Grantland Gives Ameer what he Deserves.

[Comish]

What obviously works in one game doesn't obviously work in another -- or even between quarters -- because other teams have defensive coordinators.

The first quarter of McNeese State seemed to prove that.

Some folks believe that inflicting your will on another team is as simple as inflicting your will. Easy for the armchair fan to say.

Among many things, the inflicting-your-will game requires a top-echelon offensive line.

Wasn't suggesting that what works in one game obviously works in another.....or even within the same game.

And I also agree that arm chair QB's have the easiest job.......guilty as charged.

Also correct on the O-Line.

What I WAS attempting to point out that Beck has proven himself to be a unique individual insofar as seemingly being indifferent to the obvious........IF it runs counter to his previously established game plan........or in other words........futile attempts at on-the-fly alterations.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

And I promise I'm not suggesting that Ameer Abdullah doesn't deserve more carries. I hope he is allowed to go off on Fresno State...and every other game.

Just suggesting that a robust passing game -- even at a 50% completion rate -- remains a huge asset for Abdullah.

Adrian Peterson is another horse who can carry the team on his back, but he has pleaded for a better passing game because it makes his job easier.

And sometimes we forget that Tim Beck has presided over Nebraska's return to one of the top rushing offenses in the nation, allowed Ameer his breakthrough rushing season last year, and 11 days ago directed the most prolific offensive game in Big 10 history, including 500 yards rushing and a career high for Ameer.

I don't know if Beck is indifferent to the obvious, but it's clear he can't pass too little for some Husker fans.

Hey, Jordan Westerkamp just notched his first Heisman proto-vote. A bit disrespectful not to get him more involved in the game, since what he's doing works.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

God I miss the Osborne offense. Everyone watching knew we were going to run. Then every once in awhile we would catch a defense creeping up & hit a WR or TE for a big play.

Apparently teams like Oklahoma and Georgia Tech watched more closely than others.

That kinda gets to the upper-echelon offensive line issue. Things that worked for Osborne's Huskers against our 9 lesser opponents often hit the wall against teams that could match us in size and strength, and maybe best us in speed. When we didn't need to pass, our passing game was deadly. When we were forced to pass, we were already in desperation mode.

 

[TheSker]

God I miss the Osborne offense. Everyone watching knew we were going to run. Then every once in awhile we would catch a defense creeping up & hit a WR or TE for a big play.

Apparently teams like Oklahoma and Georgia Tech watched more closely than others.

That kinda gets to the upper-echelon offensive line issue. Things that worked for Osborne's Huskers against our 9 lesser opponents often hit the wall against teams that could match us in size and strength, and maybe best us in speed. When we didn't need to pass, our passing game was deadly. When we were forced to pass, we were already in desperation mode.

Exactly........and there were many times during Osborne's first 18+ years or so when his scheme and play calling was heavily criticized. Our run in the 90s kinda diminishes a lot of the issues before then.

 

[lo country]

God I miss the Osborne offense. Everyone watching knew we were going to run. Then every once in awhile we would catch a defense creeping up & hit a WR or TE for a big play.

Apparently teams like Oklahoma and Georgia Tech watched more closely than others.

That kinda gets to the upper-echelon offensive line issue. Things that worked for Osborne's Huskers against our 9 lesser opponents often hit the wall against teams that could match us in size and strength, and maybe best us in speed. When we didn't need to pass, our passing game was deadly. When we were forced to pass, we were already in desperation mode.

Exactly........and there were many times during Osborne's first 18+ years or so when his scheme and play calling was heavily criticized. Our run in the 90s kinda diminishes a lot of the issues before then.

TO did have issues in some bad losses:

45-10 v. Oklahoma in 1990

38-7 v. #3 Oklahoma in 1977

27-0 v. #3 Oklahoma in 1973

35-10 v. #7 Oklahoma in 1975

45-21 v. #2 Georgia Tech in 1990

41-17 v. #5 Florida St. in 1989

22-0 v. #1 Miami in 1991

27-7 v. #5 Oklahoma in 1985

23-3 v. #2 Miami in 1988

19-0 v. #17 Arizona St.

20-3 v. #1 Alabama in 1978

27-12 v. #9 Colorado in 1990

36-21 v. #4 Washington in 1991

29-14 v. #2 Washington in 1992

28-14 v. #6 Oklahoma in 1974

41-28 v. #5 UCLA in 1988

27-14 v. #3 Florida St. in 1992

Of course these losses (minus the OK in 1990) were against teams whose avg rank was 4.6.........I would take that any day of the week. TO's overall record was incredible. He also had a then highest % vs ranked teams at 57W-41L.............28W-32L vs top 10

Teams with a winning record? An unbelievable 113W-47L.......

Won 3 MNC and played for it 7 times.....

Not saying TO was the best (well, I am), but he was able to win and win a lot, even against good teams who wanted to stuff our running game. He was a master tactician and it showed. Time and time and time again. Beck? Not so much.......

 

[Hoosker]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzeoJbDcr5M

 

[Comish]

And I promise I'm not suggesting that Ameer Abdullah doesn't deserve more carries. I hope he is allowed to go off on Fresno State...and every other game.

Just suggesting that a robust passing game -- even at a 50% completion rate -- remains a huge asset for Abdullah.

Adrian Peterson is another horse who can carry the team on his back, but he has pleaded for a better passing game because it makes his job easier.

And sometimes we forget that Tim Beck has presided over Nebraska's return to one of the top rushing offenses in the nation, allowed Ameer his breakthrough rushing season last year, and 11 days ago directed the most prolific offensive game in Big 10 history, including 500 yards rushing and a career high for Ameer.

I don't know if Beck is indifferent to the obvious, but it's clear he can't pass too little for some Husker fans.

Hey, Jordan Westerkamp just notched his first Heisman proto-vote. A bit disrespectful not to get him more involved in the game, since what he's doing works.

Valid points all.........

And, for what it's worth, I too believe we need a balance in pass/rush..........and not to just satisfy some arbitrary ratio.

But, last years Minnesota game pushed me over the edge with Beck since I think (fairy or not.....it's just an opinion)..........that he has a tendency to be "too cute".

Although I also believed that of Shawn Watson as well, so maybe it's just me.

The great thing about it is that this board allows us a forum to vent our opinions.

 

[cg_8]

I'd never understood the notion that just because Ameer could be on a 4 loss team, he has no chance.

The ONLY people saying that is pretty much ESPN.

Back in 2009, we had a guy on our team, he was a big guy and he was pretty darn good! You guys might remember him... Ndamukong Suh was his name.

He was a Heisman finalist. On top of that, he was a defensive player, and on top of that, he was a defensive lineman. On top of that (!), our team went 10-4 that year. We were unranked the last half of the season.

I get it that Suh was dominant and was a beast, but could someone truly, and honestly explain to me (and football fans everywhere) why Suh had a better chance than Ameer Abdullah does now?

Why does it seem that everyone (on TV and writing stupid little articles) tells us and everyone else that a player should be automatically discarded if a team isn't an amazing team? Suh wasn't on an amazing team. Baylor went 10-3 and finished 3rd in the Big 12 when RGIII won it so Baylor wasn't amazing. Even history tells me that the junk written as fact is completely wrong.

 

[HUSKER FREAK]

Because Suh could take over the game with two or three people trying to block him. He was relentless and nobody could deny that. He was the most dominating person out of those finalists without a doubt in my mind and the only reason he didn't get it was because he was on D and he was from one of the pretty schools at the time. Ameer is also very dominant but we will have to wait and see who he will be up against by the end of the season to see if he was more of a game changer than the rest. He has a real chance and it sure would be nice if his oline would pull their heads out of their asses. Especially 68 without naming names how many TD's or huge gains have been called back in the first 2 games because of penalty's he caused AWAY from the damn ball and yes I know he wasn't the only one just the majotiry, those things will hurt AA if that continues. As far as a better chance then Suh or being better well that's really hard to judge.

 

[Landlord]

I get it that Suh was dominant and was a beast, but could someone truly, and honestly explain to me (and football fans everywhere) why Suh had a better chance than Ameer Abdullah does now?

Why does it seem that everyone (on TV and writing stupid little articles) tells us and everyone else that a player should be automatically discarded if a team isn't an amazing team? Suh wasn't on an amazing team. Baylor went 10-3 and finished 3rd in the Big 12 when RGIII won it so Baylor wasn't amazing. Even history tells me that the junk written as fact is completely wrong.

A number of reasons:

1. The Heisman race in 2009 was, in general, very weak. Mark Ingram won it with stats pretty similar to Ameer's last year (except more touchdowns), Toby Gerhart was productive but wasn't a sexy pick, Colt McCoy had the numbers but was embarrassed in the championship game against us, etc. The field of possible finalists just wasn't as high-caliber as it appears to be this year, or at the very least, as high as it usually is.

2. Suh was a once in a generation player; Ameer is not. That's to take absolutely nothing away from what Ameer has done, but when it's all said and done, 25 years from now the chances are good that football fans in general won't look back and think of Ameer as one of the top 5 players of the era. He's great but not legendary. Ndamukong Suh, on the other hand, has an argument for being the best college defensive tackle ever.

3. The Big XII Championship game. Suh's Heisman legitimacy depended entirely on that one night where he had a once-in-a-lifetime performance.

4. Touchdowns are important, and Ameer won't ever have a high touchdown count because of Imani Cross.

Now, these are all points that assume a few things, and it's not impossible for it to happen to Ameer, but unlikely. That Baylor team that went 10-3 was also ranked #12 in the nation. The 2007 Florida team that went 9-4 and got Tebow a Heisman was still ranked #13. Not all 3-4 loss teams are created equally.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

For what it's worth, multiple ESPN pundits were boosting Suh for Heisman in 2009, at the expense of Tim Tebow. But they don't actually cast the Heisman votes. Heisman voters tend to be safe and conservative. They might give a defensive player a second, third or fourth place vote, but never a first. Abdullah probably has a better chance than Suh, especially if the big name quarterbacks fade and/or split votes.

The fact they're even debating Ameer's chances two games in against minor league foes suggests Abdullah's stock has risen dramatically.

 

[lo country]

For what it's worth, multiple ESPN pundits were boosting Suh for Heisman in 2009, at the expense of Tim Tebow. But they don't actually cast the Heisman votes. Heisman voters tend to be safe and conservative. They might give a defensive player a second, third or fourth place vote, but never a first. Abdullah probably has a better chance than Suh, especially if the big name quarterbacks fade and/or split votes.

The fact they're even debating Ameer's chances two games in against minor league foes suggests Abdullah's stock has risen dramatically.

Agree with the bold. He continues to make dramatic plays, and with this team, that is always a possibility he has a shot. The B1G is down. He is the one bright spot thus far IMO. Would love to see the B1G start to "push" him in addition to NU. Some of the interviews out there showing his character certainly don't help. Playing FSU helps as he gets West coast exposure. Miami will give some national attention as well IMO.