be used pretty easily. Jet sweeps and option plays would work very nicely with him; no blocking needed.

 

I think what annoys me the most is that these coaches apparently have no idea when to redshirt a player. I mean, I see three freshman RBs coming in and I thought right away that at least one if not two of them would be redshirted. Nope, instead they waste a year and sit the bench while Burkhead hobbles around (I have nothing against Burkhead, but he's worn down). Was it really necessary to use Turner this year if he isn't even going to be on the field?

 

I don't know..I guess I just don't understand the redshirting logic displayed by this staff.

[knapplc]

Some more things we learned:

 

* It is already too late to not have wasted the redshirt years of Jamal Turner, Braylon Heard and/or Aaron Green. If you're not going to use them, don't put them in the freaking game.

* We are the only team in the B1G who doesn't understand the concept of blocking. Our O Line is consistently disengaging from their primary and looking for that second-level block. The only problem is, they aren't first making sure their primary is OUT OF THE PLAY. I cannot count how many times I've seen a "blocked" defender make the tackle, only to see our O Linemen standing around, not engaged with anyone.

* While we're on the subject of the O Line, I learned that Holding will not be called in the B1G, no matter how blatant. It's too bad our Offensive coaches haven't figured this out yet. Maybe they will, someday.

* I learned that we make adjustments sometimes, but not all the time, on this team. Bo has made some excellent halftime adjustments this year. But not this game. The same three plays burned us all game long. I cannot fathom how a "defensive genius" cannot figure out how to stop a slant, on the fly, after the first NW drive. Baffling.

* I learned that Tim Beck's playbook has ZERO plays that go to the outside, aside from the Option/Speed Option. We have speed to burn on this offense, yet we don't use it. Teams like Northwestern shouldn't be hard to get outside on. Yesterday, it was not only impossible, we barely tried.

* I learned that Kyler Reed is our best pass-catching TE, so we predominantly use him for blocking (at which he is abysmal), and I learned that Ben Cotton is a very good blocking TE, so of course we predominantly use him for pass-catching, at which he is average. Apparently our coaches are more interested in trying to catch the opponent off guard than simply doing what we are good at.

[Foppa]

Some more things we learned:

 

* It is already too late to not have wasted the redshirt years of Jamal Turner, Braylon Heard and/or Aaron Green. If you're not going to use them, don't put them in the freaking game.

* We are the only team in the B1G who doesn't understand the concept of blocking. Our O Line is consistently disengaging from their primary and looking for that second-level block. The only problem is, they aren't first making sure their primary is OUT OF THE PLAY. I cannot count how many times I've seen a "blocked" defender make the tackle, only to see our O Linemen standing around, not engaged with anyone.

* While we're on the subject of the O Line, I learned that Holding will not be called in the B1G, no matter how blatant. It's too bad our Offensive coaches haven't figured this out yet. Maybe they will, someday.

* I learned that we make adjustments sometimes, but not all the time, on this team. Bo has made some excellent halftime adjustments this year. But not this game. The same three plays burned us all game long. I cannot fathom how a "defensive genius" cannot figure out how to stop a slant, on the fly, after the first NW drive. Baffling.

* I learned that Tim Beck's playbook has ZERO plays that go to the outside, aside from the Option/Speed Option. We have speed to burn on this offense, yet we don't use it. Teams like Northwestern shouldn't be hard to get outside on. Yesterday, it was not only impossible, we barely tried.

* I learned that Kyler Reed is our best pass-catching TE, so we predominantly use him for blocking (at which he is abysmal), and I learned that Ben Cotton is a very good blocking TE, so of course we predominantly use him for pass-catching, at which he is average. Apparently our coaches are more interested in trying to catch the opponent off guard than simply doing what we are good at.

 

Good point on the holding, but I thought the blocks in the back were even more obvious? It's one thing to have a huge hole for NW to run through, but another when our defenders come back to the hole only to be shoved in the back and not able to make a play, and it's a big yardage rush for the Wildcats.