How good can we be with TM under center next year?

TM will only ever be a 9-10 win guy. Hey, that's fine and good, but if he is a 4 year starter he HAS to be able to get us to 11-12 wins with a BCS bowl win at a minimum. I for one do not think he can do this.

I have nothing against the kid. I'm sure he's a fine person and human being, but I just don't see him as a QB that can get the Huskers over the top.

I also think the kid gets more criticism than he deserves and the reason is Bo. The fact is he shouldn't be a starting QB and Bo leaving him in there does him no favors.

Sorry, but I don't see us winning a B1G championship, I don't see us getting to a BCS bowl, and I don't see us winning more than 10 games with him at QB 1. These are just my honest opinions, and I know people won't agree and that's fine.

I actually hope I'm wrong and he does do all these things and hopefully more. I like my crow medium well with the sweet and spicy taste of dorothy lynch.

 
C N Red said:
TM will only ever be a 9-10 win guy. Hey, that's fine and good, but if he is a 4 year starter he HAS to be able to get us to 11-12 wins with a BCS bowl win at a minimum. I for one do not think he can do this.

I have nothing against the kid. I'm sure he's a fine person and human being, but I just don't see him as a QB that can get the Huskers over the top.

I also think the kid gets more criticism than he deserves and the reason is Bo. The fact is he shouldn't be a starting QB and Bo leaving him in there does him no favors.

Sorry, but I don't see us winning a B1G championship, I don't see us getting to a BCS bowl, and I don't see us winning more than 10 games with him at QB 1. These are just my honest opinions, and I know people won't agree and that's fine.

I actually hope I'm wrong and he does do all these things and hopefully more. I like my crow medium well with the sweet and spicy taste of dorothy lynch.
Click to expand...
You realize that this year with a below average defense we still won 9 games, right?... What if next year our defense matures and they are a top-10 defense again? I have no doubt in my mind that with a workhorse RB like Rex, TM can win us 12-14 games.

Does that mean that I think he is elite? No. He's no Andrew Luck, but he made huge strides this year as a QB.

 
HuskerShark said:
C N Red said:
TM will only ever be a 9-10 win guy. Hey, that's fine and good, but if he is a 4 year starter he HAS to be able to get us to 11-12 wins with a BCS bowl win at a minimum. I for one do not think he can do this.

I have nothing against the kid. I'm sure he's a fine person and human being, but I just don't see him as a QB that can get the Huskers over the top.

I also think the kid gets more criticism than he deserves and the reason is Bo. The fact is he shouldn't be a starting QB and Bo leaving him in there does him no favors.

Sorry, but I don't see us winning a B1G championship, I don't see us getting to a BCS bowl, and I don't see us winning more than 10 games with him at QB 1. These are just my honest opinions, and I know people won't agree and that's fine.

I actually hope I'm wrong and he does do all these things and hopefully more. I like my crow medium well with the sweet and spicy taste of dorothy lynch.
Click to expand...
You realize that this year with a below average defense we still won 9 games, right?... What if next year our defense matures and they are a top-10 defense again? I have no doubt in my mind that with a workhorse RB like Rex, TM can win us 12-14 games.

Does that mean that I think he is elite? No. He's no Andrew Luck, but he made huge strides this year as a QB.
Click to expand...
Ya, I know. I just don't have a good feeling about our offense with TM at QB. Look at our defenses in 2009 and 2010. We only won 10 games each of those years becaus our offense was not that good. I'm just seeing the same trend here. I think our offense could be alot better, but we need someone at QB that can let Beck open things up more without having to worry about turning the ball over so much. I just don't see it with TM. Like I said I will gladly eat crow, but if I was a betting man I would put alot of money on us not seeing more than 11 wins with TM starting at QB.

 
HuskerShark said:
You realize that this year with a below average defense we still won 9 games, right?... What if next year our defense matures and they are a top-10 defense again?
Click to expand...
While I agree whole-heartedly with this idea, I think there's only one, maybe two losses where a Top-10 defense would have realistically made a difference--Northwestern and South Carolina. Our offense was simply out to lunch against Wisky and Michigan, and while a Top 10 defense likely would help with field position, something tells me it wouldn't have been enough.

I guess I'm more concerned about offensive consistency throughout the season--something lacking this year, but understandable considering it's was Beck's first year with a relatively young offense. If we maintain on defense and improve our offensive consistency, there's only two games next fall I'm really concerned about--@ Ohio State and against Michigan.

If we pair that with a Top 10 defense, though, I'm only concerned about Michigan (considering our coach's history with defending their style of offense).

And what's sad is that if we do have both, that *still* may not be enough to get to the Big 10 title game (with Michigan having a decidedly easier schedule).

I wonder if we'll have fans calling for blood if we go 11-1 or 10-2 and don't make the Big 10 title game?

 
C N Red said:
HuskerShark said:
C N Red said:
TM will only ever be a 9-10 win guy. Hey, that's fine and good, but if he is a 4 year starter he HAS to be able to get us to 11-12 wins with a BCS bowl win at a minimum. I for one do not think he can do this.

I have nothing against the kid. I'm sure he's a fine person and human being, but I just don't see him as a QB that can get the Huskers over the top.

I also think the kid gets more criticism than he deserves and the reason is Bo. The fact is he shouldn't be a starting QB and Bo leaving him in there does him no favors.

Sorry, but I don't see us winning a B1G championship, I don't see us getting to a BCS bowl, and I don't see us winning more than 10 games with him at QB 1. These are just my honest opinions, and I know people won't agree and that's fine.

I actually hope I'm wrong and he does do all these things and hopefully more. I like my crow medium well with the sweet and spicy taste of dorothy lynch.
Click to expand...
You realize that this year with a below average defense we still won 9 games, right?... What if next year our defense matures and they are a top-10 defense again? I have no doubt in my mind that with a workhorse RB like Rex, TM can win us 12-14 games.

Does that mean that I think he is elite? No. He's no Andrew Luck, but he made huge strides this year as a QB.
Click to expand...
Ya, I know. I just don't have a good feeling about our offense with TM at QB. Look at our defenses in 2009 and 2010. We only won 10 games each of those years becaus our offense was not that good. I'm just seeing the same trend here. I think our offense could be alot better, but we need someone at QB that can let Beck open things up more without having to worry about turning the ball over so much. I just don't see it with TM. Like I said I will gladly eat crow, but if I was a betting man I would put alot of money on us not seeing more than 11 wins with TM starting at QB.
Click to expand...
I would bet against it too because even teams that have Andrew Luck at QB have a difficult time winning 11 games in a season. It's just not something done by 1 person. We need a whole team effort to win 11 games or more, starting with the entire defense and the O-Line.

Look at last year. If we had this year's offensive production during last season, we are most likely looking at an undefeated Nebraska heading into the National Championship game. Last year, the games that we lost were lost because of our offense. Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and Washington were all games that we would have won if our offense had showed up at least a little bit. In the end, it was an inexperienced QB, terrible O-Line play, BAD fumbles, and an ineffective front 4 on defense that had hands in losing us all 4 of those games.

I just think that it is time for people to shift the focus away from Taylor because although he is not an elite QB, he has the ability to be effective and with the right pieces around him, he can help us win a national championship.

 
Danimal said:
For me the question is whether he can get that step he lost back. He should develop mentally and improve in his execution of the option game. He should also improve his passing-game, but he'll never be a particularly good passer. He needs that take-it-to-the-house ability that got him the job in the first place.
Click to expand...
I meant to bring this up because I don't remember it being mentioned. Did anyone else think Taylor looked a little quicker in the bowl game? I agree he didn't have the same explosiveness this year, but he looked pretty damn quick against South Carolina on that option keeper he nearly took to the house in the first quarter.

 
in order to keep him healthy, Pelini has him sliding instead of trying to break runs to the house.......thus his real threat has been diminished somewhat.

if he could scramble and juke guys, he could gain yardage when his receivers are covered, but it is often a coverage sack........read option or stay home is the alternative.

 
The Dude said:
Danimal said:
For me the question is whether he can get that step he lost back. He should develop mentally and improve in his execution of the option game. He should also improve his passing-game, but he'll never be a particularly good passer. He needs that take-it-to-the-house ability that got him the job in the first place.
Click to expand...
I meant to bring this up because I don't remember it being mentioned. Did anyone else think Taylor looked a little quicker in the bowl game? I agree he didn't have the same explosiveness this year, but he looked pretty damn quick against South Carolina on that option keeper he nearly took to the house in the first quarter.
Click to expand...
I think he has had that speed all year. I mean, he even flashed a bit of it in the Big 12 CCG. It's just something that was flashed rarely during the middle parts of the season. It did happen now and again. He definitely moved up and took off quite a few times - but usually ran into traffic. No 20+ runs from end of September to the bowl game, if I recall. I think it isn't his speed, other factors are in play. If he's lost a step since last year, it can't be significant. IMO. Or he wouldn't be starting, because that's the key to Taylor's effectiveness.

 
The Dude said:
Danimal said:
For me the question is whether he can get that step he lost back. He should develop mentally and improve in his execution of the option game. He should also improve his passing-game, but he'll never be a particularly good passer. He needs that take-it-to-the-house ability that got him the job in the first place.
Click to expand...
I meant to bring this up because I don't remember it being mentioned. Did anyone else think Taylor looked a little quicker in the bowl game? I agree he didn't have the same explosiveness this year, but he looked pretty damn quick against South Carolina on that option keeper he nearly took to the house in the first quarter.
Click to expand...
We were running the ball quite well for a solid portion of the game against a top 5 defense....if the defense can be better next year and the offense even improves a bit, we'll be a team to contend with in the BIG10. I've already stated this....but I've predicted no more than 2 losses in the season next year. I am going for 2 of 2 on my predictions lol. I stated that the Huskers would lose 3-4 games last season, and they did. This year....I have feeling the Huskers will do better. Our losses will most likely come from Mich and Ohio St. I don't see us laying an egg again against an inferior opponent...at least I hope so.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hunter94 said:
in order to keep him healthy, Pelini has him sliding instead of trying to break runs to the house.......thus his real threat has been diminished somewhat.

if he could scramble and juke guys, he could gain yardage when his receivers are covered, but it is often a coverage sack........read option or stay home is the alternative.
Click to expand...
I'm actually very happy the coaches taught him to slide. He's not like Eric Crouch with the ball in his hands. If a defender is headed straight toward TM, he is going down, and he is likely going to take a big hit in the process. He's a straight line runner, and the times that he got loose last year, a biggest loser contestant could have made it through those holes.

I will say, I don't think that Taylor has quite the burst that he did early last season. However, he is still enough of a threat with his feet that he puts some added stress on defenses. What we need from TM is for him to continue to improve as a passer. IMO he made large strides as a passer this year, and I have faith that he will keep improving in that area next year.

Improved throwing motion and footwork would be everybody's preference, but there's no changing that now. Like I have stated many times on this board, Taylor Martinez is more than capable of helping us win a championship, whether it be conference or national.

 
The one area where I really expect us to improve alot this next year is the O-line. We had some studs that didn't play or didn't play much that I expect to really progress through winter, spring, summer, and be ready to lay it on the line in the fall. We could see some good stuff here if they don't let Cotton come around and try to coach too much.

 
HuskerShark said:
I'm actually very happy the coaches taught him to slide. He's not like Eric Crouch with the ball in his hands. If a defender is headed straight toward TM, he is going down, and he is likely going to take a big hit in the process. He's a straight line runner, and the times that he got loose last year, a biggest loser contestant could have made it through those holes.
Click to expand...
I think Taylor needs to be taught not to avoid the hit, but to know how to take one. Sliding can be dangerous sometimes too. And too often, he is straight upright when he gets steamrolled by a tackler and goes down very hard, and awkwardly, with a full-on hit. Got to think lowering the shoulder there would even reduce the chance of injury.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top