Bo Pelini Turnovers in Big Games

[Nobody]

i knew the title would be controversial and obviously it has a dash of toungue n cheekness. but reality is that turnovers fall on coaches... yes position coaches too OBVIOUSLY. Bo hires the coaches. Bo made the title. Be mad at bo, not me.

[clyde40]

Just a little comparison:

 

Year Fumbles-Lost Int.

2012 35-22 12

2011 32-11 8

2010 45-16 8

2009 21-11 12

2008 31-17 11

 

2007 19-11 17

2006 25-17 8

 

2001 24-14 11

1997 36-17 4

1996 37-19 3 (Sorry not sure why this came out bold)

[rocketlb]

i knew the title would be controversial and obviously it has a dash of toungue n cheekness. but reality is that turnovers fall on coaches... yes position coaches too OBVIOUSLY. Bo hires the coaches. Bo made the title. Be mad at bo, not me.

 

Nobody's mad, bro!

[husker_99]

One thing stands out to me....I watched all of those games, but I never once saw Bo Pelini turn the ball over.

This is a really stupid argument. We consistently turn the ball over a lot. That's part of coaching.

It's also a really stupid argument to make it sound like Bo doesn't care about turnovers, or ever work on them.

show me that he does. it happens every year. fumbles, turnovers, false starts, etc are a staple of the Pelini era. all of those fixable. Sure you can say it's the players fault but not when those players change and you end up with the same result. it comes down to coaching.

[Nobody]

i knew the title would be controversial and obviously it has a dash of toungue n cheekness. but reality is that turnovers fall on coaches... yes position coaches too OBVIOUSLY. Bo hires the coaches. Bo made the title. Be mad at bo, not me.

 

Nobody's mad, bro!

 

Thats the problem.

[rocketlb]

i knew the title would be controversial and obviously it has a dash of toungue n cheekness. but reality is that turnovers fall on coaches... yes position coaches too OBVIOUSLY. Bo hires the coaches. Bo made the title. Be mad at bo, not me.

 

Nobody's mad, bro!

 

Thats the problem.

 

No....get it because you're name is Nob....ah nevermind.

[Nobody]

i knew the title would be controversial and obviously it has a dash of toungue n cheekness. but reality is that turnovers fall on coaches... yes position coaches too OBVIOUSLY. Bo hires the coaches. Bo made the title. Be mad at bo, not me.

 

Nobody's mad, bro!

 

Thats the problem.

 

No....get it because you're name is Nob....ah nevermind.

 

Nobody gets ur jokes. =)

...but i'm not mad

[Enhance]

There's always been an interesting balance between telling your players to do something and actually getting them to do it. Maybe it comes down to recruiting better, maybe the coaches just can't get the best message across... I'm not sure.

 

I'm reminded of our bowl game against South Carolina. IIRC, there was a deep pass touchdown where Alshon Jeffrey got behind our safeties. I believe the coaches were quoted sometime after the game as saying just before that play, they specifically told the players what to do to prevent the big play. The players just flat out didn't do it, and it had nothing to do with athleticism or Jeffrey being too good. The players were out of position after specifically being told where and what to do.

 

With fumbles, I also wonder where that disconnect comes from. I'm less inclined to think it's coaching when I hear about the emphasis placed on it or Ron Brown's "pledge of allegiance" philosophy when running the football. Fumbles haven't been an issue yet this year but Saturday will certainly be a benchmark for how the team has responded to the increased emphasis on turnovers.

[HuskerFowler]

i knew the title would be controversial and obviously it has a dash of toungue n cheekness. but reality is that turnovers fall on coaches... yes position coaches too OBVIOUSLY. Bo hires the coaches. Bo made the title. Be mad at bo, not me.

 

Taylor Martinez is responsible for 75% of the fumbles and INTS. This is a TM problem. Ive never seen any one player have as many problems holding on to the ball, NFL or college, as he does. He's been dead last in the NCAA in fumbles the last THREE YEARS. Don't know how you can even begin to blame ANYONE else. The kid just can't hang onto the ball.

 

Unless you think we should have been playing a walk on, than I guess you can blame the coaches all you want.

[Guy Chamberlin]

Honestly? Those numbers aren't as bad as I would have guessed.

 

Maybe it seems worse because we recover a lot of our own fumbles. Like Wyoming, where the stat line will show Martinez completing a 25 yard pass for a first down, but not that a horrible snap on a crucial third down dribbled past him in yet another out-of-sync first quarter meltdown, and that his improvised scramble pass was deflected into the hands of a Nebraska receiver and we got very lucky.

 

Some good teams fumble a lot. Those 12-1 third ranked Huskers of 1999 led the nation in fumbles. Those Oklahoma wishbone offenses that convinced Osborne to run the option were fumbling machines.

 

But yeah. Turnovers = bad.

 

It's probably unfair to blame turnovers on Pelini, but a lot of times it feels like part of a bigger problem: offense, defense and special teams all coming out tight, trying too hard, making unforced mistakes, getting stupid penalities. At that point it's about focus, motivation and prep, the very definition of head coaching.

[Guy Chamberlin]

It wouldn't be sporting if I didn't note that our special teams looked very sharp the first two games of the year.

[Huskerzoo]

These numbers are compelling. It's almost as though better teams are better at forcing and covering turnovers. I wonder if that has anything to do with why they win games?

[Chaddyboxer]

Speaking of fumbles, it's great to hear the coach Brown has been studying the "fumble issue." He sounds like he has it down to a science and from the practice reports, the RB's are taking it very seriously. Now, I don't know if his coaching techniques are translating over to the rest of the offense, ie the WR's and QB.....I sure hope so.

[HuskerFowler]

Coming into his senior campaign, there are few Nebraska fans who are unaware of Martinez’s biggest problem—he has been a turnover machine. Take a look at Martinez’s career turnover numbers:

 

Year

 

Fumbles*

 

Fumbles Lost*

 

Interceptions*

 

2010

 

16

 

5

 

7

 

2011

 

13

 

2**

 

8

 

2012

 

16

 

8

 

12

 

Total

 

45

 

15

 

27

 

* Fumble stats from teamrankings.com, which compiles statistics only from games between FBS opponents. Interception stats from cfbstats.com.

 

** 2011 fumble stats are derived from a game-by-game review of box scores. That number is remarkable in itself, in that Martinez had thirteen fumbles and lost only two. Talk about whistling past the graveyard.

 

http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/1754936-nebraska-football-what-does-taylor-martinez-need-to-show-nfl-scouts-in-2013

[HuskerFowler]

So using the above data Taylor lost 8 fumbles last year and threw 12 INTS. That's 20 of our 34 (22 total fumbles) from one player or 59% so I guess my 75% was wrong. Lucky for him the team recovered 8 more of his fumbles. So nearly 60% of turnovers from one player. Granted he touches the ball more, but he leads the nation in fumbles three years running.