B1G 5: Nebraska will never be any better until its quarterback play is better

1. The B1G story

One hundred and thirty-three years. Simply saying it out loud makes it all the more shocking.

Or excruciatingly embarrassing, or wildly frustrating.

Or more than anything, perfectly motivating for what could be Sean Clifford’s last season at Penn State.

This is the way it works in college football. The quarterback gets all the praise – and all the blame.

So when Clifford struggled in the first month of the 2020 season, when Penn State started the year 0-5 for the first time in the 133-year history of the program, guess who heard it most?

“You know how some fans get,” Clifford said.

The only difference from the 2019 season was Clifford had already deleted his social media accounts from the last time fans flooded them with death threats and hateful messages and posts.

Then sanity arrived in January of this year, in the form of new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Yurcich. The same Yurcich who helped guide Justin Fields to a near-flawless 2019 season at Ohio State.

A year earlier, Franklin hired Kirk Ciarrocca from Minnesota to run the Penn State offense and coach quarterbacks, and the move never really clicked. The pandemic stunted any chemistry or growth potential between Clifford – who had a big sophomore season – and Ciarrocca.

By the time the season began, the Penn State offense may as well have been winging it. And it played out week after week.

Clifford played like a freshman and couldn’t protect the ball. The losses piled up and the next thing you know, the words “worst start ever” were suddenly pinned to Clifford and the offense.

Now, days away from the beginning of the 2021 season and a critical road game at Wisconsin, Clifford says he feels like a new player. The spector of backup/fan favorite Will Levis is gone (he transferred to Kentucky, where he will start), and Clifford has never felt more comfortable in a new offense.

“(Yurcich) is pushing me to a new level,” Clifford said. “He’s making me a better version of Sean Clifford, who I feel the team is happy to see – and I’m happy to see myself.”

In less than 2 years, Clifford has gone from Heisman Trophy hopeful on a team that was 2 wins from playing in the College Football Playoff, to 10 turnovers in the first 5 games of 2020 and an infamous record that may never be broken.

But Clifford rallied at the end of the season, and led Penn State to 4 straight wins – and decided to return to Happy Valley. He has seen it all in 4 years at Penn State, through the lens of 4 offensive coordinators and quarterbacks coaches.

That’s what makes this season so important, and this week’s season opener at Wisconsin so critical for a team talented enough to beat anyone in the Big Ten – including Ohio State.

This Lions team will go as far as Clifford goes, will develop with Clifford and the offense. Clifford has gone from a season of uncertainty to a new offensive coordinator who trusts him to change plays at the line of scrimmage.

“(Turcich) has brought a lot of good out of me,” Clifford said. “Things that I never thought I could do.”

2. The void at QB

We can talk all we want about recruiting and learning how to win games, and the old traditions of days gone by.

Want to know why Scott Frost hasn’t won at Nebraska?

Because his quarterback of 4 seasons, Adrian Martinez, has fumbled 28 times and lost 16, and has 36 career turnovers.

Because his quarterback, in an era where the position means everything, completed 50% of his passes in the first start of his senior season – against a defense that was 114th in total defense in 2020.

Want to know why Frost hasn’t won at Nebraska? Because he hasn’t developed the one position that made him a coveted young coach in the first place.

It’s easy to proclaim Nebraska will never be Nebraska again, but it’s just not true. Frost has strung together 3 straight top-25 recruiting classes, an impressive feat considering the inherent difficulties of recruiting to Nebraska.

But the game is all about the quarterback now, more and more placed on the shoulders of the most important position on the field. It’s more than managing the huddle and game, and making plays when chaos unfolds.

It’s about protecting the ball. You can’t be careless and reckless with the ball and expect to win big games, much less beat the lower half of the Big Ten.

“The guys really believe they’re better,” Frost said. “They know they’re better. They are better than they have been. We’ve got more talent, more depth.”

With the same quarterback, making the same mistakes.

Since 2018 when Frost returned to his alma mater, he has recruited quarterbacks Martinez, Luke McCaffrey, Logan Smothers and Heinrich Haarberg. Only Martinez and McCaffrey have attempted passes, and McCaffrey transferred to Louisville and eventually wound up at Rice.

McCaffrey was more of an offensive weapon than quarterback, and that was apparent from the first time he threw in a game. For 3 years, Frost has had no one who could push Martinez, who could make him raise his level of play and force him to get better.

The blame for Nebraska losing its way over the years has nothing to do with a loss of engrained culture, the Blackshirts or the legendary walk-on program. It has everything to do with poor quarterback play.

Since Eric Crouch won the Heisman Trophy in 2001, the list of Nebraska quarterbacks has been average at best, program-killing at worst.

Jammal Lord, Joe Dailey, Zac Taylor, Sam Keller, Joe Ganz, Zach Lee, Taylor Martinez, Tommy Armstrong, Tanner Lee, Martinez and McCaffrey.

Woof.

There’s no secret to this. When you’re mediocre at the most important position on the field, you’re a mediocre team.

Frost was hired because of his ties to the school, and his track record of recruiting and developing quarterbacks as an offensive coordinator at Oregon and as head coach at UCF.

He has failed miserably recruiting and developing the quarterback position at Nebraska. Just like every other coach for the past 2 decades.

3. The return

Here comes Indiana, fresh off a defining season and learning how to deal with expectations.

That’s right, IU must figure out how to deal with distractions with 19 starters returning from last year’s Outback Bowl team.

“In the past, those distractions have been negative distractions,” Hoosiers coach Tom Allen said. “People telling you what you can’t do and judging you based on your past.”

The only difference this time around is Indiana being judged on recent past performance: the 2020 season, where but for some unique accounting by the Big Ten office (see: fudging) that changed the rules of the season to benefit Ohio State, the Hoosiers would’ve been playing in the Big Ten Championship Game.

The core of that team – and its two megastars (QB Michael Penix Jr. and WR Ty Fryfogle) – return and begin this season Saturday at Iowa. The offense got a skill boost from three former 4- and 5-star recruits: RB Stephen Carr (USC), WR DJ Matthews (Florida State) and Camron Buckley (Texas A&M).

A defense that was second in the nation in interceptions (17) last year also benefited from the transfer portal, picking up rush ends Ryder Anderson (Ole Miss) and Jaren Handy (Auburn).

Allen also reached back into his SEC roots to hire Georgia defensive backs coach Charlton Warren as defensive coordinator. He’ll replace Kane Wommack, who left for the head coaching job at South Alabama.

That move, Allen says, shows how far IU has come in such a short time. When other schools are hiring your assistants as head coaches, you’re doing something right.

“We came here with a vision to be able to change the expectations and create belief,” Allen said. “You have to be able to have those earmuffs and blinders, and to be able to create the focus that you want to be able to be an elite performer on game day.”

4. Powered Up

This week’s Power Poll and one big thing: the 2021 predicted order of finish:

1. Ohio State: 12-0, 9-0. By December, Buckeyes will be playing for a spot in the CFP, and QB CJ Stroud will be in New York City for the Heisman Trophy ceremony.

2. Wisconsin: 10-2, 8-1. We saw flashes of stardom for QB Graham Mertz. Reaching that potential could mean a B1G championship.

3. Penn State: 10-2, 7-2. It might take a few games for the offense to find its stride, but when it does, the ‘Nits will be a dangerous out.

4. Indiana: 9-3, 6-3. Hoosiers back up last season’s move to the upper division with another big statement.

5. Iowa: 8-4, 6-3. Can QB Spencer Petras build on the last 2 games of 2020 (5 TDs, 0 INT), and make Haweyes a legit B1G contender?

6. Northwestern: 8-4, 5-4: A new QB (one-time Clemson 5-star recruit Hunter Johnson) and a new DC (Jim O’Neil), but same Fitz culture: tough, overachievers who love the game, mixed with a few, developed NFL prospects.

7. Michigan: 7-5, 5-4. It can’t be, you say. Well, it is. This isn’t an elite program, and if Michigan officials are content with that knowledge, coach Jim Harbaugh will leave when he wants.

8. Minnesota: 6-6, 4-5: Gophers getting farther away from magical 2019 season, and closer to what reality looks like annually.

9. Rutgers: 6-6, 3-6: The idea that Rutgers will win 6 games should be enough for the school to erect a statue of Greg Schiano outside the stadium. Maybe two since this is Round 2 in Piscataway.

10. Purdue: 5-7, 3-6. Coach Jeff Brohm says starters will play this season on special teams. It could lead to another win or two – or a crucial injury. Hey, Alabama does it.

11. Illinois: 5-7, 3-6. I don’t want to scare Illini fans, but they all won’t be as easy as Nebraska. Not everyone will insist on playing a quarterback with a reckless history of ball security.

12. Nebraska: 4-8, 2-7. Somehow, someway, Bill Callahan, Mike Riley and Scott Frost have made Bo Pelini look like Dr. Tom.

13. Maryland: 3-9, 1-8. Terps are a long way from competing on the lines of scrimmage week after week in conference games.

14. Michigan State: 3-9, 1-8. The heavy lifting for Mel Tucker has just begun. He’s at least another year from turning the Spartans away from the cellar.

5. The Weekly Five

Five picks against the spread

• Ohio State -13 at Minnesota
• Michigan State at Northwestern -3
• Penn State +5.5 at Wisconsin
• Western Michigan at Michigan -17
• Indiana +3.5 at Iowa