Armstrong: "Treat me like a freshman"

[BigRedBuster]

I feel like this is something to an extent that you either have or you don't. He can practice when to take off and run and when to just throw it away but it seems difficult to change his entire thought process through an entire play.

I don't disagree, but when the individual doesn't seem willing to even try to adapt to a new role, regardless of his limits to actually fulfill his new obligations, why should he be given another chance to show he will listen and try to adapt?

I think he has tried. I think it's fair or inaccurate to claim he doesn't even try.

I didn't say TA doesn't work hard to Get better, I think he selectively chooses what instruction from MR and Langs to accept and internalize, but pays lip service to the rest. The 4th and 1 play you mentioned in the prior post is an example of that. All pre-season we heard how one of the keys to the new offense was for the QB to take to open check down and short routes often. There were even stories where both Langs and MR talked about doing film room study with TA showing him how those routes are open on almost every single play. There was a ton of importance put on it, yet what does TA do in tight spots this past year, he tries to force it deep. We heard he walked out on practice before Iowa because he was frustrated with the criticism from Langs about him needing to be more efficient. Can you imagine how frustrating it must be for Langs and MR to sound like a broken record? TA paid all of that instruction lip service, heck he talked it up to the press in Spring and Fall, yet he didn't heed it in the games.

I'm not sure we have enough info to make that claim. If certain parts of the game are hard for you and you keep making the mistakes, that doesn't mean you haven't tried. It just means you have difficulty doing that.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

I honestly don't care how TA throws the ball or how is mechanics are. It's his decision making that gets him in trouble. The coaches are also somewhat responsible for that as well. They totally misused TA. He is a gifted dual threat QB, more so in the running department. To not take advantage of that every chance they could get was ludicrous,.

My understanding is that the coaches always empowered Tommy with a run/pass option, and wished he would have run more given the open field, instead of waiting for his deep receiver to get separation, which sometimes never happened.

As for designed QB runs, I think we could have tried a few more. Really liked the bootlegs we ran, which you can only get away with a couple times a game.

I honestly don't miss the zone read spread option as a bread and butter offense. Felt like more defenses had figured it out.

8 carries a game seems low for a QB with Armstrong's legs. It might reflect a lack of faith in Tommy's back-ups. Hopefully a Senior Tommy Armstrong, going for broke, with a genuine QB threat waiting on the bench makes a difference.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Armstrong is being treated like a sophomore. A sophomore named Joe Dailey. Hopefullly, POB will turn out to be another Zac Taylor.

You're every bit as bad as the guy that got banned yesterday. Every post has to contain a jab somewhere. Your schtick is old.

Wait. Who got banned?

 

[Sargon]

I think POB will beat him out. However, the OP is encouraging. If one asked "if I could change one thing about Tommy what would it be?" I guess the top answer would be "improve QB IQ." At least it appears he's going to try to address it.

 

[4skers89]

Armstrong is being treated like a sophomore. A sophomore named Joe Dailey. Hopefullly, POB will turn out to be another Zac Taylor.

You're every bit as bad as the guy that got banned yesterday. Every post has to contain a jab somewhere. Your schtick is old.

Wait. Who got banned?

74 no more. I'm going to start using the "mods, cleanup in thread _____" button, AKA "report" for posts that do nothing but take swipes at the coaching staff. Not that I'm enamored with the coaches but 'tis recruiting season and better to be safe and not let the garbage pile up.

 

[zoogs]

*snip*

By "bad season", what I mean is: if either Tommy doesn't become a star, or POB has to start at all, we're probably looking at a 4-loss type season as a ceiling. Even if POB has a great future, it's fairly atypical for a true freshman to deliver like that, especially on a team that isn't exactly in an overwhelming power position elsewhere on the roster.

So that's part of my rooting for Tommy, too. I have a ton of doubts about whether he's going to earn the job next year, but the only storyline where Nebraska can achieve a breakthrough in 2016 is if their senior QB evolves into a star. It's that or growing pains.

Follow-up article w/Riley's comments: Riley has had QBs make big steps as seniors

"It always applies to the individual, and I don't take credit for that, but I have great stories about it," Riley said.

He brings up Matt Moore and Derek Anderson as two quarterbacks he had at Oregon State who improved greatly in their final year. Moore, in fact, actually threw more picks as a junior than Armstrong has so far.

I like this message.

 

[Thanks_Tom RR]

Talks cheap, put the results on the field.

Yep. Off-season rhetoric (or near off-season as it were) is easy. Grind now until the end of next season. That is the only way to be successful.
I know that is obvious, but as much as I have continued to support TA, he has to show me something before I will believe change is coming.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Armstrong is being treated like a sophomore. A sophomore named Joe Dailey. Hopefullly, POB will turn out to be another Zac Taylor.

You're every bit as bad as the guy that got banned yesterday. Every post has to contain a jab somewhere. Your schtick is old.

Wait. Who got banned?

74 no more. I'm going to start using the "mods, cleanup in thread _____" button, AKA "report" for posts that do nothing but take swipes at the coaching staff. Not that I'm enamored with the coaches but 'tis recruiting season and better to be safe and not let the garbage pile up.

Gosh, I didn't think 74 Hunter was even the worst of the one-note bunch. Seemed respectful of other opinions even if he relentlessly repeated himself.

Again, I find the repetitive nature and negative obsessions a bit irritating, but I really don't like seeing viewpoints banned.

 

[cornographic]

If TA actually was a freshman making freshman mistakes, then there's no prob. The deal is, he was a a junior making freshman mistakes, and some of those were really bad ones that cost us games. As a junior, he should have been going through his reads better and not forcing balls, throwing it up for grabs, etc. Sorry, not cutting him much slack is those regards this year.

 

[4skers89]

If TA actually was a freshman making freshman mistakes, then there's no prob. The deal is, he was a a junior making freshman mistakes, and some of those were really bad ones that cost us games. As a junior, he should have been going through his reads better and not forcing balls, throwing it up for grabs, etc. Sorry, not cutting him much slack is those regards this year.

Tommy's decision making is frustrating and I have to remind myself that it is a new offense. Hopefully studying film in the off season will correct some of his mental mistakes. Doing that and being in his second year running Lang's offense I don't see POB taking the starting job. Tommy will be improved and give us the best chance of winning but won't be the great QB we want. Maybe POB is but given how important a good passing QB is to this offense I hope they are seriously considering some of these transfer QBs.

 

[cornographic]

If TA actually was a freshman making freshman mistakes, then there's no prob. The deal is, he was a a junior making freshman mistakes, and some of those were really bad ones that cost us games. As a junior, he should have been going through his reads better and not forcing balls, throwing it up for grabs, etc. Sorry, not cutting him much slack is those regards this year.

Tommy's decision making is frustrating and I have to remind myself that it is a new offense. Hopefully studying film in the off season will correct some of his mental mistakes. Doing that and being in his second year running Lang's offense I don't see POB taking the starting job. Tommy will be improved and give us the best chance of winning but won't be the great QB we want. Maybe POB is but given how important a good passing QB is to this offense I hope they are seriously considering some of these transfer QBs.

I concede the new system point. However, he shouldn't be forcing the ball and should be well along the path of going thru his reads--these are just fundamentals and he's been playing QB for a long time(H.S. included). I'd like to say he'll be much improved next year, but I hoped for that this year. I think we've seen about the best of TA. He still struggles with fundamental mechanics and the short passes. He's not the worst guy, but not a solid passing QB, plain and simple. Maybe he can get us 9 wins or so next year, he's done it before, I'm pulling for him.

As to the transfer QBs, I'm not up on the news there. Unless it's a Russell Wilson clone, I'm not particularly in favor of transfer QBs coming in and stealing the job from guys that have already paid their dues for the team.

I guess Zach Darlington will never see the field due to the concussion issue, is that correct? I thought he could be an answer for us.

 

[Elf]

If TA actually was a freshman making freshman mistakes, then there's no prob. The deal is, he was a a junior making freshman mistakes, and some of those were really bad ones that cost us games. As a junior, he should have been going through his reads better and not forcing balls, throwing it up for grabs, etc. Sorry, not cutting him much slack is those regards this year.

Tommy's decision making is frustrating and I have to remind myself that it is a new offense. Hopefully studying film in the off season will correct some of his mental mistakes. Doing that and being in his second year running Lang's offense I don't see POB taking the starting job. Tommy will be improved and give us the best chance of winning but won't be the great QB we want. Maybe POB is but given how important a good passing QB is to this offense I hope they are seriously considering some of these transfer QBs.

I concede the new system point. However, he shouldn't be forcing the ball and should be well along the path of going thru his reads--these are just fundamentals and he's been playing QB for a long time(H.S. included). I'd like to say he'll be much improved next year, but I hoped for that this year. I think we've seen about the best of TA. He still struggles with fundamental mechanics and the short passes. He's not the worst guy, but not a solid passing QB, plain and simple. Maybe he can get us 9 wins or so next year, he's done it before, I'm pulling for him.

As to the transfer QBs, I'm not up on the news there. Unless it's a Russell Wilson clone, I'm not particularly in favor of transfer QBs coming in and stealing the job from guys that have already paid their dues for the team.

I guess Zach Darlington will never see the field due to the concussion issue, is that correct? I thought he could be an answer for us.

What if Tommy takes Langsdorf's coaching to heart? I believe he has the ability to get better, but that is going to require a lot of work on his part. If he does get better...he could have a pretty decent senior year. He has to get better if he has any dreams of playing in the NFL.

 

[southernoregonhusker]

If TA actually was a freshman making freshman mistakes, then there's no prob. The deal is, he was a a junior making freshman mistakes, and some of those were really bad ones that cost us games. As a junior, he should have been going through his reads better and not forcing balls, throwing it up for grabs, etc. Sorry, not cutting him much slack is those regards this year.

Tommy's decision making is frustrating and I have to remind myself that it is a new offense. Hopefully studying film in the off season will correct some of his mental mistakes. Doing that and being in his second year running Lang's offense I don't see POB taking the starting job. Tommy will be improved and give us the best chance of winning but won't be the great QB we want. Maybe POB is but given how important a good passing QB is to this offense I hope they are seriously considering some of these transfer QBs.

I concede the new system point. However, he shouldn't be forcing the ball and should be well along the path of going thru his reads--these are just fundamentals and he's been playing QB for a long time(H.S. included). I'd like to say he'll be much improved next year, but I hoped for that this year. I think we've seen about the best of TA. He still struggles with fundamental mechanics and the short passes. He's not the worst guy, but not a solid passing QB, plain and simple. Maybe he can get us 9 wins or so next year, he's done it before, I'm pulling for him.

As to the transfer QBs, I'm not up on the news there. Unless it's a Russell Wilson clone, I'm not particularly in favor of transfer QBs coming in and stealing the job from guys that have already paid their dues for the team.

I guess Zach Darlington will never see the field due to the concussion issue, is that correct? I thought he could be an answer for us.

What if Tommy takes Langsdorf's coaching to heart? I believe he has the ability to get better, but that is going to require a lot of work on his part. If he does get better...he could have a pretty decent senior year. He has to get better if he has any dreams of playing in the NFL.

I think he can be a lot better. He has skills. Improvement in attitude and technique will go a long way for him next season IMHO.

 

[ADS]

If you're making freshman mistakes as a junior then you're probably never going to learn. I like Tommy and I think he's a good player. But, the mistakes he made against not only Iowa but Rutgers are ones that should not be made by someone who has been starting the past three seasons.

 

[Elf]

If you're making freshman mistakes as a junior then you're probably never going to learn. I like Tommy and I think he's a good player. But, the mistakes he made against not only Iowa but Rutgers are ones that should not be made by someone who has been starting the past three seasons.

I think anyone who wants to, can turn over a new leaf. If Tommy puts his money where his mouth is, so to speak, he could realize his potential.