Coaches, Fans, and Media Reaction is Good, Bad, and Ugly
Wow. So that was the most hyped up game against an opponent that's lost 20 in a row that I've ever seen. From just gauging the reaction to the defense and Taylor Martinez, a casual observer might guess that the Huskers lost 100-99 with "T-Magic" scoring 9 TD's and the defense allowing 1000 yards. But just a warning, don't tell Coach Bo Pelini we won the game, he might go a little soft on some of these guys this week, when surely they need to be whipped into shape.
Go back over Bo's many statements about his philosophy of the college football game, and a researcher is likely to find a couple of key points to defense. First, getting the "W" is the point. Second, to get that win, a defense should stop the opponent from getting many points. So what's with all the rage, Bo? Sloppy may be justified, but embarrassment is a little bit of a stretch. Hyperbole is for the writers, it's acceptable to say not good, or mediocre, or average. They got the job done, and last check of the rulebook indicates no bonus for style points.
"We were sloppy. We didn't make calls, we didn't get lined up. We didn't play well. I can't say one thing that I liked on the defensive side. I thought we played poorly. That is not what our standard is around here." -Bo Pelini on troubles stopping opponent
So
• QB • 6-1 • 205 lbs
Taylor 's full bio
"He did a nice job." -Bo Pelini on Taylor Martinez poise, confidence
Other news of note:
Meredith injury not serious, still no solid word on Compton
QB's looked good, but the circus continues
9/5/2010
Like Osborne, while he was coaching all those years, I think Pelini actually helps with the imparting of perspective to the scribes facing him. Just in a different way. Scribes, who are also not gleefully wanting to ask him something that’ll set him off. Not saying Nebraska writers are “pliable,” but I think you can say a lot of them are “team players.” And, rightfully they should be…
He’s at a level of fortitude and common sense, backed up by all that intensity, to the extent that media peeps are simply learning to adjust, with the framing of questions they’ll have self filtered, before they throw it out, to him. At least, until the Texas game.
In other words, I think he can clearly answer tough questions, based on what happend, as long as he doesn’t sniff out something the questioner is underlying, or, leading him to say. He doesn’t go crazy, he doesn’t slap his head, he quickly questions the validity of the question. That actually happens a lot, except coaches try to be polite about it, until the pressure forces something out.
Yeah, he’s animated and he’s intense enough to fry an egg. He’s also pretty consistent with his approach to questions. He’s just not trying to play the smooth, political “statesman” game.
Not at 42, anyway.
Springfield, MO
9/6/2010
There are those of us that would rather you not ever compare Martinez to Crouch! While we are a small group, we belive that the Crouch years were the beginning of the end of the Devaney/Osborne/Solich era. Not to dog on Eric personally, he was a great QB for the Huskers and deserves all of his accolades but, the team seemed to have been lost to the individual in that era. Coach Pelini is doing a great job of stressing individual responsibility to the team, and this will serve all of them well. I just hope that history isn’t repeted.
GBR!
Bob
9/6/2010
Bnahusker - Think the Crouch years w/ Eric doing everything was an descending regression of our talent level across the board. Frankie didn’t think we could get the 4 stars so we started out aiming lower plus Dave Gillespie was generally considered a poor recruiting coordinator.
One possible negative implication of the success of Martinez as a Rfr. w/ Green nipping at his heels is recruiting implications. We have two 4 star QBs committed to the class for 2011, Starling a 6’5” pass first guy who can run and Turner a 6’1” dual threat guy. Assuming we’ve only seen the start of a very good Husker era it may prove difficult to sign both these guys w/established QB’s having 3 & 2 years of eligibility left. Plus we already have quality talent waiting their turn.
Call it an embrassment of riches. It’s a far better problem to have that Callahan, Cosgrove, and no walk ons nor any recognition of the culture of the state and the program.
Springfield, MO
9/6/2010
Bill Henry
Amen!
GBR
Bob
9/6/2010
I listened to the game on the internet while at work. I can’t believe that no one has commented on the fact that this game sounded quite a bit like last years. Agreed that Martinez did a good job but the play calling seemed quite familiar. the receivers dropping passes or fumbling was too similiar and I thought Helu was supposed to be the starter who was supposed to have a great senior season. Wasn’t this the defense that was supposed to be five times better than last years?
9/6/2010
I think that defense that was supposed to be 5x better had Fisher and Compton on it.
Seriously, losing the defensive play caller 2 days before the game is going to throw any team for a curve….
9/6/2010
I think Helu was used sparingly to save him for the grind of the Big 12 schedule…with that said Burkhead looked very good. The game plan last Saturday night made it difficult for the passing game to get into a rhythm with the running game being so dominating. It will be interesting to see how well this unit can do when the game calls for a higher pass to run ratio. I think what people are not realizing is how vanilla this offense was. Just think about the possibilities when this unit really gets cranked up with Burkhead taking the snap and Martinez lined up at receiver…pretty scary.
Maury hit it on the head about Fisher and Compton. Once David and Whaley get it figured out this defense will be dominating once again. We all remember the defense that stuffed Texas and Arizona at the end of the season…these guys are just finding their way. The Pelinis’ will have this unit coached up.
On a side note, did anybody notice on TV or at the game how bad Yoshi was sucking air? Is it me or is that guy way out of football shape???
9/7/2010
Everyone wants to compare Martinez to Crouch because of their speed. I think a better comparison is to Tommie Frazier. Yes, their skill sets aren’t as similar, but Martinez seems to me to have that same poise, confidence, and natural leadership ability that Frazier exuded. Those characteristics, even more than his natural talent, allowed Frazier to not just start as a freshman, but to lock the job down. It was those qualities that enabled him to consistently beat teams that were considered by most to be more talented, from Colorado as a freshman to Florida as a senior. Those qualities that enabled him and his teammates to be their best when everything was on the line and it was gut-check time with a capital GT. (What? Got to get to field goal position this drive against a faster, more talented Florida State team in the Orange Bowl for a chance to win the national championship? Should be no problem for a running team, after all we have 29 seconds…)
Now I know the proof lies ahead for Martinez, that he hasn’t faced any teams or situations even remotely similar to those in the examples above. But consider:
*Last year he led his team to the state championship in California’s top class, and a No. 2 ranking in the mythical high school national championship. You don’t have seasons like that without gut-check moments.
*When every college wanted him to sign and play defensive back, he didn’t suffer any doubts or second thoughts. He had the unshakable confidence in himself to ignore the near-universal opinion of the coaches at the nations top programs and broker a deal with a skeptical Nebraska. That’s confidence and determination at any age, but especially at 18.
* Martinez entered the QB competition this year as the darkest of darkhorse candidates. No experience. Can’t pass. Just being given a shot so they move him to DB with a clear conscience. Competing with a returning senior starter, especially when it’s widely known that Watson’s top requirement has always been mastery of the system. And competing against Green, who’s had more experience, more reps, and whose skill set was certainly seen as more compatible with Watson wanted a quarterback to do.
None of this intimidated him. He improved his weak areas, made the most of his speed advantage, and demonstrated the type of instant, fearless decision making that we haven’t seen for years. Like they say, if you’re going to make a mistake, make it at full speed.
*While we haven’t seen him against quality opponents, we have seen him with his team mates. Often a young quarterback requires some time to take command of the huddle, much less the team. Looked to me like that wasn’t a problem. Martinez seems to have that innate arrogance of those accustomed to leading and winning. As we saw with Frazier, that doesn’t always make one the most popular player, but for a QB, it’s usually better to be a strong general that the team respects than a friendly figurehead everyone likes.
Martinez has tons of talent. His knowledge and experience will only improve with time. But I think it’s his intangibles that are responsible for his rise, and that it will take an extraordinary future competitor with those same intangibles to unseat him.
Decisions are made without hesitation
1/2/2012
My first comment is on Coach Bo. People need to remember 5 years ago he was a Defensive Coordinator. Coach has made a lot of progress and most important he really cares about his players, he cares about the fans and he is a very hard worker. If your a Bo hater, think about who we would get in his place.
Taylor Martinez is also a very hard worker. Pay attention to how he addresses the things he needs to improve on.Taylor is a Sophomore.
We only got beat once this year. The rest of the time we shot ourselves in the foot. Some of the Officiating was very suspect. If them Officials have a problem with Coach Bo they need to address it with him. When they decide to “show Bo” they also are being very unfair to our players and fans.
The Capitol One Bowl Game was a good example of poor officiating.
What is the message we send when a guy that was ejected from a game gets MVP. WOW!!! Extremely SAD! SC’s quarterback was much more deserving.
If you think NU has any problems, look at the NCAA or should I say ESPN/NCAA.
Go get em next year.