The reason this team will not live up to expectations.

Joe_5700 said:
epocSoN said:
We have no leader. Taylor is a great talent, but not a great leader (if at all).

When we find a leader, we will exceed expectations for the first time in a long time.
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So would you have created this thread had Nebraska won? Would a better leader at QB help our receivers catch the ball?
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:yeah I swear I have been doing so much of this > :facepalm: lately while reading HB, that I may have a permanent hand print on my forehead!

 
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The reason this team will not live up to expectations--

depends on your expectations...

but, there's no reason it can't. There is a lot of football left.

 
epocSoN said:
OK... so you tell me then, who is our leader?
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I've heard Hagg has become a leader along with Allen on the defensive side of the ball, and I'm just fine with that since Hagg is one of our best and consistently leads by example on the field.

Offensively, tough call. Paul does plenty with his mouth to be a vocal leader, but nothing through his actions. Helu is a maybe, but not terribly outspoken as far as I can tell. And Martinez is just the opposite of Niles, but that doesn't mean he can't change.

 
I'm not saying that things can't change, I just think it's a big reason that this team can't come together then they need to.

 
One thing I was not fond of was our sideline presence. I understand it takes a lot out of your sails having a couple (8 or more :( ) of busted plays. But you can sit and feel sorry about yourselves, which is what it seemed we were doing, especially our receiving core. Which I'm sure only exacerbated our less than successful catching regime. I agree that we need someone to step in and fire us up and give us a little hope. (i think taylor is fine to preface this) but I believe zac gave them a tiny light in a dark place but there was just no confidence within the team to do anything...after the first half, with our heads hung..there wasn't a chance we were going to win that game sadly.

 
epocSoN said:
I'm not saying that things can't change, I just think it's a big reason that this team can't come together then they need to.
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Was thinkin about this today. I think ur spot on.

Off the top of my head i couldnt think of who the leaders are on this team, sad especially six games through.

 
Does anyone remember this tidbit from Shawn Watson following Martinez' first game?

So how did Martinez, a redshirt freshman, beat out last year's starter, Lee, and a former blue-chip recruit in Green to become the first freshman to start a season opener in the history of Nebraska football?
Watson chalks it up to Martinez's competitiveness. The best hate to lose and work to make sure they don't. Watson got to know him and quickly saw Martinez fit the description.

"My experience has been that guys who have had that competitive edge, they don’t surprise me because they find a way to get where they want to go and what they want to be," Watson said.
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IMO we're just scratching the surface with Martinez as our QB, and as the leader of our offense. This competitive trait is historically what has set the Husker greats apart from the rest. Time will tell with Martinez of course, but something tells me once he gets a big win under his belt (and yes, I think a win over OSU would count as a big win) we'll have a much clearer picture of who this guy really is and what he'll mean to our team moving forward.

 
leadership is overrated. every player should be his own leader. just go out and perform, play to your potential. they need to stop letting their team mates down, but more importantly, they need to stop letting themselves down.

 
The reason we won't live up to expectations is because Watson has no creativity or ingenuity...and something is very wrong with our offensive line (not sure if it is coaching, talent, or what). Until those things get fixed, then I don't see us winning a national championship.

 
I dont think we even know who we are....last year we had no offense and no one knew which direction our offense was going. In the offseason we are taking advise from others and watching game films on oregon to try and build an offense. We need someone to come in here as an OC thats knows offense like BO knows Defense...tell BO that he needs to worry about his D let me worry about the O..and get it done

Hard to have a leader when our OC is still learning football with our RF QB..this is the first time i have talked bad about the OC, but everytime we struggle we cant find ways to move the ball...just the same old plays...if those plays work we win 50-10 if they dont we win close or lose in a Defensive game. We need an Offensive minded guru in here...dare i say Mike Leach..or similar we wouldnt lose a game for 3 years.

 
I honestly think that we don't know what is going to happen,we can't predict it. We could win our next two games,lose our next two games or split the next to games,only time will tell.

 
Fwiw as a Horns Fan, I can totally feel your pain on this. I think our team has been spoiled by leaders in the past and leaders are what make college football so exciting. A leader will revitalize his team when they're down and help shift momentum. Colt McCoy would do this with clutch runs or Shipley on special teams, before that VY would do the same running or Ricky on the ground, etc. Having a special leader is not something you can coach into a player, it's something they either have or develop on their own. And I don't think it should be under estimated how much of a difference a leader can make to a team particularly at the collegiate level.

That being said, if there is no team leader on the field then I think it is the coach's responsibility (HC/OC/DC/whoever) to be that leader to reinvigorate the team. I believe that our coaching staff had been so spoiled by the string of leaders that they were a little rusty at this but hopefully they've caught the stride. I still don't believe that we've really established a leader on either side of the ball and that definitely concerns me. For you guys, I believe you had that leader in Martinez and I'm wondering how he will react to his benching. Will he second guess his ability & leadership or will he go out more fired up and determined than ever before? You'll find out on Saturday.

 
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