Turning the page to 2012

The difference between the 2012 Nebraska team and the teams mentioned above (Auburn, Alabama and LSU) is they had some elite players coming back after their mediocre years, especially on defense.
Do we?

the offensive line is bad and doesnt seem to get any better. they fail to show up for the big games.

Excellent point, Biff.  Outside of Rex, I can’t see any true difference-makers on either side of the ball.  Hope I’m wrong.  Either us fans are creating unrealistic expectations, or Bo’s teams have underachieved badly the past two seasons.  Now, he has to do more with what appears to be less in 2012.  We’ll see.

The O line was actually better this year than last, and was doing fairly well against a talented USC D line until they had all those penalties in the second half.  It’s a young group, and will be better next year.  The D line concerns me, but I’m hoping Peat will prove out.  With his hype he should turn out better than Crick proved out (notwithstanding his injury - seems to be conflicting reports as to how many games he played hurt).  So I guess there’s hope for improvement in the D line.  The D backfield, I dunno, there’s going to be some green blood in the Blackshirts I think.

Has everyone forgotten Bo’s comment several games ago “that trophies and championships aren’t that important”?  Well he’s keeping his word on that one.

I don’t really have anything to back it up, but Nebraska will be better on both sides of the ball next year. Call it a feeling, blind faith, whatever.  Excited for 2012.

Player development is a huge concern for me, especially at QB. I do not understand why every other position, on the team, has 2nd/3rd team guys playing on a regular basis and QB never sees a down. We are playing with fire. Also, as was pointed out before, why not redshirt one of the young backs? An opinion, we may be dealing with hubris.

TommyT, you’ve got to keep things in perspective.

I believe those comments were after a very emotional Penn State game.  Under the circumstances, I think those comments were very appropriate.

First thank you for this post!  It was one that needed to be stated.
BallField, I agree with you completely.  I know that Moore has hurt us with false starts, but we have to remember that last year he was playing HS football, and will make mistakes.  I think that next year he will be much more settled and less mistake prone.  USC D-ends were every bit as advertised, they were fast and strong, there was many times you would see them take our O-linemen out of the play. 
Defense is my biggest concern for next season.  If the unit that is left behind can somehow gel together they will be fine.  But they do have to find that gel somehow, because I don’t think that unit found it this year at all.  Which is also what made David stand out even more this season (imagine if we had him while Suh was here?).
The one area that I think we have been weak in since Bo took over is special teams (minus the kicker).  That unit has been weak for a long time, and even yesterday proved that to be true.  Even when the refs weren’t helping the other team.  They have to make that unit stronger or get the right coach to coach it.
Martinez really worries me as well.  He just doesn’t seem to have that 100% run ability any more.  I have seen him many times this coming down the line and looking for the corner, and instead he will hesitate.  Then you see some D-lineman really hit him.  That is where a player really gets hurt.  The passing isn’t something that we brought him to Nebraska to do, it was his speed, and if player isn’t playing at full speed, bad things happen.  Maybe Carnes wasn’t ready this season to take much mop-up duty, I don’t know, but he better be ready next season.  This year the B1G was nice to Martinez, but I don’t think that will happen next season, and we may need a back up to step in.
Just my two cents from the arm chair.  Not being on the inside does make it more difficult to understand many pieces to this team.  None the less, they will always have my support!
When looking at the interviews from yesterday, Burkhead completely agreed with Bo on the teams performs in the game.  There were no excuses, and that is what I like most about Bo, nice or not to the media, or refs, he hands out no excuses.

GBR!

What needs to be done to get rid of Coach Cotton this off-season??

I’m not very optimistic for 2012.  I think apathy is setting in and that’s a problem for this program on a large scale going forward.  I’m not impressed with Bo any longer, he is a horrible communicator and his leadership is questionable as it relates to his sideline tirades. The play calling on offense is still not good.  And the cupboard is bare for 2012.  I’m not looking forward at all to 2012.

The QB position has to be an open competition.  There has to be someone capable of getting the ball to open WRs.  Taylor Martinez is great a running in wide open space but he crumbles like blue cheese at the point of contact and cannot consistently hit the WR.  Even when he does complete a pass, he doesn’t get the ball to the WR in stride.

I hope Aaron Green returns with a chip on his shoulder.  We need him and Abdullah to each get 5-10 touches a game—they are potential game breakers but they need a chance.

Looks like our 2012 recruiting class is nearly all defense—hopefully some of them will be ready from day 1.

The Huskers have a lot of work to do to get better. As long as Martinez is the starting QB we’ll never be a contender for the Big 10 title or a national championship. He is too easy to defend / figure out. Telegraphs most his passes and his accuracy is inconsistent. His speed / quickness have diminished since he hurt his ankle as well. On defense we’re too slow. Other than David (he’s gone) we have no speed coming back in the front seven. Did Stienkuler get a sack this year? He has been a “bust” as a 5 star recruit. Compton has not lived up to expecatations either. They will never be a difference makers on defense. They are both average at best. Every QB we faced that could run hurt us all year long. Again we’re just “SLOW”! Don’t think you can teach “SPEED”. Bottom line is the Huskers lack the talent to be a legit contender in division 1 football. Get use to 9-3 and 8-4 unless something changes. Hopefully the 2012 recruiting class will be a good one. To get better it needs to be.

GBR!

I remain a fan of Pelini and cannot say much about Beck.  Hard to say that Beck’s playcalling is bad when the QB is incapable of making and completing passes.  Bo’s tirades towards the officials have no impact on the game or the players (it at least shows he is fighting for them).  I am not optimistic for 2012 if T. Martinez returns as the only QB getting any play.

Y9u’re all a bunch of whiners:  NU will win the Nat’l Championship next year, bank it.

Burkhead, Bell, Reed and the O-line should all be fine next year.  I’m beginning to wonder if Martinez couldn’t be a greater contributor as a receiver or wing-back or something other than QB.  Maybe Carnes or Marsh or incoming freshman can and should be given a shot (true legitimate shot) at replacing Martinez in the starting QB role.  With the talent we have on offense, I can only imagine how good the Huskers would be if we had a QB like Luck or Wheedon or even someone who is just a reasonably good passer like Shaw who can avoid sacks and mistakes but also make the key throws consistently.  Imagine…

Interesting comments. Once thing I would disagree with is the general perception that Martinez’s passing is so bad.  Yes, it isn’t great, and yes, he does hang the receivers out to dry a lot by not passing it to them in stride (except, strangely enough, Burkhead).  BUT, look at how many dropped passes there were!!! Two very, very key passes in the bowl game, and countless others over the last two seasons.  Sure, some of it is on Martinez, but a big chunk is on the receivers simply not catching the ball or dropping it once they do, even without contact.  I am hoping Westerkamp sees the opportunity here, but I feel like he is slipping away to Notre Dame.
Then look at how much Martinez has passed this year compared to last, and with that increased amount of passing how much better his passing really is.  Last season it was pretty much always a close your eyes and pray “god-I-hope-it-gets-to-our-guy-first” kind of a pass.  This season: much, much better - still a long ways from great (or even passably good), but much better.  And then in the 2010 season I found myself just hoping our offense could do something, anything, anything at all.  This season I never really had the feeling that they were totally helpless.  Albeit (admittedly) largely thanks to Rex, but still. 
I am remain on the bandwagon from last season that Cotton cannot get our O line motivated or prepared.  From my untutored armchair QB point of view that is one more coaching change that needs to be made.  Another thing that has not changed since the Callahan years is we cannot coach up a QB.  Just can’t.  No wonder the Gabberts defected to Missouri, and any other 4-5 star QB recruit we have chooses to go elsewhere.

Big Fish you nailed it!  Too bad Barney was the first call Bo made when he was hired.  Might be hard for Bo to fire him especially with his sons playing now.  We will keep the sons but let’s help Barney pack.  Last interview I saw with him he was slobbering sunflower seeds out of his mouth.  Act like a professional for crying out loud!  Don’t know how this guy can motivate someone.  Since we are stuck with Martinez for a while we have got to protect him and make holes for he and Rex.  I’m sick of this pass blocking garbage.  Go forward off the ball and lay someone on their backside even on pass plays.  How can you expect a 300lb offensive lineman running backwards to keep up with a 250lb faster defensive lineman running forward?  Can’t happen Barney!

2012 will be a joke if Bo doesn’t make some hard/rational decisions with some staff and starting players.  First, Barney Cotton needs to be removed from his offensive line coaching duties. He is a nice guy but a dud coach. Martinez needs to switch positions with Jamal Turner. Beck needs to pick and perfect one type of offense,stick to the run while working, get a QB coach and quit using his playstation ncaa2010 as a playbook.  JP the new Puppet, I mean new DC should improve his coaching image, but not the defense, because Bo is to insecure to hire a DC that he may actually learn something new from and build a dominate D. The Special (Olympic) teams must improve 100 %. Good kicker, ok return man, rest is pathetic. (poor tackling, poor blocking, no seams formed (reminds me of Matt Dillon playing football in Something About Mary LOL).  Most of the team seems SLOW, undisaplined and robotic.  D line is weak, Oline is weak, QB is weak, LB are slow, RBs Very Good, Recievers Very Good, DBs improving.  All this with a couple creme puffs in our schedule will get us close to 8/5 next season if things don’t change ASAP.

All I know was that being at the game I was impressed with becks playing calls. He was putting guys in places to be successful they just didn’t produce.on those couple of dropped balls he had multiple guys open and had the d confused they just didn’t catch the ball. We better hope a wr other then bell steps up

I had a high school coach who preached and taught that the best defense is a “good” offense.  We were undefeated state champs my junior year.  We scored 347 points to the oppositions’ 39.

We scored fast, we scored slow, we scored with the run, we scored with the pass. 

I wonder if Bo continues to believe that defense wins games—defense protects wins; but tell Oregon, Baylor, Wisconsin and Michigan that defense wins games—think they’ll believe you.

My hopes aren’t high for my beloved Big Red next year.  We have no game changers coming back; or, apparently in the woods. 

We have fumblers, pass droppers, a loose offensive line, penalty makers, holes in the defensive line, good but not overwhelming speed in the DB. 

Don’t be surprised by a 5-7 year next year—the talent simply isn’t there.  Hope that I’m wrong.

Twauto22-  the calls bay be good calls but when you have players practicing so many diff. styles of offenses, or just plays for that matter, it becomes a LONG process to developing players to execute with consistancy.  The Oline has to learn multiple styles of blocking, pulling etc…  the QB has to be a true Dual Threat not just a 100 meter straightline sprinter with a uncle Rico (Napoleon Dynomite) arm. Backs and Recievers have to learn multiple blocking assignments and the list goes on and on.  Simplify, adapt to players natural talent and Perfect and Championships will follow.

Why all the negativity and near vitriol by a big chunk of the commenters?
None of you have coached a down of football, yet you are ready to bust out the pitchforks and fire. It took Osborne how long to win a championship? Vogel is right, we have no right to expectations other than to be in the hunt.
As for the players, they are kids…18-22 years of age…get off their backs. We should be happy they have enough cojones to play when this is the type of treatment they receive from fans. What had any of us accomplished by that age?
As for firing Cotton?!...the o-line had 2 walk-on starters for half the season!!!
Let’s all be a bit more positive and support our team this coming season. I for one am excited.

Coming from someone who watched both Burkhead and Green in person while they were in high school, I thought Green was much better. Why are they not using him? I even thought he was better than Malcolm Brown because of his quickness and game-breaking ability. Right now there are several Texas raised Rb’s coming back to Texas for various reasons, ex. Lache seastrunk and Brandon Williams, NU fans can only hope Green isn’t next.

5-7 gets people fired Ron Peterson.  If improvement does’nt happen and the team actually does go 5-7or 6-6 it will be time to call Chris Peterson and open the checkbook! Bo needs to hire some Great assistant coaches instead of playing Mr. Professor of coaching class 101, hiring basically grad students and paying them for them to learn or the States dime and schools record.

There is NO reason, including his occasionally performing kids, that Barney Cotton has a job on the Nebraska coaching staff. Bo Pelini is entirely accountable for his retention and the penalty crisis on the O line year after year. Good coaches move on ......

Nebraska is Denver. Tmart is Tebow. N’s D is not Denver’s D.

We are shuffling players around trying to cover holes in a talented, but severely deficient, QB.  Sometimes opponents can’t figure it out, better teams can. Result is big strikes and ‘exciting’ comebacks against teams we are supposed to beat and blow out losses to teams that are better.

Welcome to Denver.

How can you possibly write something up about next years offense without even mentioning the offensive line?  Get back in the stands, author.

Seriously?  Stocked?!  How about depleted, with injuries.  We are in dire need of top-rated recruits.

@Ron
I don’t think your glory days has much relevance to Division I College Football. BTW, look at the teams in the BCS Championship Game (LSU and Alabama) - they have great defenses.

It is really hard to make a case that things are getting better.  Or that we’re just about to turn the corner.  It is reasonable to chalk up some of this year to new surroundings, new assignments, and youth.  But that only goes so far.  So let’s move ahead to 2012.  Looking ahead there are some strategic issues that must be addressed or show signs of being addressed:

1)  Redshirts—What happened to Green/Heard this year is unexcusable.  IF one was not going to play, then one should’ve been redshirted.  The management of these two IB’s, and Rodriguez before him, and others must be addressed.  The article metions that plenty of Freshman made impacts this year (Malcolm Brown and De’Anthony Thomas) and Green was not that far behind those two.  Other programs seem to be able to develop and prepare players to contribute their first year.  Other programs we recruit against will use this against us.  Make no bones about that.  Under Coach Pelini, this program has not had done any sort of a credible job of getting potential impact players on the field as Freshmen. . .

2)  Martinez—An athlete trying to play QB.  He is not going to be able to execute as a QB to win against the good teams.  It is not there.  If Coach Pelini could go to a Redshirt Senior (Zac Lee) and say that due to ongoing competition that Martinez is the one that gives us the best chance to win and that consequently he needed to sit for his final year, then this trend should continue.  Competiton worked for Phillip Dillard in Spring Ball.  He reacted to it.  Do we not do this for Martinez?  Is he the exception?  Is he too sensitive for it?  And if he’s too sensitive to the concept of competition then how can he have the mental makeup to run a team?  Who knows but it seems that the concept of ongoing competition applies to everyone in this program but Martinez.  Brandon you mentioned this:

“I really wonder what Tim Beck’s offense, which seems to succeed at getting receivers open, would look like with a QB who could consistently make all the throws. I also think it might be two years before we find out. . .”

So right and so spot on.  Every word of it.  And it will be two years before we find out.  Would we tolerate an intriguing ‘idea’ at CB even if he blew his assignments?  To the point where it affects putting the team in the best situation to win?  Carnes and Armstrong need to be given an honest chance to win the job.  And if Carnes is deemed that bad by the coaching staff, then. . .

3)  Player Development—On the offensive side it has not happened.  At all.  Name one player who has come here on the offensive side of the ball who took steps, year by year, culminating in an experienced upperclassman, who became a game-breaker?  It’s been four years with Coach Pelini and we don’t have a one who pops into our heads as that game-breaker who we developed during his years here, in the program, and under the eyes of this coaching staff. . .

4)  Playing Time for Backups—So even when we are losing at Wisconsin, Michigan, or late against South Carolina, nobody gets game experience?  Practice does count a great deal but until you get to get some live fire to implement those practice habits/training it does not help expedite the time spent on the learning curve. . .

5)  Coaching Staff—Are these guys being chosen because they work best with Coach Pelini or are these the best coaches we can have?  The only thing that brings me some degree of comfort regarding this topic is that Coach Pelini does have to explain this (to a degree) with Dr. Tom Osborne when he wants to hire new staff, and Dr. Tom has to approve on it.  If Dr. Tom Osborne was not here I would really be hitting the panic button. . .

6)  Recruiting—Coach Pelini doing a great job with Coach Callahan’s players.  What can he bring in, and what development will he have with his players?  To his credit he found David, Dejon Gomes and Stafford.  Dennard was a late pick up on his first recruiting class.  He needs for this recruiting class and next years to contribute, or this issue right here could be one of the biggest ones to address in the not too distant future. . .

Some people mention Dr. Tom Osborne’s early period as the bellweather for Coach Pelini’s first few years.  First, these are two different men.  Two different skill sets, two different temperments, two different eras, and two different management styles.  You cannot compare these two.  Dr. Tom had a surreal talent for strategic management and in-game adjustment.  Coach Pelini does not, and never will, have that to Dr. Osborne’s level.  No shame there.  Coach Pelini will have to walk his own path, like everyone else in life. . .

There are programs who don’t have their best showing all the time they hit the field.  No shame there, but this program is having some serious breakdowns, and on a consistent basis in big games under Coach Pelini’s tenure.  Under Coach Pelini our players do not react well to adversity.  Like their Coach, they seem to be a bit prickly and sensitive.  This team on the field takes on the personality of their head coach.  And this mindset can turn what should be a manageable, and temporary letdown into an emotional avalanche where things just implode and spiral out of control.  It is just disappointing and embarassing to be that team on January 2nd who is outscored 21-0 in the last 3 quarters of play, have 20 penalties (4 on one drive in the 3rd quarter alone), or have more penalties in the 2nd half than 1st downs, possess the gaudy statistic of 3-13 on 3rd down conversions, to be capped off by -14 yards of total offense in the 4th quarter.  It is really hard to look at that and say that things are getting better. . .

And then the best part?  We have to recruit a lot of people because some of our scholarship guys are not panning out and we’re still adjusting to The Big 10.  And the real kicker?  By the time we are adjusted to The Big 10 does this mean that we’ll be equipped to lose to every SEC team we play from that point and beyond?  Michigan has a very good figurehead in Coach Hoke.  Ohio State has proved that they will do anything to win and stay on top of this conference with the hire of Coach Meyer.  Wisconsin is going nowhere, but up.  All of those teams have better Head Coaches and manage their football programs way better than Coach Pelini does at this point.  Our issues, at the moment are manageable over the long term, but they are the result of tactical mistakes with strategic implications taken at the behest of the Head Coach.  Coach Pelini will have to look to address these strategic management issues this offseason. . .

I have been a Husker Fan since 1963 and I am loosing my desire to continue to support a program that year after year slips farther behind the pack. I’m somewhat dissapointed in a coach that continues to loose his cool rather than being a role model, and a team that continues to plummet into mediocrity. Matinez has no business as quarterback. Our defense at times looks like they are playing touch football, and our offense is just plain pathetic in the red zone. Texas and Oklahoma seem to also be loosing their luster and maybe all good things must pass. But it makes me sad to see the once great “class act” program slip into a “has been” status in the big ten which isn’t that good of a conference.

coach pelini has more important personality issues to address than winning football games. I was at the game Monday and felt imbarrased for the team, huskernation and sad for the coach.I hope he takes the opportunity to look at his own replay

Considering they finally got rid of Carl…..  I thought Bo would have scripted a better Dfense than what we saw Monday…...

Mistakes killed…... But lets really look at the defense and T Martinez as weak links…..............

GBR

Easy there nomo last time we gave up on a regime at 9-x because of the mediocrity angle we made some bad choices. Look at iowa state if you want to know mediocrity. Happy to get to go to a bowl. Don’t mind you got thumped by the big east to get sent back below 500. At least you beat OSU.
We are still above average. Will probably still be ranked pretty well in the final top 20. Oh and lost the last game if the season against the visor.
That last part hurts the most because I remember playing him before. When it mattered most. But times are very different Ander need to be strong enough to see that this very youngteam and coaching staff has anopportunity to learn while here.

I haven’t been critical of the Husker program under Bo until this bowl game and it wasn’t just “losing the game” that bothers me, its how we lost it. In his 4th year and with a month to prepare for that game, there is no way that team should have experienced a melt down and make that many dumb mistakes and have such a lack of execution in the 2nd half the way they did. I don’t pretend that I am smart enough to know what the problems are, but Bo better get it figured out before he goes into his 5th year and start “fixing” problems. It seems like the same problems just keep happening over and over. I am worried about the recruiting side of things too. Right now, I really am worried about the future of this program under Bo. I look at lesser programs that have receivers that can actually catch the ball when its thrown too them and and that aren’t penalty prone. There are a lot of things that just need too start getting better.

UltimaRatioRegum, in general I have to disagree with you.  I was at the game.  It was the first time I have seen Martinez live in a game and not on the tube.  Our receivers did drop some legitimately easy passes to catch - I’ll agree with you there.  But in a lot of cases, those balls were behind them or exposed them in traffic - ie few if any were close to being delivered in stride.  Martinez is one of the worst throwing QBs I can remember the Huskers fielding in the 35 odd years I have been watching or going to games.  He makes Lord look like Elway.  In the game, his balls were rarely on target and with little zip, allowing defenders to break on the balls and make plays.  What I find shocking is that his best throws are on some of the deeper routes.  He has almost no touch on most of his short and medium throws.  Also, his option execution is average at best.  Frankly I was shocked, is Brion Carnes really that far behind him?  Also when we were down by 3 scores with 3min to play, why didn’t we see Brion?  There was NO CHANCE that Martinez was going to bring us back -  a sentiment shared by the Husker fans flooding the exits near us.  Martinez is such a fine athlete - why is he now being shackled and simply turned into a game manager?  We need his athleticism on the field, but we should be getting this kid the ball in space, not watching him heave a football like a shot put 15 yards down the field and missing open receivers.

First of all Palini needs to learn control.  The team emulates the coach.  When he melts down, the team does too.  I saw the same at Texas A&M last year. 

Next what happened to the pipeline.  I’ve seen several players with potential come to NU but few seem to develope.  I am not that high on Barney Cotton. 

I see some potental bright spots in 12.  Several top notch recievers could make NU very explosive.  I think Martinez could excell if give some time.  Running backs also is a plus.  If we can get some line play the O could rock.  The D is a ?.  We need the Dbacks to step up.  Bo’s defense need lock-down corners to work.  We also need some pass rush.  The new coach should help.  Even without David the LBs should be good.

Big D Husker, you are right on!!!  One of the highest priorities of a head coach is to evaluate talent and TMart is the best he can come up with?  Something is drastically wrong.

Hey Terry (his comments are way up the row) Bo said that trophies and championships aren’t that important after being pummeled by Michigan!  He also said “Nebraska is back” several years ago.  HUH?  Instead of coaching the players on the sideline he was trying to re-bolster his slightly faded reputation of being a raptor with the officials.  Oh yes, his exit from the field at the half was nothing but immaculate too!  Get real, Bozo’s a JERK!  I want my two sons to play for him.

Like many of you I have been a Husker fan for years….many of the frustrating Osborne years where we could never win the Big Game but i will say this:  Osbornes squad always played to there potential but usually got beat by better talent and did not beat themselves.  I ask anyone to answer this question:  If you were a business man and hired someone to perform a certain task and they never met expectations would you keep them around?  Of course not!  Why on earth is Barney Cotton still coaching lineman?  The line never seems to fully gel and you would think that by this time we could have a O-Line that doesn’t make silly mistakes and plays well for one full game.  I haven’t seen it and there is no excuse as I see other teams doing far more with less talent.  Does Boise have better O-pine talent, Does Houston…they are different schemes but you cannot say there talent level is better but yet they play at a higher and more consistent level and I am just scratching the surface.  I know many of you think I am complaining but trust me, I am loyal to the end and have watched many teams over the years but this Coaching staff frustrates me.  Also, someone made a good comment about Martinez, if we had a QB that could consistently hit the open man we would be deadly….I miss Joey Ganz! Martinez running ability is overrated.  I don’t dislike the kid at all but i think we could do better.  My two cents.  Go Big Red!

Husker Fan all my 55 years but it is becoming very hard to understand why other Schools can improve and we just continue to decline. I almost feels as though we are heading back to the Callahan days and the players play with that same kind of emotion. (no inspiration, no drive, no love for the game and no hart) The offensive line can not play at a consistent level and the defensive line can not move anyone regardless of which school we are playing . They are one of the worst defensive lines the school has ever had since my 55 years of supporting Nebraska. It is time to play a new qb that has the skill level to play football. Someone that has the ability to think fast enough to make good decision. Someone that can actually throw the ball to his own team. TM doesn’t seem to be able to run the option correctly.
Maybe it’s time Tom O. puts more pressure on Bo to get a coaching staff that has the desire to win, and has the skill level to get it done.  HUSKER FAN!

Up until this game, I was hoping Pelini and his staff were progressing.  They are not!  If Martinez is not replaced by somebody.  Carnes has to know at least 10 plays before next year? That is all Martinez new at the beginning of last year.  if the coaching staff can’t teach Carnes the offense in a year and a half, they need to be fired.  If Martinez is still NU Quarterback and we know there will not be any improvement, we are headed toward medocrity.  Why can’t NU recruit Quarterbacks who can throw the ball, like normal people.  I think there are 100 schools in America who have Quarterbacks who are better at running or passing.
Secondly, Pelini must change his passive d-line scheme for defense.
Watching our d-line on virtually every snap, just stand up and do nothing was frustrating.  The best way to stop a mobile Quarterback, is to get to him quick, so he can’t do what he wants.  You blitz, and disrupt the play.  Any quarterback will pick you apart, if he has 10 seconds back there!  And then he runs by our flatfooted lineman anyway!  Pelini must change to having an aggressive defense.  If I was Osborne, I would call Charlie McBride and ask he to consult with Pelini.  IF Pelini is too stubborn to do it.  Then its time to go after Chris Peterson.  Peterson does the most with the least amount of talent.  He is a brilliant offensive coach and Boise St. defense,  plays very fundamentally sound.  I was a big Pelini supporter, 4 years ago.  I thought he was it!  Not anymore.

Uneducated/unintelligent fans always blame the QB first.
Nothing to see here.

Cheer up!
This kid just committed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghk0s8e8h0Y

Things I was disappointed in this year..
1. Why did Jamaal Turner not hardly see the field in the 2nd half of the year? He got into an argument with Pelini and didn’t play after that. He’s a playmaker, but not on the bench..

2. Would have liked to see more diamond formation this year. We’ve got the most talented backfield in the big 10, if not the entire nation. Why not put them in the backfield and make the defense think? When defenses have to think, they fall a half step behind. The few times we ran it, it was effective.

3. Martinez is not a quarterback. Sure he improved in reading defenses this year. The problem is he doesn’t consistently execute when throwing the ball. Also, as the season went on, he seemed to slow down at the end of plays before getting tackled. I know he is probably coached not to take big hits, but slowing down, standing straight up, and not finishing runs is more dangerous than aggressively diving before the opponent has a chance to hit you. He also struggles with read progressions. If his first read isn’t open, the plays over.

4. Defensively, we were slow. I was extremely disappointed in our safety play this year. When playing man coverage, there’s a reason these db’s are called “safety’s”. Every corner, no matter how good, will get beat at some point in time. It’s the safety’s job to make sure that there is help behind them. There were numerous times throughout the year where safeties weren’t there to backup our cornerbacks.

To people who are complaining about our bad loss to the gamecocks..
It was very disappointing, but we were every bit as good as that team we played. The offensive line played great, until the end. When you are playing the one of best defensive lines in the nation and they know you are throwing the ball, don’t expect to win that battle very often. Our lineman were exhausted from the heat in Orlando. We ran for 137 yards. Clemson only ran for 70 against USC.  #7 Arkansas ran for fewer yards than us. (keep in mind that the martinez sacks and kyler reeds catch was considered a run account for negative rushing yardage) 
-Blocked PAT returned for safety -3 points
-Abdullahs fumble would have been 1st and goal at the 4 yard line. -7 points
-Missed Field goal, -3 points
-Martinez interception resulted in a td that would not have happened if we punted the next play. -7 points.

Right there is 20 points that we gave away. It’s a totally different game if we don’t beat ourselves. Some people will blame coaching but i firmly believe players have to make plays.

BO…LET’S HAVE A LITTLE HEART-HEART HONEST CONVERSATION. BASED ON WHAT I’VE READ AND HEARD…YOU ARE A WONDERFUL HUMAN-BEING…GOOD HUSBAND, GREAT DAD, LOYAL FRIEND, ETC, ETC, ETC ! HOOOOOWEVER, THOSE ARE NOT THE REASONS DONU IS PAYING YOU 3 MIL/YEAR !  ARE YOU REALLY HAPPY BEING THE HC AT NU ? DO YOU EVER FEEL (even slightly) THAT YOU ARE BETTER SUITED AS A DC ???? ARE YOU EVER WRONG…IF SO, WHY CONTINUE DOING AND SAYING THE SAME THINGS ?  DEEP DOWN AND ON THE SURFACE YOU KNOW TM IS NOT A QB !!!!!! IF CARNES IS THAT FAR BEHIND…WHY HAS HE NOT BEEN DEVELOPED FURTHER ?....it really wouldn’t take THAT much to outplay TM !  WHY CONTINUE TO ACCEPT MEDIOCRITY FROM B.COTTON ?  WHY WASTE VALUABLE RED-SHIRTS ?  IF YOU HAD BEEN PUNISHED AS HARSHLY AS SOME OF YOUR PLAYERS FOR MAKING A MISTAKE, YOU WOULD, in all likelyhood, NOT STILL BE AT DONU !!!!...and no, I’m not advocating your dismissal !!!!  HOWEVER, IF YOU NEVER MAKE A MISTAKE THEN I APOLOGIZE FOR RAISING THESE MOOT QUESTIONS….you don’t have to be a chicken to know a good omelet !  GBR

Discipline. It starts at the top and works it’s way down. When your head coach yells at you during the half and questions your “intensity” it breeds false starts, personal fouls, and punches being thrown. South Carolina didn’t win this game. Bo lost it… At the refs, at the coaches, at the players, and finally on the scoreboard. Perhaps it’s time for either anger-management classes or business management classes?!?

Quick, honest question for all of you: In the business you’re in, would his behavior be tolerated? What would management do?

History lesson #1
Tom Osborn became head coach at NU in 1972. His first Big8 title was shared with OU in 1978.  They beat our ass later that year in the Orange Bowl. TO first won a national title in 1994. If my math is correct that is 6 years for the first conference title and 22 years for the first National Championship. Thank GOD we didn’t have the Internet back then.

History lesson #2

Bill Belichick. (Aka NE Patriots HC) started coaching in the NFL in 1975. He was the DC for the NY Giants for 2 super bowl wins in the ‘80’s. He was given a short stint in Cleveland as HC. The GREAT fans in Cleveland got there wish and he was fired. 5 years later, he started a run of 3 super bowl titles in 4 years in NE (New England)

I would rather be in New England than Cleveland.

Patience is a virtue, not a curse.

Many of the posters here have got to get a life, and get therapy/live in reality. When exactly did my fellow NU fans turn into such cry baby losers?? It was one decent but not great year, get off the coach and kids. HEY CAP LOCKS GUY, BO’S FORESKIN KNOWS MORE ABOUT FOOTBALL, SHUT UP & TYPE LOWER CASE!! Martinez is a sophomore maybe 20, and drops more athletic talent in the toilet than anyone on here. He played decent when half the team wet their pants in the second half. This team had an evil schedule, played walk ons all over the place, but still had a good record. More importantly, the program is consistently in the top 25, wins at least 9 games, has a team GPA above 3.0 (unlike the commentators here, although it is really just a few of the morons that posted garbage that killed our average, ha!) has little or no off field issues, and avoids the colossal embarrassment that Penn State, or tOSU brought upon themselves. Get perspective and be happy!! No championship is worth Nebraska in any way resembling or being in the same category as “da U” or their ilk. Maybe some of you wouldn’t, care if NU was Auburn, tOSU, USC, or Penn State, but not me. (then again I don’t have to ride the coat tails of teenagers to feel good. Maybe it’s my portfolio, big house, nice cars, and smoking hot woman, but I digress) Pelini yells, sucks with interviews, and I suspect might be a prick if you bumped into him at a store, but I suspect he has integrity and given 20 years (like TO) would put it all together and win it all. Until then remember why Neb fans REALLY used to be cool (class, treating opponents well, passion,etc) and stop embarrassing the state and university (that probably less than 15% of you attended). BTW, plenty of the posts were fine, those that were not are obvious. To you, please fall asleep on some railroad tracks or move to Boulder. ;)

Something else I have noticed about Pelini:  If you have not played football on the collegiate level, then you don’t know jack (in Pelini’s world).  In fact your opinion is like dog s_it.  He repeatedly uses the phrase, “stapped it on” or “strapped it up.”  He is definitely not a fans’ coach and this is why he takes on that his players and him against the world mentality.  It’s also why he has such a low opinion of the press (they haven’t played the game and they couldn’t carry water for my guys).  In short, he’s very self-centered (football exists for him to feed his ego) and if things don’t go his way, he has a temper tantrum.  NU can do a lot better than this!!!

I’m as disappointed as the next fan that Nebraska lost, especially the way they lost.  However, let’s keep things in perspective.  It’s a game people get over it.  The negativism that is spewed on these internet pages is like a disease.  It takes a toll on the coaches and the players and we as fans are not helping the situation.  No I’m not drinking the Kool-Aid but rather thinking we could be just a little more supportive of our team.  We have one of the finest coaches college football has ever seen in TO as our athletic director.  I’m going to let him decide what the next move is.  He’s definitely more qualified than I am.  So going forward I will continue to support the players and the coaches and let TO worry about the program.  God, Family and Job will stay my priority and Big Red will be my entertainment.  This all may seem a little contrite for some of you but the last two years have definitely put my priorities straight.  Have a great 2011 and look forward to next year. GBR

That all makes sense, sort of.  Mojoman, are you a contributor to the Big Red money machine?  If you are then you might realize that just maybe we aren’t getting our money’s worth?  Big time college football, which I assume NU wants to be a part of,
isn’t what it used to be 40+ years ago.  It’s a big time business
machine and what happens when businesses don’t thrive?  Hmmmm.

Tim Beck needs to get much better at his playing calling.  The other bowl games I’ve watched showed how much more sophisticated offenses can be.  First and goal at the 8 yard line and you PASS?  Barney’s needs help teaching the OL to RUN BLOCK.  Martinez’s only asset was his running ability and he has lost that…time to cut bait and run with a Carnes or Brockmeyer.  I hope we are recruiting some speed on defense.  Still excited for next year!  GBR

Martinez has to be the worst college quartback that I have seen in 35 years.  Coaches that can’t see that and won’t give anyone else a chance…enough said.

RiverRat…I personally don’t think Beck is the problem. For a 1st year OC and getting his start playing in a new conference that no one on the staff had any experience with, I think Beck is doing fine. Under Beck, I think this offense will get more sophisticated after they learn how to execute the base offense. I think most of the problem on offense is OL coaching and a QB who isn’t really a QB, but rather a RB or defensive player. TM has tremendous straight ahead running ability and that is about it. There is no experience at QB behind him so they are playing it as safe as they can by making hime more of a game manager so he doesn’t get hurt. If TM is not a good passer which he definitely is not and is average as a game manager and they don’t want him running because he might get hurt, then where is his value as a QB? I agree with you on the QB part. !st & goal at the 8 yard line. Yes…many teams that are good in the red zone do that successfully.

J in KC Has nailed it on the head! How many walk on did we have this year on the line and wasnt one a true freshman.  Me included Ive never played D1 football and I bet 95% of you all havent.  Just sit back an enjoy Husker Football good things are coming.

This is a good review but it falls down concerning the QB position.  We need a new QB who can throw and is mobile. Our back up QB hardly got in the game.  Either he or Tommy Armstrong, if he does come to NU,  should be the guy.  Aren’t there are other Husker position needs where Martinez’s abilities could be put to better use.

After reading half of these comments, maybe it’s not just the players that act like their coach, it’s the fans too!  I’d like to see Bo tone it down a bit on the sidelines with the refs, but I like a lot of the passion and I think a lot of the players do too.  Did we slightly underachieve this year, maybe so, but I think we did alright considering.  Many have pointed out that we had key losses from last year, new conference, what…top 5 schedule rank and underdogs in the bowl game?  How many times did we have that rolling through the Big 8 facing two ranked teams?  Gotta have some perspective.  Yeah, Michigan did better with a first-year coach, but they had a lot of returning talent (like we will next year), they had something like 20+ returning starters, and one of the best QB’s in the nation…and wtf, they still lost to Iowa (and MSU, both teams we beat)!  Tell me you don’t think South Carolina would have beaten VTech…

While Martinez and the OL struggled in the second half, keep in mind we were playing a top 5 defense.  Let’s not act like they weren’t responsible for creating some of our problems.  I think that is the biggest thing our D needs to work on for next year, is creating turnovers…making things happen!  I think our OL will be really good next year and if Martinez is QB, and I know he’s not the greatest, let’s also remember he’s already making waves in our record books as a Sophomore.  I really hope he gets challenged next year, but if he wins out, I’m not going to be too worried about that position.  We really need receivers that can catch (Westercamp could help here), more speed on D, and people that can tackle (better DL play).  It would appear that our recruits fit the bill there, so we really need to be patient here.  We all want championships, but let’s face reality, this wasn’t going to be the year…just too many obstacles with the new schedule, new coaches/philosophies, losses to graduation/injury, and youth on the team.  I’m glad we won 9 and hope we can improve next year, particularly the getting blown out part.  Pelini needs to get the guys to stop shooting themselves in the foot with turnovers and penalties and starting forcing mistakes by the other team…also maybe cool his act a little (which he did this year for the most part) and we’ll be fine!  All you haters need to chill out too…

PS - Probably the thing that worries me the most is that Papuchis is going to be D-Coordinator and arguably our two worst components were DL play and kick coverage…

Nebraska Fans are impatient at best. If the fans and the media would have had their way Devany would have been fired after the 68 season, thus no titles in 70-71. If that would have happened chances are Osborne would not have been left to coach here either. If Osborne would have stayed as coach remember that they wanted him fired after the 78 season, thus there would not have been 94-95 and 97 titles. I don’t think the husker fans quite realize what Callahan did to our program in the short time he was here. It takes awhile to get the program back, if it ever can be back to what it was in the 90’s. We are lucky to have Bo as the coach, he has some quirks, but never the less he is a good coach. I’ve heard how his temper is the reason they have problems. Well they have a short memory of Devaneys temper and Osborne had fire to him too before his heart attack.
I believe the problems are with the kids today as they do not have the same team concepts as they did even in 97, they all want the end MONEY, it’s all about them.

Despite the loss, Nebraska is still in a good position.  Bo is at his first head coaching gig and in his fourth year.  Beck is calling plays for the first time on a big stage after creating a new offense.  The offense will get further refined, plays and formations abandoned and added.  It’s going to evolve and grow over time. 
Bo will grow and get better at this.  Yes, he was pissed off on the sidelines. Two quick things on that: 1) Bo sticks up for and defends his players (remember A&M when one of our TE’s got checked for a hernia ... by the A&M Dline?)  2) Bo lost out on 100k Monday.  Anyone else watch a bonus like that slip away and not get a little heated?  Would you rather we were coached by Ferentz who doesn’t seem to care (or adjust the game plan or coach ...) when his teams lose?
Just like Bo preaches the process, we the fans should look at that from time to time.  We’ve consistently had 9 and 10 win seasons with Bo.  Players are graduating and we continue to produce academic all Americans.  Off the field problems have been kept to a dull roar (especially considering you’re talking about 80-100 men ages 18-22).  The team’s process / progress is continuing and so is Bo’s.  The team is in good hands with Bo and with TO as a mentor Bo will only improve.

It was obvious to me at the beginning of the year Aaron Green should have been redshirted.  He is a major talent and would have benefited the most from a redshirt year.  My guess is that Pelini didn’t want to risk an entire season with only three RBs.  What if one got injured? 

People forget how many stars we lost from last years defense.  Certainly more than we lose this year.  Last year we lost Prince, Hagg, Gomes, Allen and Dillard.  We are not losing that much this year. 

Overall we are a young team in a brand new conference with a brand new offense. One could make the case that going from the peso designed for Big 12 offenses to the standard 4-3 designed for the Big 10 we were running essentially a new defense too. 

And we had a lot of injuries on the line, especially the D-line.  At one point we were without four of our top six interior D-linemen.  That’s the main reason we lost to Northwestern, and don’t think Michigan and SC didn’t see our weakness there and gameplan for it. 

Keep your chin up Husker fans.  The future is bright.

This will be tough for some to hear but if you didn’t play collegiate football, you DON’T know jack!! I might watch House on TV, I even pay careful attention, but I am not going to pretend I know as much as my surgeon! Think about it, please! And for those that say brilliant things about how awful Taylor is, the worst they’ve seen in 50 years, get real, please! It is BS, & you sound like an idiot. Go home and watch the following…K-State game 10, Okie State 10, Wash rnd one 10, Fresno 11, tOSU 11, Michigan State 11, Penn State 11, Northwestern 11, and tell me he is the worst ever. Perfect? No. Flawed? Like you aren’t. But certainly a good player that got better, and may improve more.

Comparing Bo to Tom is silly.  Tom actually became coach in 73 so it did take him 5 years t win a national championship.  He was losing to an Oklahoma team that twice won the national championship.  Bo has lost 16 games in 4 years which is far more then any other coach in 50 years except Bill.

No coach has won a national championship with the temper of Bo in 50 years.  It is not hard to figure out:  no on likes to be around a yelling screaming out of control person in any walk of life.  Mom’s don’t send their boys to college to be coached by a screamer.  Assistant coaches don’t want to stay on the staff of a screamer.  Players like everyone in life can’t perform when they are uptight and getting yelled at.
If you compare Bo to anyone his reacord is far closer to Bill’s then Tom.

If you didn’t play college football, you don’t know Jack??? Some college coaches didn’t play college football and were sucessful. Mike Leach of TT was one and he knew what a good QB looked like. He had one in place every year. He got fired but it certainly wasn’t because he didn’t understand football, especially the offensive side of football…If you are going to call other people idiots, maybe you better re-evaluate yourself.

TO won a NC in what did you say, 5years. Try over 20 years. Coach with a bad temper, try Devaney. He had a terrible temper and he was very sucessful. He didn’t inherit a good team and he got to a NC in 9 years. Yes, TO kept getting beat by very good Oklahoma teams and for many years, that was the only other good team in the conference and TO inherited a good team from Devaney who won NC’s in 70 & 71 and had a near miss in 72. Is that good for recruiting or what?TO also went 7 straight years without winning a bowl game. Bo has his downside and he has too grow as a headcoach and I think he will. I am behind Bo a 100% but I just think he has problems he really needs to get fixed. T-Mart needs to grow as a QB, especially in the passing game. That is obvious. When he comes out and is successful in mixing the run and pass, the offense clicks but when he can’t sustain the passing game, offensive production crumbles. Having success in passing enhances the running game. It keeps defenses off balance and they can’t load the box as they can when the team is one dimensional.

People need to quit hating on Bo. He is a great coach! All of this talk about his temperment is going overboard. There are several coaches across all sports fields that have been very successful that are worse. Does Bo scream and hollar as much as Bob Knight, one of the winningest coaches in basketball history? No. He sure doesn’t throw objects at refs, so I’d say he’s doing pretty well. He’s a defensive mastermind and has proven himself several times over. Isn’t the old saying “Defense wins championships”? Example, both of this years title contenders. Auburn last year. I would say let that be the benchmark for what he is doing and where Nebraska football is going. With the exception of this year, missing Dennard for a few games while still taking him a couple more to adjust back game speed, Crick’s injury along with the rest of the DL, the defense has been exceptional. How many walk-ons and freshman did we have playing? On both sides of the ball for that matter! If this was the “down year” for the Blackshirts and a “disappointing” season under Pelini’s eye so far then Husker Nation should be excited about what’s to come. Look at the recruiting classes last year along with the boys coming in this year. The man knows what he’s doing and when the pieces fall together it will be great! Patience is a virtue. The man is also the winningest coach Nebraska has seen in his first 4 years ever. To win they way he did coming off of old what’s his names last year was something no one should’ve expected. Especially seeing as old what’s his name game plan/recruiting was based of offense. That being said I do think it is fair to compare Bo to Tom or Devaney. As far as coaches go, how would Bo lure away Coach K from Iowa if he was such a terrible HC. You don’t steal away a big up and coming coach from a divison rival for no good reason. On the players side, if you can’t handle being come down on when you make a mistake or blow an assignment then you really have no business being in D1 football. It’s the nature of the beast and I’m sure no team wants a soft momma’s boy. Am I wrong?

For those hating on Martinez, STILL. Taylor’s numbers did slip this year compared to his freshman campaign but he also did see much better defenses this year across the board in Wisconsin, Ohio State, Penn State, etc. To put up the numbers he did for a guy who “can’t throw” is promising. Though he may be progressing slower than most he’s still a quality game manager, his decision making is drastically improving and his throwing motion/delivery will continue to adjust as he goes. He’s only been playing QB for 4 years now. He is still one of the most feared QBs in the country with the ball in his hands. In a split second he can be off to the races and without 4.4 speed and a perfect angle he won’t be caught. We all just need to continue to show support and look at the positive.

GBR!

Have to disagree with “Glad Im not a Hawkeye” about Martinez. He is no where close to be feared with the ball in his hands. In fact, good defenses now know exactly how to defend him and hope he has the ball inhis hands often. Thats what good teams do, they figure out what you are doing and defend it and attack it. Taylor hasnt produced much of anything in the last 2 years outside of nonconference weaker competition. He has had a few games where he completed a fair amount of passes but rarely did he hit players in stride where they could get yards after catch. A QB like Joe Ganz or Zac Taylor, combined with our talented RB’s and NU wins at least 11 this year. Here is what is confusing…If we have a running QB who struggles with the pass, and 4 very talented RB’s, then why are we trying to be a balanced offense and not an option team such as Georgia Tech? WHy are we trying to be something we are not? Why are we not calling plays that utilize our players greatest strengths? On defense Bo knows one thing to do, various forms of a Cover 2 that he has tweaked. He claims it is to prevent a big pass play, but we get burned by every mobile QB we play because we dont have enough guys in the box to stop him and we still give up a few huge pass plays anyway, usually ones that cause a huge momentum switch and cost us games. We never get any QB pressure so even an average QB makes big plays against us because he has all day to throw and we then say our secondary needs help and is weak but yet we ask them to cover receivers for longer than almost any team in the country. Noone can cover a WR for that period of time. Our DBs actually did a good job of recognizing routes and covering them, but when a QB has 8-10 seconds to throw and look for an open reciever then a WR breaks his route and finds open holes to run to. If we had brought more QB pressure with an extra guy we could have decreased this time to throw, contained the more mobile QB’s, and we could have reduced the risk of getting burned on passes by having our DB’s press more (something we did alot of with Marvin Sanders as coach) and we do very little of now.

Hey Bill, I guess all of us questioning Martinez at QB are uneducated, just like this guy: http://www.omaha.com/article/20120104/BIGRED/701049807

Gimme a break with some of these responses as well.  Just because some of us see issues with some of the personel and decision making, doesn’t mean we aren’t fans.  Unlike some of the posters here, I was actually at the game and saw the following:

- receivers dropping catchable balls
- receivers dropping balls that were thrown behind them, or off target in traffic - multiple times
- limited “zip” on short and medium passes, allowing the defense to break on / make plays on Martinez’ throws
- inconsistent option play - some excellent runs coupled with poor decision making and running
- on 2-3 occassions the defense wasn’t set when the play started - either the call was late coming in from Bo/Papuchis or the D was confused by the call
- sloppy Oline play and overall limited rythym on offense. 
- at times our play calling was curious.  For example, we kept going to a screen play to slow down the pash rush - which never worked.  Never tried a quick pass to the TEs on shallow routes, delayed hand offs or shovel passes.

I will admit I never played ball at the D1 level, but some of this isn’t rocket science.  We aren’t splitting the atom every time the team takes the field on Saturday - you don’t need to be a genius to figure this out.  The only criticism I have with Pelini is his stubborness with personel. 

Martinez has become a better game manager, I agree 100% - but why do we want to limit a great athlete’s contribution by making him a game manager and having to rely on his poorest skill - throwing the ball?  Get him the ball in space and watch him torch people….

GBR

Thanks for stippong by J.C.It surely is a balancing act for anyone building these tools between the need for complete access to make the API or service worth while [make 3rd party developers happy, bring in interest, prevent the need for screen scraping to get around flaws], and maintaining integrity of the system and supporting those who are filling your site with content.Its nice to get that POV from someone in the middle of this particular case.