[Husker] Non-expert opinions

[Steve Reichenbach]

Despite the ugly loss, I thought there were both positives and negatives.
Hopefully, the coaches will fix the problems and the team will continue
to improve.  This is a process with humans, so there will be problems.
Success depends on identifying problems and finding solutions.

Positives:
* Nebraska still controls its path to the conference championship game.
This wasn't a must game for the division or conference championship.
* Nebraska lost to a high-quality team.  At this point, it seems very
likely that Wisconsin will have an undefeated regular season.
* The offensive statistics weren't terrible, except for NU's own
miscues of turnovers and penalties.  Despite so many errors, NU had
20 first downs, was 6/13 on 3rd & 4th down conversions, was 50%
passing with 8 yds per pass attempted, and Burkhead averaged more than
5ypc.
* There was much to like about the progress on offense.  The first
quarter was stellar.  The O-line, receivers, and running backs seemed
to play well.
* NU's blitzes early in the game seemed pretty effective.
* NU's special teams have some good elements --- Maher has great
distance and accuracy with place kicking and is a strong punter,
Abdullah is a threat on run backs, and NU blocked an extra point.
* Stafford shows some flashes on defense and led the team in tackles.
* NU is has enough strengths to win all of the teams that remain if
the negatives are diminished.

Negatives:
* NU's front 7 didn't stop the run, contain the QB, or put much
pressure on the QB except the early blitzes.  Pelini leans to the
bend but don't break style of defense, but the defense needs to do
a better job with the run and needs more big plays up front (sacks
and hurries).  I'm a self-professed non-expert, but the defensive
ends aren't impacting the game as they have in some years and the
linebackers seem a mixed bag.  Ankrah and Fisher each had one
assisted tackle.
* NU's secondary was roasted.  Granted this was a very good QB with
good receivers and coaching, but NU aspires to beating good teams.
There was talk of Raymond teaching a different style with less contact
(with talk that physical play would draw penalties in the B1G).
Whether it is young players who need to learn the system or the new
system itself, improvement is critical.  With Pelini's expertise and
focus on defense, I think he will be able to assess the situation.
* Most importantly, Martinez made many errors, especially the
three interceptions.  Too often, he takes it on himself.  I read a
quote by Aaron Green, the young RB, who said he understood why
Burkhead got carries with the game on the line --- that even he
trusted Burkhead more than himself to get the job done.  If only
Martinez was wise enough to see the same thing.  The last play was
one of only several that looked like Martinez tried to do it himself
instead of looking to other players to play the roles they can play
well.  (The same can be said of defensive players trying to go with
the direction of the play rather than playing their role, which
for example led to loss of containment on several plays.)  Is this
something in which Martinez will improve?  I think it is even more
important that he improve his decision making than his throwing
motion.  It would be a better decision to dump to Burkhead instead
of throwing into coverage for an interception, regardless of the
throwing motion.  To some extent, Martinez is young, only a sophomore,
but this is the middle of his second year as a starter.  And, it is
often the case that basic characteristics don't change.  We'd like
to think that one improves in areas of weakness, but often weaknesses
persist.  If Martinez can't learn to make better decisions, NU needs
to use another QB.
* Fans aren't experts, but you have to wonder as many fans have asked:
why NU didn't lean more heavily toward the run (before the game was
out of reach) and why the blitz seemed less frequent as the game
progressed.

In closing, I think NU has enough weapons on offense that they could
have played with Wisconsin, but poor decision making and errors were
too much to overcome without a dominant defense (which NU doesn't
have right now).  On offense, I think the game plan can be adjusted
to cover somewhat for Martinez's weaknesses, but if he doesn't improve
his decision making, then the game plan is either very limited or
risky.  On defense, I'm half wondering if Marvin Sanders would make a
difference (and about all the issues tied up with that unfortunate
situation).