First Post

[Joe_5700]

It's also no coincidence that the best team in the league this year, Wisconsin, had a great offensive line to support Wilson and Ball.

"Great offensive line play is overrated"-

Barney Cotton

[It'sNotAFakeID]

As many have said before me, long time lurker, first time poster.

 

I have been drinking the Red Kool-Aid for as long as I can possibly remember. I grew up in a small town in central Nebraska. My brothers and I would ride the bus from Grand Island to Lincoln to attend games when we were in our early teens. I doubt parents would allow any of their kids to do this today. The first game I truly remember was when we played Arizona St in '94. The first play of the game was a long run for a touchdown around the left side. An image that is forever imprinted in my mind. I have attended at least one game every year since that time, but never as many as I would like.

 

My feelings on the current the state of the program is that we seem to be an above-average team. I do feel Bo is the right man for the job. I believe he is making necessary changes as they arise, however, I feel we should have went after some differnt position coaches then we have. I am not the coach and so I will continue to trust Bo's process. The one area that really concerns me is QB play. I have been a supporter of Taylor Martinez this whole time. I am now believing he is not the man for the job. The largest improvement should be from year 1 to year 2. I did not see that large of improvement and this makes me believe he is not the man for the job. I truly hope he proves me wrong and develops into what many of us felt, in the beginning, he could be. The top teams in the Big Ten have very good QBs and this is the main area, I feel, that is keeping us from being a great team.

 

Look forward to many future discussions with all of you! GBR!

We changed offenses between year one and year two, we also changed conferences. The big jump in improvement may still come for Taylor.

 

This could be very true. In 2010, we ran a completely different offense than we ran in 2011. However, where you can expect to see improvements even with the changes in the offensive scheme is in the reading of the defense, which is where I saw Taylor improve a good amount from his freshman year to his sophomore year. He made some boneheaded decisions at times, but nowhere near the amount that was seen the year before. The improvement is there, and he should continue to improve.

 

Maybe there's an idea in place [and the reason as to why Taylor started as a freshman] that come 2013, when our schedule is the easiest its been for a while, that having a senior QB is going to be a very valuable asset. That idea maybe hard to wrap the "win now" mentality around, but maybe it's the driving force behind why Taylor is always the starter.

[knapplc]

There's exceptions to every rule. In this case, there's enough exceptions to "the biggest jump is from year one to year two" rule that we can go ahead and just say it's not a rule. Ndamukong Suh is one of thousands and thousands of examples.

 

This post is getting lost in the thread, and it shouldn't. Suh is a prime example of why it's still WAY too early to write Martinez off.

[Excel]

Anyone having a bit of nostalgia for their first post?

 

I can't seem to find mine but I'm pretty sure I was fighting with someone about the NU-UW game.

[knapplc]

Anyone having a bit of nostalgia for their first post?

 

I can't seem to find mine but I'm pretty sure I was fighting with someone about the NU-UW game.

 

Here you go

 

 

EDIT - oddly enough, my first post was complaining about Callahan.

[Count 'Bility]

There's exceptions to every rule. In this case, there's enough exceptions to "the biggest jump is from year one to year two" rule that we can go ahead and just say it's not a rule. Ndamukong Suh is one of thousands and thousands of examples.

 

This post is getting lost in the thread, and it shouldn't. Suh is a prime example of why it's still WAY too early to write Martinez off.

 

Very good, name great Suh moments from before '08. Only one i can think of is a game saving stuff at Wake Forest in 07, and maybe a sack or two of Freeman/ksu in 06'. 08 on? there's a plenty. What about helu?

[knapplc]

There's exceptions to every rule. In this case, there's enough exceptions to "the biggest jump is from year one to year two" rule that we can go ahead and just say it's not a rule. Ndamukong Suh is one of thousands and thousands of examples.

 

This post is getting lost in the thread, and it shouldn't. Suh is a prime example of why it's still WAY too early to write Martinez off.

 

Very good, name great Suh moments from before '08. Only one i can think of is a game saving stuff at Wake Forest in 07, and maybe a sack or two of Freeman/ksu in 06'. 08 on? there's a plenty. What about helu?

 

Maybe I'm reading Dude's post wrong, but I was seeing it as saying "Suh didn't do much his first two years, then he exploded." If that's the wrong interpretation, I screwed up.

 

But that's the point I guess I'm trying to make - Suh played quite a few minutes his first two years, and I believe he started most every game in 2007, but his numbers weren't eye-popping. That came later, and now he's a legend.

 

I don't expect Martinez to become a Suh-like legend, but I think he has a lot of improvement left in him. That's what I'm getting at.

[Count 'Bility]

There's exceptions to every rule. In this case, there's enough exceptions to "the biggest jump is from year one to year two" rule that we can go ahead and just say it's not a rule. Ndamukong Suh is one of thousands and thousands of examples.

 

This post is getting lost in the thread, and it shouldn't. Suh is a prime example of why it's still WAY too early to write Martinez off.

 

Very good, name great Suh moments from before '08. Only one i can think of is a game saving stuff at Wake Forest in 07, and maybe a sack or two of Freeman/ksu in 06'. 08 on? there's a plenty. What about helu?

 

Maybe I'm reading Dude's post wrong, but I was seeing it as saying "Suh didn't do much his first two years, then he exploded." If that's the wrong interpretation, I screwed up.

 

But that's the point I guess I'm trying to make - Suh played quite a few minutes his first two years, and I believe he started most every game in 2007, but his numbers weren't eye-popping. That came later, and now he's a legend.

 

I don't expect Martinez to become a Suh-like legend, but I think he has a lot of improvement left in him. That's what I'm getting at.

 

I was agreeing with your point. Suh played a lot but his dominance really didnt start to explode until 2-3 games into his senior year. Everyone remembers plenty of Suh moment from 08 and 09 but the previous 2 years not so many cuz there just werent that many.

[The Dude]

You read it right knapplc, I was making basically the same point you were when you said "everyone matures at there own rate."

[knapplc]

Bartender! Kool-aid for all my friends here!

[sd'sker]

You read it right knapplc, I was making basically the same point you were when you said "everyone matures at there own rate."

some say i am still maturing.

[kchusker_chris]

I don't expect Martinez to become a Suh-like legend, but I think he has a lot of improvement left in him. That's what I'm getting at.

He certainly does. Especially since he's playing the QB position. My only issue w/ Martinez is, that while it looks as though he's improving throughout the season...both second halves of his seasons have been disapointing. The first (allegedly) due to injury. What about the second? I didn't see him get any better in the second half of this season than he was in the first half. He made quite a bit of improvement from game 1 through about 7...then it got to the point where it was what it was. Coincidentally, that's when we happen to start playing teams that are ranked in the top 50. He capped it all off with a final series against USC that looked identical to the end of his play during the Washington bowl game. Deer in headlights, sack. Deer in headlights, sack. Deer in headlights, sack. That's my last memory from 2010, and is now my last memory from 2011.

[Blaze1up]

From last season TMart improved but from the start to the end of this season I saw no improvements. I don't want us to ride a dead horse like Jamal Lord and only hope for the best. In 2012 TMart gets the start, hopefully it all woks out.

[MichiganDad3]

My major complaint is that Nebraska fears running quarterbacks but the opposition does not fear Nebraska's running QB. The huskers fear running quarterbacks so much that the DL does not even rush the passer in order to prevent long scrambles. On the other hand how many times have we seen Martinez break out of the pocket and scramble for a big gain or a big 1st down? Opposing defenses don't reduce their rush pressure so Martinez can be contained. Why have a running QB only for designed runs? Nebraska should benefit from a running QB on pass plays, and Nebraska should be able to rush the passer and contain a scrambling QB.

[Hercules]

My major complaint is that Nebraska fears running quarterbacks but the opposition does not fear Nebraska's running QB. The huskers fear running quarterbacks so much that the DL does not even rush the passer in order to prevent long scrambles. On the other hand how many times have we seen Martinez break out of the pocket and scramble for a big gain or a big 1st down? Opposing defenses don't reduce their rush pressure so Martinez can be contained. Why have a running QB only for designed runs? Nebraska should benefit from a running QB on pass plays, and Nebraska should be able to rush the passer and contain a scrambling QB.

 

I actually liked the way that Nebraska contained Connor Shaw the other day. I thought it was pretty effective for the most part. What I didn't like was when they sent blitzes and didn't get to the QB.

 

As far as Taylor goes - I think that it would be great to see him become a more effective scrambler out of the pocket. It's something for him to work on, but I think you have to remember that he's still working on getting better at seeing the field and finding his checkdowns... Hopefully once he gets THAT stuff down, and is really comfortable with the playbook and finding his receivers and reading the defense and knowing how his protection is supposed to work (he still has a lot to learn with all of this), then he can focus more on what he can do when the play breaks down. I don't think he has the instincts that some other QBs have when it comes to scrambling, which is unfortunate, but hopefully he gets better.