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This guy "got it" about last season and the possible impact of Casey Thompson.

There are a lot of reasons and established track record to be skeptical that a turnaround will occur. It's also unlikely based on history.

Nonetheless, I'm hopeful for this season and potentially going forward. One of the main reasons is Special Teams. I don't think we can overestimate how much of a difference consistently strong ST play would have made over the last several years. All of the beat writers and those around the program that I've heard speak on the subject all say that Bill Busch is highly organized and detail oriented. Combined with bringing in proven specialist, I am pretty confident that we'll see substantial improvement and I think it will make a big difference in our results in the win/loss column.

While less of a tangible factor, I also think there's a chance to build a little momentum and confidence this season. The schedule looks a little more forgiving this season. We've found 1,001 ways to lose a football game over the last four seasons. Much of that can be traced back to tangible reasons like Special Teams and turnovers, ect... But I think confidence and momentum can play a role in that sometimes. Given how often it's happened in the past, I can imagine that when adversity began to strike, especially late in games, players and coaches have probably thought "Here we go again."

Stringing together a few wins early in the season might help the psych of program. And I think we have a very good opportunity to do so this Fall.
Agree, though instead of here we go again, never finding what works.
Outside of shooting ourselves in the foot, teams build their own momentum and come back, you have to have an answer on offense when that happens
 
I don't know if Thompson is an upgrade over Martinez or not. I don't think he's more talented personally. I think they are probably fairly similar. I thin Martinez may have a higher ceiling but a lower floor. If Thompson is simply less mistake prone at key moments it will go a long way. In the Big Ten West it's important to not beat yourself.
I have to disagree on AM versus CT on which has a higher ceiling. CT tossed 24 TDS with 9 INTS which is significantly better than any season by AM. We can argue receivers, scheme, OL and blah blah blah but the bottom line if CT has a season like that we're going to win a lot more games than 3 imo. I believe CT has a valid shot at the NFL at QB where baring a miracle season from AM that's not going to happen imo.

We'll get a good comparison of both when the seasons over for KSU and the Huskers.
 
I don't know if Thompson is an upgrade over Martinez or not. I don't think he's more talented personally. I think they are probably fairly similar. I thin Martinez may have a higher ceiling but a lower floor. If Thompson is simply less mistake prone at key moments it will go a long way. In the Big Ten West it's important to not beat yourself.
We’ll said! He had too much of the burden of carrying our offense. We do have to figure out how replace nearly 63% of our total yardage that AM accumulated, I just hope the RB’s do their share and not just heap the expectation on the new QB to make up those yards.
 
I have to disagree on AM versus CT on which has a higher ceiling. CT tossed 24 TDS with 9 INTS which is significantly better than any season by AM. We can argue receivers, scheme, OL and blah blah blah but the bottom line if CT has a season like that we're going to win a lot more games than 3 imo. I believe CT has a valid shot at the NFL at QB where baring a miracle season from AM that's not going to happen imo.

We'll get a good comparison of both when the seasons over for KSU and the Huskers.

If we still had last season's offensive staff and play calling, that'd be a fair debate, AM vs CT. But with Whipple, I absolutely believe Casey Thompson is the better option. I highly doubt Whipple is going to have his QB running 10-15 times per game. So that would remove Martinez's strength.
 
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If we still had last season's offensive staff and play calling, that'd be a fair debate, AM vs CT. But with Whipple, I absolutely believe Casey Thompson is the better option.
I agree and it's one of main reasons I'm optimistic about this season. I sure do not want our offense to be heavy QB centric the way we were with AM. Not blaming him it's the way a lot of plays were called imo. I do believe there were a lot of plays where AM decided to run versus some easy passes? Hopefully CT will fit in nicely with the way Whipple does play calling. If we can't develop a more robust running game it will probably turn into a very long season!
 
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We’ll said! He had too much of the burden of carrying our offense. We do have to figure out how replace nearly 63% of our total yardage that AM accumulated, I just hope the RB’s do their share and not just heap the expectation on the new QB to make up those yards.

It still can be easily debated that Martinez's best season was his freshman year.

AM had his best TD-INT ratio as a freshman -- 17/8. In other words, 9 more TD passes than INTs. The other three seasons combined, AM only had 6 more TD passes than INT. AM had a higher completion percentage as a freshman than he did as a senior, and his yards-per-carry rushing was better than any season other than the 2020 Covid-shortened season.

What else happened in 2018? We had a quality running game with Ozigbo. We never found that again after AM's freshman year. A solid running game with our RBs takes a lot of pressure of a QB. And as I've said before, Ozigbo wasn't even Frost's option, as he was buried as the #3 RB until Greg Bell departed.

The problem was Frost's offense in the Big Ten. It wasn't nearly as advertised -- and especially after 2018. Sure, works fine in a league like the AAC, which doesn't play defense. Once Frost went away from the importance in running backs running the ball, his offense became very ordinary. I hope Whipple realizes that -- and Frost allows for more emphasis on the RB run game.
 
It still can be easily debated that Martinez's best season was his freshman year.

AM had his best TD-INT ratio as a freshman -- 17/8. In other words, 9 more TD passes than INTs. The other three seasons combined, AM only had 6 more TD passes than INT. AM had a higher completion percentage as a freshman than he did as a senior, and his yards-per-carry rushing was better than any season other than the 2020 Covid-shortened season.

What else happened in 2018? We had a quality running game with Ozigbo. We never found that again after AM's freshman year. A solid running game with our RBs takes a lot of pressure of a QB. And as I've said before, Ozigbo wasn't even Frost's option, as he was buried as the #3 RB until Greg Bell departed.

The problem was Frost's offense in the Big Ten. It wasn't nearly as advertised -- and especially after 2018. Sure, works fine in a league like the AAC, which doesn't play defense. Once Frost went away from the importance in running backs running the ball, his offense became very ordinary. I hope Whipple realizes that -- and Frost allows for more emphasis on the RB run game.

AM certainly regressed. He became hesitant. His decision-making became slower. He seldom seemed to take the low risk read. He would miss a read or two, then shuffle around til the pocket collapsed. Sometimes he’d make a play, but sometimes take a sack, give up a turnover or just run out of bounds and fail to get a first down.

As far as the conventional run game (running backs getting the carries) went, it looked to me like the OL didn’t ever move anyone. Except against Northwestern there didn’t really seem to be much room to run.
 
AM certainly regressed. He became hesitant. His decision-making became slower. He seldom seemed to take the low risk read. He would miss a read or two, then shuffle around til the pocket collapsed. Sometimes he’d make a play, but sometimes take a sack, give up a turnover or just run out of bounds and fail to get a first down.

As far as the conventional run game (running backs getting the carries) went, it looked to me like the OL didn’t ever move anyone. Except against Northwestern there didn’t really seem to be much room to run.

I think Frost prefers the smallish running backs with great wheels that also serve as receivers. Killins at UCF, Wan'Dale and what was hoped Mo Washington would become.

The problem is, if you can't create space for those types of RBs, they won't reach their potential running the ball. Killins was great at UCF -- because again, they don't play much D in that conference. That's not the Big Ten.
 



I have to disagree on AM versus CT on which has a higher ceiling. CT tossed 24 TDS with 9 INTS which is significantly better than any season by AM. We can argue receivers, scheme, OL and blah blah blah but the bottom line if CT has a season like that we're going to win a lot more games than 3 imo. I believe CT has a valid shot at the NFL at QB where baring a miracle season from AM that's not going to happen imo.

We'll get a good comparison of both when the seasons over for KSU and the Huskers.
I hope the TD-Int ratio holds. That would be huge. In regards to his ceiling vs floor, I think you have to take into consideration that AM was often playing well below 100% physically as the year progressed. Having said that, he did seem to struggle at costly times.

I hope the QB run game is toned down some. We seemingly never have a healthy QB. If you want to run the QB that much then run some variation of a true option offense. If not then protect your offense's most valuable asset a bit more.
 
I'm an admitted unapologetic Kool-Aid drinker, especially in the Spring/Summer, and I like that this guy is out there adding even more sugar to my pitcher.

That said, there are a ton of unknowns/changes (that have been addressed) with this new squad and coaching staff beyond just the change to CT from AM, but if our defense can be somewhat on par with last season I do believe the combination of moderately improved/consistent ST play and CT being able to consistently complete a simple screen pass/play should be enough to get the proverbial ball to bounce the other way a few more times and turn at least 3 (or 4) of the losses last year into wins.

Granted, this assumes CT is sufficient in running the offense and game management, but I as much as I liked AM I thought one of his major achilles heels (lol-too soon?) was his inability to consistently complete a simple screen pass/play to slow down the defense that had no respect for our OL or RB.
 
If we still had last season's offensive staff and play calling, that'd be a fair debate, AM vs CT. But with Whipple, I absolutely believe Casey Thompson is the better option. I highly doubt Whipple is going to have his QB running 10-15 times per game. So that would remove Martinez's strength.
Good point!
 
I think some of this is over exaggerating to a degree. On paper, the BIG looks better on defense, but is it? Some of the offenses in the BIG are junk, making those stats look better. Only Ohio State, mostly, has an explosive offense. I’m gonna guess this BIG defenses wouldn’t look as good playing against a conference full of pretty damn good offenses. If the Big 12 had to defend BIG offenses on the weekly, their defensive numbers would look much better. Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Kansas State, Baylor, TCU play pretty solid defense. It works in reverse as well. It’s just misleading.
Yes there aren’t too many scoring machines in the BIG. Good point but we shall see. Hope you’re right.
 



That guy's intro was too much. I had to stop it at that point.

But I will say, last season has very little to translate to this season. The starters and coaching staff are much different. If we were carrying over most/all of the same coaches and starters, then I think you could possibly make that comparison. New offensive schemes, Frost in a different role, etc. The 2022 Huskers are as different from the year prior as we've ever seen in Lincoln. Might be better, might not. But a large percentage of those players and coaches involved in last season are gone.

Anyhow, if that's the point pretty boy is trying to make, I disagree. If we are better in 2022, it won't be because of what happened in 2021. We aren't building off last season -- we mostly blew it up.
Soooo you admit you did not watch the video. Then proceed to talk about how wrong the video is.
 

Too much hype! Selling a product before it is a proven commodity. The proof is always in the pudding. And, to this point, the pudding isn't even in the mix. Quick fixes are just another in a long line of "here comes the answer NU needs." The truth of the matter is that it takes a complete overhaul of the program to bring about consistent winning. Basically, one player cannot turn a program around. We need a much-improved line play in order for any individual to make a difference. The Martinez experiment fell flat on its face because he was supposed to be the "savior" of the program with too much hype and emphasis on one position.
How miserable will you be if we have a successful season?
 

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