Sunday School: Huskers vs. Chattanooga

At the end of the "Back to the Future", Marty warns Doc to “be careful on that reentry, it could get a little rough.”

Perhaps that advice could be given to Husker Nation after Saturday’s herky-jerky trip through time.

The first play handoff to fullback Tyler Legate seemed like pandering to the masses who have clamored for some old school Husker football. And while Legate never saw the ball again, it was a sign of things to come as Taylor Martinez was transformed from read option wizard to sprint option apprentice. Nebraska hasn’t seen this many options run since Eric Crouch was triggering the offense. Problem is Crouch was built for that style of offense, NU’s current day quarterback needs some work.

I have been plenty critical of Martinez in this space, but I am not going to throw him entirely under the bus for the offensive execution issues in Nebraska’s 40-7 win over Chattanooga. I just don’t know if this is the style of offense Martinez is best suited to run.

Martinez is a north-south quarterback. His first step, second step and third step is among the fastest we’ve ever seen in Lincoln. But it only works when he is moving toward the goal line, not parallel to it. Yes, he had three touchdowns, including his first since the Kansas State game on a sprint option from seven yards out when he tucked it inside. His second, on a 4^th and 2 was also a perimeter option against a defense that was packed so tight to the middle that once Martinez hit the corner, the play was over.

Taylor Martinez postgame comments

But it was his third scoring jaunt, a 47 yarder in the 3^rd quarter where Martinez looked like Martinez. Read option, out of the gun, both eyes looking down field; find your crease and go.

The sprint option where you slide down the line requires a fluidity that Martinez doesn’t seem to have. He looks mechanical. It is going to take some time for him to get comfortable in this style. Problem is, the season has begun and it’s not going to get any easier than it was Saturday against the Mocs.

Of course, it didn’t help that NU’s peach fuzz offensive line struggled some on Saturday handling yet another team that packed the box with defenders. Running between the tackles was practically non-existent as this statement from UTC Head Coach Russ Huesman indicated.

Either Huesman has his players already built to defend the belly option; he had spies at NU’s practices or he is a really good guesser because no indication was given that Nebraska was going to be running this style of option prior to Saturday. Only Bo Pelini’s statements of “old school Nebraska football” at Friday’s Big Red Breakfast told us that much.

While the 40-7 score was not close and Nebraska was never really threatened as they were with their last FCS opponent, what UTC did defensively Saturday might provide another blueprint to future FBS opponents much like what South Dakota State did last year.

Nebraska-UTC Full Stats Breakdown

If running the offense looked awkward at times, getting the plays in appeared anything but. I was amazed at how smooth things appeared to go as Nebraska bounced from play to play. Martinez never looked rushed as he would look to the sideline for the next play and his teammates would unstack, take their positions and await Martinez’s instructions. On most occasions, the ball would be snapped with 15 to 20 second remaining on the play clock – an unheard of notion the last few years. The plays themselves may have not have always looked smooth, but the communication from booth to field to players did. By the way, there was only one penalty all afternoon on the offensive line.

Martinez was asked twice during August about the status of his ankle and foot ailments. Both times, he answered “you’ll see September 3^rd.” We did and I think the answer is ‘yes, Taylor is fine.’ No particular surprise, but comforting nonetheless.

Jared Crick may have company in the All American category if the season plays out for Cameron Meredith as it did in the opener. Meredith owned Mocs’ left tackle Taylor Dodds and spent a good part of his day harassing B.J. Coleman. Even after his second sack resulted in a twisted ankle, he came back out for the second half and intercepted a Crick deflection. Then he ran with reckless abandon after a Josh Williams blocked field goal. 

Cameron Meredith postgame comments

Oh, and Crick? Yeah, he was Crick. Ho-hum.

We saw more than our fair share of new blood and the future does look fast, if not bright. Ameer Abdullah fits the punt return role well. Daimion Stafford gets the Rickey Thenarse award for ooooh-ing the crowd with his earth-rumbling hits. Jamal Turner nearly turned in a play of the year candidate when he bounced off a defender on a fourth quarter sideline pass, then Mike Rozier-ed his way across the field, narrowly turning a five yard pass-and-catch into an 80 yard scoring play. Trevor Roach became the latest walk-on from Elkhorn to stir questions of “who’s that guy” when he replaced an injured Will Compton and ended up Nebraska’s second leading tackler.

Trever Roach postgame comments

Finally, we have Brett Maher, the guy from Kearney who couldn’t possible fill the shoes of his celebrated predecessor, Alex Henery. His day? There was a 50 yard field goal into the wind. There were three touchbacks on kickoffs. Throw in four punts of 53, 50, 50 and 55 yards plus three more field goals. The last time a Husker kicked four field goals in an opener? Yeah, old what’s-his-name from Omaha.

Brett Maher postgame comments

I’m reading a growing sentiment from folks in these parts for an Oklahoma invite to the B1G (I’m getting used to typing it that way, get used to it) and a revival of the Husker-Sooner rivalry. Count me out.

Sure, I appreciated the annual Thanksgiving week game for its drama, the angst, the finality of a championship on the line. But it is over. OU ended it in 1995 when they refused to go along with Nebraska on a scheduling formula that would keep it alive.

Think about that for a moment. Oklahoma elected to allow a series that was just as important and anticipated nationally as the Michigan-Ohio State game through the 70s and 80s to die without even lifting a finger to save it. Imagine if after Nebraska was admitted to the B1G that the conference decided to kill UM-OSU and Michigan just let it go with nary a protest. It’s unfathomable. But that’s exactly what the Okies did. They let it die.

As far as I am concerned this death, like all others, is permanent. It was a great rivalry, but it was also a product of a different time and place in college football. The Sooners hitched their Schooner to Bevo – and I don’t necessarily fault them for that – and they belong with Texas. It is their cultural fit. It is not the B1G’s.

Whatever happens with the insanity these super conferences have created, there does need to be some geographic sanity with whatever shape these leagues take. Despite the focus on national draw with larger conferences, marquee matchups and greater television ratings, college football has to maintain a regional flavor. Super conferences will bring playoffs which will take it one step closer to NFL-light (Nevin Shapiro’s efforts not withstanding), but you jeopardize the entire identity of the college game if schools like Oklahoma are aligned with schools like Wisconsin, or Penn State, or yes, Nebraska.

Frankly, the Sooners are no more a Pac 12 school than they are a B1G school. But that is where the Schooner appears to be headed, like the Joads in The Grapes of Wrath. They will take T. Boone Pickens Cowboys with them. They may or may not bring Texas and their carcinogenic network along. Finally, Texas Tech gets to be the player-to-be-named-later.

Boy, I’d hate to be a Missouri or Kansas administrator right now.

Here is a paragraph from Orangebloods.com Chip Brown’s story on Oklahoma’s possible withdraw from the Big 12 Conference.