This take is scorching hot.
1. Nebraska was forced to play Northwestern with basically 4 defensive linemen. Mick did not play vs. NW which left them without a Nose again, exposing the defense. And by the 2nd half they were really down to three because Carlos Davis was banged up. Peyton Newell, a fifth year senior, basically played his first real Big Ten snaps in the second half. That was by default as the Husker Dline was dead. No Power 5 DC in the country can sustain that absence of depth.
2. Nebraska's pass rush consisted of one player: Luke Gifford....
JoJo Doman returned to the field vs. NW after missing the previous 5 games, but he wasn't ready to see regular snaps for the next two weeks and only played special teams. Ty Ferguson was also injured and could only play a few snaps. Alex Davis sucks and literally didn't record a tackle. northwestern threw 65 passes. Gifford had a sack and Ben Stille got a sack.
3. The absence of a pass rush has ZERO to do with coaching. It's predicated upon talent and depth. This means you have to manufacture a blitz which leaves you exposed on the back end.
4. I alluded to playing with only 4 healthy Dlinemen. Mo Barry and Dedrick Young played every defensive snap. After Honas went down vs. Purdue, Colin Miller was the only other option. His pass coverage skills are non existent which makes him virtually useless vs a team like NW.
5. Northwestern had 93 offensive snaps in regulation, counting dead ball penalty plays. Nebraska, by default, was forced to defend that much action with basically 3 exhausted defensive Ends, none of which are a true Nose guard, and two inside linebackers. Bill Bellicheck would've been screwed crafting a defense in that scenario.
6. I won't blame the game on penalties, but Nebraska had 9 for 100 yards. Northwestern had 1 for 5 yards. I will Argue NW actually won the division because of their Penalty disparity all season. I bring it up because that does revolve around coaching, and it's a fair observation.
Blame Chinander all you want, but Nebraska's defense was bad last season for personnel reasons moreso than anything. That absence of depth is inexcusable at the Power 5 level. In 2019, they will be much deeper everywhere with the exception of inside linebacker.
And I can't stress this point enough:
Nebraska's biggest addition in 2019 is Derrion Daniels. This team has played the 3-4 the past two seasons without a true experienced nose guard. That's like playing three on three basketball with a midget on your team.