During the bye week

[Tuco Salamanca]

all very good points ... I'm just putting the stats out there and people can draw their own conclusions .. stats are just stats people can argue until they are blue in the face how valid they are

The stats are all valid, it's the relevance that is important.

Looking at the Virginia vs Oregon game as an example.

Prukop was 21-31 for 331 3 TDs 0 INT
Freeman 21 carries for 207 2 TDs

Against Nebraska

Prukop 14-23 for 146 0 TDs 0 INT

Benoit 6 carries for 100 1 TD
Prukop 20 carries for 97


The 7.15 YPC against Nebraska is valid, but somewhat irrelevant because they forced Prukop to run 20 times (leaving all the speed to carry only 27 times) and held him to 146 yards in the air.

 

[jlb321]

That does not mean our rush defense isn't better than last year, just means that they believe our pass defense is that much better than last year.

i'm not arguing anything ... those are just the stats
we have given up more ypc to NW, Illinois, and Oregon than all but 2 schools
yes, a valid question is whether these teams decided that our pass defense was so good that they chose to "pick their poison" and run the ball ... having said that based on ypc alone they had more success against us than almost every other school thus far on the schedule

that is not to conclude that our rush defense sucks ....


I'm not trying to be argumentative ... there are valid points to be made on either side concerning the rush defense .. this is good discourse

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

yes .. and based on the fact that our ypc is the nearly the worst of the combined teams that have played Oregon, NW and Illinois (in those individual games) ... these coaches who earn millions upon millions of dollars ... have determined that their offensive gameplan should be to try to exploit our rush defense

That is a reach.

Fresno 43 pass 26 run
Wyoming 32 pass 31 run
Oregon 23 pass 47 run
NW 38 pass 32 run
Illinois 23 pass 21 run

All but Oregon passed more than they ran and as I showed, Oregon was ineffective in the passing game.

And those numbers don't account for sacks or rushes by the QB when scrambled for a gain on pass plays that broke down.

 

[nebcountry]

ypc for Illinois.......................... ypc for NW

Murray state - 7.2 ...................... west mich - 4.0
UNC - 5.1 ................................ Ill St -- 2.8
west mich - 0.2 .......................... Duke - 2.0
NEBRASKA - 5.9 ....................... Iowa - 4.7
..................................................... NEBRASKA - 4.3

so just looking at our power 5 opponents - of the 14 combined games only Murray St and Iowa have given up more ypc than Nebraska against these common opponents

I like stats. I think they can give good insight, but they're not good for absolute predictors. At only 4 or 5 games in, we don't know how reliable the stats are, especially comparing one team to another. In keeping with the OP, we definitely need to improve our run defense. I'm not a film breaker downer, and every team that we play is gonna be looking for something to exploit.

The most important stats are still wins and losses, our score, our opponent's score. I'm still a win-is-a-win guy. And giving up yards is different than giving up points. With all that being said, are we a 2014 FSU team (to some degree) surviving scrape after scrape, or will our weaknesses catch up with us. Time will tell.

 

[Cornicator]

There are a few reasons why the Run defense is lacking this season:

1. Carlos Davis and Stoltenburg (when healthy) both have a tendency to lose leverage at the point of attack. Opponents have noticed this and are trying to seal off Maurice and take Carlos or Stolt one on one. This is where Maliek Collins played last season. Maliek was often a bit rogue on pass plays, but he never gave up leverage vs. run blocking. This has opened up the interior a bit.

- but that's only a small part of the problem, and its something that can get better as Stolt gets healthy and Carlos gains more experience.

2. Offenses are spreading out the field and really confusing the hell out of all the linebackers whether its MRI, Dedrick Young or Banderas through deception. Big Ten linebackers with double digit + career starts should not be getting fooled like this.
- This leads to big runs like Thorson's TD run for NW or Oregon's 2nd TD run for 50+.

3. The Huskers are comfortable with playing man coverage out of the nickel. Aaron Williams is owning the slot. Jones and Kalu can cover any boundary receivers. Gerry or Kieron are running with tight ends or backs and doubling down on staying back to bait opposing QB's.

- This places a TON of responsibility on the linebackers. If you spread out the defense with a look that gives Nebraska a run pass option, you Can basically use your receiving options as decoys and take away half the defense for pursuit. So if the backers are fooled, LOOK out, a team can easily be off to the races.

The Good news for Nebraska is teams like Wisconsin and Iowa aren't equipped schematically to do any of the above.

In fact, Nebraska will be able to play both those teams with 8 man boxes and not worry a damn bit about getting beat deep. Neither of those teams have recievers who can beat Nebraska's corners. They also lack QB's who can run the Zone read.

Indiana will be interesting. They are a spread team, but love to throw the football 50 times and their QB is a statue. But they will run the football. It will be interesting to see how Nebraska defends them without worrying about the QB.

Ohio State will run the ball at will on Nebraska.

 

[Pennsyhusker]

"Ohio State will run the ball at will on Nebraska"

Be careful. There are some on here who will accuse you of high Husker treason for pointing out the obvious

 

[JohnRossEwing]

There are a few reasons why the Run defense is lacking this season:

1. Carlos Davis and Stoltenburg (when healthy) both have a tendency to lose leverage at the point of attack. Opponents have noticed this and are trying to seal off Maurice and take Carlos or Stolt one on one. This is where Maliek Collins played last season. Maliek was often a bit rogue on pass plays, but he never gave up leverage vs. run blocking. This has opened up the interior a bit.

- but that's only a small part of the problem, and its something that can get better as Stolt gets healthy and Carlos gains more experience.

2. Offenses are spreading out the field and really confusing the hell out of all the linebackers whether its MRI, Dedrick Young or Banderas through deception. Big Ten linebackers with double digit + career starts should not be getting fooled like this.
- This leads to big runs like Thorson's TD run for NW or Oregon's 2nd TD run for 50+.

3. The Huskers are comfortable with playing man coverage out of the nickel. Aaron Williams is owning the slot. Jones and Kalu can cover any boundary receivers. Gerry or Kieron are running with tight ends or backs and doubling down on staying back to bait opposing QB's.

- This places a TON of responsibility on the linebackers. If you spread out the defense with a look that gives Nebraska a run pass option, you Can basically use your receiving options as decoys and take away half the defense for pursuit. So if the backers are fooled, LOOK out, a team can easily be off to the races.

The Good news for Nebraska is teams like Wisconsin and Iowa aren't equipped schematically to do any of the above.

In fact, Nebraska will be able to play both those teams with 8 man boxes and not worry a damn bit about getting beat deep. Neither of those teams have recievers who can beat Nebraska's corners. They also lack QB's who can run the Zone read.

Indiana will be interesting. They are a spread team, but love to throw the football 50 times and their QB is a statue. But they will run the football. It will be interesting to see how Nebraska defends them without worrying about the QB.

Ohio State will run the ball at will on Nebraska.

Thank goodness that he is a statue (Even though many here will tell you that a Statue QB is the best) because you always know where a statue is, makes it much easier to play defense.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

"Ohio State will run the ball at will on Nebraska"

Be careful. There are some on here who will accuse you of high Husker treason for pointing out the obvious

this is hysterical. Penney gets all butt hurt about people dragging on about a topic in which he compared this Ohio St team to the 95 Huskers, then at the next opportunity takes the time for a subtle self confirming post. Ha ha ha look look someone else agrees with me.

 

[Pennsyhusker]

this is hysterical. Penney gets all butt hurt about people dragging on about a topic in which he compared this Ohio St team to the 95 Huskers, then at the next opportunity takes the time for a subtle self confirming post. Ha ha ha look look someone else agrees with me.

You know what? ... You are right. Lol. I should have kept my mouth shut and let that dog sleep.
But I was surprised when I saw Cornicator state it so bluntly. And I respect his views on here a lot, so... I couldn't help myself.
Nothing slides by you does it Tuco? Ha. Thanks for giving me a little chuckle at my own expense today. It has been a bad day and a long day.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

You know what? ... You are right. Lol. I should have kept my mouth shut and let that dog sleep.
But I was surprised when I saw Cornicator state it so bluntly. And I respect his views on here a lot, so... I couldn't help myself.
Nothing slides by you does it Tuco? Ha. Thanks for giving me a little chuckle at my own expense today. It has been a bad day and a long day.

All in good fun. You should have consulted your counsel before writing. What you do and say can be held against you!

 

[Pennsyhusker]

All in good fun. You should have consulted your counsel before writing. What you do and say can be held against you!

Sure. Trouble is, I think my counsel might be insane

 

[timnsun]

Thank goodness that he is a statue (Even though many here will tell you that a Statue QB is the best) because you always know where a statue is, makes it much easier to play defense.

Fortunately for us, even after Tommy graduates, the QBs waiting in the wings aren't going to be statues. Stats in the other thread show their running ability just fine.

They may not be dual threat like Tommy, but they can scramble and get yards and first downs when needed.

Edit: of course, I am talking about POB and Gebbia, not sure about Lee...