Offensive Coordinator Shawn Watson said that Taylor Martinez came back
and did better than expected. "I told you, he's Superman," he said. "He
threw the ball around well today. He moved around good. There's no
swelling, no discoloration (of his ankle)."
Watson said Iowa State is similar to the Nebraska defense in that they don't' blitz a
lot, but they play "gap" football and have been well coached. He added
that make you earn what you get. "They are not a high risk defense like
we saw last week. They make you earn your way down the field," he said.
"They will test your patience a lot, and like I said, they play really
good unit football. You can count on them being sound."
While the
subject has been broached about a possible replacement for Martinez
should he not be able to go, Watson seemed fairly certain that he would
be, saying that he had no reason to believe he wouldn't be at a hundred
percent come game time.
Another issue with Iowa State will be
something that people who follow either team will remember all too well,
that being the eight-turnover debacle by the Huskers against the
Cyclones in Memorial Stadium last year. It's something Watson said you
have to take notice of it when you play them, basically due to the fact
that when it comes to forcing the other team to give it up, they are
pretty darn good. "They do a great job, and you can see it on film. They
put their hats on the football, and they do a great job of stripping
the football," he said. "They do a great job of ripping, pulling and
tugging. We are very aware of that."
One thing Watson has liked
about his freshman quarterback is that he is a freshman. While Watson
said it's not evident in his play, it is evident sometimes in how
defenses treat his first-year signal caller. But he's all for it, if
defenses want to treat Martinez like he's still wet behind the ears. "I
hope they keep trying to do that, because it's given us a lot of big
plays," he said. "As we've proved last week, we have more tools in the
toolbox than one guy too. We've just got to keep playing our game and
play off of those things they try and take away."
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