OK sure, I'll be the first....

[True2tRA]

Armstrong played a great game against an overmatched opponent. It was about as good or even a little better as Martinez' first game against Western Kentucky. Both were Redshirt Freshmen, both played against very weak competition.

Martinez ran for a 46 yard TD the first time he ever carried the ball. Ended the day with 127 yards rushing (led the team) and two TDs. Went 9/15/0 passing with 136 yards and no TDs.

Armstrong ran for ran for 38 yards, and threw for 169 yards on 12/15 passing, and threw for a TD (I thought he threw two TDs? Stats say otherwise)

Both had good first games. Let's hope Armstrong continues developing and gets better every day (day by day!). I have a lot more confidence in our backup situation now than I did two weeks ago.

There becomes a point Knapp where your not talking about just a backup situation. I think it's already reached that point. You with your obvious man crush in Taylor probably don't feel that way. But I remind all of you here to not only consider what is "fair" to Taylor, but what is "fair" to this TEAM.

The players that give this Husker team the best chance to win should be on the field. Taylor's not the only senior trying to leave a legacy here.

 

[Hoosker]

You just can't understate how important cool confidence is in a freshman quarterback, and how it can lift up a team. And though it was all of three years ago, let's recall a few of freshman Taylor Martinez's numbers against quality opponents:

On the road against Washington in one of the loudest and toughest opposing stadiums in college football:

19 carries for 137 yards

7 - 11 - 0 for 150 yards

4 total TDS

Against in-conference rival Kansas State

15 carries for 241 yards

5 - 7 - 0 128 yards

5 total TDs

Against ranked in-conference rival Oklahoma State

19 carries for 112 yards

25 - 35 - 0 for 323 yards

5 passing TDs

Against #7 Missouri

6 - 9 - 0 for 115 yards and a TD in the first half before getting hurt.

And then Taylor Martinez was never quite the same.

I think getting sent back into the starting lineup that year, clearly hobbled, against defenses that were now gunning for him took away some of the balls-out fearlessness that made Martinez so promising. I think being told to go down quickly in the open field to avoid injury the past two seasons took away something, too. And a defense that puts you so far in the hole that every offensive series comes with an air of desperation doesn't help, either.

I'm rooting like crazy for Tommy Armstrong to be the man, but see no point pooping on Taylor Martinez. I'd love to see him go out in style.

pooping is overrated anyway..

 

[Bowfin]

TA is two dimensional, while RK played really well, he really only offers one aspect, the passing game

Same could be said about Peyton Manning

I think Abdullah, Cross, and Newby can do all the running stuff we need. I want a competent passer and someone who doesn't make mistakes. Now if we have all that AND greased lighthing in a jar, then I want one of those...

One thing I did see about Kellogg that made me wonder: On one play, he had to scramble, but he went down before contact. Good Grief Man! You are a fifth year senior fighting for playing time against an entrenched 4 year starter and a wonder kid. Play like it means something! It's not like you have to save yourself for next year.

 

[suh_fan93]

Just re-watched the game. RKIII definitely throws a better ball. The guy was practically perfect. It's sad that now he'll most likely go back to wearing a headset for the rest of the season.

F'n Pelini...

I can't wait to see what unfolds the rest of the season.

 

[walksalone]

Just re-watched the game. RKIII definitely throws a better ball. The guy was practically perfect. It's sad that now he'll most likely go back to wearing a headset for the rest of the season.

F'n Pelini...

I can't wait to see what unfolds the rest of the season.

So in your perfect world, T-Mart's toe develops into a case of dengue fever and Tommy Armstrong gets Tonya Harding'd, and gets a medical redshirt, and RK III leads us to a national title with one loss...

 

[suh_fan93]

Just re-watched the game. RKIII definitely throws a better ball. The guy was practically perfect. It's sad that now he'll most likely go back to wearing a headset for the rest of the season.

F'n Pelini...

I can't wait to see what unfolds the rest of the season.

So in your perfect world, T-Mart's toe develops into a case of dengue fever and Tommy Armstrong gets Tonya Harding'd, and gets a medical redshirt, and RK III leads us to a national title with one loss...

In my perfect world Taylor wouldn't be playing. That's for sure.

 

[Enhance]

If your only reason for posting is my verbage, wouldn't you be better served putting your head back in the sand where it so often is?

Sure, TA has some things to work on, but he threw just as well as RKIII statistically speaking (including two dropped TD passes) and brings more to the table athletically. Whatever mechanical differences exist between the two are moot.

Poor mechanics is why Talyor is not a very good passer and are a valid criticism. However, I don't see why it's being argued when RK3 is a senior who won't be with the program next year.

I never said poor mechanics are an invalid criticism. But, what "loft" is being critiqued here? Two deep passes on the money that were dropped? TA's sideline passes to both Enunwa and Abdullah early in the game? Burtch's TD pass? All five of those throws had to have touch on them and couldn't just be slung in there like a rocket. I guess I'm curious as to what throws TA didn't put enough force, power, whatever you want to call it, behind. I mean, if we're curious about his arm strength, rewatch some of his high school highlights - dude has an arm and made some very tough across the field throws with a lot of velocity.

As far as his footwork, I didn't notice any back foot throws in the highlights, but I'll go back and rewatch his throws again real time. And in terms of "broadcasting" throws, I think TA does have some room to improve. I saw him go through progressions a few times, but there were some other times he eyed his primary the whole way. This isn't a big issue for me though because as he grows up and gets more experienced, he'll get more comfortable going through his progressions. RKIII has four more years of experience on him, after all.

Point is - they had similar days passing the football, statistically speaking, but the way some were talking about TA's mechanics you'd think there were another first year starting Taylor Martinez out there. That may not have been the intention, but I'm obviously not the only one who took it that way. TA looked pretty far beyond Martinez at this point in Martinez' career in terms of throwing the football. I'd agree RKIII is the better passer, but TA isn't far behind, at least in my book.

 

[walksalone]

Just re-watched the game. RKIII definitely throws a better ball. The guy was practically perfect. It's sad that now he'll most likely go back to wearing a headset for the rest of the season.

F'n Pelini...

I can't wait to see what unfolds the rest of the season.

So in your perfect world, T-Mart's toe develops into a case of dengue fever and Tommy Armstrong gets Tonya Harding'd, and gets a medical redshirt, and RK III leads us to a national title with one loss...

In my perfect world Taylor wouldn't be playing. That's for sure...

And this is what baffles me about this fanbase at times...

There's such dislike for a particular individual, whether its Bo or T-Mart, the willingness to replace them is so great, not alot of thought is put into the "replacement". If we fire Bo, there aren't any realistic options out there that are going to wow the Husker fanbase at large. Same thing can be said for T-Mart and his ardent group of detractors. You've had one game sample, against an FCS school, and so many have already pulled the trigger on annointing RKIII or Tommy Armstrong, the next QB at Nebraska...

What happens if when they have to face real competition, they are an abject failure?

 

[suh_fan93]

Just re-watched the game. RKIII definitely throws a better ball. The guy was practically perfect. It's sad that now he'll most likely go back to wearing a headset for the rest of the season.

F'n Pelini...

I can't wait to see what unfolds the rest of the season.

So in your perfect world, T-Mart's toe develops into a case of dengue fever and Tommy Armstrong gets Tonya Harding'd, and gets a medical redshirt, and RK III leads us to a national title with one loss...

In my perfect world Taylor wouldn't be playing. That's for sure...

And this is what baffles me about this fanbase at times...

There's such dislike for a particular individual, whether its Bo or T-Mart, the willingness to replace them is so great, not alot of thought is put into the "replacement". If we fire Bo, there aren't any realistic options out there that are going to wow the Husker fanbase at large. Same thing can be said for T-Mart and his ardent group of detractors. You've had one game sample, against an FCS school, and so many have already pulled the trigger on annointing RKIII or Tommy Armstrong, the next QB at Nebraska...

What happens if when they have to face real competition, they are an abject failure?

You're right about it being only 'one game'. I totally agree with you there. I however wanted to pull the trigger on Martinez 2 years ago. It definitely wasn't just after seeing how well Armstrong and Kellogg did on Saturday. I posted earlier in this thread already that absolutely it is still up in the air and totally unknown how either hypothetically would fair against a strong/good defense. No one knows and we probably never will know except for possibly Armstrong next year.

That's the problem for me anyway. I already know with Martinez. I've been forced to watch it for four years now.

 

[Enhance]

What happens if when they have to face real competition, they are an abject failure?

This.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - TM is a great Husker QB. He may not have the outward leadership skills a lot of people want, but so what? Are we so quick to forget how he led this offense to a handful of come from behind victories last year? Sure, he made mistakes, but he's also part of an entire team that is mistake prone and fundamentally unsound. TM takes heat because he's the QB, but in the grand scheme of Nebraska's struggles the last couple of years, TM is not a significant concern of mine.

TM has experience unparalleled on that offense. If he can play and contribute to his full potential, he needs to play. My only concern is that if he's not running the football, that takes away a lot of what he's capable of doing, and he's not the type of player you want sitting in the pocket tossing the football 30+ times a game. It may work against the Southern Miss.' and Wyoming's of the world, but it won't do us much good against higher tier defenses. We need his legs, and if we don't have them, I'm curious to see how the coaches react.

 

[walksalone]

Just re-watched the game. RKIII definitely throws a better ball. The guy was practically perfect. It's sad that now he'll most likely go back to wearing a headset for the rest of the season.

F'n Pelini...

I can't wait to see what unfolds the rest of the season.

So in your perfect world, T-Mart's toe develops into a case of dengue fever and Tommy Armstrong gets Tonya Harding'd, and gets a medical redshirt, and RK III leads us to a national title with one loss...

In my perfect world Taylor wouldn't be playing. That's for sure...

And this is what baffles me about this fanbase at times...

There's such dislike for a particular individual, whether its Bo or T-Mart, the willingness to replace them is so great, not alot of thought is put into the "replacement". If we fire Bo, there aren't any realistic options out there that are going to wow the Husker fanbase at large. Same thing can be said for T-Mart and his ardent group of detractors. You've had one game sample, against an FCS school, and so many have already pulled the trigger on annointing RKIII or Tommy Armstrong, the next QB at Nebraska...

What happens if when they have to face real competition, they are an abject failure?

You're right about it being only 'one game'. I totally agree with you there. I however wanted to pull the trigger on Martinez 2 years ago. It definitely wasn't just after seeing how well Armstrong and Kellogg did on Saturday. I posted earlier in this thread already that absolutely it is still up in the air and totally unknown how either hypothetically would fair against a strong/good defense. No one knows and we probably never will know except for possibly Armstrong next year.

That's the problem for me anyway. I already know with Martinez. I've been forced to watch it for four years now.

But when T-Mart initally started, he played with reckless abandon, and thoughts of National Titles and Heismans danced in our heads. He gets hurt, becomes more tentative, and his decision making and throwing ability comes under scrutiny. The kid realizes this, goes and puts in the work to try and make himself better from both the mental and skill aspects of the game. And as I said earlier, some of T-Marts bad decisions were based on him being put in situations that were destined to fail. One thing I do not think you can deny is the kids desire to win.

Enhance, you nailed it. He's not perfect, but we know what were going to get. A kid that isn't perfect, but will scrap and fight to win a ball game.

 

[Hercules]

There are some things RKIII does better than Taylor. There are some things Tommy Armstrong does better than Taylor.

But neither of them have shown it against a remotely quality opponent. And neither of them can do this:



and btw, for all the flack Taylor catches regarding his passing... He's currently 26th in the nation in pass efficiency - 2 spots ahead of Brett Smith.

 

[True2tRA]

Brett Smith has 1315 yards passing. 2nd in the nation. Martinez is 91st in the nation with 528 yards. Helluva a stat you plucked there. What does it prove exactly? We are efficiently ineffective in the passing game?

 

[Hercules]

Brett Smith has 1315 yards passing. 2nd in the nation. Martinez is 91st in the nation with 528 yards. Helluva a stat you plucked there. What does it prove exactly? We are efficiently ineffective in the passing game?

Are you kidding me? Do you even know what a passing efficiency rating is?

Yeah, Smith has thrown for more than double the yards Martinez has. He's also thrown more than double the attempts. THAT'S WHY WE HAVE A PASSING EFFICIENCY RATING.

 

[True2tRA]

No, I wouldn't kid you. You didn't answer my question though.