What did we learn?

zoogies said:
Taylor Taylor Taylor!

What a difference this offseason made. With few exceptions, he looked phenomenal on Saturday. I can't remember if he ever ran the ball (seriously, I can think of one carry, but I sort of fell asleep at the end of the replay I was watching), but his comfort level within this offense has really grown. Credit to Taylor and Beck for some serious work done, especially in getting the mechanics down. The announcers talked a lot about both his footwork, and his upper body control, and it was pretty evident throughout the day.

Something else everybody will love: it seems we may be finally developing a rollout game out of Taylor. This is where the body control really comes in, and it is the kind of thing with which Carr & Fresno State feasted on us last year. Always somebody open in that flat. Awesome as well to see some serious zip on some of those throws, and some beautiful hitting-in-stride as well.

SoMiss ain't no powerhouse, but how much better do you want a performance to be? Jaw-dropping statline!

Also, maybe one of the most interesting developments, but Taylor seems to be MUCH improved at improvising when the play breaks down. He made at least one or two great plays after scrambling that I can remember. Not necessarily ones that went for many yards, but just head's up, bail-out-of-a-bad-situation kind of plays. The first one, he ducked out of a pass rush, shifted out of the pocket to his left, and hit his man in the flat for maybe 3 yards.
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+1. Far, far, better than I expected.

 
What I liked about the receivers is that they were catching passes that weren't hitting them in the numbers. There's a picture on the OWH of Reed's TD catch, and he had that thing by his fingertips at one point, but still hauled it in. They were efforting big-time Saturday. I'd love to see that keep up.

I remember Fisher last year telling his guys they didn't have to be world-beaters, they just couldn't be the reason we lost the game, but far too often they directly contributed to losses with drops or missed assignments, etc. Overall, they looked phenomenal Saturday. Heads-up plays, great snags, and determined running. For that last point, how FREAKING AWESOME was Quincy Enunwa refusing to go down, surrounded by five Golden Eagles, getting an extra seven or eight yards after being wrapped up? Beast play.

 
knapplc said:
What I liked about the receivers is that they were catching passes that weren't hitting them in the numbers. There's a picture on the OWH of Reed's TD catch, and he had that thing by his fingertips at one point, but still hauled it in. They were efforting big-time Saturday. I'd love to see that keep up.

I remember Fisher last year telling his guys they didn't have to be world-beaters, they just couldn't be the reason we lost the game, but far too often they directly contributed to losses with drops or missed assignments, etc. Overall, they looked phenomenal Saturday. Heads-up plays, great snags, and determined running. For that last point, how FREAKING AWESOME was Quincy Enunwa refusing to go down, surrounded by five Golden Eagles, getting an extra seven or eight yards after being wrapped up? Beast play.
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:yeah

Martinez was much improved in that almost every ball was catchable but the receivers still helped him out several times which makes a HUGE difference.

 
Something I noticed through out the game and loved when I re-watched it was how much we pulled our linemen. Granted they have a lot to clean up in this area because it wasn't always pretty, but it seems like it will be an integral part of this offense. I absolutely loved that Beck is pulling the guard on play action pass exactly how they would on the run. I remember seeing Choi pull on a successful play action and then coming back the very next play and having him pull again only this time it was a run. Was just something that got me a little giddy, even a throw back to when Dr. Tom was calling the shots I think.

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
Listen, I love measuring the changes in Taylor Martinez's footwork down to the micron as much as anybody, and there can be no doubt he's a better passer than he was last season.

But I remain the lonely voice that says he wasn't that bad of a passer last year. Something that really improves your confidence and completion percentage? Receivers who hold onto the ball. Why did he have such trouble completing long passes last season? He didn't have those five relaxing seconds in the pocket to check down his receivers and plant a foot (any foot) like he did against Southern Miss. He was running an offense on Saturday that knew exactly what it was doing, executed penalty free ball, dominated the line and never asked him to take off running or invent something out of nothing.

Three cheers for his throwing mechanics and everything, but that's not the whole story. Or even that much of the story. And it won't be the story when Taylor has lesser games against tougher opponents.

He's got the confidence you want in a QB, and that includes not folding under the pressure of inane Husker fanbase chatter.
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I've been on that bandwagon as well. He probably had a little more zip Saturday than over the last couple years but it wasn't necessarily that he was a bad passer before, more just that his footwork made him inconsistent - which is probably close to the same thing but not exactly. I think the odd footwork and throwing motion made an easy scapegoat when he threw a couple bad passes. Just look at the Ohio St. game last year - he was very good throwing the ball that night. He completed over 75% of his passes against Northwestern last year but that got lost in the rest of the debacle. He also threw 5 TDs against Okie St. as a Frosh. It's been there, just not all the time. Hopefully it's here a lot more of the time now.

 
knapplc said:
What I liked about the receivers is that they were catching passes that weren't hitting them in the numbers. There's a picture on the OWH of Reed's TD catch, and he had that thing by his fingertips at one point, but still hauled it in. They were efforting big-time Saturday. I'd love to see that keep up.

I remember Fisher last year telling his guys they didn't have to be world-beaters, they just couldn't be the reason we lost the game, but far too often they directly contributed to losses with drops or missed assignments, etc. Overall, they looked phenomenal Saturday. Heads-up plays, great snags, and determined running. For that last point, how FREAKING AWESOME was Quincy Enunwa refusing to go down, surrounded by five Golden Eagles, getting an extra seven or eight yards after being wrapped up? Beast play.
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A crucial aspect of our offense that needs to stay consistent. Taylor hit some receivers in the numbers and put balls where they needed to be, however, he did throw some balls that weren't easy to catch by any means. The Kyler Reed touchdown catch was amazing. Taylor placed it away from the DB or safety? (great decision) in a safe spot for Kyler to make the catch, however, it could have been a bit closer to the outside. I think it was a good passing decision on Taylor's part and Kyler put the icing on the cake when he made that TD catch.

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
Listen, I love measuring the changes in Taylor Martinez's footwork down to the micron as much as anybody, and there can be no doubt he's a better passer than he was last season.
But I remain the lonely voice that says he wasn't that bad of a passer last year. Something that really improves your confidence and completion percentage? Receivers who hold onto the ball. Why did he have such trouble completing long passes last season? He didn't have those five relaxing seconds in the pocket to check down his receivers and plant a foot (any foot) like he did against Southern Miss. He was running an offense on Saturday that knew exactly what it was doing, executed penalty free ball, dominated the line and never asked him to take off running or invent something out of nothing.

Three cheers for his throwing mechanics and everything, but that's not the whole story. Or even that much of the story. And it won't be the story when Taylor has lesser games against tougher opponents.

He's got the confidence you want in a QB, and that includes not folding under the pressure of inane Husker fanbase chatter.
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Damn straight!

Receivers who catch the damn ball helps massively. Kudos to our wrs for their best performance in over three years.

 
kchusker_chris said:
Guy Chamberlin said:
Listen, I love measuring the changes in Taylor Martinez's footwork down to the micron as much as anybody, and there can be no doubt he's a better passer than he was last season.

But I remain the lonely voice that says he wasn't that bad of a passer last year. Something that really improves your confidence and completion percentage? Receivers who hold onto the ball. Why did he have such trouble completing long passes last season? He didn't have those five relaxing seconds in the pocket to check down his receivers and plant a foot (any foot) like he did against Southern Miss. He was running an offense on Saturday that knew exactly what it was doing, executed penalty free ball, dominated the line and never asked him to take off running or invent something out of nothing.

Three cheers for his throwing mechanics and everything, but that's not the whole story. Or even that much of the story. And it won't be the story when Taylor has lesser games against tougher opponents.

He's got the confidence you want in a QB, and that includes not folding under the pressure of inane Husker fanbase chatter.
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Agree it's not the whole story - but he didn't have 5 seconds very often Saturday either. For once he moved outside of the pocket. We call it scrambling...something he has never done well in his career. If there is one improvement in his game that was noticible that was it. The receivers are going to drop some balls, welcome to football. Prepare yourself for it. It will happen. Defenses will collapse the pocket quicker than Southern Miss. Count on it. However, if Taylor can continue to have the awareness that he showed on Saturday, buy himself some time and progress through his reads...I can almost guarentee you with the talent we have at WR there will be someone open.
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Not like our wrs have the last three years. Not even remotely close as they've been pass dropping machines for both Z. Lee & Tmart. That performance is acceptable to "you" but to no other Div1 coach.

 
The receivers are getting a lot of love right now but my concern is: Are any of them a game-breaker? We "think" Turner might be but it hasn't been proven. They are all pretty serviceable and mostly reliable but can they change a game in the 4th quarter if needed (and there will be a few games we'll need it)? I think that's something yet to be known...

 
Nevada Husker said:
The receivers are getting a lot of love right now but my concern is: Are any of them a game-breaker? We "think" Turner might be but it hasn't been proven. They are all pretty serviceable and mostly reliable but can they change a game in the 4th quarter if needed (and there will be a few games we'll need it)? I think that's something yet to be known...
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Get Kenny Bell in space and he's going to be awfully tough to catch. I would call him more than "serviceable."

I'd throw a jump-ball to Enunwa a la Mo Purify from Zac Taylor at A&M and feel confident he'll catch it.

You've mentioned Jamal Turner, and I think his ceiling is way higher than we've seen.

We have some weapons. I don't think there's any question about that.

 
No linebacker can cover Kyler Reed, and no nickel back can bring down Imani Cross or Rex Burkhead with ease. Therein lies an unsolvable conundrum for defenses about what to do when this guy is on the field.

Bell & Turner are exciting young players who are good soldiers within the program, and great athletes. Turner at some point is going to get in a little bit of trouble dancing around all over the place though. I guess I could say the same about Abdullah to a lesser extent. They need more reps.

And Enunwa is a tank who demolishes everything in his path - blocking, YAC-ing, whatever. And Cotton is an all-around quality TE as well. I would say we have a very solid bunch of receivers. And if we are able to open the passing game as has been teased, oh my goodness.

 
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Rollin said:
BigRedBuster said:
The receivers looked awesome on Saturday. And, this is coming from someone who has criticized our receivers for YEARS. If they keep this up, Fisher quite possibly was the best hire in the off season.
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It's his 2nd season....
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I didn't say which off season :)

 
knapplc said:
Get Kenny Bell in space and he's going to be awfully tough to catch. I would call him more than "serviceable."

I'd throw a jump-ball to Enunwa a la Mo Purify from Zac Taylor at A&M and feel confident he'll catch it.

You've mentioned Jamal Turner, and I think his ceiling is way higher than we've seen.

We have some weapons. I don't think there's any question about that.
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Don't forget about Wullenwaber, while unproven he is supposed to be one of the fastest guys out there. He blew by the safeties on Saturday but Taylor wasn't confident enough to make the pass.

 
Nevada Husker said:
The receivers are getting a lot of love right now but my concern is: Are any of them a game-breaker? We "think" Turner might be but it hasn't been proven. They are all pretty serviceable and mostly reliable but can they change a game in the 4th quarter if needed (and there will be a few games we'll need it)? I think that's something yet to be known...
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There's this strange wide-receiver disease in which incredibly talented players become prima donnas and head cases and you wonder if they're worth all the trouble. Everybody called Niles Paul a game-breaker, but I think I'd rather have Martinez spraying it around to 10 competent receivers than trying to appease a game-breaker like Niles Paul who often seemed less than competent.

Jamal Turner was getting a whiff of that prima donna vibe and Pelini benched him. That got his attention. He stil has to earn the ball and the competition at wr is going to help everybody.

 
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