Armstrong's rise could make for an interesting decision

While Taylor Martinez remains Nebraska’s starting quarterback until further notice (despite what some Husker fans desire), reports out of fall camp indicate that true freshman Tommie Armstrong has thrust himself squarely in the mix for the No. 2 role.

Armstrong is competing with incumbents Brion Carnes and Ron Kellogg for the No. 2 job but Armstrong reportedly has been taking regular reps with the No. 2 offensive unit.

In an Omaha World Herald story on Monday, offensive coordinator Tom Beck and wide receiver Jamal Turner sang Armstrong’s praises.

“He's got a lot of the ‘it’ factor that you look for in a quarterback,” Beck said. “He’s picked up the offense much faster than I thought he would, he’s a student of the game and he’s a very talented young man. That combination has not only impressed myself but, I think, his teammates.”

Some of those teammates back that up, too.

“He came off kind of cocky at first, but once you get to know him it’s like, ‘No, this guy’s just a leader,’ ” Turner said. “He’s a really good guy. Really good quarterback.”

The newcomer from Cibolo, Texas, comes to Nebraska in highly touted fashion after leading his team to a 5A State Title. Quarterbacks named Tommie (as in Tommie Frazier) certainly bring a good omen for Husker fans as the last quarterback to don the scarlet and cream with such a name led Nebraska to back-to-back National Championships in 1994-1995 and came within a missed Bryon Bennett field of winning three straight in 1993. Frazier became Nebraska’s starter as a true freshman in Game Six in 1992.

So what should happen with Armstrong? You really can’t make any historical comparisons because what happened in 1992 will have no bearing on what happens in 2012 – and frankly it should not.

I have said before on this very website that unless a true freshman is going to make an immediate impact, the young man should redshirt. Think about it for just a moment, even though we live in this “now” culture.

The current NCAA rules state that an eligible athlete has five years to complete four seasons. Therefore, student-athletes may practice for a team but not play in a game for one season, not counting against his or her four seasons of eligibility. This is known as a redshirt. Fans don’t see their contributions in that they do not happen on gameday but the redshirt season is a valuable year in a system in that it provides shelter against some of the harsh realities of jumping to a new level of football.

You see, some highly-touted high school studs make their college choices in the recruiting process based on early playing time. Some coaches promise it or tell the youngster he has a fair chance to compete for playing time. Others will demand an automatic redshirt.

There are numerous reasons to redshirt freshmen. For starters, the college game moves a hell of a lot faster than high school, which means decisions have to be made faster. Therefore, the extra season working against starters in practice is a benefit.

Also, highly touted high school studs were often the stars of their team and their league. They were exponentially better than their high school peers. In college, everyone is at least as good if not better. That extra year of conditioning will give the youngster a better chance to handle the rigors of a 12-14 game college schedule.

The verbiage of a playbook (especially on offense) is also far greater in college than in high school as is the intricacy of reading the opposition. Some of that pressure can be alleviated during a redshirt season.

Then there is the whole matter of adjusting from high school to college away from the field. For some of these youngsters, it’s their first time away from home. All of the sudden cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and partying are a juggling act. Throw that in with trying to balance academics with athletics.

The temptation to put the best talent on the field is tough to overcome. The development of a successful program, however, is not about talent alone but it is about the development of an overall player and his maturity to handle the pressures and demands of being a great college football player.

So how does this tie in with what the Huskers should do with Armstrong? It’s a tricky situation with no easy solution. I think it’s very promising that Armstrong has made the strides he has already but I would much rather have three years of eligibility left when Martinez leaves. 

If he is going to get some meaningful snaps, then burn the shirt. If he is going to get 3-4 snaps in 2-3 games then no, keep the red shirt. The problem is how does one know if he can get enough snaps?

Personally, I would plan to redshirt him and burn the shirt only if Martinez goes down and Carnes is incapable.

If he’s the second best quarterback and you need him to win games, then you pull him out of a redshirt. If it’s garbage time, do not use him. He’ll have all next year to get garbage minutes.

I understand you can’t know if you’ll need him in Week Eight when you are contemplating garbage time in Week One but it’s not worth blowing a year to have him hand the ball off 10 times. Obviously getting a guy ready just in case isn’t a priority otherwise Carnes would have gotten some more playing time.

Let Carnes have the reps if available. With his time in the system he’s probably going to be serviceable (we hope) should Martinez go down briefly.

College Football Hall-of-Fame needs to re-examine its bylaws

I very seldom like to give too much credence to awards and accolades because the ultimate reward is the team winning.

However, the College Football Hall of Fame exposed what a joke it really is as Nebraska greats   Tommie Frazier, Eric Crouch and Trev Alberts will have to wait at least one more year to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Crouch and Alberts waiting is one thing but Frazier, that is bogus.

According to Ivan Maisel’s blog, apparently they couldn’t be picked. Maisel reported that a school can’t have players inducted in back-to-back years. I was never aware of any such stipulation.

The College Football Hall of Fame certainly hasn’t always operated under this rule, even recently as USC had a player inducted every year from 2000-2005. Why put someone’s name on a ballot in the first place if you’re not actually being honestly considered for selection?

Anyway, patience is required for such things. As my colleague Steve Sipple noted on Twitter, the great Rich Glover had to wait 23 after his career ended to be selected.

This year's class will have 17 inductees (14 players and three coaches): Charles Alexander (LSU, 1975-1978), Otis Armstrong (Purdue, 1970-1972), Steve Bartkowski (California, 1972-1974), Hal Bedsole (USC, 1961-1963), Dave Casper (1971-1973), Ty Detmer (BYU, 1988-1991), Tommy Kramer (Rice, 1973-1976), Art Monk (Syracuse, 1976-1979), Greg Myers (Colorado State, 1992-1995), Jonathan Ogden (UCLA, 1992-1995), Gabe Rivera (Texas Tech, 1979-1982), Mark Simoneau (Kansas State, 1996-1999), Scott Thomas (Air Force, 1982-85) and John Wooten (Colorado, 1956-1958) on the players’ side. Head coaches Phillip Fulmer (Tennessee), Jimmy Johnson (Oklahoma State, Miami) and R.C. Slocum (Texas A&M) were also inducted.

By no means am I suggesting that the members on that list do not belong in the Hall-of-Fame but the fact that Frazier wasn’t a first ballot College Football Hall of Famer, then the College Football Hall of Fame is meaningless.

That is a stupid rule. If someone deserves to be in, they need to be there. I get having a waiting time to eliminate emotion from a decision but if they have the merits to enter into the Hall-of-Fame, they need to be there regardless if someone from their school already was inducted.

Admittedly, I haven’t paid close attention to the College Football Hall-of-Fame rules and bylaws but Frazier should’ve been in a long time ago. The guy is a winner. Pure competitor and playmaker. He would've done even more if he would've stayed healthy. The tape, the accomplishments and the wins speak for themselves.

I will make the case that Frazier is the best college quarterback in history. As a Nebraska fan, I confess to a bias but here’s a guy that went 33-2 for his career, won two national titles, four conference titles, ran for 2,154 yards, threw for 3,626 yards, and scored 82 touchdowns.

If that is not Hall-of-Fame worthy, I do not know what is.

Onus squarely on Martinez to produce

No matter who takes snaps for the Nebraska football team, from Jerry Tagge to Turner Gill to Tommie Frazier to Scott Frost to Eric Crouch to Jamal Lord to Zac Lee to Taylor Martinez, you can count on a lot of scrutiny.

Martinez, who enters his junior season, has had a checkered career so far at Nebraska. You look at the raw numbers of Martinez’s first two seasons and there appears to be very little difference. In 2010, he completed 107 of 195 (54.8 percent) for 1,631 yards, ten touchdowns and seven interceptions. As a runner, he gained 966 yards 172 carries (5.6 yards per carry) and 12 touchdowns. In 2011, Martinez completed 162 of 288 passes (56.3 percent) for 2,076 yards, 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions. As a runner, he gained 875 yards on 188 carries (4.6 yards per carry) and nine touchdowns.

The vibe, however, was much different as in 2010, when Martinez was a big play waiting to happen the first ten games. He rushed 887 yards on 112 carries and 12 touchdowns. In the passing department, he completed 63 of 119 for 1,161 yards, ten touchdowns and three interceptions. After sustaining an ankle injury, however, Martinez became pretty ordinary as he carried 50 times for 79 yards. In the passing department, he completed 44 of 76 for 470 yards, no touchdowns and four interceptions.

He was more of a team leader than as a freshman but will never be confused for a martinet. His running stats are down a bit as some zealots point out the fewer jaw-dropping runs this season but much of Martinez's 2010 running stats came in the first few games against suspect defenses. Great highlights, but not very meaningful numbers. Also, turnovers were down a bit this year. He threw one more interception on 93 more passes.

Though a segment of Husker fans will clamor for a change whether it’s freshman Brion Carnes, wide receiver Jamal Turner or for that matter incoming freshman Tommy Armstrong, Martinez will be the starter until further notice.

However, the 2012 season is when you stop rationalizing Martinez’s shortcomings. For openers, Martinez will not be learning a new offense and Nebraska appears to have a more-clear cut identity under current offensive coordinator Tim Beck than it did under Shawn Watson. The Huskers run a mixture of zone read, pistol and old school option. However, those three principles are much more in tune with each other than when Nebraska was trying to marry West Coast Offense principles with a variation of the option.

The zone read and pistol suit Martinez well but not the old school option, which gets the fans going from a nostalgia standpoint but doesn't suit Martinez's running skill which is a straight ahead.

Martinez has also taken the time to address his fundamentals (or lack thereof) this offseason.

Martinez returned to his native California and worked with noted quarterbacks guru Steve Calhoun. Addressing Martinez’s footwork was the biggest objective.

After the Huskers 30-13 Capitol One Bowl game loss to South Carolina, Beck and Martinez identified five or six areas Martinez needed to improve during the offseason. Footwork topped the list, and on advice of his father, Casey, Martinez went to Calhoun's Armed & Dangerous camp last month.

They worked on dropping back with his right foot rather than his left and squaring his shoulders on throws.

A more in-depth look at Taylor Martinez's evolution

Regardless of who takes the snap from center for the Nebraska football team, he is subject to an intense microscope. That pressure intensified to a greater degree after Tommie Frazier led the Huskers to consecutive National Championships in 1994-1995.


The pressure intensified whether it was Scott Frost, Eric Crouch, Jamal Lord, Joe Dailey, Zac Taylor, Sam Keller, Joe Ganz, Zac Lee and now Taylor Martinez.

Frost carved out his place in Husker lore by leading the team to a split National Title with Michigan in 1997. What added to the angst Husker fans initially showed against Frost was the fact that he was a native Nebraskan who decided to go to Stanford initially as he was heavily courted by then Cardinal head coach Bill Walsh, who was also a Hall-of-Fame NFL head coach. Frost then transferred to Nebraska after Walsh retired from coaching.

Crouch won a Heisman Trophy in 2001 but like Martinez had a polarizing career. Keep in mind, for all of the good things Crouch brought, he presided over the two embarrassing losses (62-36 to Colorado and 37-14 to Miami) that contributed to sending the Huskers into a tailspin. Those were Crouch’s last two college football games.

Lord took a ton of heat from fans and justifiably so but even with his athleticism was better suited to being a defensive back. Dailey would have been well suited as an option quarterback but the problem is that Bill Callahan became the Huskers head coach during his sophomore year and in came the West Coast Offense. Taylor was perhaps the saving grace of the Callahan years. Keller was a flop after transferring from Arizona State. Ganz and Lee did some good things but were only starters for one year.

You look at the raw numbers of Martinez’s first two seasons and there appears to be very little difference. In 2010, he completed 107 of 195 (54.8 percent) for 1,631 yards, ten touchdowns and seven interceptions. As a runner, he gained 966 yards 172 carries (5.6 yards per carry) and 12 touchdowns. In 2011, Martinez completed 152 of 272 passes (55.9 percent) for 1,973 yards, 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions. As a runner, he gained 837 yards on 172 carries (4.8 yards per carry) and nine touchdowns.

Knowing what we know about Martinez's career up to this point, interpret the stats however you see fit, but don't forget to factor in his injury last year game as well as the offensive coordinator change from Shawn Watson to Tim Beck.

Statistics can convince you of just about anything so sometimes you have to look beyond just the raw numbers.

In the first ten games of 2010, Martinez was a big play waiting to happen. He rushed 887 yards on 112 carries and 12 touchdowns. In the passing department, he completed 63 of 119 for 1,161 yards, ten touchdowns and three interceptions. After sustaining an ankle injury, however, Martinez became pretty ordinary as he carried 50 times for 79 yards. In the passing department, he completed 44 of 76 for 470 yards, no touchdowns and four interceptions.

Nebraska, however, gave up 29 sacks last year but more specifically they gave up 12 sacks in their last 2 games (seven against Oklahoma and five against Washington). So far they've allowed just 15 sacks this season entering the Capital One Bowl game against South Carolina.
Martinez made a noticeable improvement this year on moving the chains by making good decisions in the passing game - whether to hit a check-down or scrambling.

He was more of a team leader.

His running stats are down a bit as some zealots point out the fewer jaw-dropping runs this season but much of Martinez's 2010 running stats came in the first few games against suspect defenses. Great highlights, but not very meaningful numbers. Also, turnovers are down a bit this year. He threw the same number of interceptions on about 77 more passes.

The cynics would point out that Martinez has not played well in big games. At which point I say, “Let me know when there’s a little one.”

The Huskers 48-17 loss to Wisconsin was the only game he played terrible. The rest of the time he was somewhere between OK and good. In the 28-25 loss to Northwestern he played well but the defense gave the game away and the 45-17 loss to Michigan was a total team failure as was the aforementioned loss to Wisconsin.

The other factor becomes, are the Huskers using him right? Nebraska appears to have a more clear cut identity under Beck than they did under Watson. The Huskers run a mixture of zone read, pistol and old school option. The zone read and pistol suit Martinez well but not the old school option, which gets the fans going from a nostalgia standpoint but doesn't suit Martinez's running skill which is a straight ahead burst or nothing.

To execute the option, you need to have a physical guy playing quarterback. Martinez is not that guy. The quarterback needs to step up and into traffic in order to force the edge to commit to him or the running back. Martinez runs back and out instead of into pursuit and outside. He doesn't really force the pursuit to commit as more often than not, Martinez runs towards the running back.

Some people would argue that coaching staff has hamstrung Martinez by turning him into a game manager. However, it should also be pointed out that the Huskers have faced much better defenses in 2011 than a year ago. This season, Nebraska has faced five teams (Michigan State, Wisconsin, Penn State, Michigan and Ohio State) that rank in the Top 25 in total team defense and will be facing a sixth (South Carolina) in the Capital One Bowl. In 2010, the Huskers faced only one defense (Missouri) that ranked in the Top 25 in total team defense. That was the game Martinez got hurt in 31-17 win but in that contest it was running back Roy Helu that did the heavy lifting in rushing for a school record 307 yards.

Does Martinez still need to improve more? Sure, what sophomore doesn’t but he has improved more than the numbers suggest and more than his critics want to acknowledge.

Lee the man unless trouble hits

Don’t you find it mildly strange how the media is frequently ready to draw premature comparisons when a perceived young stud quarterback enters the picture?

Nebraska enters this week’s home game against Arkansas State fresh off a 49-3 season-opening win over Florida Atlantic. Making his first start on the Div. I-A level, Zac Lee completed 15-of-22 passes for 213 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Playing at No. 2 behind Lee (a junior) is true freshman Cody Green, who saw action late in the game, completing 2-of-3 passes for 18 yards. He also had an explosive 49-yard run.

Never mind that the run came in garbage time but both the Lincoln Journal Star: http://huskerextra.com/articles/2009/09/09/football/doc4aa70694e7889308066200.txt and Omaha World Herald: http://www.omaha.com/article/20090908/BIGRED/709089819 ran stories that featured Green. “Unpsportsmanlike Conduct,” which is an Omaha based sports talk show did two segments on the matter.

I didn’t necessarily have a problem with the way either story was presented. Plus, being a mainstream media member myself, I respect the job they have to do as far as filling sports pages and filling air time.

I just think it’s a little premature to feature Green not matter what his high school resume suggests.

My biggest issue comes on message boards, which in one respect has replaced going to the bar and having conversations. Well, not replaced per se, but an outlet nonetheless.

At any rate, various message board posters have posed the question throughout the offseason and even now that at what point does Green (a true freshman) start?

We’ve all heard the football axioms of how, “The most popular guy on the team is the backup quarterback,” and “If you have two capable middle linebackers it’s a competition but if you have two capable quarterbacks it is a controversy.”

The thing that really chaps me about the aforementioned Nebraska media, which does a very good job more often than not, and the message board postings is that yes Green showed his dynamic talent in his limited time – but it was in garbage time. Just like Lee’s snaps last season in relief of Joe Ganz and Patrick Witt. I can understand going gaga if say he came in to flash that ability with the game in the balance.

I’m not saying this to knock Green. He appears to be a talented young man but going gaga over him under the circumstances does him no good either.

Granted, Green won the No. 2 job in camp hut Lee is also familiar with the entire playbook (which has 320 plays) while Green admitted himself that he has only 15 plays that he feels comfortable with. Just doing the math, that’s 15 divided by 320. That’s not even five percent of the playbook, folks! Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson might not desire Bill Callahan like volume but he does not strike me as the type that will scale down the playbook.

Bottom line, barring injury, Green will not start at quarterback this year or maybe even next year.

I’m all for playing a freshman over a junior if he is a better athlete but quarterback is a much different animal. Yes, Tommie Frazier took over as the Huskers starting quarterback five games into 1992 – supplanting Mike Grant. Frazier went on to lead Nebraska to two National Championships. More recently, Terrelle Pryor took over as Ohio State’s starting quarterback as a true freshman and led the Buckeyes to the Fiesta Bowl. Vince Young started as a true freshman at Texas and led the Longhorns to two Rose Bowl wins, the second of which was a National title. Matt Barkley is USC’s starting signal-caller. This year’s Trojans have been considered “down” but they have enough talent to be 10-3 if they have a bad year.

The difference is this. Those teams had strong supporting casts. The current Nebraska team has a good but not great supporting cast.

Husker fans that truly know the sport understand that Lee will see about 90 percent of the snaps. Do you play Green in meaningful situations? Sure but do so with one of the 15 plays where he is comfortable and perhaps around the goal-line.

However, if Green is starting, it’s not a good sign for Nebraska because it means that Lee is either injured or ineffective and that the Huskers have opted to move forward.