Taylor's Presser (post-game, Ohio State)

[Huskerfan1985]

I would ove for him to say, Man i dont know what is ging on with our speacial teams on Kick off return!!!!! They keep giving me 88 yard of field to drive down and score whn the could ust let the ball go out the back of the end zone and give it to me at the 25.

re-watched the game last night and totally agree. Or, he could say, "i have no idea why it is so hard for Sirles or Rodriguez to block the guy in front of them" Watch the game again and watch how poorly the tackles played. Its miraculous they haven't got taylor hurt or there weren't more turnovers. Taylor bailed the o-line out a lot.

 

Don't get me wrong, he made some poor decisions but they responded fromt he first 2 picks. NU reclaimed the lead 24-21 after the second pick and also scored to start the half. NU closed the gap to 31 - 35 to start the second half. To be fair, the half-time score should have been 24-28 or 24-31 worse case had the D not given up a trademark pelini end of half td.

[zoogs]

Yeah, that's the thing that would've been great for Taylor to say on top of what he doesn't say about his picks or turnovers, even when given the opportunity to man up about them. He already talked about how bad the 1st & 20s were to keep setting the offense back; why not personally throw Sirles under there, as well, as he skips the ball security & other veteran mistakes topic?

 

This is a leadership issue, not a who-should-get-the-finger-pointed issue. I understand a lot of fans want to point the finger, fairly or not, at everybody but Taylor, but this is not about his play. Leaders point the thumb. Bo sets that example and it is admirable.

[It'sNotAFakeID]

I don't see the issue here.

 

Was he wrong to say something about the offensive line, who constantly kept putting the offense behind the 8 ball by either allowing a sack, or having 3 false starts in 10 plays (Qvale, anyone)?

 

Was he wrong to say that the defender got away with a little too much contact on his second interception?

 

Was he wrong to say that the defender didn't make a great jump on his first INT?

 

Was he wrong to say that the game was turning into a shoot-out?

 

I'll just add that I think we all know that Taylor understands that he knows that he made his fair share of mistakes during the game, and will do everything in his power to prevent that from happening again.

[Huskerfan1985]

Yeah, that's the thing that would've been great for Taylor to say on top of what he doesn't say about his picks or turnovers, even when given the opportunity to man up about them. He already talked about how bad the 1st & 20s were to keep setting the offense back; why not personally throw Sirles under there, as well, as he skips the ball security & other veteran mistakes topic?

 

This is a leadership issue, not a who-should-get-the-finger-pointed issue. I understand a lot of fans want to point the finger, fairly or not, at everybody but Taylor, but this is not about his play. Leaders point the thumb. Bo sets that example and it is admirable.

I get the leadership point, but does that really "fix" anything on the field? I mean, maybe he didn't answer exactly like you wanted, but whether he admits to the mistakes or not he still plays his guts out. It's a complex issue because if the game isn't a shootout, maybe he doesn't force as much. But, if that's get brought up, it turns into finger pointing on the d. I guess i just feel he's been thrown under the bus since he was a freshman. If i saw an ounce of "quit" in the guy, i'd feel different. My point is that despite the difficiencies on this team he leaves it all on the feild and that is his style of leadership, not just saying its all my fault.

[zoogs]

Yes. When mistakes happen on the field, players need to know that their QB has their backs and is taking responsibility and pushing towards the next play. When a false start happens, they need to know that Taylor isn't just thinking about how bad it is that the offense keeps getting these, and they need to not have any opening to wonder, "Hey Taylor, what about your own ball security issues?"

 

So yeah, when Taylor was given a soft-lob opportunity to say "Those picks really hurt us. I'm going to do better", and he didn't, or when Taylor was given the opportunity to talk about penalties, turnovers, and all other team miscues in a question directed specifically at him and the other veterans on the team, and he only talked about OL penalties and left it there...it's not a good showing of leadership.

 

Maybe it matters on the field, maybe it has no effect on the team. I don't know. And maybe this hits at a broader issue that McKewon brought up on the radio, about team ownership, and players needing to take more ownership of the team and the situations they find themselves in. I feel like there were good opportunities passed up here, and it isn't the first time Taylor has been given a chance to just man up in front of the media, and turned it down.

[Huskerfan1985]

Zoogies, I still feel that this is non-issue, but to take your side a bit, maybe Taylor does need to be more accountable in the media. I would hope as Junior he is not a finished product and that this is something he can work on going forward. Fortunately, the season isn't over, so i don't see any reason this behavior couldn't change if it is addressed.

 

I just have a hard time placing judgement on someone's leadership as a result of pressers. I guess they way I read it, he provides honest answers, not coach speak and that is the biggest fault.

 

And to be completely fair, even if Taylor doesn't say it, the questions that he's going to get asked regarding penalties, protection problems, etc. are going to be heard by the people responsible regardless of Taylor giving a canned response. At the end of the day, you're right. He could be more accountable, however imo i don't see anything wrong with how he handled it.

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Here's what I think happened:

 

Let me first say that I'm making this premise from the fact that this presser was post game, not a couple of days down the road.

 

That game was a frustrating loss, for us as fans, but even more so for the players and coaches. As much as we want them to be robots and emotionless, or to simultaneously think of answers, they're not; what they say is what is on their minds (what they perceived during the game), regardless of if it's good, bad, or indifferent. We all do it. The only difference is that we aren't in front of the press constantly like they are.

 

Maybe in practice, when they can go over game film, Taylor (and other players) can acknowledge their mistakes and own up to them, much like we want them to. They don't have to own up to anything to us, but they do have to for their coaches and teammates. And that extends to the coaches as well--they have to own up to their mistakes to their players. If that happens during practice, then that's all that needs to happen in my opinion.

[knapplc]

This cannot be the first Taylor Martinez presser you've watched, zoogies. I cannot for the life of me understand what you expect him to say here. He went to Quarterback Camp this summer, not Press Conference Camp.

 

You stick a microphone in front of Martinez and these are the kinds of answers you're going to get from him. We know this, we've known this since day one, and we're going to keep seeing this from him for another season and a half.

 

I get the frustration about this game. But the offense put up 38 points in front of the largest, most hostile crowd in the history of one of the most difficult places to play in all of college football. The offense was not the problem Saturday.

 

 

 

 

Can someone point me to the thread with quotes and a video from the defensive players' pressers? I'm not able to find that in this forum.

[sd'sker]

tebow should have been embarrassed, he had a hell of a team and lost to a bad ole miss team. it is unfair to compare the two and kind of pointless.

 

edit: knapp, the offense was a little bit of the problem with the turnovers and penalties. it was a team loss, once again. obviously the defense did worse, but the offense did not help a whole lot.

[knapplc]

edit: knapp, the offense was a little bit of the problem with the turnovers and penalties. it was a team loss, once again. obviously the defense did worse, but the offense did not help a whole lot.

 

Absolutely the offense made mistakes. They also made up for their mistakes by scoring 38 points, earning 437 yards and winning the TOP battle, 31:52 to 28:08. When the defense made mistakes, they flat-out folded. Taylor was 15-25 with a TD and three picks. He threw for 214 yards. I'd say that's going a long way to atoning for the sin of three INTs.

 

Meanwhile, the defense gives up 371 yards rushing, and nobody is posting threads about the tone, tenor and intent behind their pressers.

[Count 'Bility]

It doesnt matter what Bo and/or Taylor would say. They could recite every single word in the English dictionary, in every single sense-making combination, and their would still be upset people. Why? Preconceived opinions. Some just have their ideas so engrained in their head, that nothing is going to change that. If you havent learned by now that Taylor is just simply not a very good speaker, especially in the light of a presser, then there is no hope for you, and your opinions are void.

[sd'sker]

edit: knapp, the offense was a little bit of the problem with the turnovers and penalties. it was a team loss, once again. obviously the defense did worse, but the offense did not help a whole lot.

 

Absolutely the offense made mistakes. They also made up for their mistakes by scoring 38 points, earning 437 yards and winning the TOP battle, 31:52 to 28:08. When the defense made mistakes, they flat-out folded. Taylor was 15-25 with a TD and three picks. He threw for 214 yards. I'd say that's going a long way to atoning for the sin of three INTs.

 

Meanwhile, the defense gives up 371 yards rushing, and nobody is posting threads about the tone, tenor and intent behind their pressers.

i agree. taylor did have a decent day, sans the picks. my point was, and i entirely agree with you, that offensive mistakes tend to hurt the defense more than vice-versa.

[zoogs]

I'm not able to find that either. And yes, this isn't the first one I've seen from Taylor. His lack of owning up to mistakes, even given the opportunity, is a trend. I don't understand why he has to be so defensive.

 

But objectively, this was still really bad. As I've said above - asked about penalties and turnovers, and you only talk about OL penalties? When a pick happens on the field, all you can do is point fingers at the refs or defenders? I know that because it's Taylor and he's our guy, we'll do everything we can to downplay something like this. Maybe I'm being unreasonable or unusual in finding it concerning, and potentially reflecting some underlying issues. I couldn't really say, I guess.

 

As for what I expect him to say, I guess I've outlined that several times already. I suppose the counter argument is still, "Who cares what he says."

[Touchdown Tommie]

How would you answer the questions after a game like that? Of course it is easy for you and all of us to think about we want to and what we would say...probably one several reasons he is at the presser and not you!

To say that is not how kids should answer questions at N is ridiculous...for goodness sake, they are 18-22 year old kids. Again, I would love to see you sit down in front of the media after an extremely tough loss and see how you would answer!!!!

[knapplc]

I'm not able to find that either. And yes, this isn't the first one I've seen from Taylor. His lack of owning up to mistakes, even given the opportunity, is a trend. I don't understand why he has to be so defensive.

 

But objectively, this was still really bad. As I've said above - asked about penalties and turnovers, and you only talk about OL penalties? When a pick happens on the field, all you can do is point fingers at the refs or defenders? I know that because it's Taylor and he's our guy, we'll do everything we can to downplay something like this. Maybe I'm being unreasonable or unusual in finding it concerning, and potentially reflecting some underlying issues. I couldn't really say, I guess.

 

As for what I expect him to say, I guess I've outlined that several times already. I suppose the counter argument is still, "Who cares what he says."

No, the counter argument is, Taylor is Taylor. He's not Tim Tebow, he's not Tommie Frazier, and holding him up to those standards is ludicrous.

 

He talked about the INTs. He answered every question posed of him, and the ones he couldn't answer, nobody could answer.

 

You can claim this is some attempt to protect "our guy" all you want. I could just as easily point out the fact that you've been vocal in your dislike of Martinez since day one, and this is yet another irrationally attacking thread about him. I suppose opinions vary.