Game 2 of Diaco defense

[Charlie Marlow]

The second half gave us a glimpse of what could be. We all knew there would be a transition so Im not sure why its a foregone conclusion that hes a bust, we will never get better, etc.

By the same token, I would suggest caution on the whole 'turning point' storyline. I think there will be further ups and downs coming our way. But i do expect our defense to be overall much better for the second half of the season and into next season.

 

[phoenix4nu]

The pass defense has been bad, including the pass rush. They didn't pass much in the second half, and one of the times they did, the receiver dropped a pass that should have been a touchdown. So I'm not sure the second half was much evidence that a corner has been turned for that part of the defense.

 

[Husker Sledge]

The pass defense has been bad, including the pass rush. They didn't pass much in the second half, and one of the times they did, the receiver dropped a pass that should have been a touchdown. So I'm not sure the second half was much evidence that a corner has been turned for that part of the defense.

We gave up 42 points by halftime. No matter how to you look at this, shutting out the Oregon Ducks in Eugene for 1 half is definitely something to build on!

 

[z28craz]

That's what my thinking has been. Diaco himself even said multiple times over the course of the off season that there would be a period of transition and that it's a process. I think too many of us thought Diaco would march in with a magic wand, wave it around, and poof... we're back to 2009 style defensive successes. I don't know how long we ran a 4-3 base, but I'm guessing it dates back several decades. You can't completely change an entire scheme in a single season with guys who were recruited to play a different scheme. Any transition such as this one is going to come with growing pains, and is often more likely to get worse before it gets better. I too hesitate to call this game a turning point, but I certainly see it as an opportunity for growth, and I have a feeling that as the season wears on the defense is going to slowly get better. They always say the greatest period of growth is from week one to week two. No doubt we're going to have ups and downs this season, but seems to me that of 8 full quarters of football, the defense grew most from quarter 6 to quarter 7. I think this is a snapshot of what we can expect as the scheme takes root.

 

[StrongArm517]

I'm hoping our worst matchups (scheme wise) for the D are behind us.

 

[supersport24]

The second half gave us a glimpse of what could be. We all knew there would be a transition so Im not sure why its a foregone conclusion that hes a bust, we will never get better, etc.

By the same token, I would suggest caution on the whole 'turning point' storyline. I think there will be further ups and downs coming our way. But i do expect our defense to be overall much better for the second half of the season and into next season.

Oregon also helped us by going ultra conservative. The four game stretch starting with Illinois will tell you all you need to know about both sides of the ball. A 1-3 record wouldn't be a big surprise.

 

[Husker.Wed.]

Oregon also helped us by going ultra conservative. The four game stretch starting with Illinois will tell you all you need to know about both sides of the ball. A 1-3 record wouldn't be a big surprise.

It would surprise the hell out of me.

 

[supersport24]

It would surprise the hell out of me.

Illinois gets us at home on a Friday night after a bye week. They could have easily beat us last year if it wasn't for an iffy spot. Ohio State and Wisconsin will likely be favored and we go back on the road to face a much improved Purdue team who has gave us fits. That's the make or break part of the schedule.

 

[barney44]

I don't know how long we ran a 4-3 base, but I'm guessing it dates back several decades. You can't completely change an entire scheme in a single season with guys who were recruited to play a different scheme.

Nebraska switched from the 5-2 to the 4-3 after the 1992 season. It can be done in some cases and very quickly.

 

[NikkiSixx]

National Rank:
116 Total Defense
127 Passing Defense
74 Rushing Defense (tied with Iowa State)

 

[timnsun]

National Rank:
116 Total Defense
127 Passing Defense
74 Rushing Defense (tied with Iowa State)

Look, I get it, those stats are embarrassing... and for the many who weren't sold on the hire of Mike Riley almost 3 years ago, the hire of Bob Diaco was met with a lot of optimism.

What has changed? Either he was a good defensive mind then and still is, or he never was. Why wasn't their any complaining about his hire last December?

If you didn't complain then, why are you complaining now? (Not just Nikki, but all the experts who are telling us how bad Diaco is)

 

[Husker.Wed.]

Illinois gets us at home on a Friday night after a bye week. They could have easily beat us last year if it wasn't for an iffy spot. Ohio State and Wisconsin will likely be favored and we go back on the road to face a much improved Purdue team who has gave us fits. That's the make or break part of the schedule.

Sorry, I misread your post. I thought you meant the next four games starting Saturday.

 

[timnsun]

Just an FYI... Ohio State ain't looking to good with their pass defense right about now either...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.la...tate-football-passing-defensive-worst-fbs/amp

Just putting this out there for the stat lovers on the board...

What the hell are they paying Greg Schiano for? Heads need to roll, starting with his!

If that sounds silly to you stat geeks, then why should Diaco be any different?

Edit: I didn't even realize this is his second year at Ohio State as their DC! Fire him now!

 

[BroskiRed]

First off I never did complain about the Diaco hire. I think that some things need to play out this year both on the field and recruiting wise on his end. We need d ends and athletic outside linebackers for his scheme some guys on the current team are doing what they can.
I just watched the replay and a huge deal for me is getting beat by the same play two weeks in a row. Even the venerable *cough* Mark Banker mentioned that you'd better work on the plays that hurt you because they will continue to hurt until proven otherwise. Putting guys like Newby and Mo Barry in position to cover track athletes is a recipe for 42 points in a half. Putting guys on an island against the bubble screen without throwing another look out there is not getting the job done, and you give up 7,8 yds to Royce and company on 2nd down how could that be easier?
The Big Ten has elite coaches and offensive minds. If people think that spread concepts are unique to Oregon that's completely false. Wisconsin's offense uses a lot of multiple looks and will isolate mismatches as well. These deficiencies in Diaco's scheme will need to get better or it will be the same result. The BIG also has some very good defensive teams. We need improvement on both sides of the ball if we are to compete in our division this year. I hope they do, this Nebraska team could be very fun to watch if they improve every week.

 

[supersport24]

Just an FYI... Ohio State ain't looking to good with their pass defense right about now either...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.la...tate-football-passing-defensive-worst-fbs/amp

Just putting this out there for the stat lovers on the board...

What the hell are they paying Greg Schiano for? Heads need to roll, starting with his!

If that sounds silly to you stat geeks, then why should Diaco be any different?

Edit: I didn't even realize this is his second year at Ohio State as their DC! Fire him now!

They ended up owning Indiana in the second half and their d-line will likely get pressure on Lee. Lee has been poor with pressure. Mayfield is in a league of his own. It's hard to compare him to Lee. They aren't even in the same ball park. Ohio State will be tough as hell.

 

[Dean Pope]

The second half gave us a glimpse of what could be. We all knew there would be a transition so Im not sure why its a foregone conclusion that hes a bust, we will never get better, etc.

There are strengths and weaknesses with any defense. Seems to me that this version of the 3-4 is built to handle the Wisconsins, Minnesotas and Iowas of the world. I do like our ability to stop the run so far. From here on out, we won't see a lot of spread offenses out of the Arkansas St. and Oregon mold.

An obvious concern is the soft pass defense. This is where I'm hoping for individual improvement among the players. I'm hoping that those in coverage get more confident in what they are doing, play faster, and more aggressive. I think the scheme is OK. That's my take anyway. It's not an overly complicated scheme. They shouldn't be over thinking things.

 

[tro80]

Nebraska switched from the 5-2 to the 4-3 after the 1992 season. It can be done in some cases and very quickly.

If you have the horses. I recall that at the time we switched in 1992, we had fast linebackers who could move sideline to sideline and in particular cover in the flat. We do not have the horses right now, so it will take a recruiting cycle to (hopefully) get some more speed at linebacker.

 

[dinglefritz]

If you have the horses. I recall that at the time we switched in 1992, we had fast linebackers who could move sideline to sideline and in particular cover in the flat. We do not have the horses right now, so it will take a recruiting cycle to (hopefully) get some more speed at linebacker.

We need to get another Gifford type that with safety speed that converts to backer. Gifford does a good job for a guy that many thought was a questionable scholarship. We're close. Some really young talent is playing on D but we need a couple of pieces. What we have now should work pretty well against the west division.

 

[timnsun]

They ended up owning Indiana in the second half and their d-line will likely get pressure on Lee. Lee has been poor with pressure. Mayfield is in a league of his own. It's hard to compare him to Lee. They aren't even in the same ball park. Ohio State will be tough as hell.

I wasn't comparing QBs at all. I was comparing pass defense, since stat geeks were showing us how bad our defense is.

Well guess what? Ohio State's is worse, and they have the same record as us, and their D coordinator is even more established than ours. So is Schaino a bad coach? To those complaining about Diaco, give him a chance.

 

[WHCSC]

Ohio State's is worse

Against who?

 

[redwine65]

if the sideline passes burn us in the next game,
diaco needs to be grilled after the game by dirk on camera.
when are we going to start nailing these receivers on sideline passes? and when are we going to get some pick 6's???
that should be the most dangerous pass our opponents throw.
both to the receivers and scoreboard.

 

[timnsun]

Against who?

Does it matter? I don't think Ohio State fans are saying, "Since we played Indiana and Oklahoma, we are fine with the passing yards."

My question has been do people think Schiano should be fired? He has been at Ohio St a year and 2 games... if he should be given more time, then why do we have people on this board saying Diaco can't coach and he needs to be fired, or this whole thing needs to be blown up...

I guess I'm asking for consistency here. Don't tell me the Diaco hire was a good hire in January and then call it a disaster hire and that the guy can't coach in September. Not saying you are saying this, but those voices are out there.

 

[WHCSC]

You made it sound like their D was worse than ours. Probably not the case.

 

[timnsun]

You made it sound like their D was worse than ours. Probably not the case.

There was probably a hint of that, seeing as we had some stat geeks posting our Defensive numbers... I decided to post some other numbers. I wouldn't have done it if it were Purdue, or even Northwestern... but Ohio State? That's where we want to be. And they are really struggling in pass D with a second year D coordinator who is a known commodity and a good defensive mind.

Just asking posters to give Diaco a chance. That is the main reason for my posts in this thread.

 

[jflores]

SSO had a nice tidbit...

Let's start with the bad... With the 3-4 on the field, our ILBs should know that Newby will be able to force everything back inside to them. Weber on this first play, has a pulling guard that he should go his with his left (inside) shoulder leaving his outside arm free, turning the play back in to Young who is pursuing backside. If he would do this, Young makes the tackle for about no gain since no one is blocking him.


Since Weber doesn't hit with the correct shoulder, Freeman runs wild. But Taggart notices we are in a 3-4 and just got 30 or so yards, so what does he do? He doesn't reinvent the wheel, flips the formation and runs virtually the exact same play to the other side. Weber learns from his mistake this last time, and hits the pulling guard with his inside shoulder leaving his outside free, and now Freeman has nowhere to run. Young is sitting right there unblocked to make the tackle.


2nd and 9 instead of 1st and 10 after the same play. Something really small that we could clean up and look a whole lot better. But it's things that you have to learn while the bullets are flying unfortunately.

 

[ThrowBones92]

The pass defense has been bad, including the pass rush. They didn't pass much in the second half, and one of the times they did, the receiver dropped a pass that should have been a touchdown. So I'm not sure the second half was much evidence that a corner has been turned for that part of the defense.

Other than pitching that shut out in the second half...yeah. If you want to start playing the "yeah but" game, let me know, we have plenty of "yeah but"s that we could say about Nebraska as well.

Once we tightened the game up immediately in the 3rd quarter, they weren't in conservative mode. It was a 14pt games for much of the second half. You don't sit on that lead like you've got it put away. We played better.

 

[TFC2001]

The biggest help right now for the struggling defense would be an OFFENSE that could convert a 3rd down. Going 0-11 after the first quarter against a good, fast Oregon team is a recipe for disaster.

Yes, I agree the defense needs to improve...and I believe it will as it builds on the 2nd half of the Oregon game (built a ton of confidence). BUT the Offense is NOT helping them at all. It is absolutely pathetic to go 0-11 for three quarters and expect a struggling defense to march right back on to the field.

 

[ThrowBones92]

Nebraska switched from the 5-2 to the 4-3 after the 1992 season. It can be done in some cases and very quickly.

Do you understand the differences between switching between a 5-2 to a 4-3 and a 4-3 to a 3-4? If you understand the challenges between both defenses, I would appreciate you elaborating.

 

[ThrowBones92]

SSO had a nice tidbit...

Let's start with the bad... With the 3-4 on the field, our ILBs should know that Newby will be able to force everything back inside to them. Weber on this first play, has a pulling guard that he should go his with his left (inside) shoulder leaving his outside arm free, turning the play back in to Young who is pursuing backside. If he would do this, Young makes the tackle for about no gain since no one is blocking him.


Since Weber doesn't hit with the correct shoulder, Freeman runs wild. But Taggart notices we are in a 3-4 and just got 30 or so yards, so what does he do? He doesn't reinvent the wheel, flips the formation and runs virtually the exact same play to the other side. Weber learns from his mistake this last time, and hits the pulling guard with his inside shoulder leaving his outside free, and now Freeman has nowhere to run. Young is sitting right there unblocked to make the tackle.


2nd and 9 instead of 1st and 10 after the same play. Something really small that we could clean up and look a whole lot better. But it's things that you have to learn while the bullets are flying unfortunately.

Exactly. I just posted this in another thread. Just because you see it in front of you and make the mistake doesn't mean you're going to fix it immediately going forward. Wrong shouldering a pulling blocker is something that is counter intuitive for most players. You have to make the mistake, see it on film, see it again, recognize what you need to do differently, and probably somewhat get the wrong shoulder executed correctly next time. I'm talking about practice reps. but when you see it in a game, it takes even more reps to train your brain to stick to your training and REACT instinctively to a faster pace of play. You could have executed it correctly 10 times in practice and still been caught off guard in a game by the pull. Maybe because you're thinking about tendencies and expecting something different than a kickout block between the 40s, but guess what here it comes. Good on him for fixing it. We will continue to get better, but it's going to take time.

 

[ThrowBones92]

The biggest help right now for the struggling defense would be an OFFENSE that could convert a 3rd down. Going 0-11 after the first quarter against a good, fast Oregon team is a recipe for disaster.

Yes, I agree the defense needs to improve...and I believe it will as it builds on the 2nd half of the Oregon game (built a ton of confidence). BUT the Offense is NOT helping them at all. It is absolutely pathetic to go 0-11 for three quarters and expect a struggling defense to march right back on to the field.

Agree. Need to get better here. 100%

 

[Sooner_or_Later]

1st Half - 25 passes and 20 rushes (56%/44%)
2nd half - 8 passes and 24 rushes (25%/75%)
TOTAL - 33 passes and 44 rushes (43%/57%)

 

[dinglefritz]

1st Half - 25 passes and 20 rushes (56%/44%)
2nd half - 8 passes and 24 rushes (25%/75%)
TOTAL - 33 passes and 44 rushes (43%/57%)

Again, they were 4/7 with an interception in the 3rd qtr while being pretty balanced at about a 45% passing rate. The 4th qtr they really let the air out and only threw one pass and I think it was incomplete. They definitely let the air trying to preserve the win BECAUSE WE WERE WITHIN 14 after pitching a shutout in the 3rd.

 

[barney44]

Do you understand the differences between switching between a 5-2 to a 4-3 and a 4-3 to a 3-4? If you understand the challenges between both defenses, I would appreciate you elaborating.

I guess "in some cases very quickly" was missed here..

 

[NikkiSixx]

Look, I get it, those stats are embarrassing... and for the many who weren't sold on the hire of Mike Riley almost 3 years ago, the hire of Bob Diaco was met with a lot of optimism.

What has changed? Either he was a good defensive mind then and still is, or he never was. Why wasn't their any complaining about his hire last December?

If you didn't complain then, why are you complaining now? (Not just Nikki, but all the experts who are telling us how bad Diaco is)

A lot of people thought it was a crappy thing, the way Banker was let go. But some people wanted change.. I was hoping for a better BP 2.0.. sigh

I read another poster who stated something to the effect that he's already tired of this guys act. That resonated with me. Diaco's cryptic bs interviews and futile attempts to sound like a defensive coaching ghandi, well I've heard enough of it too.

 

[huskerfan1414]

Look, I get it, those stats are embarrassing... and for the many who weren't sold on the hire of Mike Riley almost 3 years ago, the hire of Bob Diaco was met with a lot of optimism.

What has changed? Either he was a good defensive mind then and still is, or he never was. Why wasn't their any complaining about his hire last December?

If you didn't complain then, why are you complaining now? (Not just Nikki, but all the experts who are telling us how bad Diaco is)

I just dunno why we rush 3 so often in obvious passing downs. Thats not a transition thing. I guess i didnt expect that

 

[suhnami]

I like Diaco. I think it's stupid to have a LB covering a WR which burned us multiple times. I really hope he's not stubborn like Pelini was. I can't believe we aren't in nickle or dime defense more against these teams. Hope we make some adjustments to that and tighten up a bit and I think we can adjust to rushing more on 3rd and long. Really wish we'd find our fastest LB and put him on the edge and tell him to get the ball like Demorrio Williams used to.

 

[Joe M]

I like Diaco. I think it's stupid to have a LB covering a WR which burned us multiple times. I really hope he's not stubborn like Pelini was. I can't believe we aren't in nickle or dime defense more against these teams. Hope we make some adjustments to that and tighten up a bit and I think we can adjust to rushing more on 3rd and long. Really wish we'd find our fastest LB and put him on the edge and tell him to get the ball like Demorrio Williams used to.

Get used to it. Luckily when he was at ND, those linebackers covering receivers were Danny Spond and Jaylon Smith. Diaco led the best defense for ND since the early 90's in 2012 so I won't bag on him too much, but it was interesting to hear comments from Saban after the national championship that year.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

Jaylon Smith only played 1 year for Diaco
Danny Spond was a 3 star recruit.

Let's not get carried away

 

[Tuco Ramirez]

SSO had a nice tidbit...

.

Thanks for sharing.
I was rewatching the first half last night, and I was surprised how many good defensive plays we had, even in the first half. Obviously on a whole it wasn't good, but it would be interesting to track how many two yards or less plays they had overall, and specifically on first down. The passing defense is a mess, in part because the secondary is inconsistent and in part because the linebackers aren't playing well in space. (That last part was also true last year.) There were busts in the run defense. But, considering the team gave up 42 points in a half, I was surprised how unblownaway they looked.

 

[Joe M]

Jaylon Smith only played 1 year for Diaco
Danny Spond was a 3 star recruit.

Let's not get carried away

We're on Rivals, right?
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2010/danny-spond-26008

Anyway, Spond obviously wasn't the athlete that Smith was, but he played in space extremely well, and was very effective at the DOG spot.