Tim Beck Q&A: What to expect from Nebraska

[QMany]

 

[True2tRA]

TA struggled like a lot of young quarterbacks struggle. And it doesn't help things when you've got a banged up offensive line including your best linemen.

With Bell at receiver you'd be crazy not to throw, and with Abdullah/Cross in the backfield, you'd be crazy not to run. But, AA is still the best weapon on that offense IMHO and had to be a lot last year. I expect we'll still probably be 60-40 run/pass team.

I think his biggest issue was just getting thrown into the fire. Mentally he went into the season expecting at most 50-75 snaps. A few games in and he's the starter. Give the kid an entire year to prepare, knowing the spot is his and he's going to be a different player. Everyone will be on the same page. I don't put a lot of weight in Armstrong's performance last year. I think we'll see a huge improvement.

Yep.

 

[Haspula]

Martinez had easier competition in his freshman year

 

[True2tRA]

Taylor really did have a pretty good career here. While I liked watching him run more than I liked to see him pass, his passing numbers still were pretty good. I wish he would have gotten his senior year. I feel bad that was taken away from him, and all due to something so stupid.

Hope the future is even brighter for Nebraska QB's, Taylor definitely left his mark and if he had a senior season he would have left a bigger footprint.

 

[The Dude]

TA struggled like a lot of young quarterbacks struggle. And it doesn't help things when you've got a banged up offensive line including your best linemen.

With Bell at receiver you'd be crazy not to throw, and with Abdullah/Cross in the backfield, you'd be crazy not to run. But, AA is still the best weapon on that offense IMHO and had to be a lot last year. I expect we'll still probably be 60-40 run/pass team.

I think his biggest issue was just getting thrown into the fire. Mentally he went into the season expecting at most 50-75 snaps. A few games in and he's the starter. Give the kid an entire year to prepare, knowing the spot is his and he's going to be a different player. Everyone will be on the same page. I don't put a lot of weight in Armstrong's performance last year. I think we'll see a huge improvement.

Yeah, Martinez never had to deal with a situation like that. He was the guy for 4 years, and the offense was built around his strengths and weaknesses.

Any talk of who is the better passer is premature. I think Tommy has the better arm, and as such the dink and dunk days are probably behind us, which I find exciting. However, when you don't rely so heavily on high percentage passes, your completion percentage can drop. It's a give and take.

Martinez was all about big plays with his legs and short, safe passes with his arm. I think Armstrong will be kind of the opposite of that. He'll be able to eat up small chunks of yardage with his legs, and hopefully he can create big plays with his arm. Time will tell, I suppose.

 

[HuskerNationNick]

TA struggled like a lot of young quarterbacks struggle. And it doesn't help things when you've got a banged up offensive line including your best linemen.

With Bell at receiver you'd be crazy not to throw, and with Abdullah/Cross in the backfield, you'd be crazy not to run. But, AA is still the best weapon on that offense IMHO and had to be a lot last year. I expect we'll still probably be 60-40 run/pass team.

I think his biggest issue was just getting thrown into the fire. Mentally he went into the season expecting at most 50-75 snaps. A few games in and he's the starter. Give the kid an entire year to prepare, knowing the spot is his and he's going to be a different player. Everyone will be on the same page. I don't put a lot of weight in Armstrong's performance last year. I think we'll see a huge improvement.

Exactly! I also see TA making big strides. This year, the offense will be formed around him, rather than it being Taylor's offense. He will have all his reps with 1st team offense, which will also allow them to adapt to his voice, and HIS timing. Timing will improve by MILES with the WR's. All our WR's were in sync with Taylor's timing, and when you throw a new guy into the mix, who had a lot of reps with 2nd team, your going to see miscommunication (Like multiple times with Bell). A lot of variables were not in TA's favor, but this year there is no excuse. He will be practicing with 1st team, he had last year and all of Spring/Summer/Fall to adapt with his WR's. It all comes to how much Beck will trust him on changing plays at the line, and how well Beck calls his plays.

 

[HuskerNationNick]

We will also have Bell at 100%. I just hope his ego doesn't get ahead of his playing ability. I hope to see Moore have a breakout season.

 

[True2tRA]

TA struggled like a lot of young quarterbacks struggle. And it doesn't help things when you've got a banged up offensive line including your best linemen.

With Bell at receiver you'd be crazy not to throw, and with Abdullah/Cross in the backfield, you'd be crazy not to run. But, AA is still the best weapon on that offense IMHO and had to be a lot last year. I expect we'll still probably be 60-40 run/pass team.

I think his biggest issue was just getting thrown into the fire. Mentally he went into the season expecting at most 50-75 snaps. A few games in and he's the starter. Give the kid an entire year to prepare, knowing the spot is his and he's going to be a different player. Everyone will be on the same page. I don't put a lot of weight in Armstrong's performance last year. I think we'll see a huge improvement.

Yeah, Martinez never had to deal with a situation like that. He was the guy for 4 years, and the offense was built around his strengths and weaknesses.
Any talk of who is the better passer is premature. I think Tommy has the better arm, and as such the dink and dunk days are probably behind us, which I find exciting. However, when you don't rely so heavily on high percentage passes, your completion percentage can drop. It's a give and take.

Martinez was all about big plays with his legs and short, safe passes with his arm. I think Armstrong will be kind of the opposite of that. He'll be able to eat up small chunks of yardage with his legs, and hopefully he can create big plays with his arm. Time will tell, I suppose.

Good point. It really is a give and take. The numbers and percentages may vary quite a bit because I do think we are going to begin to see an evolution of this offense this season. Beck definitely has a lot of tools to utilize right now. Could we say it should be hard to fail on offense this year? I think so.

The best part about TA, though I agree he will be able to pick up the small chunks and sustain drives, I think the combination of his option abilities combine with his big arm will really take the top off opposing defenses. The safeties will have to keep their eyes up for that option, but man oh man, TA could run that play action pass and go right over their heads in a heartbeat.

 

[Saunders]

Martinez had easier competition in his freshman year

39th

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/2010/team/

55th

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/2013/team/

 

[NUpolo8]

It will be incredibly interesting to see if Nebraska runs the QB as much as they did with Taylor, and if not, what plays are called instead.

 

[Saunders]

It will be incredibly interesting to see if Nebraska runs the QB as much as they did with Taylor, and if not, what plays are called instead.

IMO, we need to closer to 70-30 than 60-40 Run/Pass ratio. More traditional option and less Zone read as well, and more passing out of PA. Play to Tommy's strengths.

 

[kchusker_chris]

Martinez had easier competition in his freshman year

39th

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/2010/team/

55th

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/2013/team/

doubt it holds up, but guessing he was talking about the pass defense specifically since that is what QMany was referring. I do remember some of those teams like KU, OKIE ST (specifically his great passing game), Tech, A&M, and CU being absolutely terrible against the pass. Then again that might have been because the Big12 did nothing but pass at that time.

Regardless, its pretty hard to argue TA is a better passer than TM was - though in 2011 I cringed every time he shot putted a pass off that back foot.

 

[Abdullah the Butcher]

Problem for a contender: Nebraska

ESPN IMG

Problem is far too strong of a word here, but the Huskers don't have a sure thing at quarterback. Tommy Armstrong Jr. is a good leader and owns a burning desire to improve, so there's reason to be optimistic that the sophomore will handle the job just fine. Still, he completed only 51.9 percent of his passes last season, had eight interceptions against nine touchdown passes and wasn't the running threat that Taylor Martinez used to be. Wisconsin has its own quarterback issues, but Joel Stave -- the subject of much offseason hand-wringing -- is far more proven than Armstrong. Nebraska will need solid quarterback play in early tests against Fresno State and Miami (Fla.).

http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/blogpost?blogname=bigten&id=103559

 

[Hunter94]

It will be incredibly interesting to see if Nebraska runs the QB as much as they did with Taylor, and if not, what plays are called instead.

IMO, we need to closer to 70-30 than 60-40 Run/Pass ratio. More traditional option and less Zone read as well, and more passing out of PA. Play to Tommy's strengths.

passing out of PA, definitely agree and zone read is getting old.

 

[The Dude]

It will be incredibly interesting to see if Nebraska runs the QB as much as they did with Taylor, and if not, what plays are called instead.

IMO, we need to closer to 70-30 than 60-40 Run/Pass ratio. More traditional option and less Zone read as well, and more passing out of PA. Play to Tommy's strengths.

This is what I'm hoping for, but I'm not exactly anticipating it.

I think Beck is being sincere when he implies he wants to get closer to 50/50, and as such I don't think there will be as great a chance to lean heavily on play action passing. Although, I do think we will see more option and less zone read.