The Bone Yard

There is no QB on our roster now or next season whose play will lead us to an undefeated season.

We also have not lost to weak teams. UCLA, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Georgia were not weak teams.

I think we have a chance to win the Big Ten next season, and I think the biggest factor will be Taylor Martinez. I don't think he is the kind of player that is going to lead us to a national championship, but I would say if we contend it will be because he carried us on his shoulders.

Martinez was selected by the Big Ten coaches as the all Big Ten QB.

Yes he makes too many turnovers, but he also makes great plays, sometimes without much help from his teammates. If Taylor played behind a good OL, he would have fewer turnovers and fewer INT's.

Our WR's need to learn how to turn into DB's when there is a ball thrown off target. I don't think I saw one WR knock down an errant pass last season. This is basic skill that every WR in the NFL has.

Also we do not have the talent on D to create turnovers, which is the second part of the T.O "margin". We don't hurry QB's and we don't hit RB's and WR's hard enough to cause fumbles. We do intercept some passes, but against Georgia, the only really outstanding passing team we faced, our DB's looked like H.S. kids.

There is lots to "fix" on this team before you get to T.M.

Good Post.

TM has carried the team many more times then not - he is directly responsible for a great deal of our success on offense. He also, as Pelini says, makes some bonehead throws. He may not have the biggest hands in the world either as he fumbles the ball a lot. As you point out some of this is on the WRs and OL but, much as I hate to say it, the bulk of it is on Taylor IMO.

As you also point out it is mostly a myth that we regularly lose to less talented team. Ask Stanford if Wisconsin lacked talent. UCLA, is inconsistent but very talented. They played in the PAC 12 championship and we played them on the road without Burkhead. Ohio State was undefeated and Georgia a top 5 team.

Much of the myth stems from the 2011 Northwestern loss at home. That was a CLASSIC trap game as we played them after a lights out effort and performance against MSU and right prior to having to face PSU and Michigan in back to back road games. NW, a team that is very poised, very bright and very well coached is also well known for winning 1 or 2 games every year that most expect them to lose.

Moving on to the 2013 season: the Michigan game in Ann Arbor next year will be a tremendous challenge. The Wolverines have a great home field crowd/advantage and also seem to get a lot of the calls in the Big House. We'll see what happens but if we cough the ball up or throw it away up there we will lose. If we are able to force some turnovers and take care of the ball I think we've got a pretty decent chance to win that game. Those are Big IFs though.

IMO we can reasonably expect that we have a good shot to win the rest of our games. Cutting the freakishly high number of TOs on offense by say 25-30% and parleying what should be better athleticism in the back 7 into 4 or 5 more TOs on D and we'll be in good shape. -- I've also gotta believe the kicking game will get the attention it needs and be improved. Anyway we do have some reason for optimism in 2013. I wish Bo and the boys the very best of luck!

I agree with you but Bo will not replace TM. That is just the way he run the husker program.

IMO Bo would be an utter fool to bench Martinez. Taylor was the coach's all B1G selection at QB and is clearly an exceptional playmaker. He carried the team on his back more then once last season. He also runs the offense very effectively and shows tremendous poise in the 4th quarter.

Unfortunately he tends to make some bad decisions throwing the ball - often compounded by not getting great pass protection - and fumbles the ball a lot. The fumbles are, IMO, mainly attributed to his tremendous desire to not give up on a play believing he can turn nothing into something big. But unless you've got Johnny Manziel on the 2nd team no coach would put Taylor's playmaking and explosiveness on the bench. -- Obviously the coaches in the B1G wouldn't. Clearly though the TO's are definitely keeping him from greatness - and contributing significantly to some of the blowout losses.

Mercy, no intention to "pick" at you here but I found your post ironic. As I've said elsewhere here, I am not expecting that TM becomes a benchwarmer (or at least doesn't start as QB), I am just saying that is what should happen here for all the reasons laid out in this article and discussed in this thread. I found this post of yours ironic because earlier in the day you articulated the point I want to make better than I could: "However he takes away close to 1/2 of what he gives us with his TOs.? BINGO, that is exactly the point, so replacing him with someone else is not that big a deal IMO because half of TM's production is not all that spectacular.

Second was your comment about Manziel. Special talent who had a really special year. Once in a generation talent IMO. I'd be stupid nuts to suggest the TA is like putting Manziel on the field, but I think he very well could be something close. If we have Manziel on the 2nd string, or something fairly close to his kind of talent, are we not stupid to keep that on the bench and burn a year of that eligibility while watching TM give it to the other team over and over again, because there is no reason to think it's going to change?