2014 Huskers - biggest question marks?

Absolutely, but the question is, will he step up when we do need him? Kind of like the Georgia and Michigan games. Abdullah can do it all, but almost every game will have moments when Armstrong needs to make something happen. I have faith that he will be that guy.
If we want to be serious contenders next season he'll need to take a big step up even from those two games:

Michigan - 11/19 (57.9%) - 139 yards - 1 TD - 0 INT

Georgia - 6/14 (42.9%) - 163 yards - 2 TD - 1 INT

Now I realize stats don't tell the entire story. Not bashing on him for those performances at all - just saying there's still tons of room for growth. We won those games by reverting almost to a 2009-esque offensive approach with slow, ball control offense centered around our runningback. He did well at what he was asked of, but the coaches will ask more from him next season. Or at least I hope so.
Perfect. A freshman thrown into a starting role after the 4th year starter goes down. Those are exactly the numbers I want to see and 2009 esque offense is precisely what that situation called for. I think it said something about the confidence Beck and these coaches had in Armstrong that they asked him to do quite a bit more than just that "game manager" role. Of course, you probably know better than the coaches do though. I'm kidding, but if you don't think they were asking him to execute a lot more than just 'hand the ball to AA' then we weren't watching the same team.

Can we debate this more please? I mean, we keep running around the same circle. Some of you aren't impressed by him. I think he's gonna be great. Either way, hes the starting QB for the Nebraska CornHuskers and we are going to find out (not soon enough) what the kid has got. I'm just beating you to the punch, he will kick a$$.

 
The #1 question mark (IMO) would be QB. Some great things have been said about Tommy Armstrong's leadership...we'll just have to wait & see on this one
This I don't feel is a concern at all. Tommy has proven to be a quality QB, and we only have one loss under him. Freshman growing pains, with an offense that wasn't built around him, it was built around Taylor and his fundamentals. I expect to see a different style offense and a much more sound Armstrong under center as well. With a (supposedly) better line, it should benefit him as well, especially if we aren't relying on 3rd string OL to start.
I think Armstrong proved last year to be a reliable QB. I see this as a question mark because it will be his first full season as 'the man'. Will he clean up some of those freshmen mistakes we saw last year? If Tommy gets injured, will Stanton or Fyfe be ready to lead the team to victory?


....how?
Uh...well lets see...was 7-1 as a starter (6-1 really, Northwestern goes to Ron Kellogg)...dominated Illinois & Purdue...led a game winning drive against Michigan in their own stadium...hit Quincy for a 99 yard TD against Georgia & won that game. Bottom line is he won games.

I still see our QB position as an unknown...but the dude was 6-1 as a freshmen thrown in unexpectedly...so I'd say he was reliable last season given the circumstances...if you disagree, whatever I don't care
Dominated Purdue? He threw 3 int's, had 43 passing yards, 5 rushing yards and completed 33% of his passes as LOMS said above.

EDIT: And they were an 1-11 team.

 
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Absolutely, but the question is, will he step up when we do need him? Kind of like the Georgia and Michigan games. Abdullah can do it all, but almost every game will have moments when Armstrong needs to make something happen. I have faith that he will be that guy.

If we want to be serious contenders next season he'll need to take a big step up even from those two games:

Michigan - 11/19 (57.9%) - 139 yards - 1 TD - 0 INT

Georgia - 6/14 (42.9%) - 163 yards - 2 TD - 1 INT

Now I realize stats don't tell the entire story. Not bashing on him for those performances at all - just saying there's still tons of room for growth. We won those games by reverting almost to a 2009-esque offensive approach with slow, ball control offense centered around our runningback. He did well at what he was asked of, but the coaches will ask more from him next season. Or at least I hope so.
I'm pretty much spot on in agreeing with Landlord here...sure those were OK numbers for a RSFR who didn't figure on playing that many reps. But those aren't numbers that will let us be a contender, ever. This thread is about who is a question for the 2014 season. I'd say seeing if TA can take those steps forward is a serious question.

 
Absolutely, but the question is, will he step up when we do need him? Kind of like the Georgia and Michigan games. Abdullah can do it all, but almost every game will have moments when Armstrong needs to make something happen. I have faith that he will be that guy.
If we want to be serious contenders next season he'll need to take a big step up even from those two games:

Michigan - 11/19 (57.9%) - 139 yards - 1 TD - 0 INT

Georgia - 6/14 (42.9%) - 163 yards - 2 TD - 1 INT

Now I realize stats don't tell the entire story. Not bashing on him for those performances at all - just saying there's still tons of room for growth. We won those games by reverting almost to a 2009-esque offensive approach with slow, ball control offense centered around our runningback. He did well at what he was asked of, but the coaches will ask more from him next season. Or at least I hope so.
I'm pretty much spot on in agreeing with Landlord here...sure those were OK numbers for a RSFR who didn't figure on playing that many reps. But those aren't numbers that will let us be a contender, ever. This thread is about who is a question for the 2014 season. I'd say seeing if TA can take those steps forward is a serious question.
WTH are we talking about here? Where are we disagreeing?

 
Absolutely, but the question is, will he step up when we do need him? Kind of like the Georgia and Michigan games. Abdullah can do it all, but almost every game will have moments when Armstrong needs to make something happen. I have faith that he will be that guy.
If we want to be serious contenders next season he'll need to take a big step up even from those two games:

Michigan - 11/19 (57.9%) - 139 yards - 1 TD - 0 INT

Georgia - 6/14 (42.9%) - 163 yards - 2 TD - 1 INT

Now I realize stats don't tell the entire story. Not bashing on him for those performances at all - just saying there's still tons of room for growth. We won those games by reverting almost to a 2009-esque offensive approach with slow, ball control offense centered around our runningback. He did well at what he was asked of, but the coaches will ask more from him next season. Or at least I hope so.
I'm pretty much spot on in agreeing with Landlord here...sure those were OK numbers for a RSFR who didn't figure on playing that many reps. But those aren't numbers that will let us be a contender, ever. This thread is about who is a question for the 2014 season. I'd say seeing if TA can take those steps forward is a serious question.
WTH are we talking about here? Where are we disagreeing?
Wasn't trying to call you out True. Just wanted to quote Landlord's post but still getting use to the new system. I am just a little late getting back to the comments from others yesterday saying he was already quality/reliable or whatever.

 
Absolutely, but the question is, will he step up when we do need him? Kind of like the Georgia and Michigan games. Abdullah can do it all, but almost every game will have moments when Armstrong needs to make something happen. I have faith that he will be that guy.
If we want to be serious contenders next season he'll need to take a big step up even from those two games:

Michigan - 11/19 (57.9%) - 139 yards - 1 TD - 0 INT

Georgia - 6/14 (42.9%) - 163 yards - 2 TD - 1 INT

Now I realize stats don't tell the entire story. Not bashing on him for those performances at all - just saying there's still tons of room for growth. We won those games by reverting almost to a 2009-esque offensive approach with slow, ball control offense centered around our runningback. He did well at what he was asked of, but the coaches will ask more from him next season. Or at least I hope so.
I'm pretty much spot on in agreeing with Landlord here...sure those were OK numbers for a RSFR who didn't figure on playing that many reps. But those aren't numbers that will let us be a contender, ever. This thread is about who is a question for the 2014 season. I'd say seeing if TA can take those steps forward is a serious question.
WTH are we talking about here? Where are we disagreeing?
Wasn't trying to call you out True. Just wanted to quote Landlord's post but still getting use to the new system. I am just a little late getting back to the comments from others yesterday saying he was already quality/reliable or whatever.
Okay. I took that the wrong way. I had pretty much said exactly what you said in a previous post so I was a bit confused on where the disagreement was.
 
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Dominated Purdue? He threw 3 int's, had 43 passing yards, 5 rushing yards and completed 33% of his passes as LOMS said above.


EDIT: And they were an 1-11 team.
When you beat a conference opponent 44-7, that is domination (IMO). Regardless of statistics (& those are pretty bad), he led the team to a 5 touchdown victory. I will admit I did not see the Purdue game unfortunately due to the fact I was working...

EDIT --------------------------------------------

I'd say South Dakota St., Illinois, Michigan and Georgia would all be game you could say Armstrong was a huge part of our success. #4wins.......

Seriously though, why can't we just say that we have insufficient evidence to judge him positively or negatively. In all truth, those of us that like him are judging him based off his potential, his skillset, and little bits and pieces of what we saw him do well last year. The people that arent so sure about him are basing their opinion off the exact same things.....bits and pieces.

Fact is, he the starting QB for the 2014 Nebraska Cornhuskers......for now. I'm excited about that and not a thing anyone else says would change my stance on that. Is that okay?
I feel True2tRA is pretty spot on here...

 
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I will admit I did not see the Purdue game unfortunately due to the fact I was working...

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Dominated Purdue? He threw 3 int's, had 43 passing yards, 5 rushing yards and completed 33% of his passes as LOMS said above.


EDIT: And they were an 1-11 team.
When you beat a conference opponent 44-7, that is domination (IMO). Regardless of statistics (& those are pretty bad), he led the team to a 5 touchdown victory. I will admit I did not see the Purdue game unfortunately due to the fact I was working...
Here's I'll sum it up for you: Purdue sucked.

I could have played QB and we still would have won by 4 touchdowns.

 
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I'll root for him like I do for everyone that plays on my team. But.... he has to make gigantic strides this season if we're going to contend for a title. As of today, he's nowhere near elite, and in the bottom half of the conference.

Make the jump kid, we need you to do it.

 
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Alll statistics aside, I felt a lot better watching Tommy Armstrong step in as a freshman to replace Taylor Martinez than I did Cody Green as a sophomore.

I couldn't see Cody getting any better. I can totally see Tommy getting better.

 
Alll statistics aside, I felt a lot better watching Tommy Armstrong step in as a freshman to replace Taylor Martinez than I did Cody Green as a sophomore.

I couldn't see Cody getting any better. I can totally see Tommy getting better.
Yeah, that's true for me as well.

 
If I remember correctly quite a few had Tommy starting over Taylor before the season. I think he did a pretty good job, I do not feel he ever was comfortable about being the starter, with Taylor rumored to return, Ron Kellog getting some time in the games. Too many mind games being played for security to develop. Not that I am not glad that Ron got to play, he had earned the right. Now Tommy going is has everyone behind him I would assume. That will help his confidence in what he does.

I have learned never to feel comfortable with a Nebraska team. What we expect is seldom what we get.

Concerns, worries seem a little early for me. A long time before the first kickoff. I will wait until I see the team play before I am concerned about any one thing. If I am going to be concerned it would be about the whole team, not an individual. If one person can make or break the season, we have way more problems than I care to think about.

 
I looked up TA's numbers and compared them to TM's freshman year a couple of months ago. I don't remember the exact stats, but I do remember they were fairly comparable in terms of completion percentage and TD/INT ratio. IIRC, TM's TD/INT ratio was a bit better, but, he also played in more games.
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Martinez - 116/196 - 59.2%, 1631 yds, 8.3 ypa, 10 TDs, 7 INTs, 138.8 rating; 162 rush, 965 yds, 6.0 ypc, 12 TDs

Armstrong - 68/131 - 51.9%, 966 yds, 7.4 ypa, 9 TDs, 8 INTs, 124.3 rating; 67 rush, 202 yds, 3.0 ypc, 2 TDs

Martinez played in more games so the totals are higher but the completion percentage, ypa, rating, ypc and TDs/game are all strongly to Martinez. Only the TD/INT ratio is close, although still solidly in Martinez's favor.

 
Dominated Purdue? He threw 3 int's, had 43 passing yards, 5 rushing yards and completed 33% of his passes as LOMS said above.

EDIT: And they were an 1-11 team.
When you beat a conference opponent 44-7, that is domination (IMO). Regardless of statistics (& those are pretty bad), he led the team to a 5 touchdown victory. I will admit I did not see the Purdue game unfortunately due to the fact I was working...
Nebraska dominated Purdue in spite of Armstrong, not because of him.

 
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