This team feels so close yet really far away from being good at same time
Defense has absolutely taken the next step and Chins has simply developed into legit Power 5 coordinator. Ty Robinson is no longer getting moved like he was as a Freshman (development) which has solidified that dline. Playing behind this line Henrich and Reimers have been extremely effective against the run and well above average againsty pass (developoment). The secondary has been very good and we seen coverage skills from Williams I didn't think he possessed (development). We have also seen great development with guys like Tannor and Nelson who initially looked like they were in over there heads and are now effective power 5 players. This is now a good defense that is physical and effective against both running and passing. Teams like Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota will no longer be able to run the ball down our throat and win games. There QB's will have to make some plays. This defense is probably a high end pass rusher from being and elite college defense.
This gets us to Martinez. He is finally developing into the QB some thought he could be after freshman year. His decision making and his accuracy have finally started showing improvement on game day. He appears to be in excellent shape and even quicker than freshman year and he is avoiding large collisions and protecting ball better well when he runs. His current QB rating of 167 is 27 points higher than freshman year and he is averaging 70 YPG rushing with only 1 fumble. To put this in perspective following are rating for key west teams and not of these guys present a mobile threat.
Minnesota - 140( Martinez freshman year), Solid QB but not the guy that Johnson and Bateman made him look like in 2019
Iowa - 112, Petras is not good but he protects ball. Iowa is a legit QB away from being a true top 5 team but beatable if a team is patient on offense and doesn't force things.
Wisconsin - 110, Significantly worse than any Martinez year at this point.
Northwestern 114, see Wisconsin
All remaining games are very winnable for this team but also losable if line doesn't develop and some key personnel decisions are not made.
With Martinez development along with Manning/Betts we are also now seeing good WR play and good TE play which makes me feel better about leadership in those position groups along with QB room after seeing Martinez this year and Logan look like he possesses tools to play at this level. His arm will never be elite, but it is not the noodle we saw last year from our 2nd string QB. It also makes me feel good that they could theoretically develop a guy like Haarberg or Torres.
This gets us to Special teams and Oline which is why we are now 2-2 and has consistently been bad for 3 years.
While it has been blasted (rightfully so) there have been noticeable improvements overshadowed by individual player performances that have killed this team. Kickoffs have been through endzone and covered well when they are not. Punt coverage was good against OU once pryzstup replaced Cerni and effectively kicked the ball. Punt returns unit has been absolutely fine when CTB is not back there. I believe Toure or Martin need to return all future punts. Toure gets out of the way when he should, communicates with team mates ands got the nice 10 yard return against OU to setup a short field. Coaching would be easy if you have 85 guys like Toure. By simply playing Martin/Toure over CTB and playing Pryzstup the overall Kick/Put coverage and return game has been acceptable. Frost needs to figure out why these types of decisions where not made prior to Illinois game. Do we sneek out Illinois game if Toure is returning punts and Pryztup is effective as punter.
This gets us to Culp. Outside of the Piper trip on PAT the only issue with the field goal unit has been Culp missing kicks. Had he been playing like last year we would have won at least 1 of the two games against Illinois and OU. I don't necessarily blame the staff for Culp to this point as he is a former All Big Ten player. I do blame them if its not addressed moving forward. They have to either get him healthy mentally/physically or find someone else to do this job even if at a slightly below average level as he has been flat terrible to this point and cannot continue to play if this doesn't change immediately. I would personally bench him and make him re-win the job in practice to show accountability and just find the next best guy. Know what his range is and then go for it on 4th or punt when you get in situations he doesn't convert in practice.
Overall I believe replacing CTB/Cerni and either getting Culp right or replacing him solves 90% of your special teams issue. I don't want dudes playing scared but there has to be more accountability from this staff when individual players decisions and or performance is consistently impacting the teams chances to win. CTB got to many chances when you have other guys like Toure or Martin that can do it. Cam Jurgens should have had to sit on bench a couple games for snap issues last year. Culp has to be accountable as I guarantee there are players that can perform at the level he has these last two game. I love Corcorans potential but he has to start performing or someone else gets a shot until he is prepared to perform.
Oline - How they perform over next 8 games along with FG kicker will largely determine how remaining season unfolds and possibly this staff's tenure here.
I fail to believe with high end athletes like Corcoran, Benhart, Jurgens and Prochazka. Along with a number of solid middle level recruits like Piper, Sichtermann, Bando, Miller and Noudini that we can't find five guys that should have developed to at least point of being serviceable to slightly above average to start the year. I realize that Bando is sick and Corcoran missed fall camp but but when you start looking at Allen's track record he has only fielded one solid line in 2018 (all key guys other coaches developed) and that included 2019-2020 where he had multiple future Pros but still had bad offensive lines.
The simple fact of the matter is Frost is the steward of Nebraska football at this point. If he wants to continue to be he needs to let Chin's do his thing and I believe he does that. He needs to let Lubock mostly call the plays and I believe he is doing that now for most part. He needs to focus on program and he needs to ensure hard player personnel decisions are made if they are in best interest of the team. He needs to ensure that all the coaches are performing at a high level. He needs to spend offseason analyzing other teams that do things better than he and his staff does so he can improve and he needs to develop better relationships with his players so offensive retention is better. He doesn't need to be perfect in this area but needs to be constantly improving if he wants to continue making five millioin per year. Not really and unfair ask.
His decision to hire once of his best friends as DC turned out to be spot on and is saving his ass right now. He owes it to Chins, he owes it to the rest of staff who are mostly doing there job, he owes it to the fans and he mostly owes it to himself and his Nebraska legacy to go and out and immediately analyze fixable issues with himself and team and then to potentially make 2-3 or three really tough decisions with players ands coaches that could completely change outcome for this season and setup 2022 as being a huge program and legacy defining year for him.
I truly believe this is what Trev is looking for as he watches this season unfold and determines what is best for Husker football as we move forward. Frost is in better position than most coaches who eventually get fired. He has everything he needs right now with this roster and probably 90% of coaching staff to start winning games now and setup 2022 as huge year. Does he have the foresight and cajones to fix the things that can be fixed, start winning enough games where are now capable (every game on schedule is winnable with this defense, this QB/WR core and overall talent on two deep). If he takes care of the things he has control over recruiting will take care of itself and 2022 could setup to be a breakthrough year. If he is not willing to to admit and address issues within himself and program then I don't see things that have continued to be a problem ever being addressed and his tenure will end in only one way.
Defense has absolutely taken the next step and Chins has simply developed into legit Power 5 coordinator. Ty Robinson is no longer getting moved like he was as a Freshman (development) which has solidified that dline. Playing behind this line Henrich and Reimers have been extremely effective against the run and well above average againsty pass (developoment). The secondary has been very good and we seen coverage skills from Williams I didn't think he possessed (development). We have also seen great development with guys like Tannor and Nelson who initially looked like they were in over there heads and are now effective power 5 players. This is now a good defense that is physical and effective against both running and passing. Teams like Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota will no longer be able to run the ball down our throat and win games. There QB's will have to make some plays. This defense is probably a high end pass rusher from being and elite college defense.
This gets us to Martinez. He is finally developing into the QB some thought he could be after freshman year. His decision making and his accuracy have finally started showing improvement on game day. He appears to be in excellent shape and even quicker than freshman year and he is avoiding large collisions and protecting ball better well when he runs. His current QB rating of 167 is 27 points higher than freshman year and he is averaging 70 YPG rushing with only 1 fumble. To put this in perspective following are rating for key west teams and not of these guys present a mobile threat.
Minnesota - 140( Martinez freshman year), Solid QB but not the guy that Johnson and Bateman made him look like in 2019
Iowa - 112, Petras is not good but he protects ball. Iowa is a legit QB away from being a true top 5 team but beatable if a team is patient on offense and doesn't force things.
Wisconsin - 110, Significantly worse than any Martinez year at this point.
Northwestern 114, see Wisconsin
All remaining games are very winnable for this team but also losable if line doesn't develop and some key personnel decisions are not made.
With Martinez development along with Manning/Betts we are also now seeing good WR play and good TE play which makes me feel better about leadership in those position groups along with QB room after seeing Martinez this year and Logan look like he possesses tools to play at this level. His arm will never be elite, but it is not the noodle we saw last year from our 2nd string QB. It also makes me feel good that they could theoretically develop a guy like Haarberg or Torres.
This gets us to Special teams and Oline which is why we are now 2-2 and has consistently been bad for 3 years.
While it has been blasted (rightfully so) there have been noticeable improvements overshadowed by individual player performances that have killed this team. Kickoffs have been through endzone and covered well when they are not. Punt coverage was good against OU once pryzstup replaced Cerni and effectively kicked the ball. Punt returns unit has been absolutely fine when CTB is not back there. I believe Toure or Martin need to return all future punts. Toure gets out of the way when he should, communicates with team mates ands got the nice 10 yard return against OU to setup a short field. Coaching would be easy if you have 85 guys like Toure. By simply playing Martin/Toure over CTB and playing Pryzstup the overall Kick/Put coverage and return game has been acceptable. Frost needs to figure out why these types of decisions where not made prior to Illinois game. Do we sneek out Illinois game if Toure is returning punts and Pryztup is effective as punter.
This gets us to Culp. Outside of the Piper trip on PAT the only issue with the field goal unit has been Culp missing kicks. Had he been playing like last year we would have won at least 1 of the two games against Illinois and OU. I don't necessarily blame the staff for Culp to this point as he is a former All Big Ten player. I do blame them if its not addressed moving forward. They have to either get him healthy mentally/physically or find someone else to do this job even if at a slightly below average level as he has been flat terrible to this point and cannot continue to play if this doesn't change immediately. I would personally bench him and make him re-win the job in practice to show accountability and just find the next best guy. Know what his range is and then go for it on 4th or punt when you get in situations he doesn't convert in practice.
Overall I believe replacing CTB/Cerni and either getting Culp right or replacing him solves 90% of your special teams issue. I don't want dudes playing scared but there has to be more accountability from this staff when individual players decisions and or performance is consistently impacting the teams chances to win. CTB got to many chances when you have other guys like Toure or Martin that can do it. Cam Jurgens should have had to sit on bench a couple games for snap issues last year. Culp has to be accountable as I guarantee there are players that can perform at the level he has these last two game. I love Corcorans potential but he has to start performing or someone else gets a shot until he is prepared to perform.
Oline - How they perform over next 8 games along with FG kicker will largely determine how remaining season unfolds and possibly this staff's tenure here.
I fail to believe with high end athletes like Corcoran, Benhart, Jurgens and Prochazka. Along with a number of solid middle level recruits like Piper, Sichtermann, Bando, Miller and Noudini that we can't find five guys that should have developed to at least point of being serviceable to slightly above average to start the year. I realize that Bando is sick and Corcoran missed fall camp but but when you start looking at Allen's track record he has only fielded one solid line in 2018 (all key guys other coaches developed) and that included 2019-2020 where he had multiple future Pros but still had bad offensive lines.
The simple fact of the matter is Frost is the steward of Nebraska football at this point. If he wants to continue to be he needs to let Chin's do his thing and I believe he does that. He needs to let Lubock mostly call the plays and I believe he is doing that now for most part. He needs to focus on program and he needs to ensure hard player personnel decisions are made if they are in best interest of the team. He needs to ensure that all the coaches are performing at a high level. He needs to spend offseason analyzing other teams that do things better than he and his staff does so he can improve and he needs to develop better relationships with his players so offensive retention is better. He doesn't need to be perfect in this area but needs to be constantly improving if he wants to continue making five millioin per year. Not really and unfair ask.
His decision to hire once of his best friends as DC turned out to be spot on and is saving his ass right now. He owes it to Chins, he owes it to the rest of staff who are mostly doing there job, he owes it to the fans and he mostly owes it to himself and his Nebraska legacy to go and out and immediately analyze fixable issues with himself and team and then to potentially make 2-3 or three really tough decisions with players ands coaches that could completely change outcome for this season and setup 2022 as being a huge program and legacy defining year for him.
I truly believe this is what Trev is looking for as he watches this season unfold and determines what is best for Husker football as we move forward. Frost is in better position than most coaches who eventually get fired. He has everything he needs right now with this roster and probably 90% of coaching staff to start winning games now and setup 2022 as huge year. Does he have the foresight and cajones to fix the things that can be fixed, start winning enough games where are now capable (every game on schedule is winnable with this defense, this QB/WR core and overall talent on two deep). If he takes care of the things he has control over recruiting will take care of itself and 2022 could setup to be a breakthrough year. If he is not willing to to admit and address issues within himself and program then I don't see things that have continued to be a problem ever being addressed and his tenure will end in only one way.
