Nebraska...not feeling Frosty anymore

[entropy]

Pelini: Martinez can't think 'big play' on every down - OWH

http://www.omaha.com/article/2011100...-on-every-down

Pelini: Martinez can't think 'big play' on every down

By Rich Kaipust
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

LINCOLN — Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said Monday that Taylor Martinez maybe tried to do too much Saturday night when Wisconsin was guarding against letting him do that very thing.

Tim Beck thinks he knows why.

And believes it also had to do with Martinez revealing that he was wary of some criticism after the 48-17 loss that included three interceptions and a fumble by the sophomore quarterback.

"You try, but it's hard, because everywhere he turns it's all about him," said Beck, the Huskers' offensive coordinator. "The whole game was built up as him vs. Russell Wilson. I tried to talk to him before the game and (said), 'Don't make it that. It's Nebraska vs. Wisconsin.' "

Once it gained the lead Saturday night — thanks to Wilson taking over — Wisconsin concentrated on containing Martinez, went heavy with coverage, challenged him to read it ... and dared him to throw into it.

Martinez still tried to make some things happen downfield, and now a lesson will need to be learned before other defenses choose the same course as the Badgers in the future.

"I think he needs to let the game come to him," Pelini said. "He needs to take what's given. He needs to make his reads and not try to make a big play every time — whether he's running, whether he's reading, whether he's throwing the football.

"At times I think he gets impatient. I think he thinks he's got to win the game himself. That's part of the growth of a quarterback. You're not going to make a big play on every down."

Nebraska put Martinez in some of those positions at UW when Beck chose to start throwing the ball after the Huskers' first three series. After Martinez threw his first interception — and the Badgers turned it into points — Beck said he was sure his quarterback felt like he had to make a play to get it back.

"Any competitive driven athlete that likes to win sometimes feels that they can do more than they can do," Beck said.

Martinez threw his three interceptions in a span of seven offensive snaps. In the process, Nebraska went from leading 14-13 to trailing 34-14.

Of those interceptions, Martinez said Monday: "I just got to make better decisions."

Martinez said he believes he does a "good job" reading defenses. When asked if the general public might disagree, Martinez shrugged at the possible perception.

"That's fine," he said. "You guys rip me anyway, so it really doesn't matter."

Martinez told reporters he doesn't read what's written about him but that "I hear it from other people." His brief media segment then ended after a little more than three minutes.

The second-year starter is completing 50.5 percent of his passes through five games. After running for 135, 166 and 83 yards in the Huskers' first three games, he has been limited to 37 and 61 the past two.

But he started out 5 of 7 passing for 90 yards Saturday night as the Huskers tried to establish a running game and mix the pass against the Badgers. NU then managed just 14 rushing yards on its next four possessions as the game turned.

Senior receiver Brandon Kinnie said the Huskers continue to have "100 percent faith" in Martinez.

"Like I said, it was just a few mistakes that he had, but he'll be fine," Kinnie said. "Quarterbacks make mistakes. That's what happens. He'll be fine from it. He'll learn, watch the film and get better. We're all on board."

Beck firmly said Saturday night that no consideration was given to replacing Martinez when he was struggling. Pelini on Monday said "pretty wide" when asked what the gap was between Martinez and backup Brion Carnes, a redshirt freshman who has played briefly in two games.

"Let's face it, the quarterback position's always going to be under the microscope," Pelini said. "Trust me, Taylor had a couple throws that he would like back the other night, a couple things he did he'd like back. But when you look at what he has done over the bulk of the season, I'm glad he is our quarterback."

[entropy]

Sipple: Martinez is the man, but he's not helping himself

http://huskerextra.com/sports/footba...0d07c18aa.html

Sipple: Martinez is the man, but he's not helping himself

Posted: Wednesday, October 5, 2011 11:20 pm

How is Taylor Martinez doing this week, all things considered?

"Taylor's just fine," Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said flatly.

It says here that there's been too much talk about Martinez's performance last week at Wisconsin, and not enough discourse about Tim Beck's "off" night as a play caller and the Husker defense's ongoing struggles.

At any rate, there appears to be ample tension in Taylor's world.

Nebraska senior offensive tackle Yoshi Hardrick said this week is the first time he's seen Martinez angry about negativity regarding his play.

Of course, much of the criticism comes with the territory. After all, Pelini said he tells his quarterbacks they're under a microscope. The heat obviously intensifies after a tough loss, such as Nebraska's 48-17 setback in Madison, Wis., where Martinez threw three interceptions.

Thing is, Martinez creates much of the tension.

He raised eyebrows with a terse four-minute session with reporters Monday. He was sullen and abrupt. Trust me, many folks noticed.

He stared down media members on at least two occasions this week -- once before Tuesday's practice, and again afterward.

He said Monday that media "rip" him. My guess is he fails to differentiate between mainstream media and social media (Twitter, Facebook, message boards, etc.).

No question, Martinez gets ripped on message boards and blogs and such. It gets ugly. If he were my son, I'd counsel him to steer clear of that stuff whenever possible. Much of it is garbage, especially the personal attacks.
Meanwhile, the mainstream media has been relatively easy on Martinez.

I wrote earlier this week that Nebraska coaches should be patient with him as the starter, but that it's important to acknowledge his shortcomings, especially as a passer, and work around them. That Nebraska called 13 pass plays in a 15-play span late in the second quarter Saturday is mind-boggling.

The kid is a dynamic runner, but he obviously needs work on his passing. That's me, Captain Obvious.

Bottom line, Martinez need not fear for his starting job. Pelini has his back. Hardrick said the players have Martinez's back.

Martinez would endear himself to a lot more fans if he would stop thumbing his nose at the media and instead show a modicum of humility and respect.

Even so, Pelini said harsh fan criticism of Martinez is a "shame."

"The same people who sit out in our stadium on their hands and don't cheer are the same people who sit back and criticize our quarterback -- a kid who's out there busting his butt and putting up good numbers," Pelini said.

:facepalm:

No question, a portion of the crowd at Memorial Stadium tends to be, well, rather tame.

"Taylor's growing," Pelini said. "He made some mistakes the other night. In this offense, we put a lot on the quarterback's shoulders, and he made a couple bad decisions.

"Look at other sophomore quarterbacks. He's a sophomore, OK? He ain't a senior. Plus, look at his numbers."

Martinez's exceptional rushing ability speaks for itself. Meanwhile, his career completion percentage -- 56.1 percent -- actually is higher than Eric Crouch (51.5), Scott Frost (53.5), Tommie Frazier (49.5) and even David Humm (55.1) achieved at NU.

Any suggestion of redshirt freshman Brion Carnes replacing Martinez as starter this week is borderline ridiculous.

Tell me it would be wise to have Carnes make his first college start in such a pivotal game -- a nationally televised contest Saturday night against Ohio State, which ranks 13th nationally in total defense.

"Brion's getting better," Pelini said. "He's still growing. Still learning. He'll be fine. I'm not afraid to put Brion in the game."

Did Pelini consider inserting Carnes into the Wisconsin game when Martinez was struggling?
"Hell, no," Pelini said.

Martinez is the man, until further notice.

"You better believe it," Pelini said. "I think he's a really good player. I'm glad he's our quarterback. He's earned it, period."

[entropy]

LINCOLN, Neb. -- During the Nebraska football season, it's easy to get caught up in wins and losses. It's just human nature. Rex Burkhead has developed a new perspective on human nature recently.

"We aren't just football players. We actually care and wish the best for others and whenever you get the chance it's unbelievable and you have to make the best of it," Burkhead said.

The Husker I-back is making the most of it by being a part of Team Jack. The junior wears a bracelet on his right wrist to honor Jack Hoffman, a 6-year-old boy with brain cancer, that reads "Team Jack - Pray." It's a simple phrase with simple meaning.

"It just reminds us that we're playing a game and what we're going through is nothing compared to what he's going through," said Burkhead. "We should be able to go that extra mile and push that extra limit to overcome that little bit of tiredness or whatever."

Hoffman got the chance to meet Burkhead recently and was given a personal tour of Memorial Stadium. While the boy enjoyed his tour, Burkhead took inspiration from him by wearing his bracelet in the game against Wyoming.

"At the end of the game you have to really dig deep on long drives and you just look down and see [the bracelet] and you find the extra strength to push it," he said.

The boy from Atkinson has been dealing with his cancer for more than a year. His one wish for his fifth birthday was to get a Rex Burkhead jersey. Today, Burkhead's only wish is to make his new friend proud.

"The biggest thing I saw is that he was smiling and he has a positive attitude," Burkhead said. "It makes it seem if I'm stressing out over something little, I wonder why. Why am I acting this way when he's in a life or death situation?"

Burkhead said he will keep in contact with Jack's family and that Team Jack will be with him every step of the way. In fact, when Burkhead wore the bracelet for the first time, he set a career record of 177 yards rushing.

Read more: http://www.ketv.com/husker-football-...#ixzz1ZwKq4W1a

[entropy]

one thing I haven't seen much talk of his how certain players have put on a lot of weight to be BIG Ten ready. But they lost their speed.. Wasn't this a lesson UNL learned in the early 90's?

[Wild Hoss]

"The same people who sit out in our stadium on their hands and don't cheer are the same people who sit back and criticize our quarterback -- a kid who's out there busting his butt and putting up good numbers," Pelini said.


Wow...ballsy comment from a guy who has done more to sever the fans from the program than anyone who has ever been associated with it.

[geo weidl]

Isn't it his interview this week for the o-lie-o job?

[entropy]

Added for the OSU game this weekend

[hardtimesjake97]

Added for the OSU game this weekend

You get this one time per season from me, when you play you know who... GO BIG RED!

[Optimus Prime]

Now do the moral thing and kick OSU's incorrigible ass.

[entropy]

I would like too, I just don't think it will happen

[Mike]

If you guys don't smack the bucks by at least two TDs, something has gone rotten in Lincoln.

[entropy]

Mike.. Agree. That is the point.

[entropy]

http://www.omaha.com/article/2011100...or-bo-martinez

Chatelain: Chips are down for Bo, Martinez

By Dirk Chatelain
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

"I ... don't want it to become a circus."

That was Bo Pelini, four days before the 2010 season opener.

Reporters that day peppered him with questions about Nebraska's future at quarterback. Zac Lee? Cody Green? The mystery freshman?

Pelini shunned coaching protocol and declined to announce the starter. Why? He wanted to protect Taylor Martinez from the masses.

Those days are over. Fourteen months later, talk-radio shows are flooded with calls for backup Brion Carnes. Martinez is pouting at a press conference.

Teammates are printing off critical articles and showing them to Martinez. Yoshi Hardrick is defending Martinez from hecklers, including a girl in Spanish class.

On Twitter, former Martinez teammate Phillip Dillard is trashing him. Kenny Bell is threatening to slap Martinez's critics in the face.

And Pelini? He is jabbing at fans and snapping at reporters.

Call in the trapeze artists! The lion tamers! The clowns!

Amid the circus, huge questions are emerging: Can Nebraska ever win anything of substance with Martinez at quarterback? Can Martinez block out the critics, restore his confidence and avoid the turnovers that hamstring his offense and frustrate his fans?

And at what point should Pelini make a change?

The stakes are high Saturday night for the coach and his quarterback. Pelini hitched his program to Martinez. Fourteen months later, the direction is still unknown.

But during a week of high drama and emotion, take a deep breath and consider 10 issues that complicate this situation:

1. Martinez absolutely deserves blame for the meltdown in Madison. But his defense, his head coach and his offensive coordinator are just as culpable.

Tim Beck, by airing it out, put Martinez in position to fail. Had Pelini and Beck played more conservatively at the end of the first half, Nebraska still loses the game. But the final score would've been closer to 31-17, not 48-17.

This firestorm would've been averted.

2. Still, a performance like Saturday night was only a matter of time. Martinez was lucky in September. Teammates recovered his fumbles. Opponents dropped his errant throws.

Taylor produced big numbers, but not against a good defense in a tough environment.

The schedule going forward isn't grueling. But the defenses of Ohio State, Michigan State, Penn State and Michigan are capable of doing exactly what Wisconsin did.

If Martinez can't make big plays with his feet, what does he do?

3. The criticism of Martinez doesn't derive from three interceptions in a 10-play span at Wisconsin.

It goes back to 2010.

When he created huge expectations with early-season highlights, then reeled fans back to reality with late-season failures.

When he sulked on the sideline during the Texas game; didn't show up for a team function after the Texas A&M game; declared Nebraska "my team and no one else's team" after a win yet avoided press conferences after losses the way most people avoid cleaning gutters.

When Pelini made excuses for every Martinez mistake, insisting that Taylor was healthy last year when he wasn't.

For nine months, fans bottled up their frustration, hoping Martinez really had changed. Then, in the season's biggest game last week, their worst fears came true.

How should Martinez be judged? By all 17 career starts? By only his games at full health? By only the five games this year?

Answering that question goes a long way in determining what you think of Martinez.

4. Martinez's 2? years of remaining eligibility actually complicate this situation.

If Pelini takes the job away, he admits that Martinez will never develop into a good quarterback (and he could lose Martinez to a transfer). Martinez has enough talent that it's hard to give up on him.

Twenty years ago, the program was different. The culture was different. Nebraska probably would've had enough depth to wait for Martinez to mature.

Pelini threw Martinez into the fire. Now Bo must decide whether the growing pains will pay off in the end.

5. Bo isn't blessed with many alternatives. He has only two scholarship quarterbacks on the depth chart.

Kody Spano quit because of injuries. Cody Green transferred. Bubba Starling chose the Royals. Jamal Turner moved to receiver.

It's not Martinez's fault that he doesn't have more competition.

6. Pelini has created a double standard. At cornerback, Pelini leaves Josh Mitchell off the travel squad one week after he starts.

Pelini moves Corey Cooper from safety to cornerback and starts him five days later. The next week? Cooper doesn't play at all.

Yet Pelini gives a full-throated defense of Martinez at every opportunity.

Coaches shouldn't treat every player and every position the same. There's no question the quarterback deserves a longer leash. But how much longer?

7. A coach can re-orient the offense around his running backs.

But sooner or later, you fall behind in the second half. You have a holding penalty that creates third-and-12. The quarterback has to throw the ball. That is Martinez's major problem.

Yes, the Huskers were one-dimensional in the 1980s and '90s. But they also had great offensive lines.

Yes, the Huskers won in 2009 with vanilla game plans. But they had Ndamukong Suh and the nation's best defense.

If coaches try to turn Martinez into a game manager, someone who plays conservatively, they remove the reason for playing Martinez in the first place.

Ideally, Martinez continues making big plays AND protects the ball. His history suggests that's unlikely.

8. Martinez receives mixed messages, at least outside the program.

Some say he needs only to facilitate the offense to do his job. Some say the scheme was built around his skills and, therefore, he needs to make big plays.

Some say he needs to speak to the public to show leadership. Some say it only matters what he's like in the locker room.

One week, he appears in ESPN promos for the game of the week. The next week, his fans want him on the bench?

9. Martinez isn't alone.

The starting quarterback at Nebraska has been subject to ridicule for years, especially after games like Wisconsin. Ask Joe Dailey or Jammal Lord. Ask Scott Frost or Mike Grant.

And it's not just Nebraska. At most top-25 programs, a struggling quarterback endures similar criticism. It's the nature of the position. It's the nature of college football.

Martinez must ignore the noise. Get off social media. Forget about matching the opposing quarterback's total yardage.

Tell teammates to stop printing articles. Stop with the "Woe is me." Recognize that most Nebraska fans want him to succeed.

Pelini, meanwhile, could do Martinez a favor by being honest when he messes up. Downplaying Martinez's mistakes only emboldens the critics.

10. No coaching decision is more important than selecting the starting quarterback. That's even more true when the quarterback is an underclassman.

A wrong decision can cost a program for years. It's hard to recruit quarterbacks when you have a freshman or sophomore starter. It's hard to keep backup quarterbacks from transferring, too.

A dual-threat stud like Tim Tebow, Robert Griffin or Denard Robinson can vault a program to new heights. But if you make a mistake in talent evaluation — if you swing for the fences and miss — the rest of the roster doesn't matter.
You won't win conference championships.

NU's quarterback situation is not simply a football issue. It would be simpler if it was. But public perception matters.

The negativity surrounding Martinez threatens to sap his confidence, distract his team and undercut the entire program.

How can players focus on Ohio State when they're fielding questions on campus about why Martinez is starting — or why he's throwing interceptions?

Nebraska has dropped one game. Just one. Pelini is right to stick with his quarterback this week.

But if Martinez plays poorly Saturday — if he turns the ball over multiple times — Pelini owes it to his team and his fans to make a change.

Give someone else a chance. Take the bye week — and the Minnesota game — to prepare a new starter for the key divisional games.

The longer Pelini stays with a struggling Martinez, the more he risks his own credibility.

Pelini had a chance to bail on Martinez last year after the injury. He refused. Pelini had a chance to bail during (or after) the Oklahoma debacle. He refused.

In the offseason, Bo could've grabbed a junior college transfer. Entered the Russell Wilson sweepstakes. Kept Turner at quarterback.

He could've opened the quarterback race and distributed practice snaps more evenly. He could've used September blowouts to test Carnes.

At each opportunity to hedge his bet, Bo Pelini shoved more chips toward No. 3.

Now the pot is large. Bo's stack is small.

He better win this hand. He better be right.

[entropy]

From a friend...

several others here at the embassy suites. tom looked good in his red blazer. some ohio state fans were standing next to me when Tom came in the door and they all saw him, i quickly said "on your knees!" to the ohio state guys and one of them was so flustered he started to get on one knee.

Everyone got a good laugh out of that one. except for the guy who got down on one knee.

[Optimus Prime]

I would of had old Tom "pull my fger" then have him charged with theft from 1997.