Martinez Shines As Huskers Romp Over Southern Miss
Taylor Martinez had a career day passing for Nebraska as the Cornhuskers used a high-powered offense to pull away from Southern Miss, 49-20 in the opening game of the season. Martinez's numbers on the day - five touchdown passes, 354 yards, 76% completion rate - fly in the face of what Husker fans were accustomed to seeing last year and confirm all the discussion and speculation about Martinez as an improved passer. The Husker defense played better in the second half than the first, limiting the Golden Eagles to 13 total offensive points. On the downside for NU, the special teams (thought to be such a Husker advantage this year) were shaky and injuries were a potentially ugly part of this Husker win.
The game started as many may have suspected - with Rex Burkhead bolting for a career long 57-yard touchdown scamper to open the scoring on the first series. But, then things got a bit...shocking. Midway through the first half of this game, a Husker fan might have thought that everything they knew to be true about their team was false. Martinez opened the game 12-14 passing, connecting on both long and short throws. Brett Maher, the pre-season All-American, missed two field goals. Burkhead left the game with a sprained knee, and would not return. And, the Husker D assumed to be resurgent this season, was missing tackles and over running plays.
Put all of this together with a Southern Miss kickoff return for a touchdown and it's 14-14 tie midway through the first half. But, Nebraska's offense kept moving the ball almost at will and scoring, the defense settled down some and Nebraska cruised to a victory on a hot day in Lincoln.
Explosive and Diverse Offense
How good was Nebraska's offense today? Consider these statistics. They rolled up 632 total yards, with 278 rushing to combine with Martinez's 354 through the air. They had 33 first downs, converting a staggering 12 of 15 on third down.
The offense was balanced. They had 45 rushes and 34 pass attempts. The final drive (with the game no longer in doubt) was all running plays, or the game plan would have been nearly evenly split in their run-pass ratio.
It was explosive. The completions averaged more than 10 yards; the rushes more than 6. Six plays covered more than 25 yards.
It was also diverse. The number of players who contributed is almost comical. Six different players scored touchdowns. Five different players caught touchdowns. Eleven players caught passes. (11!). In the absence of Burkhead, the Husker rush game featured many names as well, nine players recorded carries. Ameer Abdullah got the bulk of the work, with 81 yards on 15 totes.
The hype about Martinez as a passer? True. The buzz about the quality and amount of Husker skill players? True. With Martinez as the trigger man rather than a runner, the ball was shared quickly and often. Martinez himself was seldom a designated ball carrier, and rushed for just 10 yards. His best run was not by design, as he scrambled down the sideline for a first down. Perhaps most stunning was his ability to read his first or second option on a pass play and then make a conscious decision to find his check down option. In that sense, sometimes his shortest throws were his most amazing.
Shaky Special Teams
There are downsides to today's performance. The first is Nebraska's special teams. They were far from special. Actually they were pretty ordinary, or worse. The Husker kickoff coverage unit gave up a momentum-stealing return for a touchdown. Brett Maher missed two kicks he normally makes. Absent that 13 point swing in the score, this game may have gotten out of hand sooner. Both of these issues are correctable. But, it needs to get fixed if NU has intentions on winning a conference title.
Injuries an Issue
The other painful issue in this game were the injuries. Burkhead has a sprained knee. The extent of his injury is unknown. Considering Pelini's reluctance to discuss anything related to an injury ("He's fine..."), fans may not know anything about his condition until if and when the super man in #22 trots back on to the field. Tim Marlowe also injured his shoulder in the first half. Steven Osborne subbed more very capably, but it's never good to lose a starter. Similarly, Ben Cotton caught one pass but then did not contribute again. Is he injured? Again, the back up - in this case Jake Long - played very well (3 catches and a touchdown), but teams don't want to tap in to their depth so soon in the year.
About the Defense
Potentially lost among the discussion of Nebraska's high-octane offense is how the NU defense did against Southern Miss. The first half showed a fair amount of blown assignments and missed tackles. It was not what a fan would call a "Blackshirt" performance. But, in fairness to the squad, they were clearly pumped up in the opening stanza. And, little was known about what USM's scheme would look like. They were playing on the fly early in the game.
In the stat sheet, it's a decent result - they gave up 260 yards, 13 offensive points and 17 first downs. The Golden Eagles converted half of their third downs. Nebraska won the turnover battle, (1-0), and generated more negative plays than they typically did a year ago. There are lots of areas in which this group can improve, but they looked fast and played with great effort. Those are good fundamentals from which to improve.
Next week, Nebraska moves on to take on UCLA in Pasadena, with or without Rex Burkhead. The Bruins were big winners over Rice in their opener. They should pose more of a challenge to Nebraska than Southern Miss did. To beat UCLA on the road, NU will need continued offensive production, more consistent defense and get its special teams issues resolved.
Wakita, Oklahoma
9/2/2012
I saw most of this game. I was impressed with Martinez, as was most people. Night and day difference from last year. I figured Pelini was dead set on passing more than past games.
Overall, a real nice opener but hated seeing Burkhead get injured.
I gotta tell ya though, it looks like Alabama is most likely going to go to the championship again, if they stay healthy.
Wakita, Oklahoma
9/2/2012
‘Were’ most people.
Oldham,SD
9/2/2012
I think this offense will be fully locked & loaded for the Bruins.
9/2/2012
Michigan State did not look good and either is Michigan. Very beatable, and from what I saw today, we got us a QB folks! Could not have gone better for Taylor, except maybe a breakout run.
9/2/2012
The offense looked great as a whole we definetely have some good players. The defense was a bit shaky at times gotta get that cleaned up. But this team has the potential to be pretty good.
I was really impressed with the Ameer he is gonna be good for us and Cross is a monster hard to believe hes a freshman.
Great game lets go get the next one. GBR!!
9/2/2012
Turnovers 2-0. Fumble (mishandled hand-off first half), INT at the end of the game.
9/2/2012
From what I saw today the D needs huge improvment like d-line to compete with the bigboys all thoe if rexs comes back completly heathy this is one hell of an exsplosive offense!!! The defense wouldn’t know what hit them!!!! GO BIG RED this year will be fun huskerland!!!
San Diego, Ca.
9/2/2012
On anything Nebraska did that led to execution issues
“The biggest thing was they man-handled us on the line. I thought that was obvious the whole game. The thing they did well was their tempo. They run a power offense with a temp, which is unusual, and we didn’t have the ability to keep up with them a couple of times. They have some plays in the offense that no matter what you run on defense it will be a successful play for them. When they can do that, I can’t imagine how well they did on third down.”
-Coach Johnson
I just wanted to copy the “power offense with a temp,” but the whole quote was so good…
I don’t know, maybe Alford didn’t set himself apart in fall practice, but if he’d played the whole game, certainly it’d have been closer.
I like the new shoes. Maybe they’ll go well with the Wisconsin game unis.
At this point, does anyone want to put a ceiling on T-Magic?
In an offense that finally accommodates him, with some extra tutelage, it was just “click and shoot.” Against this squad, anyway.
I thought the D got gouged with the run, but, final stats didn’t look to bad, under 4.0. Not worried about that, quite yet.
9/2/2012
Random: T-Mart you are the man we always hoped you would be.
Rexy - get well soon for your own mind, don’t worry about the team for now, it looks as though we can run the non-conference schedule with Ameer & Company.
Jamal - nice end around, keep on the coaches to give you more opportunities as you are a fantastic athlete.
Imani Cross - I have a daughter your age - Would you like to meet her?
9/2/2012
NU’s D line is not very good. I don’t see much improvement here because I personally think it’s a personnel issue. If the offense can play like that all season, it could be very interesting. I want to see consistency. The B1G in general looks down after week one.
9/2/2012
“Again, the back up - in this case Jake Long - played very well (3 catches and a touchdown), but teams don’t want to tap in to their depth so soon in the year. “
DISAGREE.
The last major criticism I have of Pelini (he has fixed the rest over the years- go Bo!) is his reluctance to put in the 2nd string, even if it means playing a semi-injured player. Not only is that a recipe for serious injuries, but you do not get the depth of talent Nebraska had in the 90s or teams like ‘Bama have now. For example: I am sure Kellogg is ready to step up now that he sat one or two drives longer than needed then handed the ball off repeatedly.
TLDR; No confidence in your 2nd string = no confident 2nd string players.
9/2/2012
Taylor Martinez’s critics should be silenced now. He was absolutely awesome. I’ve never seen him come close to passing the way he did yesterday. Most of his passes were right on and he put a nice zip on those balls to boot. Tight spirals. We got us a QB…that can throw…and run like crazy. Wow. I do wish he would have taken off on one of his romps but that’ll come. I’m still in shock! I guess you can legitimatly put him in the dual threat catagory now and no one can argue. Boy was Gery DiNardo wrong! I am just flabbergasted at how much he came out showing the improvements he’s made over the off season. It looks like a whole different offense, but I’m sure a lot of that had to do with Rex not being out there. They didn’t get in much option.
The defense looked a little flustered. The offense is way ahead of them, but you could see good work being done. They’ll get better.
Tampa Fl
9/2/2012
Taylor is where he needs to be, and will improve as the season goes along! The offensive line looked better than last year. Ameer started to actually run the ball with some attitude later in the game which was missing last year. Heard was running better than he did last year. Cross is just going to become a monster for us! Over all it was nice to see that Superman can sit on the bench and this team still functions at a high level. I can only imagine a health Rex and this offense in a full game!
The defense that is another story. I think last year they were down, and I would say that the front line got handled yesterday more than last year. Our linebackers have to pick it up and start making better decisions. There were flashes of this during the game that gives me hope. Our backs for the most part did ok; I would have expected a bit more out of them playing Southern Miss. Not taking anything away from Southern Miss, but UCLA is going to pass better than they did. That front four needs to find a way to be dominant up front, and they need to find that soon. When we start conference play, that is where it starts at, and it finishes with the linebackers, and from what I seen yesterday we are not there on defense.
The special teams need to find the formula again. The return doesn’t bother me too much, as that could be a misstep or a very good key block. What does bother me, is two missed field goals from inside the 50, a really bad kick-off, and a few punts that was not impressive. I don’t know if Brett was trying too hard to live up to the All-American label or not, but he needs to get back to where he was last year and in a hurry. We will need him down the road, and he needs to be on ice when we do.
I don’t want to see us waste a prolific offense again, while the rest of the team is struggling to stay in the game. We will see next week if they start to break some of this loose and start to play like a great team, which is what I am waiting to see from them! In the mean time, I am loving this offense!
GBR!
Washington, D.C.
9/2/2012
Does anyone have any info on Mohammad Seisay? I was looking forward to watching him yesterday and never saw him. I checked the depth chart today and he wasn’t even listed.
9/2/2012
Still work to do on both sides of the ball, but at least we didn’t come out flat like OU against cream puff UTEP…..
San Diego, Ca.
9/2/2012
dtw26,
Seisay tweeked an ankle.
9/2/2012
I was going to say as well to dtw26 seisay has a high ankle sprain thoes take time it may cause him several games to come back from thoes exspecially at the corner spot witch is so important getting in and out of cuts and breaks!!!
Thornton, CO
9/2/2012
That was an absolutely amazing game the Martinez had!
Him going to the Manning camp and all the offseason work he did has paid off immensely. Now lets just hope he doesnt revert to his old ways!!!
I will be doing a T Majic wallpaper and it will be up by the end of the week at http://wickedwallz.blogspot.com/
California
9/3/2012
Whats the over/under on blkshirts age?
I am going with 10.
9/3/2012
I saw majority of game but missed sum due to work. But where was Charles Jacksoniam really hyped about him since last year. But hats off to martinez knew he had it in him but guea that off season qb coach paid of. And agree our defense needs some work. Imagine if we would play Ohio st tomarow and wat points they would rack up on us. I truly bealive only reason y we beat Ohio st last year was bc miller got injured
9/3/2012
Where are all the MArtinez Haters??? Sure they were ready to throw a kid under the bus as a sophmore, now no where to be found??? Im not saying the kids perfect as a qb, just that we should back our players especially ones that are in the developmental stage.. Martinez has took strides as QB each year… Yes last year he wasnt as crisp of a runner ( mainly beause we couldnt put him in the sitiuations due to lack of depth, the guy everyone wanted to see CARNES is 4th on the depth chart this year) , and yes his passsing was down, but the kid was asked to do things he wasnt use to doing and throws he wasnt use to making,, ..He improved his deciscion making last year, and now it looks like the throwing motion is heading in the right direction….
I loved the fact that the Martinez haters have to wait awhile before they can get back to bashing him.. WAY TO GO MARTINEZ AND GO BIG RED !!!!
PS Cant wait to see a repeat game from you while in the stands of the Rose Bowl next Weeked!!
California
9/3/2012
I still do not like our defense’s ability to stop a dual threat QB, but after watching Wisky and Sparty I like our chances in those two games. Hard to tell about Robinson v Alabama due to the Crimson Tide D, but OSU with Braxton will be tough if Pelini & co cannot figure out how to stop that type of QB. And Northwestern & UCLA could be nasty surprises if the D doesn’t step up.
9/3/2012
There are a couple of things I took away from the game.
First, the receivers didn’t drop balls. I can’t stress enough how much that helped T-Magic’s completion percentage. They caught the ball when it hit them in the hands.
The offensive line was dominant all game long. There was only one sack that I can remember and that was in the second quarter. In the 4th quarter they were still going strong and pushed a thinner team around. That’s what we expect from the pipeline.
Our d-line looked to be playing the same gameplan that they have played the last 2 seasons. It hasn’t been effective and it really wasn’t this weekend. They didn’t give up many long rushes, but they gave up quite a few 5-10 yard plays.
The pass defense was good. Even the touchdown they threw was a result of poor tackling.
Overall this was an excellent opening win and it answered a few questions. Martinez looked to be much improved. Let’s hope he can continue it this Saturday against UCLA.
9/4/2012
I agree with bugeater. The inability/unwillingness of Bo to play the 2nd/3rd players on the depth chart could come back to haunt him. I don’t understand it. Why do we recruit these kids and put a uniform on them if all they are going to do is stand on the sideline? Could that be why some of our top recruits have decided to go elsewhere?
9/4/2012
Mark
The only 2nd/3rd string players that didnt get much playing time was Qb.. and dont expect to see Armstrong, not redshirting him would be stupid.. Also they played pretty much their entire travel roster, I think the reason the top recruits that have left the program, left is because to many people place them into starting postions before they earned it.. Trust me they hear the hype and then start to wonder why not me.. Not to mention its the first game, you want to make sure your top guys and backups get enough plays together to get a good feel of each other at top speed.. Dont be worried about not getting alot of kids in to game one.. If you dont see more of them by Arkansas State/ Idaho State then by all means complain , ILL BE WITH YA .. but we had a lot of guys playing in this game..
These are the guys I remember seeing, plus Im sure plenty got in on special teams..
RB- We had 1st Burkhead 2nd Ameer , 3rd Heard ,4th Cross
FB- Marrow , Zimmerman, Stoddard
TE- Cotton , REED , Long, McDermot
WR- This could take a while, 1 Enunwa, 1 Marlowe, 1 Bell,2 Turner, 2Allen, 2 Osborne, 3Wallababer ,3 Evans
OL- Brent Qvale,Brandon Thompson,Seung Hoon Choi, Jake Cotton,Justin Jackson,Cole Pensick,Mark Pelini,Spencer Long,Brodrick Nickens Ryne Reeves Jeremiah Sirles,Andrew Rodriguez
DE- Ankrah, Carter, Meredith, Martin, Moss
DT- Rome, Steinkuhler, Williams, Steinkuhler, Curry
LBS- Fischer, Waley, Compton, Roach, Zaire , Compton.. Also with southermiss offense the way it is there wasnt much playing time for LBS in general
DBS-
Andrew Green, Antonio Bell, Daniel Davie,P.J. Smith, Harvey Jackson,Corey Cooper, Daimion Stafford, Courtney Osborne, Justin Blatchford,Josh Mitchell,Stanley Jean-Baptiste, Ciante Evans, Charles Jackson
9/4/2012
Also I think Pelini let Martinez have his day.. Hes been getting a lot of negativity from the press and some fans.. I think it was his way of giving him his due
payson, utah
9/4/2012
Of all the games last week, T-Mart leads the country in pass tds. Hopefully, this confidence lasts all season long. GBR!