One commonly believed notion why No. 20 Nebraska had a more inconsistent season than its 9-3 record would suggest is that the team made a conference from the Big 12 to the Big Ten.
With that change came new opponents for which to prepare which then adds to the learning curve. However, the same thing could be said in reverse as well. This was the first time that Big Ten clubs had to prepare for the Huskers.
Nebraska, like everyone else, will know of its bowl game destination Sunday. The most rumored candidates are either the Capital One or Outback Bowl. The rumored opponents are from the SEC: South Carolina, Arkansas and Georgia. The Huskers are likely to be an underdog no matter whom they face but that’s another discussion for Sunday. The scenarios mostly come down to what happens in the SEC (LSU vs. Georgia) and Big Ten (Michigan vs. Wisconsin) title games. I’m not going to go into what has to happen because I’d be better off trying to explain Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.
As I look back on this year, however, I guess I wanted more. I really wanted to see the Huskers play in the inaugural B1G Conference but it just didn’t happen. I thought the team would finish 10-2 with a chance to accomplish that goal but I didn’t count on losing to Northwestern at home (28-25). Strange is a good word to sum up the Huskers first season in the Big Ten.
It didn’t take long to figure out that this wasn’t the Blackshirts we have come to expect on Saturdays under a Bo Pelini coached team. By the time the final seconds drained the clock on the Washington game (which Nebraska won 51-38); it was obvious that the Huskers were in for a roller coaster ride this season defensively. Pass rush or lack thereof most of the season was tough to watch. Linebacker play improved as the season went on, especially from Will Compton. The secondary seemed to improve as well especially if you have the Michigan game erased from your memory.
The coaches have mandated that quarterback Taylor Martinez become more of a game manger but I simply do not buy the notion of that approach hindering his ability to make the big plays we were accustomed to seeing early in 2010. Seriously, is there anything in Tim Beck’s playbook that says, “OK, Taylor gain ten yards and if you see open field just go down. When Martinez got blasted with a series of leg injuries beginning against Missouri last year, he lost a step off of his 10 yard burst. Some would point to his increased penchant for sliding or running out of bounds to preserve his health as the biggest reason for the coaches encouraging more of a “game manager” (whatever the hell that means) approach.
At which point I say, have you seen the backup quarterbacks led by Brion Carnes? Backups are backups for a reason. They are not ready. Some would say, get the backup more playing time in games already decided. That’s fine but where were those games? True, Carnes could have gotten a few snaps in Nebraska’s 45-17 loss at Michigan. However, he did get snaps against UT-Chattanooga (40-7 win), Minnesota (41-14) and Wisconsin (48-17 loss). If I’m not mistaken, those were the only games Nebraska played this year where the game was not somewhat in doubt going into the fourth quarter.
The most disturbing thing is that for as amazing as Rex Burkhead’s season was, you have three true freshmen (Ameer Abdullah, Aaron Green and Braylon Heard) have wasted seasons. None of them carried the ball over 40 times this season.
Looking ahead to next year, I think wide receivers Quincey Enuwa and Kenny Bell will be better. With Brandon Kinnie graduating, maybe Enuwa can be a bigger part of the team’s plans. I felt like Kinnie was on the brink of being a star and then he would vanish for stretches during the season. Without question I think the 2012 offense will be the best of the Pelini era.
I am anxious to watch the young talent on offense continue to develop. Defense will be interesting to say the least. There will be three huge holes to fill and Nebraska is going to need some young guns to step up and improve their games greatly. I still see the defense as a work in progress in this new conference. I don’t think they have the beef up front to control games and they are going to have to find some linebackers to contribute very quickly. The secondary should be better across the board but losing Alfonso Dennard is going to hurt. I think next year’s growing pains on defense will continue and it will take time before we can hope to have a dominant defense again.
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