Dear Negative Nellies

[California Husker]

My only complaint was that I didn't get to watch the end of the game because we got 'bonus' coverage instead. Putting the better game on ABC is fine but at least shift us to espn2 instead of having the same game on both channels. How dumb.

Yeah, I don't know where you are, but we got the ASU/Wisconsin game on 3 (FREAKIN THREE) channels. But, thank goodness, after looking around (and missing about two minutes of the game) I was able to find the rest of the Husker game on one of the ESPN alternate. It would have been nice for ESPN to at least announce where Husker fans could continue watching when they went to a "better" game. But then again, ESPN sucks, so what should I expect. I will say one thing however, now that we are switching to the Big 10/11/12, the announcers do seem to be saying a lot nicer things about us.

 

[California Husker]

Hey, I know this is supposed to be a place for Negative Nellies, but I have one thing to say to all of you who are worried about our run defense. Sure Washington marched right down the field...ONCE. The great thing about the Pelinis is that they adjust. Just take yourself back a few years and remember what it was like when somebody came out and started to beat us with the run, or with slant passes, or with some sort of a spread, zone-read, and freakin Cosgrove would stand there on the sideline looking confused until halftime. And then maybe...MAYBE...would make an adjustment (but never a really effective one). Or when we were in games at halftime, and the opposing team would make an offensive adjustment, and we were toast in the second half. I know this has been said a million times but I love our coaching staff and have confidence that they will always adjust to what the other team throws at us.

 

[HUSKER FREAK]

Not that I don't want to see the deep ball once in a while, but I have a feeling that if teams are going to put 8-9 in the box to stop the interior attack or pass then we will see more of T-Mart running 80 yards down the sideline for TD's. JMO

 

[kansas husker]

Nothing negative to say, but I was so impressed by the offensive line. I cant even remember the last time we had three players go over 100 yards rushing in one game. :koolaid2:

Not that you were asking.. but in 2001

Crouch, Davies, Collins and Diedrick.

On top of it being that long ago it has only happened 3 other times period. The o-line (and for that matter the whole offense) really stepped up and played lights out.

 

[captain obvious]

Finally some actual discussion. This team isn't perfect. There is plenty to improve upon.

There's a chance that our outside running game IS our long ball this year. We've gashed each defense we've faced this year for multiple 50+ yd running plays, so that's the same net gain as a post route for Paul or Kinnie. It's also possible that they practice those routes every day in practice, but we haven't seen it yet.

Still... I'm concerned about facing a solid run D with fast linebackers and experienced ends. In that case, we have to keep them honest by stretching the field with some actual passing routes. I think it's obvious that we have not faced a good (or even decent) defense yet this year. To say that we don't need to have the passing game evolve throughout the course of the season is just ridiculous.

Also, if we have the long ball, I don't see why we wouldn't have used it by now. If you put it on film, then teams know that they have to defend it. Opposing teams don't have much incentive to defend Taylor Martinez as a serious passing threat until they see evidence of it. He can throw 10-15 yd routes pretty well. But trust me, there will be several occasions for a bomb this year.

 

[SoCalhusker88]

One concern.....that one drive where Washington stuffed it down our throats and scored a TD....albeit minor grapes that did worry be a bit

 

[captain obvious]

One concern.....that one drive where Washington stuffed it down our throats and scored a TD....albeit minor grapes that did worry be a bit

Did anybody notice what adjustments we made after that drive? It didn't seem like it was a personnel change.

 

[In the Deed the Glory]

One concern.....that one drive where Washington stuffed it down our throats and scored a TD....albeit minor grapes that did worry be a bit

Did anybody notice what adjustments we made after that drive? It didn't seem like it was a personnel change.

Looked like the dline shed blocks better, maybe an a$$ chewing was all that was in order?? Crick and Allen couldn't be blocked on the run the rest of the game and plenty of run support from the Peso guys. I think we adjusted coverage a bit to let the Peso sell out for the run. Part of why we got beat on that long pass play.

And to before:

Just because Martinez hasn't thrown a bomb doesn't mean he doesn't have it. Just this week, the coaches came out and said he DOES have it, Watson said his deep ball is the best he's ever coached.
Keep in mind that due to the lopsided nature of these games, Nebraska still hasn't shown that much of their offense. There are playaction passes and different option looks that I guarantee are in the playbook that we haven't been witness to yet this season. Wait 'til Texas..

I never said he couldn't throw the long ball, if we believe the coaches he can. I just said that it is ignorant to think we won't need that ability this year, as some have said on here.

Of course, if we believe the coaches Roy Helu's shoulder was fine all last year. lol :LOLtartar

 

[74Hunter]

While the team played well today, we have to temper our enthusiasm with the fact that we really don't know how good UW is. They did lose 12 games just 2 years ago.

I agree with others who state that we need to develop a competent verticle passing game, and our rush D needs to be shored up some. Hopefully we have the ability to do so.

We'll know more starting Oct 7th.

 

[bshirt]

Great....I'm only outnumbered 10,000 to one. I like those odds.

I think it takes a LOT of practice and timing to get good at hitting the long ball. It's not like falling off a log to be competent at it. This is not the NFL where you have endless long days of practice and repetitions to try to excel at many things. Just the opposite in cfb. Practices are extremely valuable and precious in cfb because they're so limited.

I would 10,000 times rather spend our practices/repetitions doing what we do "now". Perfecting running the ball and the short passing game. This is where we should have priority.

We had no long ball vs UW yet racked us 56 pts. TO won three NCs and came within an eyelash of two more in the 90s with almost zero longball.

I just think it's not needed and a bad investment.

 

[kansas husker]

Great....I'm only outnumbered 10,000 to one. I like those odds.

I think it takes a LOT of practice and timing to get good at hitting the long ball. It's not like falling off a log to be competent at it. This is not the NFL where you have endless long days of practice and repetitions to try to excel at many things. Just the opposite in cfb. Practices are extremely valuable and precious in cfb because they're so limited.

I would 10,000 times rather spend our practices/repetitions doing what we do "now". Perfecting running the ball and the short passing game. This is where we should have priority.

We had no long ball vs UW yet racked us 56 pts. TO won three NCs and came within an eyelash of two more in the 90s with almost zero longball.

I just think it's not needed and a bad investment.

I actually agree with you ,to an extent, I feel like the longball will be there with time. The more teams start game planing for the run, the more open the play action pass will be. I'm not sure where people get the notion that Taylor can/cannot throw the long ball, as I'm yet to see him atempt it. For me it is unknown weather or not it is in his arsenal.

I like the direction Watson has our offense headed, kind of a spread option type, where most plays have a zone read look to them. As Taylor progress as a qb we will start to see more and more verticle passing off of this. I also see the point that with part of our offense as an unkonw it will make some nervous when we do get in a situation where it is need they would like the asurance that its there. Your point about the teams of the 90's is a good one but keep in mind those teams were well above there competition (for the most part) and did not need the pass, I dont see that in this team. This team is good but not near close to the teams of the mid 90's

 

[Lonestar_Husker]

Actually, the long pass is one of the easier throws to make if you have the arm strength. It's the quick, shallow slants and medium hook routes that require precise timing to work. Both QB and receiver need to know what the other is doing on those because timing routes depend on the QB anticipating where the receiver will be at a certain time and the receiver knowing where the ball will be when he looks for it. The deep ball is more leading the receiver. Chuck it up there and the receiver runs under it. With our running prowess, this should be a no brainer. There will be plenty of opportunities to chuck it deep, so it would be nice to be able to take advantage of too many defenders in the box. I like our chances with either Niles or Brandon one on one deep.

Taylor missed some open receivers badly. Threw it into the ground about 7yds in front of his intended target. He did fit it into some tight spots, too. On time, on the money with good velocity. The TD to McNeil was a good catch as the ball was a little high and behind him. He does have an awkward, forced throwing motion. Does not have a particularly quick release and he seems to really get his whole body into the throw. It doesn't look natural for him. I think he will be fine(possible understatement of the year) in college, but Carson Palmer is not worried about Taylor taking his job in a few years.

I think Watson is doing a great job. So far. His scheme is getting guys open in space and letting them make plays.

As far as complaints, well...the linejudge needs lasik. ABC going to a "better game" was vey disappointing.

That's about it.

 

[captain obvious]

TO won three NCs and came within an eyelash of two more in the 90s with almost zero longball.

Are you kidding me? Do you remember Trumane Bell?

TO set up the long ball with the option in quite a few games. It seemed like it worked a very high percentage of the time, too.

 

[Paul in WI]

TO won three NCs and came within an eyelash of two more in the 90s with almost zero longball.

Are you kidding me? Do you remember Trumane Bell?

TO set up the long ball with the option in quite a few games. It seemed like it worked a very high percentage of the time, too.

Excuse me, but I've been watching Nebraska games going back for a lot of years. I'm with bshirt on this one. When we went all the way, NONE of those qb's were legitimate "long-ball" threats. Our passing was so inept that the ONLY reason why we caught a long one here or there is because the opponents got lazy stacking the box and didn't bother covering our receivers. The receiver generally had nobody within 30 yards of him, so he could just easily adjust to the crappy, lofty pass that our qb threw and catch it--but I'd hardly define that as a "long-ball" threat. Anyone who has watched Husker football over the years knows exactly what I mean......

I fully expect this FRESHMAN to get better, but honestly.....if he can put it 20 yards past the line of scrimmage into the hands of a receiver consistently, that is enough to win any game on our schedule for the next 4 years. That is enough to make any defense honest.

 

[knapplc]

TO won three NCs and came within an eyelash of two more in the 90s with almost zero longball.

Are you kidding me? Do you remember Trumane Bell?

TO set up the long ball with the option in quite a few games. It seemed like it worked a very high percentage of the time, too.

Excuse me, but I've been watching Nebraska games going back for a lot of years. I'm with bshirt on this one. When we went all the way, NONE of those qb's were legitimate "long-ball" threats. Our passing was so inept that the ONLY reason why we caught a long one here or there is because the opponents got lazy stacking the box and didn't bother covering our receivers. The receiver generally had nobody within 30 yards of him, so he could just easily adjust to the crappy, lofty pass that our qb threw and catch it--but I'd hardly define that as a "long-ball" threat. Anyone who has watched Husker football over the years knows exactly what I mean......

I fully expect this FRESHMAN to get better, but honestly.....if he can put it 20 yards past the line of scrimmage into the hands of a receiver consistently, that is enough to win any game on our schedule for the next 4 years. That is enough to make any defense honest.

Agree with bshirt and Paul here. Berringer was our only decent-throwing QB in the 90s. Gdowski, Taylor and Gill could all throw in the 80s but didn't do it all that much. Mostly we just stuffed the ball down everyone's throats in those days. I would say the long pass represented about 3% of our offense from 1979-2003. We won about 80% of our games and three national titles, and more than a dozen conference titles playing without the long ball.

And we only had a defense as good as these guys maybe five times back then, and that's probably being generous. With this defense we simply need to be competent at passing the ball, simple wheel routes and hitches, nothing even remotely fancy, to win games.

This whole discussion about "not being able to throw the long pass" is silly. Nebraska fans of all people should know this.

EDIT - there's a play I've been waiting to see with this team, by the way. We used to run it all the time in the 90s, but we haven't run it for a while. Can anyone guess what it is?