Offseason Q&A to whet your palate

So it’s only June and Nebraska’s first game is not for another 10 weeks or so. Well, it’s September 1 at home against Southern Mississippi to be exact. Once the last game ends, you always have questions running through your head as it pertains to next season and after the Huskers’ season-ending 30-13 Capital One Bowl loss to South Carolina, there are plenty of questions.

The ones running through my head at the present time for Nebraska are as follows:

Will Taylor Martinez be the quarterback fans and media hope he can be? Will his game management and decision making improve? Most importantly will he change his throwing form so he looks like a quarterback passing to a receiver instead of a shortstop throwing off his back foot?

Martinez may never become a great quarterback but his management and decision making actually did improve last season. Most Husker fans remember his three-interception performance against Wisconsin in a 48-17 loss but what also bears mentioning is that he had a four-game streak with no interceptions. Martinez’s suspect mechanics have been a hot topic but the fact that he has spent part of the offseason working with quarterback guru Steve Calhoun, whose work in getting former Auburn quarterback Cam Newton to ascend to Heisman Trophy winner who led his team to a National Title in 2010 is especially significant. The fact that Martinez is taking the time to address his mechanics can only be a good thing.

Will Rex Burkhead show that he's not just a talented running back but an All American caliber stud by making a Heisman run?

Like most Husker fans, I love everything about Burkhead and what he stands for as a player and as a person. Nebraska is extremely fortunately having someone like him as the face of the program. However, Burkhead as a Heisman candidate is a longshot at best. For starters, Nebraska offensive coordinator Tim Beck will likely try to reduce Burkhead’s workload to a) diversify the offense and b) keep him fresh. Plus, you have to understand “how” Burkhead gets his yards. Burkhead is the kind of back that if he carries the ball say 30 times for 155 yards and two touchdowns it is more likely to be a steady diet of 4, 6, 8 yards with an occasional 20-yarder than it is breaking off a 60-yarder that gets on Sportscenter. Let’s face it, in our style over substance society, the Sportscenter plays get noticed.

How will the Husker defense move forward without LaVonte David?

Nebraska has had its share of great linebackers throughout the years such as Trev Alberts, Tom Novak, Broderick Thomas, Barrett Ruud, Jerry Murtugh, Ed Stewart and Marc Munford. David definitely belongs in that conversation. Will Compton had a strong finish to the 2011 season and the Huskers will need him to find that extra gear this season and there’s no reason to think he won’t.

Will Cameron Meredith find a haircut and facial hair combination that doesn't make him look creepy in team photos?

An even bigger issue is will Meredith Cameron Meredith get some speed and power back in his body. The guy got shoved around a lot last year, and looked very slow. With all the talking he does, you’d think he might back it up at some point. I hope he or the coaches find a way to get more production. I’ve seen enough patty cake.

Will Nebraska fans ever be able to say “We’re Back” instead of “We’re close to being back?”

Bo Pelini made headlines after Nebraska’s 33-0 shutout win over Arizona in the 2009 Holiday Bowl when he said: “Nebraska’s back and we’re here to stay.” That win capped off a 10-4 season in which the Huskers won six of their last seven. However, Nebraska followed that season with a 10-4 campaign in 2010 and 9-4 in 2011. Granted, the program is in much better shape than the Bill Callahan years but considering that 1999 was the program’s last conference title, fans are getting restless.  

With Carl Pelini gone as defensive coordinator, will Bo Pelini become more hands-on with the defense?

Bo Pelini’s hands have always been on the defense. Don’t let anyone fool you into thinking otherwise.

Will Tim Beck’s offense click into the monster machine it has the potential to be?

Beck certainly has a lot of talent at his disposal and going through a year without having to revamp the offense will be a plus. It all comes down to the health and progress of Martinez and the health of Burkhead.

Will Brett Maher kick a 58 yard field goal?

I’ll say 53.

Will Nebraska finally make a BCS game or win a conference championship game?

Definitely possible. The Legends Division will be a three-horse race between Nebraska, Michigan and Michigan State. The schedule features more swing games than at any time in recent history. The 2013 season would appear more likely because Wisconsin and Ohio State will be replaced by Purdue and Illinois in the crossover games. However, that argument is somewhat hollow because if you win your division you’ll have to face Wisconsin or Ohio State in the Big 10 Conference Title Game anyway.

Examining Year Two in the Big 10

For the first time since 2009, the Nebraska football team enters the season where its outgoing or incoming conference will not be a significant weekly discussion.

Before the 2010 season, Nebraska announced that it would move from the Big 12 to Big 10 in a move that University chancellor Harvey Perlman deemed was a better fit when it came to academics, culture and athletics. For much of the 2010 season, it seemed like a weekly discussion that the Huskers were leaving the Big 12 for the Big 10. For much of the 2011 campaign, it was seemingly a weekly discussion about how Nebraska was adjusting to the Big 10.

The Huskers went 10-4 in 2010 but tailed off after a 5-0 and 9-1 start. In 2011, Nebraska went 9-4 but was also 7-1 at one point. Even more disappointing that not winning the Legends Division, Nebraska had clunker road losses to Wisconsin (48-17) and Michigan (45-17) and a disturbing 28-25 loss at home to Northwestern. After two years in the Big 12 title game, most Nebraska fans viewed anything other than a trip to Indianapolis as a failed season.

Most would argue that Nebraska spending last season adjusting to Big 10 opponents. While it is true that the Husker coaching staff did not have the luxury of past experience against an opponent, that argument is also a wash because opponents were at the same disadvantage when preparing for Nebraska.

What should help, at least psychologically, is that the Huskers will host Wisconsin in their first conference game this season. After a close game for much of the first half, three Taylor Martinez interceptions helped pave the way to a blowout loss. The Badgers still have running back Montee Ball but the good news is that quarterback Russell Wilson is gone.

Nebraska also had to play road games at Michigan and Penn State. While Nebraska escaped Penn State with a win, the game at Michigan was somewhat similar to the Wisconsin loss. The Huskers gained momentum by pulling within 31-17 late in the third quarter but two special teams miscues gave the Wolverines offense a short field that led to two touchdowns that put the game out of reach.

While Nebraska draws Wisconsin, Michigan and Penn State at home, that’s not to say that it does not have stringent road tests. The Huskers visit Ohio State, Michigan State and Iowa. Ohio State should be a much improved club over last year’s 6-7 team with Urban Meyer but the Buckeyes are also on probation, which mean they are not eligible for the Big 10 Conference Title Game. Michigan State is also breaking in a new quarterback with the graduation of Kirk Cousins.

In 2012, the Badgers, Lions and Wolverines come to Lincoln. Nebraska’s sternest road tests will be against an Ohio State team on probation and with a new coach, a Michigan State team breaking in a new quarterback and Iowa. While the schedule as a whole is challenging, Nebraska's 2012 road conference schedule is less salty than its 2011 counterpart.

Perhaps the biggest thing that will help the Huskers in Year Two of their Big 10 voyage will be having a third-year starter at quarterback returning in Martinez as well as a senior at running back in Rex Burkhead. It also should help that offensive coordinator Tim Beck is in his second season. If all the returning offensive parts for Nebraska translate into better offensive production, then Nebraska could be looking at a dramatic turnaround in year two of its Big 10 adventure.

Need for offensive identity important but overstated

“Identity” – look up the word in a dictionary and is described as “the sense of being oneself but not another.”

Football teams have that same issue. Are you a running team or a passing team? Do you run the spread? The veer? The Wing-T? The option? The West Coast Offense? The Run-n-Shoot? Everyone has their preference but I have never found one offense to be any better or worse than the other. If 11 guys execute their assignment, you can run the simplest fullback dive play time after time and gain consistent yardage. Or you can spread five wide receivers out and not even pretend to care about running the ball.

When I read Nebraska football message boards, the question becomes, will head coach Bo Pelini and offensive coordinator Tim Beck “finally” commit to any offensive scheme? In the Bill Callahan years, Nebraska ran the West Coast Offense. Option-loving Husker fans despised even the thought of it but Nebraska’s ultimate downfall of the Callahan years was more about defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove’s Swiss Cheese defense than Callahan’s offense. After Nebraska fired Callahan at the end of a 5-7 season in 2007, Shawn Watson was retained as offensive coordinator. The problem was that Nebraska tried to mesh West Coast Offense and Spread option with I-Formation option but the results were not good.

Under Beck, Nebraska was clearly a running team but ran everything from I-Formation option to Spread option. Yet, a segment of Husker fans still groveled about lacking an identity. In fact, when asked about the Husker scheme, Pelini continues to say, “We will be multiple.”

Count me among those who think that an offense “having an identity” has been a little overvalued. The Nebraska offense “has” an identity, its option football through multiple formations. There is a huge difference. Having multiple formations is not the “multiple” anyone is referring to, which the Huskers are not by the way. I can’t believe how the discussion comes up on message boards. When you talk about “offensive scheme,” you hear things zone read, option, and diamond. I’m no offensive coordinator but Zone Read IS option football; it’s just not the traditional veer option, power option, load option, etc. Furthermore, the diamond, is NOT a scheme. It’s a formation. Big difference.

I think this concept of having an “offensive identity” is popular amongst fans and not a thought of concern for any coach in the country. I really think the value of such an idea is extremely overvalued.

Whether it’s zone read, I-Formation option or Diamond, Nebraska’s identity is running the football. That’s the basis of the Huskers “identity,” their bread and butter, and what will continue to be the focal point. Formations and personnel grouping will change but what they will do without fail is pound the rock.

Translation = Spread Option is the “offense.” Zone read is a “play within the offense.” Diamond is a “formation within the scheme.” The schemes and offensive identity are fine. Being better on the offensive line and having more consistency at quarterback and wide receiver are the key issues this team faces.

If the line improves and starts knocking people over again, if the quarterback decision making of Taylor Martinez improves (it started to last year) and the passing game (both the QB being consistent and the WR's catching the ball consistently) improves then the scheme will look a LOT better.

Huskers need to protect the homefront

Lost in the Nebraska football roller-coaster ride from great-to-mediocre-to-bad-to-mediocre-to-bad-good but great is the fact that the Huskers once dominated homes.

Between a 36-21 loss to Washington in 1991 to a 20-16 loss to Texas in 1998, Nebraska won 47 consecutive home games and of those wins only four were by seven points or less and 36 were by 21 points or more. After the aforementioned loss to Texas, Nebraska went on a 26-game home winning streak that lasted until 2002 before losing 27-24 to Texas. Since that game, Nebraska has gone 50-16 at home. Granted, most teams would gladly take that record but it is a far cry from the milestones the Huskers reached for much of the 1990s.

In 1991, the Huskers returned to the Orange Bowl as Big Eight champions. In 1992, NU beat a top ten team for the first time in four years. That led to the undefeated regular season of 1993 that put them into a national championship game. Along the way, Nebraska went over seven years without losing in Memorial Stadium. If Nebraska wants to make a similar climb to the top echelon of college football, chances are it will begin with a good long home winning streak.

This year's home slate is as tough as any in memory. The Huskers open at home with a Southern Mississippi team that finished in the top twenty nationally and won 12 games last season. After a road date at UCLA, Nebraska then hosts defending Sun Belt champion Arkansas State. Idaho State is admittedly sort of a de facto bye week before defending Big Ten champion Wisconsin comes to town for a night game in Lincoln. The environment under the lights can go a long way in turning the tables on the Badgers after last season’s 48-17 fiasco in Madison.

After two tough road games (at Ohio State and at Northwestern) sandwiched around a bye, the game of the season goes down in Lincoln against Michigan. That contest will be another night game and the crowd will have to do their part if Nebraska wants to get by the Wolverines. Two weeks (and a tough road game at Michigan State) later, the Huskers have to be on their toes hosting Penn State. Then they need to stay awake and contain Minnesota's MarQueis Gray on senior day if they want to go a perfect 7-0 at home.

Nebraska hasn't gone undefeated in Lincoln since 2001. Not coincidentally, that's also the last time they played in a BCS bowl. A perfect season overall seems like a high bar. Who goes 14-0 in this day and age? Going 7-0 in your building would not only go a long way toward making 2012 a great season, but also sets the stage for bigger and better things in the seasons to come.

Winning anything of substance - division, conference, national title - starts with winning at home. A team can’t really win anything if it doesn’t win the division.

Martinez continuing to address mechanics is a good thing

Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez continues to make headlines this offseason for his effort to continue improving his throwing mechanics.

Los Angeles-area quarterback coach Steve Calhoun spent a week with Martinez in the spring and then three more got three more weeks with the junior in May according to a recent Omaha World Herald report. Calhoun helped get Martinez an invite to the mid-July Manning Passing Academy, where Calhoun will work as a camp assistant.

“People are going to be quite surprised in how far he's come in such a short time,” Calhoun told the OWH.

In an effort to get Martinez to become a more complete player, the focus has included but not been limited to improving footwork and accuracy. Hopefully, all of this outside work will help Martinez develop into a solid college quarterback. Better mechanics would add velocity and accuracy to his passes. Going into his third year as a starter, the game must be slowing down for him, too, which will help. He won't be quite as antsy back in the pocket.

As a sophomore, his decision-making as a passer was greatly improved. He took fewer bad sacks, did not throw an abundance of picks, especially when considering most of them were thrown in the Wisconsin game. His receivers last year gave him NO help whatsoever, as they dropped many easy ones, and rarely caught a difficult ball. I am no Martinez apologist (if there is someone on the roster that can unseat him, I would be ecstatic), but he wasn't as bad as many make him out to be, and was definitely better than he was as a freshman as far as consistency. With all this offseason work, I am sure he will be even better as a junior, which is all you can ask from a player.

Honestly one thing I'd like to hear Martinez working on is his elusiveness when he runs. Martinez is so fast and if he had half of Eric Crouch’s elusiveness he would fun to watch. As it is now he has to get that straight line to the end zone to have much chance of busting it. If he could learn to shake a few cornerbacks out of their shoes that would also make me very happy. Maybe this goes back to his ankle injury and so it may be better this year.

All we can do as fans is wait and see what it's like. At this juncture, I’m just happy to see the matter get addressed.

Hopefully, the Heard experiment does not last too long

Nebraska football head coach Bo Pelini said sophomore Braylon Heard will start off preseason camp in August playing both running back and backup nickel back on defense, according to a Lincoln Journal star blog entry.

"He thought he made good strides and put a lot of work in at nickel and didn't want to waste it," the coach said. "And I think he's confident (at running back). Obviously, he played a whole year at the running back position. We think he can really help us there. … We're going to see how it goes for a while, and then make a decision, obviously sit down with him and see how it goes.”

The Huskers moved Heard from running back to defensive back this spring. However, that move was made before classmate, and fellow running back, Aaron Green announced he was transferring to TCU.

A player dabbling on both sides of the ball is not unusual. Florida State’s Deion Sanders, Michigan’s Charles Woodson and more recently Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh did such but that was in roles where they were primarily defensive players making cameo appearances on the offensive side.

My first instinct says, “pick a position and keep him there,” because I don’t see him flourishing if he flip-flops. Heard is working with Ciante Evans at the nickel back position on defense. At running back, Nebraska returns Rex Burkhead and Ameer Abdullah but that is one position where most coaches like having as much depth as possible. Heard had limited involvement as a freshman with 25 carries for 114 yards.

If Heard was near playing time at either position, I doubt they would be having him split time. I think this is a signal that they are using him for depth, but don’t have serious plans for him. It’s just awfully hard to really develop at either position when you can’t concentrate on one or the other.

Although, I think Pelini’s strategy is he really doesn’t know what he has in terms of depth at running back or cornerback. If some new guys step up at running back and Pelini feels comfortable I’m guessing Heard will play cornerback. I personally think it is smart to let this play out, prepare Heard for playing either position just in case the depth at running back or cornerback is not too Pelini’s liking.

However, if they continue this experiment for too long before settling on one position, he should probably go ahead and redshirt, practice at one position or the other, and then come back in 2013 ready and available to make an impact on the field.

Husker-Sooner rivalry renewal surface oriented at best

A Lincoln Journal Star blog entry on Thursday revisited the possibility of a home-and-home series between former Big 8 rivals Nebraska and Oklahoma, which would take place in 2020-2021. That is, if it even takes place at all.

Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne said Thursday that the home-and-home proposal remains a possibility but until there is resolution to Big Ten Conference scheduling requirements are going to be, firming up a commitment is going to be iffy. The Big Ten currently requires eight conference games but that number could increase to 10 at some point. The Big 12 requires nine such games.

Interestingly enough, the 2021 season would mark the 50th anniversary of the Game of the Century in a game that pitted No. 1 Nebraska vs. No. 2 Oklahoma. The reigning National Champion Huskers won their 21^st consecutive game in beating Oklahoma 35-31.

I should be excited about the possibility, except I’m feeling lukewarm. After all, eighteen times, both carried top-10 rankings into their matchup. Twelve times, the winner went on to a national title. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

This traditional college football rivalry, however, lost its significance in 1996 with the forming of the Big 12 Conference. This was due to the split-division nature of the Big 12 that scheduled the Cornhuskers and Sooners to meet only twice every four years. Prior to the beginning of Big 12 play in 1996, the Cornhuskers and Sooners had met for 71 consecutive seasons.

However, it should also be dually noted that Oklahoma didn’t even as much as lift a finger to keep the rivalry afloat. In all fairness though, the rivalry carried more significance for Nebraska than Oklahoma.

After the Sooners fell on hard times between 1994-1998 late in the Gary Gibbs era and then under Howard Schnellenberger and John Blake, Nebraska rose to prominence by winning three National Titles. At that time, Johnny Come Lately programs like Kansas State and Colorado became bigger obstacles for the Huskers than Oklahoma. I know I speak for at least some Husker fans but while I despised the Sooners, I actually gained some respect for them after listening to a large segment of Colorado and Kansas State fans become overly arrogant about their program’s newfound success after eons of insignificance. My reasoning became, well since Oklahoma has won National Titles, at least they have reason to be arrogant.

For that reason, Oklahoma remained the center of whom Nebraska viewed as a rival while the Sooners already had Texas and Oklahoma State. Therefore, diminishing Nebraska’s rivalry significance for the Sooners.

Granted, Nebraska and Oklahoma playing again is nice for nostalgia purposes but there’s only so many times you can play up the “Stoops and Pelinis grew up together” angle. However, given the transient nature of college football coaches, Bo Pelini and Bob Stoops might not be at Nebraska and Oklahoma when 2020 rolls around.

The truth of the matter is, as great as Nebraska and Oklahoma rekindling their flame sounds good, you can never go back. As much as we want it too, it will not be the same.

It would take a while to rebuild the rivalry, and because of all the changes plus time, that might not happen and it may not have that "Game of the Year" feel it once had.