It starts up front on both sides of the ball

[TommyT1988]

I do not get frustrated when the Huskers lose to a superior team in a bowl we should not have even been in, but it does frustrate me when I get on HuskerMax and Huskerboard to read people critiquing everything down to how our QB throws the ball and how our coach yells "too much".

 

I am positive some of you have never played a snap of football and that is alright. Hell-- Leach and Weiss havn't either. You can learn to game without playing it. With that said everyone on this forum must understand the simplicity of the downfall of this years team: The offensive and defensive lines.

 

I could sit here and throw guys under the bus, point out certain plays in the game or throughout the season on both the offensive and defensive lines, but I am not going to write a novel. Football starts up front. It doesn't matter who we have back there, what their rivals star ranking was or how fast those WR's are. It starts upfront. We will continue to have 4 loss season until we get the right guys in here who have the athleticism to get hats on LBs and the brains to pick up a simple blitz.

 

We can have guys that cover people so tightly they grab face masks and get ejected from the game, but without the front 4 being capable of playing assignment football and the ability to put on a decent pass rush, we will continue to get ran all over by a 4.8 40 QBs. This defensive scheme works when you have the right front 4(i.e 2009)

 

Just look at the ignorance of this so called "writer". The man doesn't even mention the front 5 on offense. This is the ignorance everyone on here must over come and the frustration anyone with football knowledge gets while reading forums that are supposed to be filled with the greatest/knowledgeable fans in all of college football

http://bigrednetwork.com/story/turning_the_page_to_2012/

 

Keep losing sleep over Martinez. Keep wondering about Green. Ask yourself if we have the right coaches. Go ahead and waste your time. It starts up front. and I assure you the coaches are doing everything they can to get the right guys in here to make things work.. Just check the recent recruiting classes- the future looks very bright if these trench workers meet their potential.

[SECHusker]

I do not get frustrated when the Huskers lose to a superior team in a bowl we should not have even been in, but it does frustrate me when I get on HuskerMax and Huskerboard to read people critiquing everything down to how our QB throws the ball and how our coach yells "too much".

 

I am positive some of you have never played a snap of football and that is alright. Hell-- Leach and Weiss havn't either. You can learn to game without playing it. With that said everyone on this forum must understand the simplicity of the downfall of this years team: The offensive and defensive lines.

 

I could sit here and throw guys under the bus, point out certain plays in the game or throughout the season on both the offensive and defensive lines, but I am not going to write a novel. Football starts up front. It doesn't matter who we have back there, what their rivals star ranking was or how fast those WR's are. It starts upfront. We will continue to have 4 loss season until we get the right guys in here who have the athleticism to get hats on LBs and the brains to pick up a simple blitz.

 

We can have guys that cover people so tightly they grab face masks and get ejected from the game, but without the front 4 being capable of playing assignment football and the ability to put on a decent pass rush, we will continue to get ran all over by a 4.8 40 QBs. This defensive scheme works when you have the right front 4(i.e 2009)

 

Just look at the ignorance of this so called "writer". The man doesn't even mention the front 5 on offense. This is the ignorance everyone on here must over come and the frustration anyone with football knowledge gets while reading forums that are supposed to be filled with the greatest/knowledgeable fans in all of college football

http://bigrednetwork...e_page_to_2012/

 

Keep losing sleep over Martinez. Keep wondering about Green. Ask yourself if we have the right coaches. Go ahead and waste your time. It starts up front. and I assure you the coaches are doing everything they can to get the right guys in here to make things work.. Just check the recent recruiting classes- the future looks very bright if these trench workers meet their potential.

 

I agree with you that everything starts up front, but for real the o-line has got better from the beginning of the year to this point. And the o-line appears on its way up. The first half of the game, the o-line kept us in the game. They started showing signs of distress when it became obvious we had to pass to get back in the game. They held their own against the most talented DE combo in the nation.

 

The Dline does need to improve, but I think this has more to do with coaching than personnel. The scheme that Bo is trying to run isn't advantageous for rushing the QB. He should become more creative over the off-season as to how he is going to rush the passer.

 

The staff maybe getting the recruiting the right guys, but how come the right guys are getting on the field? This is Pathetic. I don't care if Jamal can't block air, get his ASS on the field. If Reed is only good at running routes, have him do nothing but run routes all day, but he needs to be on the field. Same is true with the RBs. Nothing against Rex, but no one is scared of him. He is not a running back that a D-Coordinator is going to lose sleep over. He is a good consistent player, but we need playmakers on the field to shore up our deficiences.

 

As for defense. Meredith and Carter welcome to the bench. Martin and Ankrah you are up. And hopefully we don't see another walk-on experiement on D, instead have faith in the guys you've recruited and get them ON THE FIELD.

[chamrocck]

It took awhile to realize with all the other areas we were inconsistent in but OP is right...the lines are the problem with the team. TMart would be so much better if he had adequate protection...the guy is constantly under duress against good defenses that whip our OL. The false starts from the OL are embarrassing. Our DL to me was the worst unit all year. Cam has become ineffective and slow...what happened to this guy? Baker makes about one noticeably good play a game and that's it. I don't even notice Ankrah out there...where is this guy...does he ever get near the QB? T Moore was respectable after Crick went down. Rome has not made an impact IMO either.

 

Improving both lines should be the focus. Hopefully the new DL coach is game to energize our DL. Improving the lines will make the rest of the skill players be that much better. Interesting how easy a pass completion will be when TMart has time to throw. And INT's will magically appear again from the secondary as opposing QB's make poor throws in the face of pressure.

 

Fix the lines.

[walksalone]

The O Line made me want to pull my hair out. And the multiple false starts on Yoshi made me wonder why in the hell he was still in the game?

 

I think about the beast teams from the 90's, and those teams were predicated on outstanding line play.

[bshirt]

I do not get frustrated when the Huskers lose to a superior team in a bowl we should not have even been in, but it does frustrate me when I get on HuskerMax and Huskerboard to read people critiquing everything down to how our QB throws the ball and how our coach yells "too much".

 

I am positive some of you have never played a snap of football and that is alright. Hell-- Leach and Weiss havn't either. You can learn to game without playing it. With that said everyone on this forum must understand the simplicity of the downfall of this years team: The offensive and defensive lines.

 

I could sit here and throw guys under the bus, point out certain plays in the game or throughout the season on both the offensive and defensive lines, but I am not going to write a novel. Football starts up front. It doesn't matter who we have back there, what their rivals star ranking was or how fast those WR's are. It starts upfront. We will continue to have 4 loss season until we get the right guys in here who have the athleticism to get hats on LBs and the brains to pick up a simple blitz.

 

We can have guys that cover people so tightly they grab face masks and get ejected from the game, but without the front 4 being capable of playing assignment football and the ability to put on a decent pass rush, we will continue to get ran all over by a 4.8 40 QBs. This defensive scheme works when you have the right front 4(i.e 2009)

 

Just look at the ignorance of this so called "writer". The man doesn't even mention the front 5 on offense. This is the ignorance everyone on here must over come and the frustration anyone with football knowledge gets while reading forums that are supposed to be filled with the greatest/knowledgeable fans in all of college football

http://bigrednetwork...e_page_to_2012/

 

Keep losing sleep over Martinez. Keep wondering about Green. Ask yourself if we have the right coaches. Go ahead and waste your time. It starts up front. and I assure you the coaches are doing everything they can to get the right guys in here to make things work.. Just check the recent recruiting classes- the future looks very bright if these trench workers meet their potential.

 

I agree with you that everything starts up front, but for real the o-line has got better from the beginning of the year to this point. And the o-line appears on its way up. The first half of the game, the o-line kept us in the game. They started showing signs of distress when it became obvious we had to pass to get back in the game. They held their own against the most talented DE combo in the nation.

 

The Dline does need to improve, but I think this has more to do with coaching than personnel. The scheme that Bo is trying to run isn't advantageous for rushing the QB. He should become more creative over the off-season as to how he is going to rush the passer.

 

The staff maybe getting the recruiting the right guys, but how come the right guys are getting on the field? This is Pathetic. I don't care if Jamal can't block air, get his ASS on the field. If Reed is only good at running routes, have him do nothing but run routes all day, but he needs to be on the field. Same is true with the RBs. Nothing against Rex, but no one is scared of him. He is not a running back that a D-Coordinator is going to lose sleep over. He is a good consistent player, but we need playmakers on the field to shore up our deficiences.

 

As for defense. Meredith and Carter welcome to the bench. Martin and Ankrah you are up. And hopefully we don't see another walk-on experiement on D, instead have faith in the guys you've recruited and get them ON THE FIELD.

 

Haha.... I love posts like this.

 

A WR can't block a girl scout? Can't remember his routes? Drops easy TD passes? GET HIM ON THE FIELD!! A TE who repeatably gets beheaded when attempting to block anybody? GET HIM ON THE FIELD!!

 

What does a run-first offense need blocking for anyway?

 

Lol! HuskerBoard is......great!!

[Big Red 40]

I dont mind when the Huskers lose to superior teams either. just didnt think that was the case in the bowl game. Wisconsin/Michigan were better teams than us , no problem in my book that we lost to them. Michigan wasnt 4 touchdowns better , but in the end i really doesnt matter. a loss is a loss.

Before the Bowl game started i really worried that a big bad Sec team was gonna blow us off the field. To my surprise we hung right with them and should have been leading at the half by a touchdown or 2 IMO.

I agree we need work on both lines. The best teams we ever had, opened holes that a bus could have run through and consistently beat their man on defense. Sure tacklers too.

The higher the quality of your opponent, the less margin for error there is.They will make you pay for mistakes much more than lesser teams. When the QB hits you in the hands, you HAVE to catch it. When you have 2 defenders chasing the QB someone has got to bring him down. 12 games into the season, on a very important drive, you HAVE have to keep your butt down until the ball is snapped! Etc Etc. The last couple of years teams did far to many things like that in my opinion.

[Stickney]

The much maligned O-Line actually wasn't nearly as bad as anticipated. They performed quite well in the 1st half on Mon, and the 2nd half was a complete team melt-down.

 

 

The D-Line is far more of an issue. Bo loves this "mush rush" for containing mobile QBs, but when the only person who can make a play on that QB is gone (David), there are issues looking forward. Perhaps there is wholesale improvement next year, who knows.

 

I believe a new term was coined this year by this Dline -- what is the opposite of a "coverage sack"? A "no pressure completion."

[mwj98]

Amen...amen...amen.... Tommy. You are exactly right. It all starts up front. Whenever I see our defensive line get stonewalled, or meredith spin move to the inside and the outside is wide open, I cringe. I was always taught to get push up the field and when you see the qb step up, then spin move inside. I don't know, just fundamentals. We got manhandled on both sides of the ball....period. Not sustaining blocks, diving at linebackers and not engaging and holding blocks long enough. That's all fundamentals. Thank god for David, he saved our butts so many times because of screw ups up front. That is why I am excited about our new d line coach. It's pretty simple to fix and we will look much better.

 

From an offensive standpoint, Caputo gave great effort, but he got worked! We, as my dad used to call it "titty fight" all day long in certain games. In other words, pad level to high and defensive lineman created penetration. It boggles my mind that we couldn't get that corrected.

 

So I agree, we get the d-line and offensive line tightened up, everything else scheme wise works. When you create lanes for your LB's to run through (i.e. blitzes) a whole new world opens up. We you blitz and can't get to the qb, it's like a train wreck.

 

GBR!!

[It'sNotAFakeID]

I do not get frustrated when the Huskers lose to a superior team in a bowl we should not have even been in, but it does frustrate me when I get on HuskerMax and Huskerboard to read people critiquing everything down to how our QB throws the ball and how our coach yells "too much".

 

I am positive some of you have never played a snap of football and that is alright. Hell-- Leach and Weiss havn't either. You can learn to game without playing it. With that said everyone on this forum must understand the simplicity of the downfall of this years team: The offensive and defensive lines.

 

I could sit here and throw guys under the bus, point out certain plays in the game or throughout the season on both the offensive and defensive lines, but I am not going to write a novel. Football starts up front. It doesn't matter who we have back there, what their rivals star ranking was or how fast those WR's are. It starts upfront. We will continue to have 4 loss season until we get the right guys in here who have the athleticism to get hats on LBs and the brains to pick up a simple blitz.

 

We can have guys that cover people so tightly they grab face masks and get ejected from the game, but without the front 4 being capable of playing assignment football and the ability to put on a decent pass rush, we will continue to get ran all over by a 4.8 40 QBs. This defensive scheme works when you have the right front 4(i.e 2009)

 

Just look at the ignorance of this so called "writer". The man doesn't even mention the front 5 on offense. This is the ignorance everyone on here must over come and the frustration anyone with football knowledge gets while reading forums that are supposed to be filled with the greatest/knowledgeable fans in all of college football

http://bigrednetwork...e_page_to_2012/

 

Keep losing sleep over Martinez. Keep wondering about Green. Ask yourself if we have the right coaches. Go ahead and waste your time. It starts up front. and I assure you the coaches are doing everything they can to get the right guys in here to make things work.. Just check the recent recruiting classes- the future looks very bright if these trench workers meet their potential.

 

I agree with you that everything starts up front, but for real the o-line has got better from the beginning of the year to this point. And the o-line appears on its way up. The first half of the game, the o-line kept us in the game. They started showing signs of distress when it became obvious we had to pass to get back in the game. They held their own against the most talented DE combo in the nation.

 

The Dline does need to improve, but I think this has more to do with coaching than personnel. The scheme that Bo is trying to run isn't advantageous for rushing the QB. He should become more creative over the off-season as to how he is going to rush the passer.

 

The staff maybe getting the recruiting the right guys, but how come the right guys are getting on the field? This is Pathetic. I don't care if Jamal can't block air, get his ASS on the field. If Reed is only good at running routes, have him do nothing but run routes all day, but he needs to be on the field. Same is true with the RBs. Nothing against Rex, but no one is scared of him. He is not a running back that a D-Coordinator is going to lose sleep over. He is a good consistent player, but we need playmakers on the field to shore up our deficiences.

 

As for defense. Meredith and Carter welcome to the bench. Martin and Ankrah you are up. And hopefully we don't see another walk-on experiement on D, instead have faith in the guys you've recruited and get them ON THE FIELD.

 

Haha.... I love posts like this.

 

A WR can't block a girl scout? Can't remember his routes? Drops easy TD passes? GET HIM ON THE FIELD!! A TE who repeatably gets beheaded when attempting to block anybody? GET HIM ON THE FIELD!!

 

What does a run-first offense need blocking for anyway?

 

Lol! HuskerBoard is......great!!

 

Yeah, armchair coordinators and armchair coaches, they know EVERYTHING.

[Warrior10]

I do not get frustrated when the Huskers lose to a superior team in a bowl we should not have even been in, but it does frustrate me when I get on HuskerMax and Huskerboard to read people critiquing everything down to how our QB throws the ball and how our coach yells "too much".

 

I am positive some of you have never played a snap of football and that is alright. Hell-- Leach and Weiss havn't either. You can learn to game without playing it. With that said everyone on this forum must understand the simplicity of the downfall of this years team: The offensive and defensive lines.

 

I could sit here and throw guys under the bus, point out certain plays in the game or throughout the season on both the offensive and defensive lines, but I am not going to write a novel. Football starts up front. It doesn't matter who we have back there, what their rivals star ranking was or how fast those WR's are. It starts upfront. We will continue to have 4 loss season until we get the right guys in here who have the athleticism to get hats on LBs and the brains to pick up a simple blitz.

 

We can have guys that cover people so tightly they grab face masks and get ejected from the game, but without the front 4 being capable of playing assignment football and the ability to put on a decent pass rush, we will continue to get ran all over by a 4.8 40 QBs. This defensive scheme works when you have the right front 4(i.e 2009)

 

Just look at the ignorance of this so called "writer". The man doesn't even mention the front 5 on offense. This is the ignorance everyone on here must over come and the frustration anyone with football knowledge gets while reading forums that are supposed to be filled with the greatest/knowledgeable fans in all of college football

http://bigrednetwork...e_page_to_2012/

 

Keep losing sleep over Martinez. Keep wondering about Green. Ask yourself if we have the right coaches. Go ahead and waste your time. It starts up front. and I assure you the coaches are doing everything they can to get the right guys in here to make things work.. Just check the recent recruiting classes- the future looks very bright if these trench workers meet their potential.

 

I agree with you that everything starts up front, but for real the o-line has got better from the beginning of the year to this point. And the o-line appears on its way up. The first half of the game, the o-line kept us in the game. They started showing signs of distress when it became obvious we had to pass to get back in the game. They held their own against the most talented DE combo in the nation.

 

The Dline does need to improve, but I think this has more to do with coaching than personnel. The scheme that Bo is trying to run isn't advantageous for rushing the QB. He should become more creative over the off-season as to how he is going to rush the passer.

 

The staff maybe getting the recruiting the right guys, but how come the right guys are getting on the field? This is Pathetic. I don't care if Jamal can't block air, get his ASS on the field. If Reed is only good at running routes, have him do nothing but run routes all day, but he needs to be on the field. Same is true with the RBs. Nothing against Rex, but no one is scared of him. He is not a running back that a D-Coordinator is going to lose sleep over. He is a good consistent player, but we need playmakers on the field to shore up our deficiences.

 

As for defense. Meredith and Carter welcome to the bench. Martin and Ankrah you are up. And hopefully we don't see another walk-on experiement on D, instead have faith in the guys you've recruited and get them ON THE FIELD.

Did you just request that Rex be benched? Wow...

[Enhance]

I do not get frustrated when the Huskers lose to a superior team in a bowl we should not have even been in, but it does frustrate me when I get on HuskerMax and Huskerboard to read people critiquing everything down to how our QB throws the ball and how our coach yells "too much".

 

I am positive some of you have never played a snap of football and that is alright. Hell-- Leach and Weiss havn't either. You can learn to game without playing it. With that said everyone on this forum must understand the simplicity of the downfall of this years team: The offensive and defensive lines.

 

I could sit here and throw guys under the bus, point out certain plays in the game or throughout the season on both the offensive and defensive lines, but I am not going to write a novel. Football starts up front. It doesn't matter who we have back there, what their rivals star ranking was or how fast those WR's are. It starts upfront. We will continue to have 4 loss season until we get the right guys in here who have the athleticism to get hats on LBs and the brains to pick up a simple blitz.

 

We can have guys that cover people so tightly they grab face masks and get ejected from the game, but without the front 4 being capable of playing assignment football and the ability to put on a decent pass rush, we will continue to get ran all over by a 4.8 40 QBs. This defensive scheme works when you have the right front 4(i.e 2009)

 

Just look at the ignorance of this so called "writer". The man doesn't even mention the front 5 on offense. This is the ignorance everyone on here must over come and the frustration anyone with football knowledge gets while reading forums that are supposed to be filled with the greatest/knowledgeable fans in all of college football

http://bigrednetwork...e_page_to_2012/

 

Keep losing sleep over Martinez. Keep wondering about Green. Ask yourself if we have the right coaches. Go ahead and waste your time. It starts up front. and I assure you the coaches are doing everything they can to get the right guys in here to make things work.. Just check the recent recruiting classes- the future looks very bright if these trench workers meet their potential.

 

I agree with you that everything starts up front, but for real the o-line has got better from the beginning of the year to this point. And the o-line appears on its way up. The first half of the game, the o-line kept us in the game. They started showing signs of distress when it became obvious we had to pass to get back in the game. They held their own against the most talented DE combo in the nation.

I have a slightly different opinion. The offensive line, I thought, was better this year than they have been the previous two. However, they were still consistently inconsistent. Drive ending penalties were common, older guys made mistakes just as much as younger guys, etc. The offensive line definitely played well in the first half, but so did other facets of the game. When the going got rough, the line faltered just like the other players did, and it wasn't just in passing situations. That said, we had time to run the football in the third quarter and we didn't - we elected to pass. That's on Beck.

The Dline does need to improve, but I think this has more to do with coaching than personnel. The scheme that Bo is trying to run isn't advantageous for rushing the QB. He should become more creative over the off-season as to how he is going to rush the passer.

One thing that always frustrated me was watching us rush the passer. Of the 21 sacks we had this year, it felt as if 18 of those were coverage sacks. Rarely did we get pressure with just a four man rush, our guys struggled to get off blocks and it felt that the quarterback would have at least five seconds before we were finally able to chase him down outside the pocket. This is unacceptable, regardless of scheme. Quarterback had all day to throw against us this year, and it shouldn't take a monster defensive tackle like Suh just to get pressure on a QB.

The staff maybe getting the recruiting the right guys, but how come the right guys are getting on the field? This is Pathetic. I don't care if Jamal can't block air, get his ASS on the field. If Reed is only good at running routes, have him do nothing but run routes all day, but he needs to be on the field. Same is true with the RBs. Nothing against Rex, but no one is scared of him. He is not a running back that a D-Coordinator is going to lose sleep over. He is a good consistent player, but we need playmakers on the field to shore up our deficiences.

If a guy struggles with his route running, his catching and his blocking, he doesn't deserve to be on the field a lot in a run first offense. Same with Reed - he did not have a good blocking game Monday and even dropped a pass! Ben Cotton was the much better tight end this year even if he's not on the same athletic playing field as Reed. And you can't seriously be suggesting nobody is worried about Rex Burkhead. You don't get early 2012 Heisman buzz, rush for almost 1,400 yards and 15 touchdowns without worrying somebody. The dude averaged 4.8 yards per carry. That's very, very good. Rex Burkhead is by far our best offensive weapon - he's powerful, shifty, makes good line reads, plays well in pass pro and is a tough son of a gun. Should we get more guys in to alleviate the load? Yes. Does Burkhead present a challenge for defensive coordinators? Absolutely.

As for defense. Meredith and Carter welcome to the bench. Martin and Ankrah you are up. And hopefully we don't see another walk-on experiement on D, instead have faith in the guys you've recruited and get them ON THE FIELD.

Meredith had five sacks this year, six TFL's and and 58 tackles. Ankrah had one sack, three TFL's and 17 tackles, and you want to bench Meredith? That's ridiculous. Some people say Anrkah would be better if he could speed rush, and maybe that's true because I just don't know. What I think is that Meredith plays the two-gap system the best of any of our linemen, and Martin doesn't play often because he doesn't play the system well enough. One thing Martin is good at is creating pressure, so we bring him in on obvious passing downs to get to the quarterback.

[JJ Husker]

I agree that it all starts up front with the D & O lines and, if those aren't working, not much of anything else is going to make a difference. But we also need all facets of the team working to have the level of success that is expected of NU football. We may get in 3rd and long situations because of the O line but, when that does happen, I don't think it is too much to expect that our QB should be able to function as a passer. I have not been an outspoken Martinez basher but I do believe we need some leadership and passing efficiency out of that position and we aren't getting it (and I now believe we will never get it from Taylor). I also feel it is fair game to question the ability of this coaching staff to get the team prepared and motivated for disciplined, focused football. Some of these ancillary issues may be receiving an unfair amount of critique given that our line play is not where it needs to be but, last time I checked, football was a team sport and it requires everyone to be doing their job, not just the lines. We will have a very hard time getting over the hump with quality teams if all facets aren't clicking. So, I feel it is a little short sighted to say that everyone except the lines gets a pass on performance. We have more issues than just that.

[TommyT1988]

I agree that it all starts up front with the D & O lines and, if those aren't working, not much of anything else is going to make a difference. But we also need all facets of the team working to have the level of success that is expected of NU football. We may get in 3rd and long situations because of the O line but, when that does happen, I don't think it is too much to expect that our QB should be able to function as a passer. I have not been an outspoken Martinez basher but I do believe we need some leadership and passing efficiency out of that position and we aren't getting it (and I now believe we will never get it from Taylor). I also feel it is fair game to question the ability of this coaching staff to get the team prepared and motivated for disciplined, focused football. Some of these ancillary issues may be receiving an unfair amount of critique given that our line play is not where it needs to be but, last time I checked, football was a team sport and it requires everyone to be doing their job, not just the lines. We will have a very hard time getting over the hump with quality teams if all facets aren't clicking. So, I feel it is a little short sighted to say that everyone except the lines gets a pass on performance. We have more issues than just that.

I understand your points and I completely disagree.

 

I would argue that we have one of the best tandems in college football in our backfield and we cannot do jack sh#t with it because we have a front 5 that pu&&y-footing around. They scare absolutely no one and until we get a front 5 that can give decent pass protection(including blocking tFR DE's: see SC DLINE) or get a push or block into the second level, Martinez will continue to be blown to pieces and eventually hurt. Then all of you Taylor haters can watch the next poor sap be thrown into the dogs and lit up due to the worst offensive line play in the country: from pad level, footwork, to just plain getting after it.

 

Thank GOD for Martinez's wheels- I'm not sure if a LB has been blocked all year and luckily he is fast enough to get past that second level. That is just the plain hard truth. The title says it starts up front and until you are solid in both positions there is no possible way to evaluate any other position, literally, LITERALLY, without consistnt play on the DL/OL. How can you critique a QBs passing when he is being rushed almost instantly, How can you judge an option when 0 of the LB's have been blocked. How can how can you critique coverage if the DL has 0 pressure(of course there can be some break downs) but when the QB has all day??? how can you critique the LBs if the DLINE is getting blown off the ball/fails to play ASSIGNMENT football. Thats that.

 

As far as motivation- preparation blah blahblah, why waste your time even thinking about those things? Are you in the locker room? at practice? You cannot even begin to factually debate anything along those lines. "Oh but we lost the game" Yeah well we wont 9 of them, they were not motivated for these games? Nothing can prepare you for the projected #27 draft pick jumps above all others and makes a play on the ball. When you come to realize and understand things like this- we could have half the number of posts and produce at least double the productive conversations.

[JJ Husker]

I agree that it all starts up front with the D & O lines and, if those aren't working, not much of anything else is going to make a difference. But we also need all facets of the team working to have the level of success that is expected of NU football. We may get in 3rd and long situations because of the O line but, when that does happen, I don't think it is too much to expect that our QB should be able to function as a passer. I have not been an outspoken Martinez basher but I do believe we need some leadership and passing efficiency out of that position and we aren't getting it (and I now believe we will never get it from Taylor). I also feel it is fair game to question the ability of this coaching staff to get the team prepared and motivated for disciplined, focused football. Some of these ancillary issues may be receiving an unfair amount of critique given that our line play is not where it needs to be but, last time I checked, football was a team sport and it requires everyone to be doing their job, not just the lines. We will have a very hard time getting over the hump with quality teams if all facets aren't clicking. So, I feel it is a little short sighted to say that everyone except the lines gets a pass on performance. We have more issues than just that.

I understand your points and I completely disagree.

 

I would argue that we have one of the best tandems in college football in our backfield and we cannot do jack sh#t with it because we have a front 5 that pu&&y-footing around. They scare absolutely no one and until we get a front 5 that can give decent pass protection(including blocking tFR DE's: see SC DLINE) or get a push or block into the second level, Martinez will continue to be blown to pieces and eventually hurt. Then all of you Taylor haters can watch the next poor sap be thrown into the dogs and lit up due to the worst offensive line play in the country: from pad level, footwork, to just plain getting after it.

 

Thank GOD for Martinez's wheels- I'm not sure if a LB has been blocked all year and luckily he is fast enough to get past that second level. That is just the plain hard truth. The title says it starts up front and until you are solid in both positions there is no possible way to evaluate any other position, literally, LITERALLY, without consistnt play on the DL/OL. How can you critique a QBs passing when he is being rushed almost instantly, How can you judge an option when 0 of the LB's have been blocked. How can how can you critique coverage if the DL has 0 pressure(of course there can be some break downs) but when the QB has all day??? how can you critique the LBs if the DLINE is getting blown off the ball/fails to play ASSIGNMENT football. Thats that.

 

As far as motivation- preparation blah blahblah, why waste your time even thinking about those things? Are you in the locker room? at practice? You cannot even begin to factually debate anything along those lines. "Oh but we lost the game" Yeah well we wont 9 of them, they were not motivated for these games? Nothing can prepare you for the projected #27 draft pick jumps above all others and makes a play on the ball. When you come to realize and understand things like this- we could have half the number of posts and produce at least double the productive conversations.

I hear what your saying and I agree that line play is one of the most important pieces but I don't agree that the other things don't matter or that you can't evaluate other positions or coaching before the O line play is pristine.

And you don't know or understand me very well if you think all I care about is a W or an L. I'm not out here calling for Bo's head or for Taylor to be replaced. Personally I don't care if we win 7 games or 11 games or how many CCG's or NCG's we play in. What I want to see is us being competitive, playing up to our potential, not getting our doors blown off by every decent team we face, not just squeeking by much lesser teams, and more than anything, playing a complete game rather than only 1 or 2 quarters. IMO the D line play is a more glaring problem than the O line but neither one are where they need to be. And I will continue to attribute repeated false starts and incomplete games to coaching, whether you like it or not. And the SC receiver did make one hell of a play on the hail mary but our guys were not positioned the way I know they have been taught. What do you attribute those brain farts to? You can poo poo preparation, motivation, and mental toughness all you want but that is what was responsible for that TD more than the great individual effort of some stud WR. When you come to realize and understand HOW we lost 2 or 3 of the games we did and quit blaming only the line play for it, then we can have a productive conversation. You may not be able to judge preparation or motivation without being in the lockerroom but I assume you are capable of watching what they do on the field. Taylor is a hell of an athlete but IMO (based on some information from inside the lockerroom and from watching sideline behavior) he does not provide the leadership the position requires and typically does not throw the ball well irregardless of how much time he has or how many drops our receivers have had. He will never be a prolific passer. I don't blame him personally for not being a great passer but, it is what it is. It is not always the lines fault when there is a 3rd and long situation. The whole team (including the QB) at a place like Nebraska should be able to handle it when it comes up.

[bshirt]

I agree that it all starts up front with the D & O lines and, if those aren't working, not much of anything else is going to make a difference. But we also need all facets of the team working to have the level of success that is expected of NU football. We may get in 3rd and long situations because of the O line but, when that does happen, I don't think it is too much to expect that our QB should be able to function as a passer. I have not been an outspoken Martinez basher but I do believe we need some leadership and passing efficiency out of that position and we aren't getting it (and I now believe we will never get it from Taylor). I also feel it is fair game to question the ability of this coaching staff to get the team prepared and motivated for disciplined, focused football. Some of these ancillary issues may be receiving an unfair amount of critique given that our line play is not where it needs to be but, last time I checked, football was a team sport and it requires everyone to be doing their job, not just the lines. We will have a very hard time getting over the hump with quality teams if all facets aren't clicking. So, I feel it is a little short sighted to say that everyone except the lines gets a pass on performance. We have more issues than just that.

I understand your points and I completely disagree.

 

I would argue that we have one of the best tandems in college football in our backfield and we cannot do jack sh#t with it because we have a front 5 that pu&&y-footing around. They scare absolutely no one and until we get a front 5 that can give decent pass protection(including blocking tFR DE's: see SC DLINE) or get a push or block into the second level, Martinez will continue to be blown to pieces and eventually hurt. Then all of you Taylor haters can watch the next poor sap be thrown into the dogs and lit up due to the worst offensive line play in the country: from pad level, footwork, to just plain getting after it.

 

Thank GOD for Martinez's wheels- I'm not sure if a LB has been blocked all year and luckily he is fast enough to get past that second level. That is just the plain hard truth. The title says it starts up front and until you are solid in both positions there is no possible way to evaluate any other position, literally, LITERALLY, without consistnt play on the DL/OL. How can you critique a QBs passing when he is being rushed almost instantly, How can you judge an option when 0 of the LB's have been blocked. How can how can you critique coverage if the DL has 0 pressure(of course there can be some break downs) but when the QB has all day??? how can you critique the LBs if the DLINE is getting blown off the ball/fails to play ASSIGNMENT football. Thats that.

 

As far as motivation- preparation blah blahblah, why waste your time even thinking about those things? Are you in the locker room? at practice? You cannot even begin to factually debate anything along those lines. "Oh but we lost the game" Yeah well we wont 9 of them, they were not motivated for these games? Nothing can prepare you for the projected #27 draft pick jumps above all others and makes a play on the ball. When you come to realize and understand things like this- we could have half the number of posts and produce at least double the productive conversations.

 

Simply an excellent post!

 

I can't possibly express how much I totally agree with this. Talk about a breath of fresh air.....

 

It's amazing that so many are so very, very clueless about such a glaringly obvious issue. Good Gawd, all year I've watched SRex break tackles behind the LOS to still get positive yardage. We wonder why Bo/Beck is soooo stupid for not developing the triplets? Well, duh! Because they would get cremated with our dismal OLine/TE (Reed) blocking, that's why.

 

Then we bitch, whine & moan until the Missouri river overflows that Turner isn't playing. It's a travesty!! Bo/Beck again are soooo stupid. Forget he can't block Pee Wee Herman, drops passes & can't remember his routes. Who cares?

 

That our qb has decent running stats this year, even with the sliding and distributing the ball with this Oline & Reed/Turner "blocking" for him is a miracle. Was 1995 & 1997 really that long ago? Or even 1999 or 2001? Holy Moly, the difference in current Oline play is titantic. Freaking "NW" stuffing our Oline. Doesn't that tell our fans anything?

 

Then to top it off there's the WRs dropping Tmart's passes all over the field the last two years. Of course and as always, that's ignored. Tmart s*cks.

 

Sometimes I "almost" do wish Tmart would get hurt so we could see how awesome Carnes or whoever is playing behind our Line that can't block & creates penalties by the boatload. Then watch our WRs drop his passes too (just like they did Z. Lee's).

 

Ok, enough of my rant. I just get so frustrated reading these post all year long pinning all performance issues on Tmart. All I know is that Frost, Frazier & Crouch were damn lucky they had the Olines/TEs they had. I appreciate those pancakers even far, far more now. Oh well......

 

GBR!!