Nebraska Football: Should Bo Pelini Bench Taylor Martinez?

The most popular player on a football team is often the backup quarterback. The starting quarterback receives much of the praise when the team is performing at a high level and much of the blame when the team is performing poorly.

After a poor game against Wisconsin last week, Nebraska’s quarterback Taylor Martinez finds himself in the middle of a quarterback controversy.

The rumors of Martinez being replaced with backup quarterback Brion Carnes began last April. In Nebraska’s spring football game, Carnes completed 11-of-15 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for another 49 yards.

After the game, fans started to talk about Carnes’ possibility of being the starting quarterback for the Cornhuskers in 2011. Everyone knew Carnes is the cousin of legendary Nebraska quarterbackTommy Frazier.

Nebraska’s coach Bo Pelini quickly shot down the rumors of Carnes starting the season as Nebraska’s quarterback. Pelini did not want a quarterback controversy. Martinez was named the starter in summer camp, and the discussion of Carnes quickly died down.

Martinez opened up the season with good performances against Tennessee-Chattanooga, Fresno State, Washington and Wyoming. Yes, Martinez continued to fumble the ball, but what kept people from holding his fumbling problems against him was the fact that Nebraska had recovered all but one of his mishandlings.

As soon as Nebraska fans would scream at Martinez for his inability to secure the football, he would break away for a long touchdown and fans would once again be celebrating his play. What would have happened if Martinez and his teammates were unable to recover his fumbles? The quarterback controversy would have began much sooner than last week.

Throughout the season, Martinez has completed 50 percent of his passes. Last Saturday night in Wisconsin, Martinez stayed true to form, completing 11-of-22 passes for 176 yards.

What made the Wisconsin game different from the previous four games was Martinez threw three interceptions and was unable to break away for a long run. The three interceptions set Wisconsin up with good field position, and the Badgers turned the interceptions into touchdowns.

After the game, coach Pelini was asked if he would consider making a change at the quarterback position. According to WOWT News in Omaha, Pelini told the media at his Monday press conference that Taylor Martinez is the best quarterback on this Cornhuskers team and that he had no plans of making a change.

But is Martinez the best option for the Cornhuskers at the quarterback position?

Even though coach Pelini made it clear he does not plan on making a quarterback change, Cornhuskers fans have put on their coach's hat and said they would like to see a change, because the best way to predict the future is to look back on the past.

The past performances by Martinez have been good at times, but not nearly good enough to take Nebraska to the places Cornhuskers fans want to see their team: conference championship games, BCS bowl games and a return to the National Championship game.

I think a change at quarterback would have been made long ago if two things would not have occurred: (1) If Cody Green would not have transferred to Tulsa, and (2) if Bubba Starling would not have left to play baseball for a Kansas City Royals farm team.

Last year, Green was given the chance to be Nebraska’s starting quarterback. He was beaten out by Taylor Martinez. After Martinez made some bad mistakes, coach Pelini turned to Green to lead the team.

Green proved to be no better than Martinez at quarterback, so when he was told he would once again be the backup quarterback, Green took his talents to Tulsa. I still believe that if Green were still on the roster, he would have been given playing time Saturday night in Wisconsin.

I doubt he would have performed much better than Martinez, but coach Pelini showed confidence in Green in the past, and I think he would have made the same choice last Saturday night.

Nebraska’s best choice to replace Martinez would have been Bubba Starling. Starling was a first-round draft choice by the Kansas City Royals in the June Major League Baseball draft. He had to decide between playing football for Nebraska or taking the millions of dollars and reporting to the Kansas City Royals. Unfortunately for Cornhusker fans, Starling picked baseball over football.

If Starling would have stayed at Nebraska, I think there would have been a strong possibility that he opened the season as Nebraska’s starting quarterback. According to Rivals.com, Starling was one of the best freshman quarterbacks in the country.

Starling is dual-threat quarterback with a strong arm and the ability to make plays with his legs. I believe he would have been a better option at quarterback than Martinez.

Even if Starling did not open the season as the starting quarterback, I believe he would have seen significant playing time by now. The pressure from the Cornhusker fans can be intense on coach Pelini. I believe Cornhusker fans would have been begging coach Pelini to put in Starling if he was on the team.

Unfortunately for Cornhusker fans, Green and Starling are not on the roster. If a change is to be made at the quarterback position, the only choice would be Carnes. The question surrounding Carnes hinges on whether he is ready to take over the Nebraska offense.

The answer to this question depends on who you ask. If you ask Cornhusker fans, the answer is "yes." If you ask Pelini, the answer is "no."

So far this season Brion Carnes has taken 12 snaps at the quarterback position. He has completed 1-of-1 passes for 19 yards, rushed for minus-six yards and lost a fumble. These are not the kind of stats that scream “Play me!”

Would a change at quarterback be the right move for the Cornhuskers? I believe coach Pelini is making the right move by not listening to the fans and continuing to evaluate his quarterbacks before he makes a change.

I believe when coaches start to listen to the fans, they will soon find themselves sitting with the fans. Coach Pelini knows the quarterback situation at Nebraska better than any of the fans.

If he thinks Carnes is not ready, Cornhusker fans must take him at his word. He wants to win football games just as much as the passionate Cornhuskers fans want to see their team win.

Nebraska fans want Carnes to be given an opportunity to play. How will anyone know for sure how good Carnes is if he only receives 12 snaps in five games? He is the cousin of Tommy Frazier, after all. He must have it in his blood to lead this team, right?

I think that Cornhusker fans must be careful for what they wish for, because they might not like the results.

If Carnes is to be given playing time, it must be at the end of the game in mop-up duty. The problem is Nebraska has not found themselves in a mop-up duty situation the past two games.

If Nebraska were to take out Martinez in a critical time during the game, the results could be a disaster for Nebraska. What if Carnes played like an experienced quarterback and made a costly mistake? Would the coaching staff lose the confidence of Martinez?

When Martinez is put back into the game, he might try to do more than he is capable of doing because he would then know that if he performs poorly, he will be back on the bench.

The experiment could go the other way though. Carnes could come into the game and lead the Cornhuskers on a deciding drive in a critical game. I remember when Carnes’ cousin, Tommy Frazier, was first put into the game in 1993. Many people believed he was too inexperienced to play as well. We all know how that story ended.

I am not trying to say that Martinez needs to be benched or that Nebraska needs to stick with Martinez at quarterback. What I am trying to say is there are benefits and problems with each of these decisions.

Coach Pelini is paid a large sum of money to make these decisions. I think we should let the coach make the decision and see what happens.