First off, thank you for the question—it’s a good one.
The number one thing that Husker Nation needs to remember is that it’s not 1997 anymore. The last BCS bowl game Nebraska made it to was a decade ago and we were blown out in that game with a Heisman quarterback under center.
This year’s Rose and Fiesta bowls were a clear indication that Nebraska is not even on the same wavelength as these high powered offensive teams. So let’s work in reverse.
To win a BCS bowl game we need to win a B1G championship, to win that we need to get to it, which means we need to win a division championship. This season the losses were to Wisconsin, Northwestern, and Michigan, one win against those teams and we’re in.
Wisconsin: Taylor was atrocious. Regardless of his running threat, you CAN NOT throw interceptions like that to a team that can score at will. The secondary, which was up and down all year could not contain All B1G receivers and the D-Line, which has been slow and hasn’t forced anybody to make quick decisions (See: Fresno St., Northwestern, Wisconsin). Nebraska with a legitimate pocket passer could not have dug out of the interception hole. Nebraska, on the road, with that secondary performance could’ve made this game competitive, but in the long run would not have been able to take over.
Northwestern: Red Zone turnovers will kill you. Taylor Martinez was 28-37 289yds and 2TDs. He also averaged 4.4yds on the ground. The defense gives up over 450 yards of offense. Nebraska beat themselves in that game.
Michigan: If Kenny Bell doesn’t fumble that 2nd half kickoff its 17-17 and Nebraska gets back on track. He doesn’t, woulda-shoulda-coulda and now Beck has Martinez throwing all over the field to try and get quick points. This is clearly not the offense we practice day in and day out, a myriad of penalties and next thing you know the game is out of hand. Not to mention the blackshirts gave up 45 points.
But when it’s all said and done we needed ONE of those games to make the conference championship, Northwestern could’ve been that game. What Nebraska needs is an identity.
The running quarterbacks of the 90s threw between 12-15 times a game. Regardless of the score. That’s offensive line play, that’s blackshirt defense, it’s solid special teams. The last “pocket passer” we had was Zac Taylor, who was servicable, but he also had WR’s that made plays. Herian, Peterson, Swift, Purify, Nunn (don’t fumble!) and the 4 headed monster of Lucky, Jackson, Wilson, Glenn. The point? They made conference championships in spite of a poor defense. We just need ONE SIDE to show up.
My final point is this: Nebraska can compete, but it starts with defense. Is Taylor Martinez going to win a Davey O’Brien award? No. But he can be servicable if we get an O-Line and a play-calling strategy that works with his skill set. When he makes throws right on the numbers, he is effective (there were at least 5 blatant drops yesterday) in the 3rd down conversion stat. It takes a team to win games, and Burkhead can’t be expected to win conference championships on his own.
As a life long Nebraska fan I say this: I won’t want to just “win” I want domination. We need to be tough, we need to get scored on and say “Never again” and beat people 42-7, like the pre-game prayer says. Get better and better until we can’t be beat. Won’t. Be. Beat.
