A Hot Political Debate on a Truly Hot Topic: The Huskers' Starting Quarterback
by Husker Mike on Aug 11, 2010 6:00 AM CDT
in Nebraska Husker Football
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PrintThe heat seems to be getting to folks. Whether it's President Obama, Arizona's immigration laws, or Omaha's police contract, a lot of people have strongly held (and voiced!) opinions. Just listen to talk radio, Fox News, or MSNBC. The problem with these issues is that it's easier to talk (or in some cases, scream) about them than they are to solve. In the end, I'm not sure there are going to be any winners of these debates.
Maybe it's time to turn the focus onto a different topic: one where we all seem to have different opinions, but we all want the same thing. Who's going to lead the Huskers' offense in 2010?
The good news on this debate is that we will find an answer eventually. Might find out about it next week, or maybe next month. Hopefully not later than that, but you never know. In the meantime, everybody seems to have an opinion on this. The best part about it: in the end, I think we'll all come together in the end on this debate. I'm not so sure about it with those political topics.
We all know the cast of characters: it's going to be a three man race between senior Zac Lee, sophomore Cody Green, or redshirt freshman Taylor Martinez. Kody Spano is not part of the 105 man preseason practice squad, as he's still recovering from his ACL injury. Brion Carnes is just now being introduced to the Husker offense, and seems to be heading for a redshirt season.
Each candidate has his own attributes and negatives. Zac Lee is the experienced guy who fought through injuries last fall, but also had his issues last fall. Lee looked extremely uncomfortable running the ball early in the season, but seemed to improve as the season went on, and actually looked serviceable in the Holiday Bowl. Cody Green is the talented dual-threat quarterback who's got the arm and the wheels to be great. He started at Baylor and looked good at times, but struggled at others. In brief stints against Oklahoma and Texas, at times he looked like a turnover just waiting to happen as freshman nerves seemed to take over.
Taylor Martinez is the guy with all the buzz. He wowed fans in the spring game showing his elusiveness, but that's the only time fans have seen him on the field. The rumor mill is full of stories of Martinez and how he just seems to have that "it" factor that legends are made of. But he's never played a single down of college football.
The coaches have made it clear that this is a wide open battle, and we might not have a clear-cut starter by the opening game. It could stretch through the first few games, and possibly change as the season goes on.
It sounds like Lee has recovered completely from his injury, and is bringing a sense of command to the huddle, having spent the offseason not only trying to mend his arm but also learn from his mistakes last season. But so did Cody Green, who worked on his mental game as well. We very well might have heard the same thing from Taylor Martinez, if he were allowed to speak to reporters. (Nebraska has a policy that a player is off-limits for interviews until he plays in an actual game.)
So what do you think? Who's going to be the quarterback this season? How soon will we know? Do you have a personal favorite? Add your comments below; if you aren't a member of CornNation, just click on the red box on the right side of the screen and "Start posting about the Cornhuskers".
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With the opportunity this year
before the team…I’d go with Lee. If this were a rebuilding year, Martinez…but we’’re ranked too high with big expectations to turn it over to a redshirt freshman. Even Touchdown Tommie and Turner struggled as freshmen and that’s serious talent. That’s based just on what I know, which isn’t much. What we don’’t know is who really grew over the summer and how much.
My opinion is...
Lee will start the season, get pulled halfway through the Washington game and green or martinez will have to step in to save the win. Then the rest of the season the starts will be split between the 3. I don’t really care who starts as long as we have the best guy on the field every week that gives us the best chance of winning! GO BIG RED!!!
When
you look at the players surrounding the quarterbacks, you see a lot of guys who can be very productive…. Roy Helu, Rex Burkhead at the RB’s and Paul, Kinnie and McNeill as receivers.
You get the idea that quarterback play doesn’t have to be fantastic, but the key will be ball security. That’s where the decision-making will come in – whatever guy gets the call had better be damned good at making decisions about passing. Lee threw too many interceptions last season, Green was pretty raw, and Martinez… well… raw squared.
I don’t think we can rely on running the ball – someone is going to have to get the ball to our receivers and they’re going to have to make plays. I think they can, but again, who’s going to get them the ball?
That’s where I think Zac Lee is still miles ahead of the other guys.
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Obviously . . .
…money would be on the 5th year senior. It’s easy to look at him and say, well, the other two guys just don’t have the game experience. (remember nobody has game experience to start with, not even Lee last year). And a healthy, year older more experienced Zac just may be the ticket.
I don’t want another offense like last year. And although Zac was injured and he may have well improved a good bit since then, playing him will ultimately result in a 2011 repeat of 2009. We will have an inexperienced QB coming up soon regardless if it’s this year or next.
I’d be looking really hard at Taylor Martinez/Cody Green and mainly because if it’s such a close QB race between the three and nothing really separates them, why not go with a red-shirted Freshman/ true Sophomore who has 4/3 years of playing eligibility left? I also think any of the QB’s (including Kellogg Jr and Washington who weren’t mentioned) can win 8+ games with the surrounding talent and easier schedule.
If Zac really gives us that much more of a chance to win simply because he doesn’t turn it over, then we should just run a wildcat all game with Helu/Burkhead at QB and ditch the position all together.
the thing is
the schedule this season is set up in such a way that this year’s team needs to make this year a big one.
If we can get to an average offense, and our defense is top 10 again in scoring defense, we could be a contender for a Big 12 title and possibly more. That will all change in 2011 as everything changes, and if that means going through inexperience again next season, then so be it.
I’d guess we’ll see a fair amount of wildcat, but if we can’t threaten with the pass out of that formation, we’ll get stuffed. It worked well against Arizona because they weren’t expecting it. That won’t work again – people will be aware of it and ready to defend.
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by Jon Johnston on Aug 11, 2010 3:13 PM CDT up reply actions
I Like this ..................(been on facebook too long)
With your ditch QB scenario above Helu/Burkhead. I think that would be awesome except I would go with Helu/Martinez/Burkhead and as the season progressed you could start getting Martinez more and more playing time until eventually we had a QB. I will not say anymore about Zero Lee and as for Green…..well he just seems green.
To me it seems pretty obvious that Lee was the guy
When healthy and decently protected, he was pretty clearly a serviceable quarterback, and that’s all we need this year. Martinez is talented, but raw, and after watching him last season and in the spring game, I’ve concluded Green will never be the starting qb at Nebraska. He’s got the physical tools, but we can’t have a guy throwing 3+ ints every game, and he just doesn’t seem to be improving at all.
Barring injury, I think Lee will start every game and play the whole game with special situations (tmart in the Wild Corn maybe) and garbage time being the only exceptions.
"My hardest job is to convince the people of Nebraska that 10-1 is not a losing season." - Tom Osborne
Lee IS* the guy...sry about that
"My hardest job is to convince the people of Nebraska that 10-1 is not a losing season." - Tom Osborne
Lee shoud be the starter, there is to much riding on this season to have a true freshman taking over. As for Green I do not believe he will ever be the QB at Nebraska he is not impressive by any means. Lee injury free has what it takes to help the offense thrive, and possibly do great things this year. Get Taylor some experience this year early and in small situations throughout this season and he will be the QB of the future. GBR
Cody Green was a freshman last year..
I’m not ready to throw him under the bus. That being said, I did like what I saw out of Taylor Martinez in the spring game.
My informal pecking order after the spring game was Lee, Martinez, Green. But the job is wide open for anybody to grab, and I’m hoping we see some separation sooner than later…
Cody Green doesn't have IT?
I’m sure glad none of you guys were making the QB decisions back in ‘96 after Scott Frost appeared lost against ASU. Green doesn’t have it / won’t ever be the QB at Nebraska? You guys don’t need much of a sample to make your decision, it’s gonna be real hard for you guys to find a quarterback though cause I got news for you, most true frosh QB’s struggle.
all the same GBR
NewYorksker
Heck...some fans didn't think Scott Frost had "it" after the Central Florida game in '97...
Remember the boos?
And some Husker fans didn’t think Eric Crouch had “it” either.
by Husker Mike on Aug 11, 2010 10:17 PM CDT up reply actions
If they are all truely even then I feel they have to go with an underclassmen. If both underclassmen are even then I think it will go to Green.
If they are even why give he senior the nod? I know maturity and all that hooplaw but if they are even then that’s not an issue. I think the younger guy gets it because he will be the future. If you can get the quarterback of the future more experience without a talent an WIN dropoff then why wouldn’t we?
Now if it comes down to an underclassmen its got to go to Green. I know Martinez looked spectacular running in the spring game but it is more than just athleticism. Green will have a year ahead in the quarterback playbook on Martinez. The inability to open the playbook with Green last year was a major knock against Green.
Now with all of that being said I think Lee is the guy! If a coach comes into fall camp and says “Lee is our starter, Green and Martinez should be in the mix next year.” What motivation does that give either backup to push the starter? And if Lee is already named starter what motivation does he have to push himself to improve? I think it was just a ploy to get Green and Martinez to push Lee to improve.
by huskerhank21 on Aug 12, 2010 12:41 AM CDT via mobile reply actions
I'll be stunned...
If Zac Lee doesn’t start the first game. However, I do think that both Green and Martinez will get LONG hard looks with early playing time leading up to the Washington game. If they can give a spark to the offense, while they may not start at Washington, they may at least give Pelini and Watson a reason to consider pulling Lee if he struggles.
If Lee plays well, not great, but just good—then obviously, he’ll go most of the way during the season. With this defense, the entire offense doesn’t have to be great—just good, and a LOT better than last year.
Last year, unfortunately, we didn’t really have a back-up plan at QB. They tried Green in a limited role, but as was pointed out, he had freshman jitters, and Pelini and Watson didn’t have much confidence to let him work through those. I think they felt “stuck” with Lee. They knew they weren’t going to score a lot—but also knew they didn’t have to as long as the offense didn’t turn it over and commit costly penalties. For MOST of the season it worked—but obviously backfired against several teams, notably Iowa State and Texas Tech.
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