[Husker] Moving the pocket?

[Nick Chevance]

On Sun, Dec 5, 2010 at 10:07 PM, Andrew Smith <arossman at earthlink.net> wrote:
> TM wasn't that hobbled.
> The reason NU didn't do it more could be:
>  * It limits the field
>  * It's hard to throw on the run.
>  * OU DEs are fast.
>  * TM's problem in the pocket wasn't the pocket - it was his decision
> making.

I would agree that NU really didn't have many options in dealing with
the pass rush.  During the season we rarely moved the QB out of the
pocket except to run.  We did have a play where the TE moves down the
line with the QB, the LB moves up to cover the QB and we throw to TE.
We didn't run that play in this game, though we tried a flare in the
first quarter but it was batted down.

I would argue that it was the pocket - Herbstreit mentioned that
Martinez was getting happy feet but I sort of saw him looking for a
target, rather than zoning in on his primary and then trying to run.
I think OU had most of the under routes covered and if the primary was
gone, he really didn't have much time left to him.  It was the pass
rush, that line someone said wasn't impressive, that got to him.  Yes,
cite all the statistics you want, but compare the amount of time
Martinez had on drop back passes and the amount of time that Jones had
most of the time.  Those ends moved our pocket inward, making it hard
to see over the line, and even harder to get away from it.  We made
Jones move, but it was a combination of locked down receivers and a
pass rush that got there eventually.  Martinez had a pass rush that
wasn't giving him much time to find receivers, and then you don't have
to have those receivers in lock down.

Finally, I would agree that decision-making was a problem for
Martinez.  But he hadn't been put in that situation all year.  That's
where coaching comes in, putting your players in situations they can
handle.  I think that was a failure on the coaches parts.  They
allowed those situations to happen.  If the kids need something else
to run to keep them out of trouble, do it.  If they can't execute what
you need them to do, put someone else in.

Nick
-- 
"For every person with a spark of genius, there are hundreds with an
ignition problem"
         Coffee News(6/9/10)