Nebraska Football: End of Season Report Card for the Cornhuskers

The 2011 season is in the rear view mirror, with Nebraska finishing 9-4 and coming off another disheartening bowl performance.

So, before we look too much into the future (although most Nebraska fans will not be in any big hurry to be looking backward), let's give our final grades for Nebraska as we close the book on 2011.

Quarterback: B-

Taylor Martinez was a work in progress in 2011.

Gone was the explosive playmaker of 2010, but also (for the most part) gone was the guy who would make the big mistake to lose a game.

Unfortunately, if there was one of the two 2010 Martinez’s to appear, it was the “big-mistake” guy rather than the “explosive-playmaker” guy. 

Running Backs: A

2011 was the coming out party for Rex Burkhead.

His combination of durability, elusiveness and vision changed the offense from a quarterback-driven offense to a running-back driven one.

Burkhead was easily the most important player on Nebraska’s offense—and likely will be in 2012.

While the opportunities for the freshmen (Ameer Abdullah, Aaron Green, and Braylon Heard) was limited, a year’s worth of experience should make them even more able to contribute.

Wide Receivers: C

On the upside, Kenny Bell emerged as one of Nebraska’s primary playmakers.

On the downside, pretty much the entire wide receiving corps underperformed, particularly in the area of catching the ball.

Yes, Taylor Martinez still struggles with accuracy. But Nebraska’s wide receivers also need to be more consistently dependable for Nebraska’s offense to move forward in 2012.

Offensive Line: B-

Injuries and a lack of experience gave Nebraska’s offensive line performance fits in 2011.

NU spent the second half of the season plugging in second-stringers and walk-ons in an attempt to find some level of consistency.

Even with that, Nebraska was able to establish a power running game from time to time, although not enough to sustain NU’s offense for extended periods of time. 

Defensive Line: C

In 2011, Nebraska was 80th in the nation in sacks and 64th in the nation in rushing defense.

By Nebraska’s standards, that performance was disastrous, and that lack of performance caused a cascade effect for the linebackers and the secondary.

Jared Crick’s injury certainly was a huge blow to the line’s performance, but the unit was struggling even before the injury.

Linebackers: A

Lavonte David made an argument to be Nebraska’s MVP in 2011. Not for the defense, but the team as a whole.

On his own, David kept Nebraska in games, making the plays that turned the tide against Ohio State and Penn State.

At the end of the season, Will Compton began to come on and provide support to David. 

Secondary: B-

At the start of the season, Nebraska’s secondary quite simply struggled. With Alfonzo Dennard missing the first few games of the season, players like Ciante Evans and Andrew Green were torched time and time again.

Some of those struggles came from a critical lack of a pass rush from the front four, of course, but some was also an execution issue from the secondary.

Dennard’s return helped the unit, and Green’s resurgence, at the end of 2011, gave some boost to an otherwise disappointing season.

Special Teams: A-

Brett Maher stepped in and surprised Nebraska fans with a very believable Alex Henery impression, excelling at both punting and placekicking.

Ameer Abdullah provided a welcome surprise as a dangerous kick returner as a true freshman.

While the performance of both Maher and Abdullah fell off as the season wore on, Nebraska’s special teams was a welcome surprise in an otherwise disappointing year.

Coaching: C

In year four of the Pelini era, Nebraska fans were left with a disturbing sense of déjà vu.

Once again, Nebraska ends the season with four losses, as they have in each of Pelini’s four seasons.

In each of the last three seasons, Nebraska’s season has been derailed by an inexplicable home loss to a mediocre team (Iowa State in 2009, Texas in 2010 and Northwestern in 2011).

Nebraska struggled once again with penalties at crucial times. And Pelini hired his offensive and defensive coordinators from within, taking full control (and full responsibility) for the entire team.

Intangibles: C

Nebraska fans have seen this movie before. Another disappointing offensive performance.

More late-game collapses against quality opponents. Another embarrassing bowl loss.

Nebraska has steadily declined since Bo Pelini’s “Nebraska’s back, and we’re here to stay” proclamation after the 2009 Holiday Bowl.

And with Nebraska’s utterly-predictable second-half collapse against South Carolina, optimism for Nebraska fans going into 2012 will be a tough commodity to find. 

Like what you read? Follow me on Twitter @patrickrunge to track my thoughts and observations about college football—and one or two other topics—throughout the year!

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