The Good, the Bad and the Unknown
Five lessons learned from UTC
The highlight package from Nebraska’s 40-7 win over Chattanooga on ESPN’s College Football Final was a single long touchdown run from Taylor Martinez accompanied by Rece Davis saying “The Huskers took care of the Mocs.” Nationally, that was the neat and tidy story. Nothing to see here, the Huskers are every bit the Big Ten title contenders everyone thought.
Locally it was considerably messier. Choose your disclaimer – first game, new offense, new o-line, vanilla gameplan – but yesterday’s win wasn’t the sort of game that sent 80,000 people away thinking they just watched the next Big Ten champion. That’s okay. In fact, maybe it’s better this way. Struggling in parts of the game against an overmatched foe is much more illustrative than the fool’s gold of a blowout.
Still, we’re nothing if not anxious to assess so here are five hasty deductions from game one:
1. Offensive line is officially concern No. 1 with this team. We thought this might be the case as a different lineman seemed to go down with a different ding seemingly every day in fall camp but Saturday confirmed it. "Very inconsistent," were the words Bo Pelini used. Sure there were four first-time starters on the o-line and UTC, at least early, loaded up against the run but the fact is if you're not moving people around up front you're not going anywhere in the long run. I think the talent is there and Nebraska's has a high upside here but how much the o-line improves might be the ultimate determining factor of the Huskers success this season. It colored everything in this game. Nebraska couldn't stay on schedule on 1st and 2nd downs which on its own probably knocks down whatever ranking you'd care to give the offense.
2. Martinez is still Nebraska's best offensive weapon and this doesn't make anyone as confident as you'd think. The new and improved Taylor Martinez wasn't nearly as new and improved as most people had hoped. It was good to see the running game return. In fact, it's the one thing Martinez does decisively: Explode forward. The rest looked too familiar. Most jarring was the footwork. Martinez is still making throws while stepping parallel to the line rather than towards it. Those are the type of throws that turn into 6-points the other way when you're playing the likes of Ohio State. UTC had one of the worst pass defenses in FCS last year and Nebraska had a completion rate of exactly 50 percent. The receiving corps played a part with a couple drops.
3. The option is more about execution than talent. I would have paid the full $49.95 pay-per-view price from years past just to see Tom Osborne's reaction to the speed option that factored heavily into the gameplan. Of course that's an entirely unfair measuring stick but it would've have been interesting to watch as Martinez and Carnes repeatedly pitched too early. (In one late game option UTC's defensive end "forced" Carnes to pitch and still had time to get out and get in on the tackle on the back.) Nebraska has the pieces in place that could make the option very dangerous but in this case talent is a bonus. Execution and decision making comes first. That's why the option was invented. It was an offense that could level the playing field for teams that were undersized, outmanned or both. There's a reason the service academies ran it long after most people had moved on. When you only have the talent part of the equation it can actually do the opposite.
4. We're in good hands with Brett Maher. There's not much more to say about Maher's debut. The 50-yard field goal into the wind was impressive as were the four punts for an average of 52 yards. “He was everything we hoped and more,” ST coach John Papuchis said before offering his own disclaimer. “It’s just the first game. I’m not anointing him a Groza award finalist. As a kicker you’re going to be judged on your last kick.” Alex Henery was a weapon as a kicker and some worried that Maher would be merely adequate or even just "very good." He looked like a weapon on Saturday.
Fr
• WR • 6-1 • 180 lbs
Jamal's full bio
He doesn't carry himself like a freshman. He's very charismatic, very confident. There was never any doubt in my mind of him going back there. I didn't have any butterflies (Friday) night or (Saturday) morning thinking about that position.
That's a ringing endorsement for a guy playing his first game. Both Turner and Abdullah looked like the most explosive guys on the field behind Martinez and Nebraska's going to need someone to relieve the pressure on Taylor. As we saw last year, he can't do it all himself.
Again, it was only game one. Can't say it enough but statistically speaking this game closely resembled Nebraska's last outing against an FCS team, the unsatisfying 17-3 win over South Dakota State last year. Nebraska had 345 total yards last year against SDSU and 364 against UTC. Per play the Huskers averaged 5.4 yards against SDSU (their lowest ouput of the non-conference schedule last year) and 5.4 YPP against UTC yesterday. Down the line the stats between those two games are extremely close except for one difference - the score.
If you need a reason for optimism there are two in that SDSU/UTC comparison. 1) Nebraska looked the way they did against SDSU last year and still was able to pull it together and get to the conference title game. 2) Nebraska looked much the same against UTC yesterday but scored 23 more points while running a new offense with an o-line that barely knows each other.
Look at it however you like. That's the beauty of having one game under your belt. At this early stage, you can justify almost any amount of optimism or pessimism.
San Diego, Ca.
9/4/2011
I’d pay $49.95 for Osborne to tutor T-Magic, an hour a week.
But look. This is going to be another modern, multiple amalgamation. Beck showed a lot and B1G teams will have to prepare for all of it.
For those who’ll say Martinez can’t yet pass or run the option, while at the moment true, are neglecting an obvious, but key point. This is what Nebraska HAS to do now. There’s no pretense of “we can pass it if we have to, to win a game.” They have to run it, and pass it quickly to the fresh young speedsters. No pass first guys on the roster at all, anymore.
You’ve got a guy in the current two deep, Seung “Hoon” Choi, who, not a word was mentioned of prior. Happy for him though, along with Spencer Long. A true frosh at tackle?
So, the offense doesn’t look strong, right now. But, it doesn’t look confused and a step off, either.
If that can be maintained, it could be the biggest improvement that is needed.
9/4/2011
Nice analysis, Brandon.
I’ve started to think of the first week of the season as “rush to judgement” week in college football. We wait SO long for the season that it is easy to overreact to what we see initially. The season is a long process. NU can, and will, continue to get better.
I have one more notion to add from week 1 - NU’s defense will be as advertised. Crick is just hard to block. David is so so so fast and he’s always in position. Add to that the reality that Meredith can be a force at end and the emerging playmaking of Stafford and it’s could come together nicely. It will be good to get Dennard back, too.
9/4/2011
How come Pelini can’t do on offense what he can do on defense? Or do you think we are in the midst of it’s beginnings? Does he even know much about the offensive side of things?
9/4/2011
First game, yada, yada , yada. I had the opportunity to watch several first games and some of our future competition looked sharp. Really sharp! I realize we’re playing lots of young talent and I’m confident they will improve with more practice and game experience. These first four opponents are the proving grounds and I’ll hold comment until after next Saturday as we usually see the biggest improvements after game one. Go Big Red!
9/4/2011
For an o line that is pretty young and new with each other I liked that they got to the line quick and there was what 3 penalties for us all game that’s what I liked to see. No stupid penalties and tim beck didn’t seem to out think himself like shawn did. I love to see the speed and triple option. The option takes years to prefect and we haven’t ran it for what 8 years? Give it time and we will be giving people headaches soon enough. The one thing I will say is that our secondary looks really young. They are really missing alfonzo hope he’s back next week. And I hope will isn’t out long either. Go big red!!!!!
9/4/2011
I agree with WyHuskerFan.
Yes, I know that we will only get better and that this was game one of a new offense. The problem is that the teams we will be playing will also be getting better…It was their first games as well. It’s no wonder nobody was allowed to talk about the new offense. It’s not that it was supposed to be a surprise, it’s because there really was nothing to talk about. The O-line was atrocious. I know, I know…give them a chance. Haven’t we been saying that for a while now? How many coaches do we have coaching the O-Line…and yet they were getting pushed around by guys that weighed 30 lbs less?? As soon as those linebackers filled in the gaps in the box the O-line had no clue who to block. If Martinez can not find open receivers then no doubt that every team will just keep loading the box so the line better figure things out quick. Okay…I vented. I feel better now. Back to drinking the Kool-Aid.
9/4/2011
Wtb: someone to caught the freaking ball? I couldn’t even count the number of slant passes that we dropped. Where are Kinnie, Reed, Cotton, and company? If we can’t figure out a passing game, and quickly….we are going to be in trouble come conference play.
9/5/2011
Did you guys see Wisconsin?? We are in big trouble.
9/5/2011
Hey everybody calm down. I live in Wales in the UK. I listened to the game over the net and watched the highlights (I’ll watch the full replay when it’s posted) and the o-line was a problem. It seemed to me that for the first ten minutes (at least) the o-line was a bunch of guys more worried about not making mistakes than playing the game. Building a o-line is an arcane art not a science and it’s going to take time and a lot of adjustments to bed in but I think the coaches will get it done because if they don’t the season will be a shambles. In order to buy the time the team will have to find a passing game that will work out to something better than 11 for 22 with 3 dropped passes.
Watch this space!
9/5/2011
14-22 isnt terrible. Do you guys remeber the k state game? We killed them while making mistake after mistake. We are getting better day by day….........
Looks like they have cleaned up there act and just working out the bugs. GOOOOOOOOOOOOO BIGGGGGGGGG RED!
9/5/2011
Hey Husker Faithful here’s the reality. We are a year or two out from deserving to be in a sincere conversation about winning the national title. Can we win it this year? Hell yes. But this team is young. There will be growing pains. We just saw it saturday. We will see it next saturday. I hope we see it all year long. I would rather win every game by one point and get our talented newcomers truly game timed. The staff already alluded to the fact its a long season and they want people rested and as healthy as possible throughout the entire season. Drew Brees said it the other day, and most seasoned professional football players would agree with crazy Al Davis, Just win Baby. And the only way to win week in and week out, is do what you need to win, dont show your hand if you dont have to, and prepare for the next win. Im tired of the whining over a 33 point victory. The best football fans in the country. Really? Seriously? Prove it.
9/5/2011
I’m the most optimistic fan out here. We’re screwed… I’m just kidding. Relax people. It’s one game. It’s a W. No major injuries? Lots of youth gained experience while the seniors held court. Bring on Fresno State. NU will be fine.
9/5/2011
One more comment. I am more concerned about penalties and turnovers than I am about a few bad plays, dropped balls, or missed assignments. We made a huge improvement there so far…..
9/5/2011
I have been waiting days, weeks, months for the Huskers to come out and light it up! Man I was excited! Man was I wrong. How utterly disappointing.
Yes there were some positive things, like the kicking game and the low number of penalties, but those are things that shouldn’t be as bad as they were anyway frankly. On a good team anyway.
I had no idea exactly how bad it really is with this offense. And it’s bad folks. This is not “well, we’ll tweak it a bit here and there and things will be fine” type of thing…these problems on the offense are systemic. It’s not the players so much as it is the offensive coaching expertise. I fully expected them to come out firing on all cylinders against this division 2 school, but nope. They just couldn’t get it to that point where the simplist thing went smoothly…against a div. 2 school. This Cornhusker team is NOT a B1G caliber team yet…this is not a stumble…we’ll be lucky to get a couple of in conference wins if things don’t improve hugely and very quickly. I think that’s going to be hard to do.
I can appreciate that we have a lot of freshmen and it’s not their fault they are just freshmen. But why are we in a position where we have no other option than to go with freshmen? Especially on the front line! These are coaching issues and they go deep. This is what happens when you hire your friends from your home town instead of hiring the best man for the job. We could have got Dana Holgerson, Guss Maltzon, Charlie Weiss, or any one of a number of proven offensive minds but I don’t think Pelini’s ego could handle that. So he hired a guy who has not called one play in a college game and has never been a college level coordinator. Hey, at least he’s from Youngstown right? Great. I simply don’t think there is enough offensive expertise in this coaching staff. I really don’t. They’ve had 8 months to get it together and they obviously haven’t. They haven’t even worked on Taylors throwing motion and footwork! How could they have let it get this bad where you are starting freshmen on the offensive line? By not having any idea of how to build an offensive machine, that’s how. We are 2-3 years away I’m afraid.
We can forget any tittle hopes. You simply don’t go from where we are appearently to championship caliber play in a few games. The B1G teams are licking their chops, bet on it. Oh, wait…I forgot, they are holding all the good stuff back. Ya. Don’t want to tip your hand to any of your future opponents. I wonder what that could be anyway?
How utterly disappointing. What in the world were they trying to do running the option? You call that coaching? The option takes years to develop. What was all this “attacking offense”, “we’re going where they aren’t” talk? Gibberish is what it was. “We don’t have a clue as to what we’re doing” is what it should have been and they don’t. Tim Beck even admitted he called the same play over and over…so they can get it right presumably. This is a game man! Isn’t that what practice is for? Wow. Unbelievable. And with all that talent.
Well, here’s for getting your hopes up! Maybe they will whiop this thing together and we’ll somehow have a good year. We’ll see. I hope they prove me wrong on all this, I really do, but it looks like it’s gonna be a long year folks. Where is Milt Tenniper and Tom Osborne when you need them?
9/5/2011
PE in Charleston
Give the offense more than one day to figure out whats going on… Gus Malzhen? Weiss? I didnt see their offense look amazing this weekend.. Stop jumping on and off the bandwagon, either get on board or jump the hell off ..
9/5/2011
Umm no twauto22 PE in Charleston is right. They have had way more then one day to get this offense together and it looked dreadful against D2 competition. With what we showed Saturday and from what I saw from the other teams on our schedule we will be lucky to be a .500 team this year. We don’t have a quarterback, just a burner pretending to be a QB. Sure he will make some good runs here and there but that won’t be enough against quality teams. We are in soooooo much trouble
9/5/2011
I have been on the bandwagon…firmly for years. Especially in defense of Taylor Martinez. Still am. I stated then and I’ll state it now, Bo should have got better people across the board. We don’t need to be getting our receivers coach out of some prep school back east, and we should have went out and got a REAL offensive coordinator, not made someone the OC. I was perfectly willing to give Tim Beck his chance though, because hey, you just never know. After all, he was there for the last 3 years. He was around last year before Taylor got hurt when we came out smokin and kickin booty on everyone we played and were the toast of the town. Largely the same players this year, why not repeat the performance, right? I mean, we won every game up until Texas and some after. No one was bitching about anything or anyone and we looked fantastic. Remember the Washington game? The K State game? Or Oklahoma State where Taylor passed for 5 TD’s? Every body was happy then weren’t they? Why then, under Shawn Watsons tutaledge mind you, did they come out last year smokin’ hot…world beaters, heisman hopefuls and National Championship talk worthy, and not this year? Whatever they were doing last year before Taylors injury (that largely started the teams whole downhill ascent and cost SW his job), they needed to continue this year, because guess what…it was working. And I mean really working. Now ask yourself this question…if the offense was so bad last year that it needed total overhauling, what would have happened if Taylor hadn’t got hurt? Would it have needed overhauling then? Would SW still be here? Would our season have turned out better? Closer to the elusive National Championship? I think so.
This year, with all the time they’ve had to get it together, with all the new 4 and 5 star talent at our disposal, could have been even better. That’s what I was hoping for anyway. They should have been able to come out and shown the world that “Yes, thank you, we are championship worthy”. It’s because of Tim Becks lack of offensive expertise and experience and further, Bo Pelini’s lack of offensive expertise and experience and lack of knowledge of how to put together an offensive machine. That is what is holding us down right now. I don’t think these guys have a clue. You don’t start recruiting offensive linemen when your down to nothing in the cuppboard. Same goes with running backs - why didn’t we make those recruiting moves of last year 2-3 years ago? Gee, coaching maybe? I blame the head coach. Maybe we need to go ask Wisconsin how to do that because it seems to me they are right about where we USED to be! Hell, they learned it from us!
Taylor Martinez is a zone read expert. He runs it to a tee. That’s why we were so good last year, that and the spread offense. Why aren’t we building off the strengths of last year when things looked so good? We had people bumping into each other out there Saturday, looking like they hadn’t even practiced! Good God it looked pathetic! I say throw Barney Cotton out, hire new offensive line people (maybe someone from Wisconsin or Iowa) who know how to build an offensive line and do the same with the offensive coordinator and get someone in here that’s for real, and not someone from your home town! Yes, we have tons of potential talent wise, but as Vince Lombardi said “potential simply means you aint done it yet”. Yes we will get better. Yes we appearently now have great special teams with Maher and Abdullah, and some great runners in Abdullah, Heard and Green, and a great defense, but I got news for you twauto22, defense alone does not win championships because you’ll never get there in the first place…top notch offense with a fierce defense wins championships. And after seeing TO’s offenses, this is no top notch offense. Maybe we pulled the plug a little too early on Shawn Watson? Think last year BEFORE Taylors injury…and I won’t even go into why the Thrilling Three and Jamal Turner only got a handfull of touches Saturday….
Grand Island NE
9/5/2011
The big red will not contend for any kind of title this year. We just don’t have the talent on the offensive side of the ball to do the job. The coaches and players both are not of the caliber it takes to win championships. The defensive side of the ball looked good and has the potential to be great, we need to start working more on the offense (coaching and players). I have no doubt we will eventually get there sooner or later( probably sooner). Until then enjoy what we have on the field this year, they will be a fun team to watch. And it will be fun to see how we measure up with the B1G. GBR!!
9/5/2011
Beck is not new to offense PE…he was largely responsible for the KU offense a few years back when they went 11-1 and were ranked #1 in the country.
9/5/2011
I love all the negative talk one game and this years nebraska team is sunk blah blah blah… with the way pe talks we should just forfeit the rest of the season! My god have some faith and chill out… it would be different if it was november and 0-4 conference record then I would agree that this team needs some work. But after one game get real and stop being armchair coachs.
9/6/2011
PE is right. With one exception. SW was a crappy OC Coach because he didn’t know how to respond to defensive changes at game time. An experienced OC should have been hired. It’s not like we don’t have the money to get one. Cotton is still the O-line coach because of his kids that are on the team. He obviously can’t coach to save his life.
To those that say I shouldn’t complain…Well I’m not a ‘yes man’ fan. I love my Huskers to death and it’s why I get so emotional about them. We are the greatest fans and it’s because we show up and voice our opinions and accept nothing less than the best. I remember complaining about T.O. not winning the big games until he finally started to do it. I’ll complain when I think I should and I’ll cheer anyway and all the time. Do I think we will have a terrible season??? No I don’t. Do I think we can get it together on the offense??? Yes I do. Do I think we have a reason as fans to be critical of a poor offensive performance by the line??? Absolutely. If you don’t have the guts to speak your mind as a fan about the team that you love then go be a fan of KU football and you can talk about how good the team will be someday instead of how good they are.
9/6/2011
I think Brandon had most everything right in this article.
1. The O-line has some work to do. I think they will be fine by the time B1G play starts. They are young, but I also think they are talented.
2. Martinez is their best weapon, that’s not to say they don’t have others that can contribute. I was most impressed by Enunwa. That first catch he made over the middle, I thought, was the most impressive. With a safety bearing down on him he went up and got the ball out of the air and took a hit and held on. Not an easy task for a receiver.
3. The option game will be great by years end. Like mentioned above, it takes time and refinement. It will be there. The reads will be better as the season goes on.
4. Maher was awesome.
5. I agree completely. These guys need touches.
On to the comments. I didn’t realize we lost the game 40-7. I can understand why there is major concern if that is the case.
The general speculation that the offense is going to continue to be crap is just that, speculation. I don’t think we’ve seen the entire offense. There will be plenty of wrinkles throughout the season. Tenn-Chatt was a team the coaching staff knew they could beat without having to get too fancy.
If you guys think for one second that Beck and Bo have one of the greatest offensive minds in the history of football at their disposal in Tom Osborne and they didn’t consult him, you guys should quit watching football. Bo has already proven that his ego isn’t too big by keeping Watson and some of the other coaches that were suggested hires around as long as he did/has. He is certainly not too arrogant to talk a little X’s and O’s with T.O.
As far as bringing in talent, it’s here, and it’s developing. That’s part of the deal. When Bo was hired he was picked to fix the defense and learn offense along the way. He is learning. It’s not something you learn in a year or two. It will come. Patience is needed.
The bottom line is this: Cheer when the good happens. Bad plays are going to happen. It’s part of the game. Boo if you want. My parents raised me with the idea that booing is bad sportsmanship, whether it’s your team or theirs. In my opinion booing is for the ignorant.
9/6/2011
With some hindsight I would like to offer the following points:
1) There was not one team in the Top 25 that had a younger roster than we did. Only Auburn is as young, or younger, and I think that most would venture to agree that they would keep our outing compared to theirs. . .
2) This defense is going to be beastly. It will be able to carry this team for prolonged stretches in games, and they just might have to. The Blackshirts are used, unfortunately, to getting no help on offense so at this point part of the culture on Defense is to expect no help, but to still be accountable for your performance to the highest of standards. This front four will protect our LB corps throughout the year so they will have the luxury of working behind this group and getting better as the year goes on. The Defensive Line is going to be an active presence in a lot of people’s backfields this year. I don’t think that The Blackshirts, or Coach Pelini, are scared about playing a game where the points are hard to come by for us. . .
3) No Dennard. The guy takes away a whole field on his own. Anybody notice that they didn’t even test Evans? That says a lot there. Green got some game action for the first time in his career. Good that he gets some reps and begins to get some experience. He’ll be fine, and so will the secondary. . .
4) Why do we even bother to recruit kickers outside of the State of Nebraska? I am being a little sarcastic but my goodness it seems that this state has a stealth zip code, or underground lab, or some undisclosed location that produces kickers. Quite a performance by Maher, and we will need him this year too. . .
5) You can see what Coach Beck is trying to do. More or less the same plays you run out of a Pistol you can run out of the I. Anyone notice no spread on Saturday by and large? Does anyone think that we aren’t gong to run some spread? Or that we just completely chucked the zone read from our playbook? Does anyone really think that we don’t have any Veer or Wishbone runs designed out of a 11 Spread Package? We did keep things absurdly vanilla on Saturday. Yes, the Offensive Line didn’t play well. And yes, they might have some more less than palatable performances too as the season goes on. But they will get better. Freshman become Sophmores, and Sophmores become Juniors (mentally-wise) as the season goes on. We are a downhill team that forces people to stack the box in the anticipation of a lot of activity between the Tackles, and the moment you pinch it in too much? That’s when you get the option or something over the top. Martinez second TD came on an audible. Not easy to scheme for that when a team can check to a sprint option down the line. His third TD? Well how hard do you think The Mocs LB crew bit on the Burkhead dive? You think it created the perimeter crease for Martinez to get outside? This offense makes a lot more sense than the one we had last year and we are moving in the right direction. . .
6) We have a culture fimly entrenched with The Blackshirts. It took (roughly) two years to implement it and it took Year 3 to make it a way of life. The reality is Coach Pelini didn’t do that with the offensive side when he took over. We are only doing that now. It’s going to take time. We’ll see how it turns out in the long run. . .
7) I would imagine that everyone in Husker Nation was feeling pretty good about the offense after Week 1 last year. How about after Washington or Kansas State? What was the consensus of the offense at the end of the season? Probably a difference from Week 1 to the season’s end I would imagine. The point is, well, your upcoming College Football Season is like a box of chocolates. You can never quite tell what is going to be on the inside. And we don’t know exactly how this year could turn it. For all of the mistakes correctly pointed out by many, they are correctable. We’ll see if the coaching staff can get these guys correctly sorted out. .
There are going to be ups and downs. Where the alarm bells should come in is if this unit does not improve as the year goes on, and if we find ourselves in the position that the young players have not made the mental adjustment to being seasoned personnel. We need to be able to say when this year is finished that we got all this young talent on the field, got them to perform, put them in roles suited to their abilities, and placed them on a track where their development was assured. If we can do that, then we are playing for big chips these next 2-3 years. . .
9/6/2011
My name is disappointed not because of the team, but because of these posts. Did I come to the right website? I wasn’t thrilled at the end of the game Saturday either and then realized that’s exactly what is wrong with Husker fans. We score 40, hold the opponent to 7 and we’re upset. What is wrong with us? And what makes us think we have any idea what that truly means for the rest of the season? In my opinion, these kids and coaches deserve a bit more from us.
9/6/2011
Yeah! How dare you so called fans do anything but praise those huskers. Shame on all of you for having opinions. Everyone knows a true fan would never criticize justified or not!
9/6/2011
Bull,
Are you whining again?