Running Back for 2013

[Hunter94]

But we've got an experienced qb that runs like a scalded dog, a great rb and we'll almost certainly see improvement in our Oline this year (quite possibly a "lot"). Having our OC, WR & OLine coaches not in their 1st year should help too. Lastly, after three straight years of dropping passes all over the place it's always possible one or two of our wrs learn how to catch the ball. I'm not betting the ranch on that of course but you never know.

On that side of the ball I like our chances.

I know that this is now going to get off into a Martinez debate but I really am losing my faith in statements like the one above. I think too many people are still in awe over his first 6-7 games as a Husker. He was absolutely amazing. He had more 30-40+ yard TDs than a lot of teams did. But "running like a scalded dog" is something we haven't seen in about 18 months...(assuming running like a scalded dog is good - as opposed to haphazardly w/ no vision/direction...because we've seen that within the last 18 months).

I don't even consider Martinez much of a running threat at this point...yet all his devout supports wave the "dual-threat" banner high, screaming "he's a danger to take it to the house every time he touches the ball"...yet he hasn't really "taken it to the house" in over a year. He had a long run against Fresno. Maybe 1 more during the season? All his other TDs were shorter yardage runs. Nothing like his first 6-7 games of 2010. His YPG are way down. 25% of his 2011 season (as far as rushing goes) came against Fresno. Another 20% against Cahattanooga. If last season is any indication....he's good for 40-60 yards a game. So are a lot of other QBs in this league. And I GUARENTEE you if we had a passing QB that could keep a defense honest...we'd easily replace that 40-60 yards on the ground when our RBs don't have to run against 8 in the box.

Defenses have neutralized Taylor. We all were hopeful the second half of the 2010 season was injury and not scheme...but I think it's obvious that it's more about defenses having film on Taylor and being able to scheme to stop him. He didn't score a TD in the last 7 games of 2011. Loading 8 in the box opens up other things in the defense, creates weaknesses which is great. But what are those? Passes. So if we can't exploit the weekness that is exposed what's the point of exposing it in the first place?

And have you counted the dropped passes? only a few really mattered. none cost us a game. Rex putting the ball on the turf at the 5 yard line had more impact on a game than all the drops combined but no one harps on him. 2 drops against Minnesota? who cares. every team has drops...blaming our lack of a passing game on 8-10 dropped passes throughout a season is "horsesh!t" and plays like a broken record.

hello sh#t......meet the fan! thought this was about runing backs, not quarterbacks? oh well, it's all about Martinez, all the time.........sigh

 

[H2h]

I think this worrying about who will spell or sub for Rex next season is a moot point. According to Bo Pelini Nebraska ran the ball 68% of the time last season and he said that was too much. He wants a more balanced style of offense. It sounds good in theory assuming that our wide receivers can actually hang onto the ball once it hits them in their hands.

Well, I don't see it as that ironclad Bo wanting to be just like everybody else "balanced". Just where did he say that 68% is too much? Heck, TO's teams used to run the ball 80% of the time and all they won was lots of games, conferences & national championships. Darn good thing we wouldn't want to do that.

Wherever Bo said that, I hope it was taken put of context or at a weak moment for him. It would be a suicidal move, imo, going back to copying everyone else being "balanced". NU can't stand toe to toe with USC, Texas, Bama, LSU, etc, etc recruiting for the same type of offense for any consistent time basis (at all).

Hope it's a rumor only.

exactly, it would take a bigtime passer and productive receivers.........we don't have either.

True.

But we've got an experienced qb that runs like a scalded dog, a great rb and we'll almost certainly see improvement in our Oline this year (quite possibly a "lot"). Having our OC, WR & OLine coaches not in their 1st year should help too. Lastly, after three straight years of dropping passes all over the place it's always possible one or two of our wrs learn how to catch the ball. I'm not betting the ranch on that of course but you never know.

On that side of the ball I like our chances.

Why will our Oline almost certainly improve? Because we have young players who had 4 stars next to their names?

 

['SkersRule]

I think this worrying about who will spell or sub for Rex next season is a moot point. According to Bo Pelini Nebraska ran the ball 68% of the time last season and he said that was too much. He wants a more balanced style of offense. It sounds good in theory assuming that our wide receivers can actually hang onto the ball once it hits them in their hands.

Well, I don't see it as that ironclad Bo wanting to be just like everybody else "balanced". Just where did he say that 68% is too much? Heck, TO's teams used to run the ball 80% of the time and all they won was lots of games, conferences & national championships. Darn good thing we wouldn't want to do that.

Wherever Bo said that, I hope it was taken put of context or at a weak moment for him. It would be a suicidal move, imo, going back to copying everyone else being "balanced". NU can't stand toe to toe with USC, Texas, Bama, LSU, etc, etc recruiting for the same type of offense for any consistent time basis (at all).

Hope it's a rumor only.

Bo said it in the press conference on national signing day. Bo said Nebraska needs to be more balanced. Which is 100% true. Nebraska, offensively, was WAY TOO predictable last season.

 

[carlfense]

But we've got an experienced qb that runs like a scalded dog, a great rb and we'll almost certainly see improvement in our Oline this year (quite possibly a "lot"). Having our OC, WR & OLine coaches not in their 1st year should help too. Lastly, after three straight years of dropping passes all over the place it's always possible one or two of our wrs learn how to catch the ball. I'm not betting the ranch on that of course but you never know.

On that side of the ball I like our chances.

I know that this is now going to get off into a Martinez debate but I really am losing my faith in statements like the one above. I think too many people are still in awe over his first 6-7 games as a Husker. He was absolutely amazing. He had more 30-40+ yard TDs than a lot of teams did. But "running like a scalded dog" is something we haven't seen in about 18 months...(assuming running like a scalded dog is good - as opposed to haphazardly w/ no vision/direction...because we've seen that within the last 18 months).

I don't even consider Martinez much of a running threat at this point...yet all his devout supports wave the "dual-threat" banner high, screaming "he's a danger to take it to the house every time he touches the ball"...yet he hasn't really "taken it to the house" in over a year. He had a long run against Fresno. Maybe 1 more during the season? All his other TDs were shorter yardage runs. Nothing like his first 6-7 games of 2010. His YPG are way down. 25% of his 2011 season (as far as rushing goes) came against Fresno. Another 20% against Cahattanooga. If last season is any indication....he's good for 40-60 yards a game. So are a lot of other QBs in this league. And I GUARENTEE you if we had a passing QB that could keep a defense honest...we'd easily replace that 40-60 yards on the ground when our RBs don't have to run against 8 in the box.

Defenses have neutralized Taylor. We all were hopeful the second half of the 2010 season was injury and not scheme...but I think it's obvious that it's more about defenses having film on Taylor and being able to scheme to stop him. He didn't score a TD in the last 7 games of 2011. Loading 8 in the box opens up other things in the defense, creates weaknesses which is great. But what are those? Passes. So if we can't exploit the weekness that is exposed what's the point of exposing it in the first place?

And have you counted the dropped passes? only a few really mattered. none cost us a game. Rex putting the ball on the turf at the 5 yard line had more impact on a game than all the drops combined but no one harps on him. 2 drops against Minnesota? who cares. every team has drops...blaming our lack of a passing game on 8-10 dropped passes throughout a season is "horsesh!t" and plays like a broken record.

Good post.

 

['SkersRule]

But we've got an experienced qb that runs like a scalded dog, a great rb and we'll almost certainly see improvement in our Oline this year (quite possibly a "lot"). Having our OC, WR & OLine coaches not in their 1st year should help too. Lastly, after three straight years of dropping passes all over the place it's always possible one or two of our wrs learn how to catch the ball. I'm not betting the ranch on that of course but you never know.

On that side of the ball I like our chances.

I know that this is now going to get off into a Martinez debate but I really am losing my faith in statements like the one above. I think too many people are still in awe over his first 6-7 games as a Husker. He was absolutely amazing. He had more 30-40+ yard TDs than a lot of teams did. But "running like a scalded dog" is something we haven't seen in about 18 months...(assuming running like a scalded dog is good - as opposed to haphazardly w/ no vision/direction...because we've seen that within the last 18 months).

I don't even consider Martinez much of a running threat at this point...

Defenses have neutralized Taylor. We all were hopeful the second half of the 2010 season was injury and not scheme...but I think it's obvious that it's more about defenses having film on Taylor and being able to scheme to stop him. He didn't score a TD in the last 7 games of 2011. Loading 8 in the box opens up other things in the defense, creates weaknesses which is great. But what are those? Passes. So if we can't exploit the weekness that is exposed what's the point of exposing it in the first place?

And have you counted the dropped passes? only a few really mattered. none cost us a game. Rex putting the ball on the turf at the 5 yard line had more impact on a game than all the drops combined but no one harps on him. 2 drops against Minnesota? who cares. every team has drops...blaming our lack of a passing game on 8-10 dropped passes throughout a season is "horsesh!t" and plays like a broken record.

1. Taylor rushed for 874 yards last season. I'd say that qualifies as a running threat. Now could he be more productive in the games down the stretch of the season? Sure. But he is definitely a running threat.

2. Do you seriously believe that receivers dropping passes have no impact on a game?

You are certainly free to have whatever opinion you wish, but to say that receivers dropping passes have no impact on a game is beyond ludicrous.

 

[bshirt]

But we've got an experienced qb that runs like a scalded dog, a great rb and we'll almost certainly see improvement in our Oline this year (quite possibly a "lot"). Having our OC, WR & OLine coaches not in their 1st year should help too. Lastly, after three straight years of dropping passes all over the place it's always possible one or two of our wrs learn how to catch the ball. I'm not betting the ranch on that of course but you never know.

On that side of the ball I like our chances.

I know that this is now going to get off into a Martinez debate but I really am losing my faith in statements like the one above. I think too many people are still in awe over his first 6-7 games as a Husker. He was absolutely amazing. He had more 30-40+ yard TDs than a lot of teams did. But "running like a scalded dog" is something we haven't seen in about 18 months...(assuming running like a scalded dog is good - as opposed to haphazardly w/ no vision/direction...because we've seen that within the last 18 months).

I don't even consider Martinez much of a running threat at this point...yet all his devout supports wave the "dual-threat" banner high, screaming "he's a danger to take it to the house every time he touches the ball"...yet he hasn't really "taken it to the house" in over a year. He had a long run against Fresno. Maybe 1 more during the season? All his other TDs were shorter yardage runs. Nothing like his first 6-7 games of 2010. His YPG are way down. 25% of his 2011 season (as far as rushing goes) came against Fresno. Another 20% against Cahattanooga. If last season is any indication....he's good for 40-60 yards a game. So are a lot of other QBs in this league. And I GUARENTEE you if we had a passing QB that could keep a defense honest...we'd easily replace that 40-60 yards on the ground when our RBs don't have to run against 8 in the box.

Defenses have neutralized Taylor. We all were hopeful the second half of the 2010 season was injury and not scheme...but I think it's obvious that it's more about defenses having film on Taylor and being able to scheme to stop him. He didn't score a TD in the last 7 games of 2011. Loading 8 in the box opens up other things in the defense, creates weaknesses which is great. But what are those? Passes. So if we can't exploit the weekness that is exposed what's the point of exposing it in the first place?

And have you counted the dropped passes? only a few really mattered. none cost us a game. Rex putting the ball on the turf at the 5 yard line had more impact on a game than all the drops combined but no one harps on him. 2 drops against Minnesota? who cares. every team has drops...blaming our lack of a passing game on 8-10 dropped passes throughout a season is "horsesh!t" and plays like a broken record.

Last year you and others bitched, whined, sobbed & moaned until the Missouri river overflowed that he was so selfish, hogging the ball, etc. So this year he distributes the ball more, does his sliding to avoid injury, etc and you b!^@h that he's not a threat anymore. What a surprise....

Well, Tmart was sacked 21 times in 2011 for -136 yds.

Take the sacks away and his rushing totals this year, even with being "neutralized", are 167 runs for 1010 yds (6.1 ypc, 9 TDs). Compare those to SuperRex's numbers....

Tmart 167-1010 yds (6.1 ypc, 9 TDs)

SuperRex 284-1406 (4.8 ypc, 15 TDs)

Sure, he was "neutralized" indeed. Great insight Chris, as always.

 

[kchusker_chris]

1. Taylor rushed for 874 yards last season. I'd say that qualifies as a running threat. Now could he be more productive in the games down the stretch of the season? Sure. But he is definitely a running threat.

2. Do you seriously believe that receivers dropping passes have no impact on a game?

You are certainly free to have whatever opinion you wish, but to say that receivers dropping passes have no impact on a game is beyond ludicrous.

1). 874 yards. 35% of which came in the first 2 games. He didn't score a TD in his last 7. During those last 7 games he averaged 3.0 yards per carry. In my opinion the 4 best offensive performances by Nebraska down the stretch was Ohio State (second half), Minnesota, Michigan State, and Iowa. Ohio State was a solid game for Taylor, I'll give him that. However, from a running standpoint he was almost a non-factor in the other 3. In fact the other 3 games were his lowest (10,12,4) carries of the season. How come in 3 out of the 4 best offensive performances of the season was Taylor not needed on the ground?

2). Dropping a pass against a team you are blowing out by 4 touchdowns does not have an impact on the game. Dropping a pass during a game you are getting blown out by 4 touchdowns is not going to impact the game. Fumbling the ball on the 5 yard line late in a game when you are down a few points impacts a game.

If you think it's so ludicrous, I assume you feel the drops by Bell/Turner in the Minnesota game (IIRC) impacted the final outcome of that game? Put me together a list of the big drops. Look at what games the occured in, at what point they occured, and the score when they occured. I think you'll find that all but a handful of them were in situations where the game was already decided, or about to be decided. I'm not saying they weren't some bad drops, at bad times - but to think we're the only team that has issues w/ that would be ludicrous. Perhaps you missed the Super Bowl this year. It's just part of football.

 

['SkersRule]

But we've got an experienced qb that runs like a scalded dog, a great rb and we'll almost certainly see improvement in our Oline this year (quite possibly a "lot"). Having our OC, WR & OLine coaches not in their 1st year should help too. Lastly, after three straight years of dropping passes all over the place it's always possible one or two of our wrs learn how to catch the ball. I'm not betting the ranch on that of course but you never know.

On that side of the ball I like our chances.

I know that this is now going to get off into a Martinez debate but I really am losing my faith in statements like the one above. I think too many people are still in awe over his first 6-7 games as a Husker. He was absolutely amazing. He had more 30-40+ yard TDs than a lot of teams did. But "running like a scalded dog" is something we haven't seen in about 18 months...(assuming running like a scalded dog is good - as opposed to haphazardly w/ no vision/direction...because we've seen that within the last 18 months).

I don't even consider Martinez much of a running threat at this point...yet all his devout supports wave the "dual-threat" banner high, screaming "he's a danger to take it to the house every time he touches the ball"...yet he hasn't really "taken it to the house" in over a year. He had a long run against Fresno. Maybe 1 more during the season? All his other TDs were shorter yardage runs. Nothing like his first 6-7 games of 2010. His YPG are way down. 25% of his 2011 season (as far as rushing goes) came against Fresno. Another 20% against Cahattanooga. If last season is any indication....he's good for 40-60 yards a game. So are a lot of other QBs in this league. And I GUARENTEE you if we had a passing QB that could keep a defense honest...we'd easily replace that 40-60 yards on the ground when our RBs don't have to run against 8 in the box.

Defenses have neutralized Taylor. We all were hopeful the second half of the 2010 season was injury and not scheme...but I think it's obvious that it's more about defenses having film on Taylor and being able to scheme to stop him. He didn't score a TD in the last 7 games of 2011. Loading 8 in the box opens up other things in the defense, creates weaknesses which is great. But what are those? Passes. So if we can't exploit the weekness that is exposed what's the point of exposing it in the first place?

And have you counted the dropped passes? only a few really mattered. none cost us a game. Rex putting the ball on the turf at the 5 yard line had more impact on a game than all the drops combined but no one harps on him. 2 drops against Minnesota? who cares. every team has drops...blaming our lack of a passing game on 8-10 dropped passes throughout a season is "horsesh!t" and plays like a broken record.

Last year you and others bitched, whined, sobbed & moaned until the Missouri river overflowed that he was so selfish, hogging the ball, etc. So this year he distributes the ball more, does his sliding to avoid injury, etc and you b!^@h that he's not a threat anymore. What a surprise....

Well, Tmart was sacked 21 times in 2011 for -136 yds.

Take the sacks away and his rushing totals this year, even with being "neutralized", are 167 runs for 1010 yds (6.1 ypc, 9 TDs). Compare those to SuperRex's numbers....

Tmart 167-1010 yds (6.1 ypc, 9 TDs)

SuperRex 284-1406 (4.8 ypc, 15 TDs)

Sure, he was "neutralized" indeed. Great insight Chris, as always.

Please don't confuse chris with facts.

 

[carlfense]

Last year you and others bitched, whined, sobbed & moaned until the Missouri river overflowed that he was so selfish, hogging the ball, etc. So this year he distributes the ball more, does his sliding to avoid injury, etc and you b!^@h that he's not a threat anymore. What a surprise....

Well, Tmart was sacked 21 times in 2011 for -136 yds.

Take the sacks away and his rushing totals this year, even with being "neutralized", are 167 runs for 1010 yds (6.1 ypc, 9 TDs). Compare those to SuperRex's numbers....

Tmart 167-1010 yds (6.1 ypc, 9 TDs)

SuperRex 284-1406 (4.8 ypc, 15 TDs)

Sure, he was "neutralized" indeed. Great insight Chris, as always.

If you take away all of his bad plays he was AWESOME!

I'm more concerned about his turnovers.

 

[kchusker_chris]

Last year you and others bitched, whined, sobbed & moaned until the Missouri river overflowed that he was so selfish, hogging the ball, etc. So this year he distributes the ball more, does his sliding to avoid injury, etc and you b!^@h that he's not a threat anymore. What a surprise....

Well, Tmart was sacked 21 times in 2011 for -136 yds.

Take the sacks away and his rushing totals this year, even with being "neutralized", are 167 runs for 1010 yds (6.1 ypc, 9 TDs). Compare those to SuperRex's numbers....

Tmart 167-1010 yds (6.1 ypc, 9 TDs)

SuperRex 284-1406 (4.8 ypc, 15 TDs)

Sure, he was "neutralized" indeed. Great insight Chris, as always.

I don't remember bitching about Taylor hogging the ball. Don't really remember anyone bitching per say. I think by the end of the season we pretty much all chalked that up to him not being able to get past his first read...so after that read he was "scrambling". Call it ball hogging if you want, it's more just the fact he was a freshman. He got better last season and everyone acknowledges that. My problem is that we all have this vision of him as a great runner...yet when you look at it he was almost as innefective through the last 7 games of 2011 as he was the last 7 of 2010.

9 TDs, 2 in conference play. I'd say the Big10 effectively "nuetralized" Taylor's impact on the scoreboard. If you think we are going to win a conference championship relying on Taylor and his 2TDs I don't know what to tell you. Taylor has to be better in the other areas of his game, we can't rely on him as solely a running threat, because he isn't enough of one. And the supporters are going to need something else to rely on when propping Taylor up this season. He just didn't have much of an impact on the ground the second half of last season. Do you disagree?

And plenty of those "sacks" are on Taylor. Rex had lost yardage plays as well, you can't just take them away.

(and feel free to attack the post, but please avoid attacking me)

 

[kchusker_chris]

Please don't confuse chris with facts.

were some of the numbers I posted inaccurate? please correct them if so - I was in a hurry when I pulled most of those.

 

[HuskerShark]

1. Taylor rushed for 874 yards last season. I'd say that qualifies as a running threat. Now could he be more productive in the games down the stretch of the season? Sure. But he is definitely a running threat.

2. Do you seriously believe that receivers dropping passes have no impact on a game?

You are certainly free to have whatever opinion you wish, but to say that receivers dropping passes have no impact on a game is beyond ludicrous.

1). 874 yards. 35% of which came in the first 2 games. He didn't score a TD in his last 7. During those last 7 games he averaged 3.0 yards per carry. In my opinion the 4 best offensive performances by Nebraska down the stretch was Ohio State (second half), Minnesota, Michigan State, and Iowa. Ohio State was a solid game for Taylor, I'll give him that. However, from a running standpoint he was almost a non-factor in the other 3. In fact the other 3 games were his lowest (10,12,4) carries of the season. How come in 3 out of the 4 best offensive performances of the season was Taylor not needed on the ground?

2). Dropping a pass against a team you are blowing out by 4 touchdowns does not have an impact on the game. Dropping a pass during a game you are getting blown out by 4 touchdowns is not going to impact the game. Fumbling the ball on the 5 yard line late in a game when you are down a few points impacts a game.

If you think it's so ludicrous, I assume you feel the drops by Bell/Turner in the Minnesota game (IIRC) impacted the final outcome of that game? Put me together a list of the big drops. Look at what games the occured in, at what point they occured, and the score when they occured. I think you'll find that all but a handful of them were in situations where the game was already decided, or about to be decided. I'm not saying they weren't some bad drops, at bad times - but to think we're the only team that has issues w/ that would be ludicrous. Perhaps you missed the Super Bowl this year. It's just part of football.

Northwestern. South Carolina. Michigan (before we were down by a big deficit and still had a chance to get the momentum and get rolling). If the receivers make the catches they are supposed to make in those games, chances are we get some momentum with crucial 1st downs and the games turn out much better than they did. We may not get the win in those games, but they most likely would not have been embarrassing losses like they were.

Northwestern could have been won if the offensive line had showed up that day, so I wouldn't put that on the receivers.

Point is, Taylor didn't lose us any of these games. Wisconsin was a different story. His 3 picks in a row had a huge part in us getting blown out up in Madison. But I think that the development that he made mentally in every game after the Wisconsin game was encouraging.

 

[kchusker_chris]

I never said Taylor lost any of those games for us. Even Wisconsin (i'm going w/ Beck on that one). I'm just saying excusing Taylors passing because of a a dozen or so drops is ridiculous when every other team has drops. NO team in CFB will go through a season without them. Next year they will happen. A large number of ours were in games that they didn't impact.

I don't remember any obvious ones in Northwestern, and I remember Abdulla's fumble more than drops against Michigan. Who dropped/when in those games? (not saying it didn't happen just seriously curious).

 

['SkersRule]

1. Taylor rushed for 874 yards last season. I'd say that qualifies as a running threat. Now could he be more productive in the games down the stretch of the season? Sure. But he is definitely a running threat.

2. Do you seriously believe that receivers dropping passes have no impact on a game?

You are certainly free to have whatever opinion you wish, but to say that receivers dropping passes have no impact on a game is beyond ludicrous.

1). 874 yards. 35% of which came in the first 2 games. He didn't score a TD in his last 7. During those last 7 games he averaged 3.0 yards per carry. In my opinion the 4 best offensive performances by Nebraska down the stretch was Ohio State (second half), Minnesota, Michigan State, and Iowa. Ohio State was a solid game for Taylor, I'll give him that. However, from a running standpoint he was almost a non-factor in the other 3. In fact the other 3 games were his lowest (10,12,4) carries of the season. How come in 3 out of the 4 best offensive performances of the season was Taylor not needed on the ground?

2). Dropping a pass against a team you are blowing out by 4 touchdowns does not have an impact on the game. Dropping a pass during a game you are getting blown out by 4 touchdowns is not going to impact the game. Fumbling the ball on the 5 yard line late in a game when you are down a few points impacts a game.

If you think it's so ludicrous, I assume you feel the drops by Bell/Turner in the Minnesota game (IIRC) impacted the final outcome of that game? Put me together a list of the big drops. Look at what games the occured in, at what point they occured, and the score when they occured. I think you'll find that all but a handful of them were in situations where the game was already decided, or about to be decided. I'm not saying they weren't some bad drops, at bad times - but to think we're the only team that has issues w/ that would be ludicrous. Perhaps you missed the Super Bowl this year. It's just part of football.

Okay so now you're parsing Taylor's rushing stats? I acknowledge that Taylor could be more productive in the stretch run of the season. But football is a team game and until the OL and WRs step up and start making plays when the opportunities present themselves, bashing Taylor as the exclusive problem completely misses the mark and strays the topic of this thread.

If a team is down by four TDs and there is 2:17 remaining in the 4th Q then yes dropping a pass has no bearing.

However, if a team is down by 4 TD's and there is 6:49 remaining in the 2nd Q with the entire 2nd half to go, then one drop vs catch can make all the difference. The way to get back into the game is to make one play at a time. One catch on 3rd down, resulting in a 1st down, could lead to a TD run or pass on the next down. It's all theoretical, but one thing isn't: a team that can't make plays generally won't win. To quote Al Pacino from the movie Any Given Sunday, "The inches we need are everywhere. They're in every play of the game." And all it takes to spark a come from behind win is one play--see Lavonte David's strip of the OSU QB. That could have just as easily been an interception, OSU WR dropping a pass on 4th down, etc.

I understand why certain people are so negative about their respective outlook for Nebraska's future success. I tend to look at the glass as half full. And to that point there were several games where if a couple of plays go differently Nebraska might win.

Against South Carolina in the Capital One Bowl, what if Alshon Jeffery had dropped that hail mary as the 1st half ended?

No one is really satisfied with the way the '11 season ended, but it's not nearly as bad as some want or need to think.

 

['SkersRule]

Northwestern. South Carolina. Michigan (before we were down by a big deficit and still had a chance to get the momentum and get rolling). If the receivers make the catches they are supposed to make in those games, chances are we get some momentum with crucial 1st downs and the games turn out much better than they did. We may not get the win in those games, but they most likely would not have been embarrassing losses like they were.
Northwestern could have been won if the offensive line had showed up that day, so I wouldn't put that on the receivers.

Point is, Taylor didn't lose us any of these games. Wisconsin was a different story. His 3 picks in a row had a huge part in us getting blown out up in Madison. But I think that the development that he made mentally in every game after the Wisconsin game was encouraging.

That's a very good post. And let's not forget Michigan's defense faking injuries.