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

[HuskerShark]

We need better improvements then last season, from start to finish there were none.

Disagree. The secondary got a lot better as the year went on. Perfect? No. But still significantly better.

I'm mean TMart only.

I still think you're wrong about that. TMart improved a lot as a game manager and as a passer this year. You realize that he went 10/16 passing vs probably the fastest defense we faced this year right? Those stats include 3 or 4 drops by our receivers. In addition to his passing, he was also effective in the running game.

You think he could have done that earlier in the year? It's a judgment call but I don't think so.

Big improvement from last season but not much from 2011-12

This post makes no sense....

 

[junior4949]

I think we all need to settle down and see this team for what it really is. We're a jeckyl and hyde team. When the lightswitch is on, the OL opens holes, the receivers make receptions, and the defense makes good stops. When the lightswitch goes off, the OL makes one blunder after the other, receivers drop passes, the defense is out of position, etc. We can and do gain yards on good/great defenses. However, we can also look incompetent to extremely poor defenses. Our defense can stop good/great offenses. Yet, they can also make very mediocre offenses and QB's look outstanding. Our first couple games of the 2011 season, we made a couple of QB's look like Heisman contenders. I don't necessarily think this is a player problem especially just one player. What everyone on the coaching staff and team needs to figure out in the offseason is how and why the lightswitch goes off. I would agree that we don't have the talent to compete week in and week out with teams like LSU and Alabama. However, I don't agree that we don't have enough talent to compete with the likes of Boise State, KState, Virginia Tech, etc. There's absolutely zero reason we can't fight for a top 10 ranking.

 

[melscott62]

He is a great coach, with a mobile QB, has more talent at every position, has hired the best assistant coaches he can find. We lucked out and beat them last year, due to Braxtons injury. You truly believe we have a chance, good for you. I do not think there is a slight chance of winning other than we have to play the game, and they lose half their starters.

Until we recruit like them or even remotely close to what they do year in and year out we have not chance. Ohio State is an elite program, have been for quite awhile. They actually play for MNC, CCG and win. We have not seen a CC, nor have we sniffed a BCS game.

Reality sir, it is staring you in the face and yet somehow you see Bo riding in on a white horse and beating them. I hope you are right, but if I was a betting man, and everything stayed as it is now, I would give 14 points for a couple of hundred I think. But way to early to do that now, by game time I might be willing to give more.

Hope springs eternal after two weeks of off season. Three weeks ago everyone was down, bad this bad that, but suddenly a few days pass and we are back in the MNC hunt, something we have not seen realistically in 15 years.

I dont think we will win at OSU and I think 9-4 is fair... but acting like we cant compete this far from the game is just stupid. The REALITY is that they were a below .500 team. yes they have a good coach coming in, but the REALITY is that they had a good coach up until last year, and the rest of his staff was still there last year. This isnt Bo taking over for Callahan or Stoops for Blake. And more talent at every position? I'll let you rethink that one before I do a position by position breakdown.

I dont even know what to say about the highlighted.....

 

[melscott62]

I worded that first part poorly......I'm not saying you are stupid. I think you are one of the brightest guys here and even though I tend to argue with you I agree with the vast majority of what you say

 

[bshirt]

I think we all need to settle down and see this team for what it really is. We're a jeckyl and hyde team. When the lightswitch is on, the OL opens holes, the receivers make receptions, and the defense makes good stops. When the lightswitch goes off, the OL makes one blunder after the other, receivers drop passes, the defense is out of position, etc. We can and do gain yards on good/great defenses. However, we can also look incompetent to extremely poor defenses. Our defense can stop good/great offenses. Yet, they can also make very mediocre offenses and QB's look outstanding. Our first couple games of the 2011 season, we made a couple of QB's look like Heisman contenders. I don't necessarily think this is a player problem especially just one player. What everyone on the coaching staff and team needs to figure out in the offseason is how and why the lightswitch goes off. I would agree that we don't have the talent to compete week in and week out with teams like LSU and Alabama. However, I don't agree that we don't have enough talent to compete with the likes of Boise State, KState, Virginia Tech, etc. There's absolutely zero reason we can't fight for a top 10 ranking.

I think this post nails it on the head. We can beat almost anybody. Or lose to almost anybody.

Our Oline can gell vs Michigan st, Ohio St, etc or get totally stuffed vs freakin NW. Our wrs can drop passes with the greatest of ease vs anybody. Our defense can shut down almost anybody or get overwhelmed by Fresno St, Michigan, NW, etc. Fully agree the light switch is the key. "Maybe" a big part of the light switch problem is talent and depth on the trenches? If so, we should start to slowly resolve that problem this year.

Also fully agree that top10 is a realistic goal we can hack.

 

[HuskerShark]

I think top 1 is a pretty good goal for next year and the year after.

 

[skersfan]

Mel, I never take anyone too seriously. I know I ruffle feathers, not really trying to. I am just a black and white kinda person. Always have been, and as old as I am most likely always will be.

I tend to say things people do not want to hear, and sometimes do not understand what I am trying to get accross. I love the program, all I ever want is for it to do the best it can. I never expect MNC games or CC games.

I think Ohio State has won 8 of the last ten CC of the Big 10. I think last year we were very lucky to beat them, along with Michigan State. They have had top 5-10 recruiting classe for a long time. Their talent level has to be better than what we have. Rex, but he is not a game breaker type back. Love him but he is a lunch pale, bring your blue collar shirt and roll in the grit and the grime.

I turly think there are a lot of problems with Nebraska. Not only talent, but the talent of the coaching staff is a concern for me. They all may get there, but I would have preferred the way Ohio State is doing it. Bringing in highly sought after assistant coaches with proven history of winning.

I do not feel this team was built to compete in the slug fest that is the Big Ten, and it will take time for Bo to get the right guys on the field, but the number one problem is it takes so long to get the top talent to the field for some reason.

My guess Ohio State will finish in the top 5 next year, prior to the bowls, and I think we will be exactly where we have been the last two or three.

Bo took over crap so to speak, Urban is a proven coach on the National level, has national level assitants, recruits on the National level, has won two MNC and dominates in recruiting. Him being hired will be a major thorn for Nebraska in recruiting in the Big 10.

Of course things can happen to change my projection, some how the light comes on for the defense, which was a major disappointment this year. The Oline decides to play every down, and the WR's actually catch a ball that hits them in the chest. That we truly develop another running back so that REX is not beaten to a pulp. If all these things happend, and if Ohio State had an off day, we could be in the hunt, but my guess is that you are going to see Braxton quickly become a hypsman contender next year. Urban will change him for the better is my guess.

Non one hopes I am wrong more than me, but I have been watching this game for many years, and I am normally very close to what ends up happening, not real happy about that the last few years, but I have learned that seeing things as they are, normally makes it better than seeing things as I hope they will be.

I am just an old man, that loves this program, not looking for fights, just try to bring common sense to the table, sometimes I actually do it.

 

[Foppa]

another dose of reality, it just is what it is for now.

This is completely inconceivable.

 

[NoLongerN]

Enjoyed your read skersfan. Thanks for sharing.

 

[melscott62]

another dose of reality, it just is what it is for now.

post of the year. seriously

 

[74Hunter]

You think Taylor would be good as a safety? Have you even watched the guy running into contact? And you think his skills would be utilized better as a 2nd or 3rd string safety? That sounds like not utilizing his skills at all to me...

Taylor will be fine. He needs to improve, as does every other player on the team.

Aha. You got my point exactly. His skills are very hard to utilize on a football team. Thanks.

You're right. He passed Tommie Frazier and moved to third place on Nebraska's career total yards list by the end of his sophomore year due to luck alone. No skill whatsoever.

Tommie Frazier ran the option 70% of the time, and when he wasn't running the option he was handing it off to the HB in the I formation, or to the FB in a triple option. When he didn't keep it on the option, he was pitching it to LP and Ahman Green who both had some pretty amazing numbers if I don't recall? Hmmm, you think Tommie had anything to do with that? Comparing Tommie Frazier's or any other QB's numbers in the option system to Taylors numbers now? Thats apples and oranges. We've ran an entirely different offensive style since the option days of the nineties here in Nebraska in case you haven't been watching.

This right here proves that you have no clue whatsoever about what you speak. Frazier didn't run that much option, we had a power-I based offense that mixed in the option. And, if you want to go back to check the stats, Frazier was probably about at 45% passer in his first 2 years while TMart is about 56%. And Frazier didn't have to deal with his receivers dropping 3-4 balls per game.

As for Brion saying that he is ready and better, uh-huh. Yep, both you and he know better than the coaches. Are you dense enough to believe that Brion is going to say, "I have no clue what is going on?"

Don't answer that question, it was rhetorical.

Mods, this is why we need the -1 button back.

 

[walksalone]

Ok, it's been 2 years with T-mart at the helm. His freshman year, the first half we thought we might be witnessing the 2nd coming of Gill or Frazier. The second half injuries, teams figuring him out, and the fact he was just a freshman, came to the forefront. Sophomore year, saw improvement, and I think many of us liked where he was heading.

He's heading into his Junior year, and I think we know what we're all going to get with him at the helm. Good runner, getting better at making decisions, passing still questionable. Is he going to get better than he is now? Physically, i don't think so, but his experience may make him a better QB at the decision making level. At this point I think his success is going to lie with the play calling and the pieces being put around him.

 

[kchusker_chris]

I think we all need to settle down and see this team for what it really is. We're a jeckyl and hyde team. When the lightswitch is on, the OL opens holes, the receivers make receptions, and the defense makes good stops. When the lightswitch goes off, the OL makes one blunder after the other, receivers drop passes, the defense is out of position, etc. We can and do gain yards on good/great defenses. However, we can also look incompetent to extremely poor defenses. Our defense can stop good/great offenses. Yet, they can also make very mediocre offenses and QB's look outstanding. Our first couple games of the 2011 season, we made a couple of QB's look like Heisman contenders. I don't necessarily think this is a player problem especially just one player. What everyone on the coaching staff and team needs to figure out in the offseason is how and why the lightswitch goes off. I would agree that we don't have the talent to compete week in and week out with teams like LSU and Alabama. However, I don't agree that we don't have enough talent to compete with the likes of Boise State, KState, Virginia Tech, etc. There's absolutely zero reason we can't fight for a top 10 ranking.

I think this post nails it on the head. We can beat almost anybody. Or lose to almost anybody.

Our Oline can gell vs Michigan st, Ohio St, etc or get totally stuffed vs freakin NW. Our wrs can drop passes with the greatest of ease vs anybody. Our defense can shut down almost anybody or get overwhelmed by Fresno St, Michigan, NW, etc. Fully agree the light switch is the key. "Maybe" a big part of the light switch problem is talent and depth on the trenches? If so, we should start to slowly resolve that problem this year.

Also fully agree that top10 is a realistic goal we can hack.

This happens to a lot of teams. You'll see em play great one week then have a down week against a marginal team. The one common denominator you usually see is that they've been outcoached. Wanna figure out why the light was off against Fresno St? Beacuse Hill outcoached Pelini the better part of that game? Michigan? Because Mattison/Hoke outcoached Beck. NW? Because Ftiz can outcoach Pelini 3 out of 4 games.

Someone (maybe the Herald) needs to go through the staffs of our oponents next year. Look at the experience (not just of the HC but of the assistants). I think you'll see really quickly which games might not have the lights on. It's unfortunately...but we WILL get outcoached (as a staff) 4-5 times next season. We won't lose all, and we might lose some where we're not outcoached...but how many times through the 70's, 80's, 90's, etc...did we go into a game knowing we were going to be outcoached? Rarely. Happens all the time now.

 

[knapplc]

It's unfortunately...but we WILL get outcoached (as a staff) 4-5 times next season.

Maybe, but that's only if the coaching staff doesn't learn and grow more savvy with time. I don't expect seasoned veteran coaching moves with Beck at Year Two and Bo at Year Five, but I expect better than last year from both. We'll have to see what JP does with the defense, although it's to be hoped that Bo Pelini Defensive Genius comes back to the fore.

I presume we'll get outcoached by Urban Meyer and Co., but hopefully we have better gameplans against NW and MU, and we execute those plans better (to use a Bo word that I'm getting really tired of).

 

[Stickney]

Mel, I never take anyone too seriously.

I am just an old man, that loves this program, not looking for fights, just try to bring common sense to the table, sometimes I actually do it.

All of that.

Time will tell with TM. I think we can all agree we hope he continues to improve.

But there are issues or potential issues up and down the lineup (particularly on D -- who will become a playmaker?).

Definitely an interesting offseason for the staff.