Freshmen QBs Bush and Darlington relishing chance to compete

[Lincoln_Crossroads]

Watched the spring game a couple times now and it seemed that ZD was the only QB progressing through his reads. He obviously had a few throws where he did throw to the first receiver, however it looked as if ZD could read the defense well enough to tell where the open receivers would be. TA and Bush appeared to have set their targets without reading the defense, requiring them to throw into traffic or go for deep shots down the field. ZD did have three passes dropped, but two should have easily been caught.

IMO, ZD appears to understand the game in a manner that hasn't been seen by Nebraska quarterbacks in a while. Based upon the spring game, ZD appeared to show the most poise, patience, and command of the offense. I hope he stays healthy and continues to improve and impress the coaches.

 

[alexhortdog95]

The only reason we were able to pass it half as many times as we did was because Ameer averaged 6 YPC and allowed us those opportunities. I trust our new backfield, but I doubt we can average close to that with his carries distributed.

Running the zone read with this current squad....more like 3.3 ypc.

I trust we'll see more double back sets to help with some of that. At least I'm hoping that will happen.

 

[BigRedBuster]

What I remember of Scott Frost during his recruiting is him playing in a passing offense at Wood River and being heavily recruited by Stanford (Bill Walsh) and Nebraska (Tom O). He chose Stanford because he felt Walsh could make him an NFL QB. Walsh realized Frost needed to be on the field because of his ability but wasn't ready to play QB in his offense. After 2 years of playing safety he decided to transfer back to NU and we all know the result.

A head coach can overcome a few weaknesses with scheme here and there. Few head coaches can overcome a QB who doesn't have the skills for the offense he wants to run. Coaching can make him better and probably TA will get better. He has physical and leadership skills obviously. We will see next fall if he has enough between the ears to run this offense. Darlington looks like he sees the field better and can make many if not most of the throws. If the coaches can find a way to protect Darlington and keep defenses off him that would be great but he will get hit if he gets on the field. I have a feeling with either QB we'll be holding our breath, but for different reasons.

I don't disagree with that. But, when you change schemes from a read option/heavy QB run scheme to a prostyle stay in the pocket passing scheme, it's hard for me to see how all of a sudden the recruiting sucked only because our QBs don't match the scheme we want to run now.

Fact is, everyone on the roster was recruited to run the option with a lot of QB runs. We were recruiting QBs that showed they could do that in HS. Now, we can debate all along if the passing game was developed enough while they were here and I could probably agree with that.

TA is a hard nosed runner and a leader on the field. Does he have his faults? Sure. But, that is what he was being asked to do in the old system. Now, he is being asked to do something different.

Very similar situations to when BC took over. However, everything I have seen and heard points to Riley understanding there needs to be a transition period and he will play to the QB's strengths while still needing him to at least be proficient at least at some of the passing game.

I am not surprised at all that some fans are jumping all over the QBs claiming that everyone sucks after 15 practices in the spring. Whoever the QB is next fall, I expect to see the offenses much more proficient in late September/early October than they were this last Saturday.

 

[Mavric]

Why do Nebraska fans still wonder why we don't compete for National Titles anymore? The last time we competed for one, we had the Heisman Trophy winner at QB.

Crouch's completion percentage would not have been a fit for Mike Riley's system.

The most passing attempts Crouch ever had was 189 attempts in 2001. He completed 55%. Sean Mannion had 453 passing attempts in 2014, completing 62%.

So obviously, this is a reasonable comparison and a conversation TOTALLY worth having...............derp.

Not sure what the "derp" vocabulary is all about........but anyway.....
The Mannion/Crouch "comparison" illustrates my point exactly. I don't believe Mike Riley's offensive philosophy is an effective blueprint in the college game.

What is this blueprint? How will this blueprint be applied at Nebraska?

If the spring game showed me anything, it was that I don't know exactly what to expect as an offensive philosophy. Seemed like a little bit of everything.

So please, answer the above questions and enlighten me a bit on what exactly this offensive blueprint is that I should be expecting to watch fail in the upcoming seasons.

The blueprint at Nebraska is closer to 189 pass attempts than 453. Tom Osborne gave Mike Riley the direct advice that it's important to run the football. Mike Riley has more of an NFL blueprint. Riley has put a few quarterbacks in the NFL and Nebraska has not......yet Riley's college football trophy case is empty.

I don't get why Osborne says we have to run. He won two national titles as the OC under Devaney running a pro style attack. And as a HC he won a pair of conference championships before switching to the option.

Probably because even with a "pro style" attack he still ran it 70+% of the time.

 

[The Dude]

Why do Nebraska fans still wonder why we don't compete for National Titles anymore? The last time we competed for one, we had the Heisman Trophy winner at QB.

Crouch's completion percentage would not have been a fit for Mike Riley's system.

The most passing attempts Crouch ever had was 189 attempts in 2001. He completed 55%. Sean Mannion had 453 passing attempts in 2014, completing 62%.

So obviously, this is a reasonable comparison and a conversation TOTALLY worth having...............derp.

Not sure what the "derp" vocabulary is all about........but anyway.....
The Mannion/Crouch "comparison" illustrates my point exactly. I don't believe Mike Riley's offensive philosophy is an effective blueprint in the college game.

What is this blueprint? How will this blueprint be applied at Nebraska?
If the spring game showed me anything, it was that I don't know exactly what to expect as an offensive philosophy. Seemed like a little bit of everything.

So please, answer the above questions and enlighten me a bit on what exactly this offensive blueprint is that I should be expecting to watch fail in the upcoming seasons.

The blueprint at Nebraska is closer to 189 pass attempts than 453. Tom Osborne gave Mike Riley the direct advice that it's important to run the football. Mike Riley has more of an NFL blueprint. Riley has put a few quarterbacks in the NFL and Nebraska has not......yet Riley's college football trophy case is empty.

Jacquizz Rodgers, Steven Jackson . . . it seems Riley has put some runningbacks in the League as well.
It almost seems like you're under the impression Riley and Langsdorf want to run an air raid offense or something. Langsdorf has stressed the importance of running the ball and being balanced.

Osbornse wasn't really concerned with being balanced as far as run-pass ratio goes, but he ran the option in place of some of the passing game. He considered them passing plays. Langsdorf will be closer to 50/50, but will have a screen game to supplement the running game. He'll consider them running plays.

Edited - for spelling Jacquizz right, but Steven wrong.

 

[Lyons in the Sea of Red.]

The more I watch Darlington, the more I think he could be our Todd Reesing. Yes please.

 

[CharlieTuna]

The more I watch Darlington, the more I think he could be our Todd Reesing. Yes please.

No thank you. I don't want Tim Beck's influence back in Lincoln.

 

[True2tRA]

The list of highly-recruited quarterbacks who lost their job to an incredibly confident freshman who came out of nowhere is actually pretty long and storied.

Really? Or is this sarcasm. Tommy wasn't highly recruited....at QB. I believe it was us and Southern Miss

(this is all sarcasm)Yea, but the mighty Zac Lee from the City College of San Francisco was unseated by highly recruited safety/WR prospect Taylor Martinez.........

Why do Nebraska fans still wonder why we don't compete for National Titles anymore? The last time we competed for one, we had the Heisman Trophy winner at QB.

You know, many football analysts think the quarterback position is a very important one on a football team, but really, WTH do they know?

Pretty sure no coaching staff here actually tried not to get Heisman calibre QBs here, but what do I know? Now, I did hear that Broderick Thomas was upset that Solich didn't pursue Thomas's hometown QB Vince Young, but I doubt we had any shot at all at him.

If you got the impression I was saying that coaching staffs were trying not to get Heisman caliber QB's I would love to know what the hell I said that made you draw that conclusion. I didn't say anything of the sort and I can't figure out why you even said that. I mean, it's pretty much beyond stupidity.

You're right, no staff here didn't want top talent at QB.

I'm interested though, that last Heisman trophy winning QB we had that played for an NC, what position was other schools wanting him to play?

You act like there were people in the program and fan base that don't think the QB position is the most important position on offense.

Not necessarily. What I am saying is that there is a large portion of this fan base that expects and has expected us to play for national championships in the past 15 years, yet I find those expectations somewhat unrealistic when you consider none of our QB`s in the span of time have been masters of their offensive system.

Eric Crouch was a master of the option.

Its not about what offense you run, how much you run or pass, im talking about being effective and especially being effective against the same level if competition or higher.

You could maybe say Sac Taylor offensive line and defense entirely let him down, but aside from that, my point was until we get aQB that is a gamer in the system we are trying to run, we sshouldn't even be talking about championships.

You made the comment about TMart being a highly recruited Safety/WR prospect as though that is an indictment on the recruiting during that time. Then, you used Crouch as an example of what we need at QB. I am pretty dang sure we were about the only school recruiting Crouch as a QB. Also, Frost was the same way. He even went to Stanford and played safety before coming back and playing QB.
Yes, I agree that Crouch was a master at the option. Both Armstrong and TMart were good at QB in their systems in HS leading their teams to success.

Now, it's obvious that Riley wants a different type of QB than either Armstrong and TMart. As fans, we may jump on that bandwagon. But, I fail to see how using Crouch as an example of great QB recruiting shows how recruiting Armstrong and TMart were somehow total failures.

What the hell are you talking about?

I didn't say we need Crouch at QB? This is the type of sh#t that pisses me off here. My comments are in print, you can read and re-read them all you want, so how the hell do i get misquoted?

I said we haven't had a QB who was a master of the offensive style they were playing in for quite a long time.

Crouch was a great QB because he was a great fit in the option.

Who has executed any Nebraska offense at a level even close to that since that time? I remind you, I'm not asking for a Heisman trophy winner like Crouch, I'm just saying a QB that executes at a high level.

Please, tell me where I said anything even resembling the recruitment of Martinez and Armstrong as a total failure? Such horsesh#t.

I'm a fan of Armstrong and honestly, Taylor did just fine too. Neither one appears/appeared to be qualified enough in their offensive systems to be talking about National championships, which i what this conversation was about.

How an that be argued?

If you can't debate me using facts and actual things I said, then put me on your ignore list and don't try to debate me.

 

[BigRedBuster]

The list of highly-recruited quarterbacks who lost their job to an incredibly confident freshman who came out of nowhere is actually pretty long and storied.

Really? Or is this sarcasm. Tommy wasn't highly recruited....at QB. I believe it was us and Southern Miss

(this is all sarcasm)Yea, but the mighty Zac Lee from the City College of San Francisco was unseated by highly recruited safety/WR prospect Taylor Martinez.........

Why do Nebraska fans still wonder why we don't compete for National Titles anymore? The last time we competed for one, we had the Heisman Trophy winner at QB.

You know, many football analysts think the quarterback position is a very important one on a football team, but really, WTH do they know?

Pretty sure no coaching staff here actually tried not to get Heisman calibre QBs here, but what do I know? Now, I did hear that Broderick Thomas was upset that Solich didn't pursue Thomas's hometown QB Vince Young, but I doubt we had any shot at all at him.

If you got the impression I was saying that coaching staffs were trying not to get Heisman caliber QB's I would love to know what the hell I said that made you draw that conclusion. I didn't say anything of the sort and I can't figure out why you even said that. I mean, it's pretty much beyond stupidity.

You're right, no staff here didn't want top talent at QB.

I'm interested though, that last Heisman trophy winning QB we had that played for an NC, what position was other schools wanting him to play?

You act like there were people in the program and fan base that don't think the QB position is the most important position on offense.

Not necessarily. What I am saying is that there is a large portion of this fan base that expects and has expected us to play for national championships in the past 15 years, yet I find those expectations somewhat unrealistic when you consider none of our QB`s in the span of time have been masters of their offensive system.

Eric Crouch was a master of the option.

Its not about what offense you run, how much you run or pass, im talking about being effective and especially being effective against the same level if competition or higher.

You could maybe say Sac Taylor offensive line and defense entirely let him down, but aside from that, my point was until we get aQB that is a gamer in the system we are trying to run, we sshouldn't even be talking about championships.

You made the comment about TMart being a highly recruited Safety/WR prospect as though that is an indictment on the recruiting during that time. Then, you used Crouch as an example of what we need at QB. I am pretty dang sure we were about the only school recruiting Crouch as a QB. Also, Frost was the same way. He even went to Stanford and played safety before coming back and playing QB.
Yes, I agree that Crouch was a master at the option. Both Armstrong and TMart were good at QB in their systems in HS leading their teams to success.

Now, it's obvious that Riley wants a different type of QB than either Armstrong and TMart. As fans, we may jump on that bandwagon. But, I fail to see how using Crouch as an example of great QB recruiting shows how recruiting Armstrong and TMart were somehow total failures.

What the hell are you talking about?

I didn't say we need Crouch at QB? This is the type of sh#t that pisses me off here. My comments are in print, you can read and re-read them all you want, so how the hell do i get misquoted?

I said we haven't had a QB who was a master of the offensive style they were playing in for quite a long time.

Crouch was a great QB because he was a great fit in the option.

Who has executed any Nebraska offense at a level even close to that since that time? I remind you, I'm not asking for a Heisman trophy winner like Crouch, I'm just saying a QB that executes at a high level.

Please, tell me where I said anything even resembling the recruitment of Martinez and Armstrong as a total failure? Such horsesh#t.

I'm a fan of Armstrong and honestly, Taylor did just fine too. Neither one appears/appeared to be qualified enough in their offensive systems to be talking about National championships, which i what this conversation was about.

How an that be argued?

If you can't debate me using facts and actual things I said, then put me on your ignore list and don't try to debate me.

Oh now now.....

It's probably just a misunderstanding of a statement made. I think I agree with you to a certain extent. Our QBs have not played up to the level of what is needed to win championships. This hasn't happened in a vacuum though. There were other positions on the team who didn't play up to snuff either. The O line took years to get back to even serviceable. The defense has caused major problems in major games over the last 10 years.

But, back on topic. I think the misunderstanding between you and me was that I thought you were implying that the recruitment of these QBs was a bad idea from the previous staff. I don't think it was necessarily a bad idea to recruit the QBs we recruited. My much bigger problem was that we didn't have a coach that was a master at coaching the position in the system we were trying to run. When we had QBs like Frazier, Frost and Crouch, we had an OC who was a master at running the scheme and we had a QB coach that was a master at teaching the QB how to play the position. It has been one hell of a long time since we had either one.

So, I personally, don't hold those players as much accountable for their failures when they were trying to play for a program that didn't have experts in what they were doing trying to teach them.

I believe now we have that. I have always liked TA and I think all QBs are going to see a big jump in what they can do under this staff. I have no idea who is going to end up the starter and that might not be TA. I'm fine with that as long as the new starter is getting coached in a manner that puts him in the position to win.

 

[True2tRA]

The list of highly-recruited quarterbacks who lost their job to an incredibly confident freshman who came out of nowhere is actually pretty long and storied.

Really? Or is this sarcasm. Tommy wasn't highly recruited....at QB. I believe it was us and Southern Miss

(this is all sarcasm)Yea, but the mighty Zac Lee from the City College of San Francisco was unseated by highly recruited safety/WR prospect Taylor Martinez.........

Why do Nebraska fans still wonder why we don't compete for National Titles anymore? The last time we competed for one, we had the Heisman Trophy winner at QB.

You know, many football analysts think the quarterback position is a very important one on a football team, but really, WTH do they know?

Pretty sure no coaching staff here actually tried not to get Heisman calibre QBs here, but what do I know? Now, I did hear that Broderick Thomas was upset that Solich didn't pursue Thomas's hometown QB Vince Young, but I doubt we had any shot at all at him.

If you got the impression I was saying that coaching staffs were trying not to get Heisman caliber QB's I would love to know what the hell I said that made you draw that conclusion. I didn't say anything of the sort and I can't figure out why you even said that. I mean, it's pretty much beyond stupidity.

You're right, no staff here didn't want top talent at QB.

I'm interested though, that last Heisman trophy winning QB we had that played for an NC, what position was other schools wanting him to play?

You act like there were people in the program and fan base that don't think the QB position is the most important position on offense.

Not necessarily. What I am saying is that there is a large portion of this fan base that expects and has expected us to play for national championships in the past 15 years, yet I find those expectations somewhat unrealistic when you consider none of our QB`s in the span of time have been masters of their offensive system.

Eric Crouch was a master of the option.

Its not about what offense you run, how much you run or pass, im talking about being effective and especially being effective against the same level if competition or higher.

You could maybe say Sac Taylor offensive line and defense entirely let him down, but aside from that, my point was until we get aQB that is a gamer in the system we are trying to run, we sshouldn't even be talking about championships.

You made the comment about TMart being a highly recruited Safety/WR prospect as though that is an indictment on the recruiting during that time. Then, you used Crouch as an example of what we need at QB. I am pretty dang sure we were about the only school recruiting Crouch as a QB. Also, Frost was the same way. He even went to Stanford and played safety before coming back and playing QB.
Yes, I agree that Crouch was a master at the option. Both Armstrong and TMart were good at QB in their systems in HS leading their teams to success.

Now, it's obvious that Riley wants a different type of QB than either Armstrong and TMart. As fans, we may jump on that bandwagon. But, I fail to see how using Crouch as an example of great QB recruiting shows how recruiting Armstrong and TMart were somehow total failures.

What the hell are you talking about?I didn't say we need Crouch at QB? This is the type of sh#t that pisses me off here. My comments are in print, you can read and re-read them all you want, so how the hell do i get misquoted?

I said we haven't had a QB who was a master of the offensive style they were playing in for quite a long time.

Crouch was a great QB because he was a great fit in the option.

Who has executed any Nebraska offense at a level even close to that since that time? I remind you, I'm not asking for a Heisman trophy winner like Crouch, I'm just saying a QB that executes at a high level.

Please, tell me where I said anything even resembling the recruitment of Martinez and Armstrong as a total failure? Such horsesh#t.

I'm a fan of Armstrong and honestly, Taylor did just fine too. Neither one appears/appeared to be qualified enough in their offensive systems to be talking about National championships, which i what this conversation was about.

How an that be argued?

If you can't debate me using facts and actual things I said, then put me on your ignore list and don't try to debate me.

Oh now now.....
It's probably just a misunderstanding of a statement made. I think I agree with you to a certain extent. Our QBs have not played up to the level of what is needed to win championships. This hasn't happened in a vacuum though. There were other positions on the team who didn't play up to snuff either. The O line took years to get back to even serviceable. The defense has caused major problems in major games over the last 10 years.

But, back on topic. I think the misunderstanding between you and me was that I thought you were implying that the recruitment of these QBs was a bad idea from the previous staff. I don't think it was necessarily a bad idea to recruit the QBs we recruited. My much bigger problem was that we didn't have a coach that was a master at coaching the position in the system we were trying to run. When we had QBs like Frazier, Frost and Crouch, we had an OC who was a master at running the scheme and we had a QB coach that was a master at teaching the QB how to play the position. It has been one hell of a long time since we had either one.

So, I personally, don't hold those players as much accountable for their failures when they were trying to play for a program that didn't have experts in what they were doing trying to teach them.

I believe now we have that. I have always liked TA and I think all QBs are going to see a big jump in what they can do under this staff. I have no idea who is going to end up the starter and that might not be TA. I'm fine with that as long as the new starter is getting coached in a manner that puts him in the position to win.

I think we agree for the most part. The discussion seemed to wonder off the path is all. I simply think the day we are able to stop "builing our offense aroun the QB we have" and instead finally get a QB that exeutes the offense the coaches know and teach, the sooner we belong in the Championship conversation. As obvious as that may seem, my original point was that it still amazes me how muh we talk about winning championships in this fan base, even though we really haven't had that HUGE necessary piece.

 

[NUinID]

The more I watch Darlington, the more I think he could be our Todd Reesing. Yes please.

Except he is about 4 inches taller and about 30lbs heavier.

 

[Hayseed]

It seems like every Spring Scrimmage we have a darling who never does much after that..........let's hope that's not the case with Darlington.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

The list of highly-recruited quarterbacks who lost their job to an incredibly confident freshman who came out of nowhere is actually pretty long and storied.

Really? Or is this sarcasm. Tommy wasn't highly recruited....at QB. I believe it was us and Southern Miss

(this is all sarcasm)Yea, but the mighty Zac Lee from the City College of San Francisco was unseated by highly recruited safety/WR prospect Taylor Martinez.........

Why do Nebraska fans still wonder why we don't compete for National Titles anymore? The last time we competed for one, we had the Heisman Trophy winner at QB.

You know, many football analysts think the quarterback position is a very important one on a football team, but really, WTH do they know?

Pretty sure no coaching staff here actually tried not to get Heisman calibre QBs here, but what do I know? Now, I did hear that Broderick Thomas was upset that Solich didn't pursue Thomas's hometown QB Vince Young, but I doubt we had any shot at all at him.

If you got the impression I was saying that coaching staffs were trying not to get Heisman caliber QB's I would love to know what the hell I said that made you draw that conclusion. I didn't say anything of the sort and I can't figure out why you even said that. I mean, it's pretty much beyond stupidity.

You're right, no staff here didn't want top talent at QB.

I'm interested though, that last Heisman trophy winning QB we had that played for an NC, what position was other schools wanting him to play?

You act like there were people in the program and fan base that don't think the QB position is the most important position on offense.

Not necessarily. What I am saying is that there is a large portion of this fan base that expects and has expected us to play for national championships in the past 15 years, yet I find those expectations somewhat unrealistic when you consider none of our QB`s in the span of time have been masters of their offensive system.

Eric Crouch was a master of the option.

Its not about what offense you run, how much you run or pass, im talking about being effective and especially being effective against the same level if competition or higher.

You could maybe say Sac Taylor offensive line and defense entirely let him down, but aside from that, my point was until we get aQB that is a gamer in the system we are trying to run, we sshouldn't even be talking about championships.

You made the comment about TMart being a highly recruited Safety/WR prospect as though that is an indictment on the recruiting during that time. Then, you used Crouch as an example of what we need at QB. I am pretty dang sure we were about the only school recruiting Crouch as a QB. Also, Frost was the same way. He even went to Stanford and played safety before coming back and playing QB.
Yes, I agree that Crouch was a master at the option. Both Armstrong and TMart were good at QB in their systems in HS leading their teams to success.

Now, it's obvious that Riley wants a different type of QB than either Armstrong and TMart. As fans, we may jump on that bandwagon. But, I fail to see how using Crouch as an example of great QB recruiting shows how recruiting Armstrong and TMart were somehow total failures.

What the hell are you talking about?I didn't say we need Crouch at QB? This is the type of sh#t that pisses me off here. My comments are in print, you can read and re-read them all you want, so how the hell do i get misquoted?

I said we haven't had a QB who was a master of the offensive style they were playing in for quite a long time.

Crouch was a great QB because he was a great fit in the option.

Who has executed any Nebraska offense at a level even close to that since that time? I remind you, I'm not asking for a Heisman trophy winner like Crouch, I'm just saying a QB that executes at a high level.

Please, tell me where I said anything even resembling the recruitment of Martinez and Armstrong as a total failure? Such horsesh#t.

I'm a fan of Armstrong and honestly, Taylor did just fine too. Neither one appears/appeared to be qualified enough in their offensive systems to be talking about National championships, which i what this conversation was about.

How an that be argued?

If you can't debate me using facts and actual things I said, then put me on your ignore list and don't try to debate me.

Oh now now.....
It's probably just a misunderstanding of a statement made. I think I agree with you to a certain extent. Our QBs have not played up to the level of what is needed to win championships. This hasn't happened in a vacuum though. There were other positions on the team who didn't play up to snuff either. The O line took years to get back to even serviceable. The defense has caused major problems in major games over the last 10 years.

But, back on topic. I think the misunderstanding between you and me was that I thought you were implying that the recruitment of these QBs was a bad idea from the previous staff. I don't think it was necessarily a bad idea to recruit the QBs we recruited. My much bigger problem was that we didn't have a coach that was a master at coaching the position in the system we were trying to run. When we had QBs like Frazier, Frost and Crouch, we had an OC who was a master at running the scheme and we had a QB coach that was a master at teaching the QB how to play the position. It has been one hell of a long time since we had either one.

So, I personally, don't hold those players as much accountable for their failures when they were trying to play for a program that didn't have experts in what they were doing trying to teach them.

I believe now we have that. I have always liked TA and I think all QBs are going to see a big jump in what they can do under this staff. I have no idea who is going to end up the starter and that might not be TA. I'm fine with that as long as the new starter is getting coached in a manner that puts him in the position to win.

I think we agree for the most part. The discussion seemed to wonder off the path is all. I simply think the day we are able to stop "builing our offense aroun the QB we have" and instead finally get a QB that exeutes the offense the coaches know and teach, the sooner we belong in the Championship conversation. As obvious as that may seem, my original point was that it still amazes me how muh we talk about winning championships in this fan base, even though we really haven't had that HUGE necessary piece.

It's still a recruiting debate. For years, Nebraska actively recruited QBs who weren't likely to be QBs at other major programs. They were high school quarterbacks because they were the best athlete on the team. Other colleges were perfectly willing to give them scholarships and mold them into DBs, WRs or RBs, but Nebraska was willing to give them a chance to be quarterback. We wanted athletes and leaders. You didn't have to be that check-down, pocket-passer. Anything over 50% completion was gravy.

So I'm not sure we've ever simply built our offense around the QB we have. I think we've actively recruited our QBs for the system in place, which has been a run-first offense. Nebraska has been famous for running the football for 50 years. That has made us a tough sell for high school quarterbacks with passing skills and NFL ambitions. Nebraska doesn't run an offense that displays professional QB skills. A large contingent of the fanbase hopes we never do. Anything over 20 attempts a game and some worry we're being "multiple." But that's how the game is played.

To get that huge, necessary piece: a QB with sharp mind and arm, we have to announce our intention to use him. I think that process is just getting started.

 

[junior4949]

Yea, but the mighty Zac Lee from the City College of San Francisco was unseated by highly recruited safety/WR prospect Taylor Martinez.........
Why do Nebraska fans still wonder why we don't compete for National Titles anymore? The last time we competed for one, we had the Heisman Trophy winner at QB.

You know, many football analysts think the quarterback position is a very important one on a football team, but really, WTH do they know?

The big time football programs didn't want Eric Crouch, Scott Frost or Tommie Frazier playing quarterback for them, either.

The closest Nebraska has had to a blue-chip quarterback was when Sam Keller transferred.

We're supposed to covet quarterbacks like Connor Cook, but frankly Tommy Armstrong outplayed him the last two years.

And those vintage Nebraska offensive lines made heroes out of some otherwise middling quarterbacks.

You have got to be absolutely kidding me. Scott Frost was recruited by Bill Walsh who just happened to be the inventor of the West Coast Offense. While Frazier wasn't heavily sought after to play QB by some big time programs, Notre Dame absolutely craved him at QB. Are we not considering Notre Dame a big time football program especially after they were fairly fresh off winning a NC when Frazier was being recruited? You could have named several of Nebraska's past QBs to make your argument and been correct. The three you chose to mention are just plain wrong.

 

[BigRedBuster]

Yea, but the mighty Zac Lee from the City College of San Francisco was unseated by highly recruited safety/WR prospect Taylor Martinez.........
Why do Nebraska fans still wonder why we don't compete for National Titles anymore? The last time we competed for one, we had the Heisman Trophy winner at QB.

You know, many football analysts think the quarterback position is a very important one on a football team, but really, WTH do they know?

The big time football programs didn't want Eric Crouch, Scott Frost or Tommie Frazier playing quarterback for them, either.

The closest Nebraska has had to a blue-chip quarterback was when Sam Keller transferred.

We're supposed to covet quarterbacks like Connor Cook, but frankly Tommy Armstrong outplayed him the last two years.

And those vintage Nebraska offensive lines made heroes out of some otherwise middling quarterbacks.

You have got to be absolutely kidding me. Scott Frost was recruited by Bill Walsh who just happened to be the inventor of the West Coast Offense. While Frazier wasn't heavily sought after to play QB by some big time programs, Notre Dame absolutely craved him at QB. Are we not considering Notre Dame a big time football program especially after they were fairly fresh off winning a NC when Frazier was being recruited? You could have named several of Nebraska's past QBs to make your argument and been correct. The three you chose to mention are just plain wrong.

Frost ended up playing safety.

Mechanics in passing seems to be extremely important to people around here. Scott didn't have anywhere close to ideal mechanics. I remember the term "Shotput" was used quite heavily with him and I remember many balls bouncing at the WR's feet.

I would be absolutely shocked to find out Walsh seriously wanted him at QB.