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Are We All Finally Ready to be all "N" with Armstrong?!?


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I'm kind of on board with the Frazier/Berringer metaphor here. If we could have a healthy Martinez for the Michigan State game, I'd take him in a heartbeat. A healthy Martinez is probably the only guy in the conference outside of Ohio State that Pat Narduzzi's defense is actually scared of.

 

However, Martinez isn't healthy, and isn't going to be anytime soon. If he gets healthy and gets his timing with the receivers back - then yes, you disrupt the "chemistry," and you play the best player. Just like Osborne did with Frazier in the bowl game.

 

Armstrong had a great game-winning drive yesterday and runs the option pretty well, but overall, the offense looks more like the 2009 version than it does 2010-2012. And with Armstrong at QB, that's what this game on Saturday is going to be: Hope that Nebraska can score 10 and hold Michigan State to 9.

 

That said, I'm excited about Armstrong's future. The guys on the radio yesterday were saying he's still not full-speed, still recovering from the knee surgery. If he gets noticeably faster next season, he's going to be very dangerous.

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The thing that impresses me most about Armstrong is something that won't always be depicted on a stat sheet. His ability to make good decisions and pitches on option plays. Even when the defense has it sniffed out, he'll be patient and make a play if there's one to be made.

 

I agree here. We've had a lot of success attacking defenses at the boundaries with the speed option.

 

Also agree, but don't think that's going to be there for us this weekend. We've lived on that play the last three weeks, and Michigan State has had a bye week to prepare for it. I don't know how exactly they'll defend it, but they're going to have a plan to take away that speed option where we leave the DE unblocked.

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Where there is room for criticism for TA is his knowledge of the playbook I feel. Too many times over the past few weeks has he thrown to a WR that is running a completely different route.

 

At least he's throwing it where nobody can get it when that happens.

 

He's going to be good, and the poise he showed yesterday to lead that 75 yard GW drive was a thing of beauty.

Other than the 6 picks he threw in 2 games against bad defenses.

 

Kid has potential, but until he can consistently complete passes against defenses not ranked in triple digits, we're going to struggle on that side of the ball.

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Having 2 qbs means the opposing team needs to plan for 2 different quarterbacks.

 

Old football adage: When you have 2 QBs, you have 0 QBs.

Tell that to Devaney: Tagge/Bronson. Tell that to Osborne: Frazier/Berringer

 

I'm not old enough to remember what happened during Tagge/Brongson, but Frazier was the starter and had the blood clot issue. Not the same thing.

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Where there is room for criticism for TA is his knowledge of the playbook I feel. Too many times over the past few weeks has he thrown to a WR that is running a completely different route.

 

At least he's throwing it where nobody can get it when that happens.

 

He's going to be good, and the poise he showed yesterday to lead that 75 yard GW drive was a thing of beauty.

Other than the 6 picks he threw in 2 games against bad defenses.

 

Kid has potential, but until he can consistently complete passes against defenses not ranked in triple digits, we're going to struggle on that side of the ball.

 

Misunderstanding. If he's over thrown it (a la misread) he's overthrown it by a mile. He's made bad decisions. But those are different things.

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However, Martinez isn't healthy, and isn't going to be anytime soon. If he gets healthy and gets his timing with the receivers back - then yes, you disrupt the "chemistry," and you play the best player. Just like Osborne did with Frazier in the bowl game.

 

 

 

Osborne had over a month to prepare his team for the switch at qb. We would have 5 days. Similar situations, yet not even close in nature.

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Throughout Husker Nation the realization that Tommy is by far our most talented QB has been amazingly slow. If you were still in doubt, what say you now after he led he game winning 75-yard TD drive in the hostile environment of the biggest football stadium in the world??! Those of us clamoring for him to dominate snaps since the UCLA game are clearly vindicated. We weren't just a bunch of martians or disloyal rogue NU fans, but rather based the belief on his body of work in big-time Texas HS football.

I don't think people were doubting TA's abilities or potential, just questioning his effectiveness because of youth. Yes, he piloted the biggest drive in the game and it led to the ultimate victory, but don't forget this is the same TA who threw essentially a game-ending interception last week. Without the Hail Mary, NW's go ahead field goal would have given them the win because of that pick. TA also, going into the Michigan game, was throwing one interception every 12.5 throws. TA also threw three picks against a worst team in his first road start, too.

 

TA has potential to be a really good player, like so many young players do. But, pump the brakes a little bit. He's going to throw more picks, he's going to make quite a few bad decisions and it's going to be very high risk/high reward with him the rest of the season if TM doesn't come back.

 

tl;dr Keep the whole body of work in mind. He played a solid game against Michigan, but he's going to continue to make mistakes and possibly at crucial times this year. It's important to keep that in perspective.

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Having 2 qbs means the opposing team needs to plan for 2 different quarterbacks.

 

Old football adage: When you have 2 QBs, you have 0 QBs.

Tell that to Devaney: Tagge/Bronson. Tell that to Osborne: Frazier/Berringer

 

Berringer was a very good backup, but Frazier was clearly the #1 guy. Berringer did a great job of keeping the Huskers on track for the NC in 1994, but let's not act the offense just kept on humming after Frazier went down in '94. Go back and check some of the scores/stats of the games after Frazier went down. NU rode LP and the Blackshirts to Miami.

 

 

Brook certainly didn't have the legs Tommy had, but Tommy never had the arm Brook had.

 

Tommy was a perfect fit for our ground game, he was fast and nimble and had a serviceable arm for the few throws he made each game.

 

Brook could run, not as well as Tommy, but he was serviceable in that role, and he could throw much better than Tommy. From what I've heard, if Brook hadn't died, he would have likely been drafted by Denver in the 3rd round if he was still available.

 

Both were fantastic quarterbacks and the one that fit our system best started for us.

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Having 2 qbs means the opposing team needs to plan for 2 different quarterbacks.

 

Old football adage: When you have 2 QBs, you have 0 QBs.

Tell that to Devaney: Tagge/Bronson. Tell that to Osborne: Frazier/Berringer

 

Berringer was a very good backup, but Frazier was clearly the #1 guy. Berringer did a great job of keeping the Huskers on track for the NC in 1994, but let's not act the offense just kept on humming after Frazier went down in '94. Go back and check some of the scores/stats of the games after Frazier went down. NU rode LP and the Blackshirts to Miami.

Stats and scores are irrelevant. I want to see W vs L. Brook was successful in the only stat column that matters. Who cares if it was the LP and Blackshirts show. Berringer was a #1 QB, just not in our offensive style at that time. As a side note, Berringer would have been Highly drafted. Where was Tommie?

 

I'm reasonably sure that Brook could have started for just about any other Division I team.

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Throughout Husker Nation the realization that Tommy is by far our most talented QB has been amazingly slow. If you were still in doubt, what say you now after he led he game winning 75-yard TD drive in the hostile environment of the biggest football stadium in the world??! Those of us clamoring for him to dominate snaps since the UCLA game are clearly vindicated. We weren't just a bunch of martians or disloyal rogue NU fans, but rather based the belief on his body of work in big-time Texas HS football.

I don't think people were doubting TA's abilities or potential, just questioning his effectiveness because of youth. Yes, he piloted the biggest drive in the game and it led to the ultimate victory, but don't forget this is the same TA who threw essentially a game-ending interception last week. Without the Hail Mary, NW's go ahead field goal would have given them the win because of that pick. TA also, going into the Michigan game, was throwing one interception every 12.5 throws. TA also threw three picks against a worst team in his first road start, too.

 

TA has potential to be a really good player, like so many young players do. But, pump the brakes a little bit. He's going to throw more picks, he's going to make quite a few bad decisions and it's going to be very high risk/high reward with him the rest of the season if TM doesn't come back.

 

tl;dr Keep the whole body of work in mind. He played a solid game against Michigan, but he's going to continue to make mistakes and possibly at crucial times this year. It's important to keep that in perspective.

 

Don't bring logic into this. Look at keywords in Knoxville's post. Vindicated. Pretty much the entire last sentence.

 

This isn't about trying to discuss who is the better QB. This is just the cult of Martinez Hatred grasping at straws to show how they were right. This is their "I told you so." Nothing I have seen so far from TA shows he is a better QB right now than Martinez. Comebacks on the road in November? Been there. Defensive shutdowns? See 2011 Ohio State, 2012 Michigan/NW/Michigan ST. What can Tommy do that Taylor can't? Run the option? I'll take a more accurate passer that can shred defenses using the zone read any day over a QB that can run the option any day.

 

But don't get me wrong, I want this team to win. I want TA to do well. I just will never agree that a healthy Martinez should be benched in favor of a RS Freshman.

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The thing that impresses me most about Armstrong is something that won't always be depicted on a stat sheet. His ability to make good decisions and pitches on option plays. Even when the defense has it sniffed out, he'll be patient and make a play if there's one to be made.

Yes, I agree. That last game winning pitch to AA was a great example. He froze the defender and then pitched wt the left. He has good lateral movement - something TM lacks.

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The thing that impresses me most about Armstrong is something that won't always be depicted on a stat sheet. His ability to make good decisions and pitches on option plays. Even when the defense has it sniffed out, he'll be patient and make a play if there's one to be made.

Yes, I agree. That last game winning pitch to AA was a great example. He froze the defender and then pitched wt the left. He has good lateral movement - something TM lacks.

That is something that is painfully obvious with TM, he has zero lateral movement and only has straight line speed. He simply has a hard time juking defenders out of their shoes, something we've seen Tommy do already. This is why you see TM run right into defenders............he has no choice, because unless he can get his upper body turned and facing the way he wants to run, he has a terrible time side stepping laterally. His lower body is way too tight and he runs upright instead of dropping his pad level and trying to run over defenders. He needs to do this because this is why he runs right into a defender, gets slammed hard, and falls straight back into the ground. TM is faster than TA, but he's doesn't have the same agility as TA.

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