Denard vs. Martinez
Well there was a lot of talk last year about who was the more electrifying quarterback. Denard put together a complete game yesterday, and he seemed to finally play like he was comfortable. Martinez was smashed by our defense, but I was surprised by the lack of playmaking ability he had with his feet. In my opinion, we clearly have the better playmaker.
November 20th, 2011 at 11:10 AM ^
I think we clearly have a pretty good defense...
November 20th, 2011 at 11:16 AM ^
I think we do too, but I also think Denard would manage better than 16/49 3.1 0TD with a long of 16 on the ground, and better than 9/23 122 5.3YPA 1TD in the air against our defense. Especially if you take out the offensive transition and let him make plays he's more suited to, like Martinez had the benefit of doing yesterday.
November 20th, 2011 at 11:29 AM ^
Plus, take out the "throw the ball within 10 yards of this guy" 55 yd TD and the numbers are even worse..
8/22 70 Yds 3.0 yds/A 0 TDs
November 20th, 2011 at 11:35 AM ^
is seriously depleted right now. Against PSU they played without a scholarship OG. I do believe they had one in place yesterday, but he was limited. This has taken away one of Nebraska's best plays where Burkhead runs wide and Martinez either gives it to him or pulls it and takes off basically over the tackle. Martinez also has a new offensive coordinator this year fwiw.
Denard is obviously the better of the two, but you have to wonder who Nebraska's QB coach is? I have taught my 10 year old neice to throw a better looking ball than Martinez does.
November 20th, 2011 at 11:42 AM ^
Martinez isn't going through the same type of transition Denard is, though. His rushing and passing numbers are nearly identical to last season, with a drop in YPC and YPA that could probably be explained by playing better defenses.
I can definitely see where injuries are an issue, but like you said, Denard is still obviously better. Martinez is slower and throws like...I don't even know what.
November 20th, 2011 at 11:54 AM ^
Martinez's throwing motion is not fixable. It's like when Hank Haney tried to fix Chuck Nasty's seizure sword fight golf swing - beyond repair.
November 20th, 2011 at 11:11 AM ^
That was the best performance by the defenses stopping a dual threat qb since 2006
November 20th, 2011 at 11:16 AM ^
Now I'll be seeing Troy Smith in my nightmares again.
November 20th, 2011 at 11:37 AM ^
and Shawn Crable's helmet to helmet *shriek*
November 20th, 2011 at 11:23 AM ^
When did we stop a dual threat QB in 2006?
November 20th, 2011 at 11:24 AM ^
Did we play a good mobile QB in 2006 (other than Troy Smith, who torched us)? I guess Stanton was around at MSU but they were pretty awful that year. And Nate Davis did some damage to that D as a freshman and had a chance to pull the upset.
November 20th, 2011 at 12:04 PM ^
Young from Texas? I thought we handle him very well then blow out game in rose bowl.
November 20th, 2011 at 1:06 PM ^
I think you were watching a different game than me.
1) That game was played after the 2004 season, not 2006.
2) Young's stats: 16/28 passing, 180 yards, 1 TD, 1 Int. 21 rushes, 192 yards, 4 TDs. Passing numbers slightly better than his 2004 season averages, rushing numbers considerably better. That is not handling him well- the only thing that stopped him that day was the back of the endzone.
3) Blow out game? Wut?
November 20th, 2011 at 5:53 PM ^
From that game for some stupid reason. I was in a bad mood the rest of the day.
November 20th, 2011 at 11:11 AM ^
I thought Martinez looked a lot faster once he got going, but this might simply have been because Denard is a patient runner and tends to just give up when someone gets a hand on him. Small sample size, too, because Martinez only had 2 semi-long runs.
November 20th, 2011 at 11:19 AM ^
I didn't see that at all. Denard is more of a patient runner with a burst, and while he had some good runs they were all burst through a hole --> sprint for 10 yards --> get tackled by the ankles. Martinez's runs featured him on the edge running straight upfield, so its no wonder that he got to show off his straightline speed a bit more (and even then, we had plenty of defenders chase him down, while Denard was almost always tackled by the secondary on his longer runs).
November 20th, 2011 at 11:37 AM ^
Yep, definitely. There was a 3 play series where our 2nd team defense was in where Campbell notched 3 tackles in a row, and one was on Martinez after he'd gained 9 yards or so. I was surprised, to say the least. If Campbell keeps improving, we might be able to improve even more on defense next year!
November 20th, 2011 at 11:12 AM ^
i think this nebraska game symbolized the synergy of borges and denard. we've finally figured out how to best utilize him. pretty much all of the passes he attempted were short throws that he can make...aside from the one long TD throw (that was great), and the hail mary we chucked from our own red zone (which would've basically been a punt if intercepted). it was an excellent game plan and i look forward to seeing 15 more games just like it.
martinez was actually faster than i thought, but their offensive staff is far behind ours in terms of having the gameplan figured out.
November 20th, 2011 at 11:14 AM ^
Roundtree's grab.
November 20th, 2011 at 11:18 AM ^
Ohio, Fiesta, 2012 regular season, BTCG, Rose.
BKFinest it.
November 20th, 2011 at 11:34 AM ^
BTCG and National Championship. I dont see why we wouldnt be in consideration next year
November 20th, 2011 at 11:45 AM ^
I was going to reply by saying I was talking about the stadium, not the game, but the BCS title game isn't in the Rose Bowl until January of 2014. That being the case, well played sir.
November 20th, 2011 at 11:57 AM ^
Here is a picture of a monkey with a shoe
November 20th, 2011 at 4:05 PM ^
but in real life, our schedule is brutal next year. Remember? At(ish) Alabama, at ND, at OSU, at Nebraska and still MSU at home. We'd be really flippin good to win those 5 games
November 20th, 2011 at 5:50 PM ^
Very little. MSU loses Cousins. Nebraska, after today, I'm not very scared of. OSU will be tough but unless Miller learns how to throw, we win. Alabama will be tough but winnable, I think. They lose a lot of players. If our DL is good next year, we could be special.
November 20th, 2011 at 11:19 AM ^
The long one at the start of the game to Roundtree to the 5. That was an interesting throw because Roy looked like he initially thought it was underthrown, but it was on the money and Roy adjusted (after knocking down the defender).
November 20th, 2011 at 12:11 PM ^
I think he was going to high point it when he ran into the defender who was also going to high point it. The contact knocked them bunch off balance Roundtree was able to stumble far enough back to catch the ball while he was falling
November 20th, 2011 at 5:42 PM ^
Yes that is probably accurate. Either way it looked a good pass, not merely a jump ball, at least from my seat. Thats 2 good deep balls in one game. That, I like.
November 20th, 2011 at 11:25 AM ^
I thought we'd see a little more from Martinez in the ground game but he really played a terrible game. He had a few very impressive runs (guy is really fast) but struggled making decisions to avoid the rush and scramble. It seemed like a couple of times the play-by-play guys showed him sitting in the pocket with a giant running lane one way only to see Martinez turn the other way and run right at Mike Martin and get smashed.
November 20th, 2011 at 11:18 AM ^
I think this game was the best played by Michigan in quite some time. The defense is so nice to watch now. It feels go to know Michigan doesn't have to score 40 points a game to have a shot at winning. They can score 40 points a game and blow out their opponents like many other great programs now.
November 20th, 2011 at 11:23 AM ^
Denard was good and he played well, but the defense stopped anything that Martinez could muster up.
I think it was a good team effort!
November 20th, 2011 at 11:25 AM ^
Martinez is a poor man's Denard, plain and simple.
November 20th, 2011 at 11:30 AM ^
Martinez literally looks like a girl/child when he throws the ball.
November 20th, 2011 at 12:37 PM ^
Martinez throws the ball as though he's a natural lefty trying to throw with his right hand. His motion just seems unnatural.
November 20th, 2011 at 11:38 AM ^
Better playmaker, sure, in the sense that even when he isn't playing well you get the sense that big plays are still a good possibility any time Denard touches it. But yesterday was not about Denard v Martinez. It was about our defense totally suffocating the Nebraska offense for most of the game. Honestly, how do you think we would fare if we were down 2 or 3 touchdowns in the 3rd quarter with Denard at QB? I love the kid but that would probably not end well for us, provided we weren't playing Notre Dame.
The fact is, neither one of these offenses is built to come from behind, and that's because neither of these quarterbacks is built to come from behind. Sure, Denard was electric yesterday and in my opinion played the best game he's played all season (yes, better than Notre Dame). But that was all possible because of Fitz's running and the dominance of our defense. Martinez in comparison had no chance almost everytime he dropped back
November 20th, 2011 at 11:40 AM ^
I think our coaches know how to better utilize our dual threat quarterback. Hoke/Borges realize Denard can't do everything and they try to share the load. Nebraska seems a lot like UofM last year, where if a defense shuts down their QB they struggle to have any productivity.
November 20th, 2011 at 12:21 PM ^
I think they would have really loved to share the load with Burkhead but we all saw how that workd out. The offenses obviously operate very similarly.
November 20th, 2011 at 11:42 AM ^
Martinez is really fast when he gets going straight line. Denard has that too, but he also has explosive burst from the gun AND extremely quick feet which allows him to make little cuts and bust through holes. If Denard makes it at the next level it will be first as a punt returner. That said, if not for the Nebraska LB (David?), who is a complete stud and the best defensive player we've seen all year, Denard goes for another 60 yards yesterday. The dude made at least three shoe-string tackles to stop big gains.
November 20th, 2011 at 12:24 PM ^
Lavonte David is such a beast. He outperformed what I thought he would. Just imagine if/when Mattison gets some guys like that!!!
November 20th, 2011 at 11:52 AM ^
is that Denard actually can throw, albeit carelessly at times. But I don't even really classify Martinez as a duel threat, just a running threat.
November 20th, 2011 at 12:11 PM ^
there where a few Martinez passes yesterday where pulled back like he was throwing a hail mary 60-70 yards down field only to have the throw go 15 -20 yards downfield. The espn camera men where fooled to it was a pretty pathetic display.
November 20th, 2011 at 12:18 PM ^
T-magic is no match for shoelace
November 20th, 2011 at 12:19 PM ^
Denard = absolutely.
Taylor = blown transformer. Needs repair.
November 20th, 2011 at 12:21 PM ^
Denard was comfortable because he got into a rhythm that wasn't interrupted halfway into the first quarter.
November 20th, 2011 at 1:02 PM ^
Martinez had the "deer in the headlights" look. I especially enjoyed when we had a sizable lead and Martinez was forced to throw. Our defense was then like a pack of hungry dogs attacking raw meat.
November 20th, 2011 at 1:22 PM ^
They're both talented guys. Naturally, I'm going to be biased toward Denard.
It's hard to compare them based on yesterday; we've seen Denard have some tough games where things were going against the team in terms of field position, game score, etc. Any player's going to look less successful in those situations.
Let's not diss the other guy. Denard played a very complete game, looked great, and we won. That's enough for me!
November 20th, 2011 at 1:50 PM ^
I don't think Martinez played a bad game, our defense just did to him what we've seen great defenses do to Denard in the past. Spielman pointed out one instance where had Martinez gone left, he had two blockers and 8 yards between him and the nearest defender. What did he do? He went right and go swallowed up. He didn't trust his feet yesterday, and it cost him. That being said, seeing them both in the same game, Denard just has something more. Maybe it is more patience, I don't know. Martinez can't throw. He really didn't make any bad decisions, he just can't throw. Long story short, I think that the debate about which is more electrifying and ultimately better can officially stop.
On a separate note, I couldn't help but think... what is our defense going to look like when Mattison and co. have a month to prepare for a team? Look at the OSU/UF game in '06 NC game. I don't want to put the cart before the horse, but I think it is going to really be something to see.
November 20th, 2011 at 2:27 PM ^
Just think about what mattison is going to do against ohio. Sure Braxton Miller doesnt throw the ball with a chicken wing like Taylor Martinez. But Ohio's offense is truly one dimensional