Don't know if this has been mentioned, but.

[The King]

I'm not sure who to pin this on - Beck, Pelini, or position coaches, but why are our freshmen NOT playing?

 

Green, Heard, Abdullah, Turner need to see the field. It's a must. They are the future of this program and more importantly - they are PLAYMAKERS.

 

Freshman mistakes - Yes, they will happen, but you know what? If they played significantly in the first 7 weeks, they would be so much more experienced and less vulnerable to these mistakes. They play WR and RB, not QB. Fumbles may occur, but our SEASONED QB drops the ball like its covered in grease.

 

Regarding Turner - His blocking should not prevent him from playing THIS much. I guarantee DAT - (Freshman, about 5'11 165 pounds - DeAnthony Thomas) of Oregon can't block anything, yet he consistently sees the field. You flat out need your playmakers on the field.

 

They are our future - At this point, why shouldn't we play them? They spread the field out, they give us speed, they give us options and weapons. They need the experience.

 

Flat out - I hate to compare our offense to Oregon's, but, considering how often I see them play, I can't help but see how they use their players as opposed to us. You need your playmakers on the field, regardless of youth. If Turner, Heard, Abdullah, and Green were on Oregon - they would be seeing significantly more snaps than they do for us. It is ridiculous that we can't take away carries from Burkhead, but Oregon is willing to take carries away from HEISMAN TROPHY CANDIDATE, DOAK WALKER WINNER, LaMichael James in order to get the ball to a freshman in DAT.

 

Versatility - We need to find ways to put them on the field. Whether we line them up at RB, slot WR, Diamond, or whatever the case may be. I'm tired of seeing our best players not on the field.

 

This has nothing to do with the loss, but more with the lack of development of talent and the fatigue of Burkhead.

 

At what point do we stop playing our smartest players, and start playing for a championship? Athletes win games, at some point we need to put talent over knowledge. For instance, Austin Cassidy, while probably our smartest player on D, just isn't athletic enough to get it done on every down. At some point we need to coach our talent to be smart and experienced. Not just repeatedly put them in the doghouse for not knowing it all.

 

rant over.

[Enhance]

Thanks for the paragraphs. So many times, people will say that and put it all in one paragraph. Kudos!

 

I agree, though. The lack of freshman on the field, and the lack of some of those interesting formations like the diamond, have been irksome the last couple of weeks. We need the old guys, but we also need to get those young guys in there.

 

All that said, I think the offense lost us the first half, but the defense lost us the second half.

[The King]

Thanks for the paragraphs. So many times, people will say that and put it all in one paragraph. Kudos!

 

I agree, though. The lack of freshman on the field, and the lack of some of those interesting formations like the diamond, have been irksome the last couple of weeks. We need the old guys, but we also need to get those young guys in there.

 

All that said, I think the offense lost us the first half, but the defense lost us the second half.

 

This isn't a reactionary thing to the loss today - I guess its just poor timing. As I constantly watch Oregon play as well, I've been thinking this for a while. I think the straw that finally snapped is how tired Burkhead obviously was, and yet we still wouldn't play younger backs.

 

What happened in the game happened - I'm just frustrated we can't get some better players on the field for fear of them not doing the right thing. Well yeah, but the positives, IMO, will probably outweigh the "Oh sh!t moments" they will cause.

[HuskerAl]

Thanks for the paragraphs. So many times, people will say that and put it all in one paragraph. Kudos!

 

I agree, though. The lack of freshman on the field, and the lack of some of those interesting formations like the diamond, have been irksome the last couple of weeks. We need the old guys, but we also need to get those young guys in there.

 

All that said, I think the offense lost us the first half, but the defense lost us the second half.

 

Agreed. This bothers me very much. It's almost like Beck/Bo want Green to transfer..gees, give the dude some carries. I get that Burkhead gets stronger as the game goes on, but he was obviously dinged up and legitimitely exhausted. Burning the redshirts of all three RB's is going to haunt us i think

[The King]

If next year replicates this year, I would just redshirt them all. So pointless having them all this point, It would be one thing to have them redshirt.... completely another to not redshirt them and then not play them.

[I am I]

I thought it seemed pretty dang clear Rex was a bit gimpy today. He certainly wasn't full go. He hardly EVER fumbles the ball, but got it stripped today; maybe he tweaked it on his fumble and didn't have full control?

 

to OP, i AGREE and was so happy to see playmakers on the field so early this season, but it's like, "we're in the meat of the schedule and we can't have non veterans out there cuz we don't trust them." Although i'm not at practice and don't know if they're underperforming lately? the spotlight does have a way of burning people when it gets too hot...

 

didn't Trent Richardson carry a couple hundred times the yr Bama won the Nat'l Championsip?

[True2tRA]

Defense lost this game, I agree though, the offense could have used some fresh legs at times. Especially Rex. The guy is a trooper but I can't figure out why Abdullah, Green and Heard aren't getting in the rotation. And where the hell has Jamal Turner gone? It's baffling the hell out of me what we are trying to accomplish by not using some of these weapons. Oh and by the way, Taylor Martinez should win the Heisman.

[Enhance]

Yeah, I understand we need the depth, but I would have redshirted one and burned it if need be.

 

Heard, Green and Abdullah have 25, 21 and 22 carries, respectively. It's tough to split carries between three young guys like that, and we really can't do that in future years. We need a designated back or at least one guy that we rely on, and then we need a second guy to maybe do 10-15 carries a game. We can't split carries between three guys.

 

Position changes or transfers will be the only way out of that scenario.

[The King]

My whole point is - we should trust them by now. If they got any decent amount of carries the first 7 games, we would trust them. Or would at least know a lot more about what they can and cannot do.

 

Doubt that its anything in practice - probably because they don't know all the blitz pick up info and pass protection. Hence, why I say, if they struggle with that, get them in the slot..

[The King]

Yeah, I understand we need the depth, but I would have redshirted one and burned it if need be.

 

Heard, Green and Abdullah have 25, 21 and 22 carries, respectively. It's tough to split carries between three young guys like that, and we really can't do that in future years. We need a designated back or at least one guy that we rely on, and then we need a second guy to maybe do 10-15 carries a game. We can't split carries between three guys.

 

Position changes or transfers will be the only way out of that scenario.

 

I agree, its impossible to get 4 rb's a solid amount of carries.

 

I guess the true question is, why keep all 4 running backs, and not redshirt any of the 3 freshman, when they aren't going to get any carries? I would like for us to figure out a true #2 RB. Or if it really is a 2A and 2B, split them the carries. No way 3 guys are tied for second string. Also. Thats why I say, try and get them in the slot as well. They are all good enough to move around. So do it.

 

Also, between the 3 of them, should have more then 70 carries. Burkhead only averages 20 carries a game, give or take 1 or 2, but he plays on so many more downs than that between the read/option with Martinez and what not. It's truly pathetic in a run heavy offense we cannot get more then 70 carries to split between 3 other guys.

 

If our running backs are truly lethal and worth spending the redshirt, I would rather see a layout more similar to Oregons.

 

Solid #1 - 100+ carries. 110 or so.

Solid #2 - 70ish carries.

Solid #3, #4, - 40 Carries each. With this layout..

 

Burkhead 110 carries.

One of freshman with 70 (I would probably go a little lower with a frosh, probably 55-60)

then the other 2 frosh with 40-50 carries.

 

Not 200 carries and then 70 between the other 3 running backs. ha.

[Husker in CA]

Right now we're not playing for much....we might as well play for next year. Develop the Freshmen! We keep hearing how much of an athlete these guys are, well, let us play them!!!! Give them a chance. Didn't see much of them against Minnesota, and we were doing pretty well against them. I dunno about the Pelini way of developing. I just don't know.

[Husker Richard]

Right now we're not playing for much....we might as well play for next year. Develop the Freshmen! We keep hearing how much of an athlete these guys are, well, let us play them!!!! Give them a chance. Didn't see much of them against Minnesota, and we were doing pretty well against them. I dunno about the Pelini way of developing. I just don't know.

 

Ya, a conference championship is dumb and not a worthy goal.