Seems like the team kept getting worse as the season went on culminating with the Purdue loss. I'm thinking there was some sort of come to Jesus moment in the locker room because the difference after Purdue was huge.
So You're Telling Me...
- Thread starter PTPer
- Start date
Guy Chamberlin
Heisman Trophy Winner
Tommy Armstrong can make the easy throws. He can also make some incredibly difficult throws. He can will a team to victory with insane last-minute comebacks.
Or not.
That's the problem with Tommy Armstrong. Too dangerous to leave on the bench. Too dangerous to trust.
And he always seems close to turning the corner and figuring it out.
His comments after the Iowa game are the first time Armstrong has sounded genuinely concerned about holding onto his starting job. Maybe the UCLA game reflects him turning that corner.
Or not.
Jesus. It's still January, right?
Or not.
That's the problem with Tommy Armstrong. Too dangerous to leave on the bench. Too dangerous to trust.
And he always seems close to turning the corner and figuring it out.
His comments after the Iowa game are the first time Armstrong has sounded genuinely concerned about holding onto his starting job. Maybe the UCLA game reflects him turning that corner.
Or not.
Jesus. It's still January, right?
People have always held NU QBs to an unfair standard. People tell me that the kid from Iowa is a great QB and all NU needs to be championship level. Then that kid has an awful game against Stanford. Same with Connor Cook, who was by most accounts a great college QB and a 1st round pick.
Armstrong did a better than admirable job trying to run a system that was new to the whole offense and which didn't highlight or take advantage of some of his strongest attributes.
Armstrong did a better than admirable job trying to run a system that was new to the whole offense and which didn't highlight or take advantage of some of his strongest attributes.
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huskerfan2000
Banned
Guy Chamberlin
Heisman Trophy Winner
The new offense wasn't much different from the old offense, believe it or not. Langsdorf brought the fullback and tight ends in from the cold, replaced most of the zone read plays with jet sweeps and designed QB draws, which had been familiar to the players for years. Tommy threw about 8 more passes a game, which was too many, but I'm not convinced all those passes were forced upon Armstrong. Given the run/pass option, he chose pass. Highlight reel passes. I think the coaches are on record as saying they wished he'd run more.
Tommy's strongest attributes are a strong arm that allows him to pass quick and/or deep on rollouts, and a running ability that allows him to improvise. It makes him very dangerous. This year he lead the Big 10 in total offense. So it's kinda weird to say the system didn't work for him.
But every one of Tommy's strongest attributes relies on good decision-making. Which isn't Tommy's strongest attribute. You could certainly tailor an offense to minimize Tommy's decisions. You might get a better game manager and lose your most dangerous play-maker. Or you could keep the offense that made Tommy the most prolific player in the Big 10 and get him to grow up in his decision making. It's not like this is a no brainer. Tommy's a classic risk/reward guy.
I'm not sure about Tommy not traveling but we did have two players quit the team that next week. And then we had comments from Nate Gerry about how the team refocused or rededicated themselves to finishing the rest of the season well. (Or something to that effect.)
Unfair standards? When a pass play is called I fully expect the qb (on ANY team) to get the ball into the hands of his receiver far more often than he doesn't. I expect him to manage the game and not turn the ball over.
cm I agree with your post.
But I also think they did make an effort to use Tommy's ability, but were trying to use the other weapons they had. It was a roll the dice deal with Tommy, they saw it in practice as we saw it on the field.
Maybe it just took the Iowa game for him to realize he did not have to win the game by himself. I saw a battler in Tommy, but not really a team player. He took too much responsibility on himself, and made decisions that not only made him look like a star or a goat, but the staff as well.
I am excited for Tommy. I have never been a great fan of the kid. He showed in the UCLA game if he plays within himself he can be productive and good for Nebraska.
We have 8.5 months for him to learn every approach to that, and I would really like to see this board focus more on what this staff and team can do to improve.
But I also think they did make an effort to use Tommy's ability, but were trying to use the other weapons they had. It was a roll the dice deal with Tommy, they saw it in practice as we saw it on the field.
Maybe it just took the Iowa game for him to realize he did not have to win the game by himself. I saw a battler in Tommy, but not really a team player. He took too much responsibility on himself, and made decisions that not only made him look like a star or a goat, but the staff as well.
I am excited for Tommy. I have never been a great fan of the kid. He showed in the UCLA game if he plays within himself he can be productive and good for Nebraska.
We have 8.5 months for him to learn every approach to that, and I would really like to see this board focus more on what this staff and team can do to improve.