Tommy Armstrong compares far more with successful QBs that have come through the ranks at Nebraska far more than Joe Dailey. Why keep that young man's name in your memory? It's unfair to his family. I don't think UGA fans are going to continue bashing a similar QB named Christian LeMay because he was unable to make good of his time while he was with the University. LeMay's with Jacksonville State now. He - like Joe Dailey - is / was not D-1 level material. It happens.
Actually, if you want to know the truth. Dailey was the bi-product of poor recruiting by former coach Frank Solich. Tommy Armstrong has been a solid recruit for NU from the get-go. And he's done admirably on the field thus far. People seem to forget his recent miraculous comeback win over Iowa in overtime on the road a month ago. They scare me the way they just completely block that out of their minds.
Well, I haven't forgotten it. In fact, if Coach Barney Cotton had put the ball in Tommy's hands late in the 4th quarter on 4th-and-2 instead of racing De'Morney Peirson-El around the end off the sweep, then we are still driving toward the end zone to either tie or win Saturday's game with Southern Cal.
Again, there was a heated recruiting battle over blue chip recruit Carlyle Holiday in Jan./Feb. 2001. Holiday - talented mobile QB - had promised Nebraska that he was either going with them or Notre Dame. Coach Solich and all of Nebraska watched helplessly as the young man made up his mind which team to sign a letter of intent with. I kept up with this story too. And I was so hopeful Carlyle Holiday would choose Nebraska. Anyway, Holiday chose Notre Dame at the last minute on National Signing Day. Nebraska had to settle for Joe Dailey (who like Christian LeMay was not a D-1 level guy).
Carlyle Holiday leads Notre Dame to a nice 10-3 record in 2002, while Dailey falls apart in his only season in 2004. It was the tale of two mobile QBs. One good and the other not so good.
I just think Tommy Armstrong falls into a similar category with past successful Husker signal callers like Tommie Frazier, Steve Taylor, Keithen McCant, Mickey Joseph, Eric Crouch, Turner Gill, Nate Mason, Scott Frost, and McCathorn Clayton. Now, those guys helped build Coach Tom Osborne's legacy.
You can't compare Armstrong with Dailey because Dailey is not a D-1 player. Armstrong has nearly two full seasons of starter's experience. Dailey needed to be with a Division I-AA school IMHO.