Dave Feit

Nebraska's spring football practices start today. This is a great time to shake the rust off, put last season in the rearview mirror, and lay the foundation for a great season.

But unless you have been drinking the Big Red kool-aid by the gallon, you ...

The fall semester is over, and it is report card time. I've graded the members of the Nebraska football coaching staff on how well they coached their players and positions. It is time to see who passed, who needs to consider summer school, and who should update their resume.

Methodology: Much like that one English teacher you had, there is no clear formula at work, but these grades are a combination of:

• On-field performance. Was the position group a burden or a bright spot? As a side note: Coordinators were also judged on the whole of their unit.
• Improvement. Did the position group play better

...

I'll be honest - after a long season with amazing comeback wins, demoralizing losses, and an ever increasing amount of fan and media criticism, I'm a little burnt out. So forgive me for not wanting to rehash the Capital One Bowl loss to Georgia.

Instead, I'm going to tweak my usual format to take a look back ...

After every Nebraska football game, I produce a write-up for HuskerMax.com. I really enjoy writing for the site as I have very little editorial oversight (i.e. I can write pretty much anything I damn well please). Of course, as my regular readers will tell you, I don't test the boundaries very often. I tend to stay away from the negative ...

Wow. Did that really happen?

Unfortunately, yes it did. Nebraska was exposed, embarrassed, and humiliated on national TV. Again.

So what is the true representation of the 2012 Huskers? Do you focus on the bookends - the ugly losses to Ohio State and Wisconsin by a combined 133-69? Or do you look in between at the six game winning streak where the Huskers showed tremendous grit, determination, ...

Remember way back in early October when Bo Pelini was a hot-tempered bum who would never get Nebraska back to any sort of national prominence, and should be fired?

No?

Interesting how that selective memory works. Or more appropriately, how winning - even winning ugly in a rather weak conference - cures a lot of things. Yes this is still an inconsistent team prone to stupid penalties, offensive and defensive lapses, sloppy ball handling, and more, but this ...

So did anything interesting happen at the game on Saturday?

I kid...I kid...Saturday was one of those "I was there" games that you'll remember 20 years from now. Not because of the game itself (a bit of snoozer, especially in the second half when Minnesota stopped trying), or even a super-sized Senior Day (any more seniors, and they would have needed to start 90 minutes before kickoff), but because of one man.

...

Among the many things I love about Husker fans is their incredibly long memories. If you look back at all of the big losses in the last 50 years (think Orange Bowls, games against Oklahoma in the 80s and games with Texas during the Big XII era) there is that one play - or player - that our fans will point to as the reason we lost. Sometimes it is an amazing performance (Ricky Williams, Jamelle Holieway), a soul-crushing ...

Oh Taylor Martinez.

We love you.

We hate you.

We hate to love you and love to hate you.

When my kids and grandkids ask me to explain who this Martinez guy who owns all of the Nebraska career offensive records is, I'm going to point to this game. The 2012 Michigan State game is the perfect snapshot of the imperfect quarterback; the Husker who inspires praise and rage in equal amounts. T-Magic and T-ragic.

In this game, Martinez (in no particular order): ...