The most frusting thing about our program

[SnohomishRed]

since 2001 and that fateful game against CU is that we not played consutently good defense since that point.

For decades up until that point the blackshirts were consistently in the 25 and most times in the top ten in scoring defense. Since then we have had a few good years but most year we are middle of the pack at best or flat out horrible

If this program is going to come back it has to start on the defensive side of the ball imo. There are plenty of teams that play top level defense without recruiting top ten classes. Defense is more about coaching - attitude and playing hard to the ball.

We have as a program the ingredients to have great defense -

• One of the top defensive traditions "Blackshirts" in all of CFB
• We play in a run heavy Big10
• Weather even helps us in this regards

I hope Riley and Banker make this happen. If they are I think we see the start of it this season, defense is not something that takes years to put in place. If we start playing good defense and get our swagger back on this side of the ball the offense will follow

 

[rrthusker]

In the last several seasons we have been one of the worst tackling teams in football. It is almost like certain defenders are afraid of contact. Suh, Crick and David would be the exemptions.

 

[St. Anger]

What's frusting? Like thrusting? Or frosting?

 

[TheBeav815]

It's when a cockney guy has sex.

What's frusting? Like thrusting? Or frosting?

 

[dockentwo]

Very good posts. T O went for a D coach, good vision; but he struck out and we gave up a lot of records too opposing O's . Things are going to get much better quickly. HCMR may be looked at as more of an O coach; so he has put together a wealth of experience and/or talent in the D coaches. We will be young for a year, then saltier; Blackshirts are back - will rebuild the tradition.
** Some good announcers were giving examples of how poor our tackling technique was last year during broadcasts - some of it would have got you pulled off a Middle School field
*** New coaches are all about hard to the ball ; teach smarts, then group tackling.
*** Db coaching will be the best since Marvin. Routes will be jumped.
*** Lb's will be young but special at times. Bando may be a tackling machine ( See So Cal stats )
*** Yes, D will fire up the O ; I expect more timely turnovers and better field positions for TA and crew.
*** The d-line will be unleashed. And allowed to be disruptive at times. Bo had them self blocking by getting stationary with the O: now o's may have to double team some and chase them after getting beat on a move.

 

[chicolby]

No one will argue that the D in the 90s was superior to the last decade but to say Nebraska's D with Suh was just good is a vast mistake. That D was special and if we e had any offense that team could have competed with anyone.

 

[dockentwo]

No one will argue that the D in the 90s was superior to the last decade but to say Nebraska's D with Suh was just good is a vast mistake. That D was special and if we e had any offense that team could have competed with anyone.

BINGO - Dribbled tx o-line like basketballs.

 

[nebcountry]

From a very simple standpoint, I like to think that all facets of the game are interdependent. Seems like if we are good at some things, we are bad in others (sometimes really bad). And it was a revolving door as to what we would be good/bad at next.

I just hope we actually try to improve at our deficiencies rather than accepting them.

 

[omnione]

2009 and 2010 were pretty good, especially 2009. Every other season was varied from tolerable, but not good, to dumpster fire levels.

 

[Cornicator]

The issue stems from 2 factors:

1. Not consistently recruiting elite talent in the defensive front 7.

2. Not filling up the depth chart in the front 7.


Both are problematic. Championships are won with QBs, offensive lines and the front 7s on defense.

Nebraska has struggled to maintain consistency in all 3 areas.

Your defensive line MUST have a rotation. If you're forcing 4 or 5 guys to play 70 snaps, you're going to get beat. This puts pressure on your linebackers. If the Dline is worn down and the linebackers have no depth, then you're "effed."

 

[Husk10]

I think the issue with tackling over the last few years, that @rrthusker mentioned, is due to a lack of focus on the basics and an extended focus on a complicated system. Essentially, in my opinion, NU sacrificed fundamentals for complexity and it back fired.

 

[WestOmahaFirstWorldProblems]

2009 and 2010 were pretty good, especially 2009. Every other season was varied from tolerable, but not good, to dumpster fire levels.

Here's a quick comparison of Banker's tenure at Oregon State (2003-14) to Nebraska defenses during the same time period.

Courtesy of http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs

FBS rankings in scoring defense: 2003-14

2014: Nebraska (59), Oregon State (96)
2013: Nebraska (50), Oregon State (90)
2012: Nebraska (58), Oregon State (22)
2011: Nebraska (42), Oregon State (89)

2010: Nebraska (9), Oregon State (64)
2009: Nebraska (1), Oregon State (57)
2008: Nebraska (80), Oregon State (47)

2007: Nebraska (114), Oregon State (33)
2006: Nebraska (24), Oregon State (54)
2005: Nebraska (25), Oregon State (105)
2004: Nebraska (71), Oregon State (48)

2003: Nebraska (2), Oregon State (16)


FBS rankings in defensive yardage: 2003-14

2014: Nebraska (52), Oregon State (74)
2013: Nebraska (40), Oregon State (100)
2012: Nebraska (35), Oregon State (30)
2011: Nebraska (37), Oregon State (84)

2010: Nebraska (11), Oregon State (86)
2009: Nebraska (7), Oregon State (46)
2008: Nebraska (55), Oregon State (23)

2007: Nebraska (112), Oregon State (8)
2006: Nebraska (56), Oregon State (59)
2005: Nebraska (26), Oregon State (84)
2004: Nebraska (56), Oregon State (18)

2003: Nebraska (11), Oregon State (7)

 

[timnsun]

Wow, thanks! Guess that says it all! Banker sucks... Has absolutely nothing to do with talent level. It's all coaching. What were we thinking?

 

[ThereIsNoPlace]

Until Riley has "his" QBs & offensive talent recruited these first few years are gonna be rough. Cannot count on a coach who's average def. scoring ranking was in the 40s to win any 'ships. He'll then have about 4 years to put it together for a swan song run to the playoffs. Hope the tourney goes to 16 teams soon.

 

[Rocky Mtn Husker]

I won't over analyze this, but I suspect this statistic is closely related to the downfall of the Osborne style offense.....when it was clicking IT helped our defense tremendously.

 

[DCBloodRed]

What's frusting? Like thrusting? Or frosting?

Empirical evidence the 'N' truly does stand for 'N'owledge..... (I LOL'ed at this.)

 

[omnione]

I won't over analyze this, but I suspect this statistic is closely related to the downfall of the Osborne style offense.....when it was clicking IT helped our defense tremendously.

Your explanation is overly simplistic. There have been plenty of top defenses in college football since Osborne retired that were not paired with an Osborne-style offense. The Osborne-style offense is gone. The offense isn't coming back nor is it a prerequisite for success at Nebraska.

 

[huskerhomie]

Here's a quick comparison of Banker's tenure at Oregon State (2003-14) to Nebraska defenses during the same time period.

Courtesy of http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs

FBS rankings in scoring defense: 2003-14

2014: Nebraska (59), Oregon State (96)
2013: Nebraska (50), Oregon State (90)
2012: Nebraska (58), Oregon State (22)
2011: Nebraska (42), Oregon State (89)

2010: Nebraska (9), Oregon State (64)
2009: Nebraska (1), Oregon State (57)
2008: Nebraska (80), Oregon State (47)

2007: Nebraska (114), Oregon State (33)
2006: Nebraska (24), Oregon State (54)
2005: Nebraska (25), Oregon State (105)
2004: Nebraska (71), Oregon State (48)

2003: Nebraska (2), Oregon State (16)


FBS rankings in defensive yardage: 2003-14

2014: Nebraska (52), Oregon State (74)
2013: Nebraska (40), Oregon State (100)
2012: Nebraska (35), Oregon State (30)
2011: Nebraska (37), Oregon State (84)

2010: Nebraska (11), Oregon State (86)
2009: Nebraska (7), Oregon State (46)
2008: Nebraska (55), Oregon State (23)

2007: Nebraska (112), Oregon State (8)
2006: Nebraska (56), Oregon State (59)
2005: Nebraska (26), Oregon State (84)
2004: Nebraska (56), Oregon State (18)

2003: Nebraska (11), Oregon State (7)

Good info, but I think it would only be fair to compare what offensive ranked teams they played last year for an example: The B10 is to put it mildly GARBAGE with regards to offenses, which makes Bo's failures on D that much more alarming. The Pac 10 on the other hand has some of the best offenses in the country and balanced offenses with the pass to run ratio and offensive styles. It is BY FAR much tougher to be a DC in the Pac12 then it is in the B10.

For an example lets look at last years B10 vs Pac 10 total offense rankings:

OSU Total offense ranks of teams in the Pac 10 last year:

3rd Oregon

7th Wazzu

13th CAL

22nd UCLA

25th AZ

29th USC

34th AZ St

37th CU

74th Wash

75th Stanford

76th Utah


Avg total offense rank: 36th. Yes the average total offensive rank of all teams (excluding OSU) is 36th in the country AKA this is a very good offensive league and very tough to put up good defensive numbers.


8 of 11 teams ranked in the top 40 of total offense

Now lets compare the horrid offenses of the B10:

NU rankings of B10 teams total offense last year:

9th tOSU

11th MSU

21st Wisky

61st Indiana

63rd Iowa

73rd Rutgers

94th Ill

103 Minny

104th NW

108th Purdue

109th MD

111th PSU

112th Michigan


Avg; total offensive rank 75th Yes bottom half of the country on offense were B10 teams


3 teams ranked in the top 40 in total offense compared to 8 for the Pac 12.


10 of 13 teams ranked in the bottom half of the country in total offense including 6 teams ranked in the 100's.

Lets see: Banker with more talent, and playing vs teams that are no where near as talented or as good on offense as the ones that he faced year in and year out in the Pac 12. My money is on Banker being able to put together a pretty good D at NU.

It is scary at just how bad most of the B10 offenses are after you get past the top 4 teams in the league. Putrid I dont even think describes it accurately.

 

[TruHusker]

Bo turned the D around when he first came to Nebraska. I don't think it is unfair to say many or most didn't think he was the ticket at first. Then things trended downward for whatever reason. While I agree with the front 7 and all that, you have to coach them and if we didn't then what difference would it make? Seem like Bo was always missing a key piece, good LB's, good DB' but poor DT's. He just always seemed to have a hole in his teams and when you look at the recruiting cycles it was easy to see coming. That is the way it is going to be for any coach.

Its the whole package. Gotta start out with talented kids with a solid work ethic. Great coaching, conditioning and support system are all part of it as well. I am not so certain a scheme is all that important if you can line up and knock the guy across from you on his rear end whether in a I, wishbone, single back, zone read, or spread. We just had to many holes to be consistently good. Poor recruiting one time, poor coaching another, poor attitudes and all of that. You can "coach up" only so far and when it comes to the big stage the difference between wining and losing is slim.

 

[Rocky Mtn Husker]

Yes, there have been plenty of great defenses in college football since T.O. Retired and that has absolutely nothing to do with my comment. With the style of offense that T.O. ran we kept the ball away from the opposing team. That in and of itself helps the defense. The defense gets time to rest and not get wore down late in the game. T.O. mentioned this all the time. Having Charlie McBride at the helm didn't hurt either. McBride figured out after getting spanked by the likes of Miami and Florida St. In bowl games he HAD to recruit speed on defense. He did just that and the rest is history.

 

[omnione]

Yes, there have been plenty of great defenses in college football since T.O. Retired and that has absolutely nothing to do with my comment. With the style of offense that T.O. ran we kept the ball away from the opposing team. That in and of itself helps the defense. The defense gets time to rest and not get wore down late in the game. T.O. mentioned this all the time. Having Charlie McBride at the helm didn't hurt either. McBride figured out after getting spanked by the likes of Miami and Florida St. In bowl games he HAD to recruit speed on defense. He did just that and the rest is history.

You attributed the decline of our defense to this style. My comment about other great defenses was a counter to this assertion. So, "absolutely nothing to do with my comment" is incorrect.

Our defensive decline was more due to a combination of poor coaching, poor recruiting, a decline in our S&C edge over the competition, and loss of depth (fewer scholarships, etc.). Solich coached with a similar style of offense and we had our share of blowouts.

I do agree that winning time of possession through long drives by a run-based offense certainly helps the defenses. However, I still find your theory over simplistic.

 

[jawbreakingsafetyplay]

You attributed the decline of our defense to this style. My comment about other great defenses was a counter to this assertion. So, "absolutely nothing to do with my comment" is incorrect.

Our defensive decline was more due to a combination of poor coaching, poor recruiting, a decline in our S&C edge over the competition, and loss of depth (fewer scholarships, etc.). Solich coached with a similar style of offense and we had our share of blowouts.

I do agree that winning time of possession through long drives by a run-based offense certainly helps the defenses. However, I still find your theory over simplistic.

I'm a big believer in the cumulative impact that a fast paced offensive system has on it's own defense. You won't see it much in week one, but come November the defense has played a ton more snaps than most of the other teams they face and it shows. Auburn's defense has fizzled out late in the year under Gus Malzahn as the head coach. The guy has run his defenses into the ground, which is why I'm 100% unconvinced that adding Will Muschamp is going to solve their woes.

Nebraska's has struggled at defense because they haven't recruited well and the coaching has been abysmal since McBride left. In retrospect, it is crazy to look back and how much success Suh had and realize that he had some of the worst coaching imaginable and he overcame it all. I didn't think it was possible to appreciate his amazing contributions, but the sport may never see another like him again and it is sad to think how wasted he was.

 

[dinglefritz]

since 2001 and that fateful game against CU is that we not played consutently good defense since that point.

For decades up until that point the blackshirts were consistently in the 25 and most times in the top ten in scoring defense. Since then we have had a few good years but most year we are middle of the pack at best or flat out horrible

If this program is going to come back it has to start on the defensive side of the ball imo. There are plenty of teams that play top level defense without recruiting top ten classes. Defense is more about coaching - attitude and playing hard to the ball.

We have as a program the ingredients to have great defense -

• One of the top defensive traditions "Blackshirts" in all of CFB
• We play in a run heavy Big10
• Weather even helps us in this regards

I hope Riley and Banker make this happen. If they are I think we see the start of it this season, defense is not something that takes years to put in place. If we start playing good defense and get our swagger back on this side of the ball the offense will follow

Make no mistake. Our defense is in a tough spot with our linebacker depth thanks to Bo and Els. Our season may depend greatly on if Michael Rose can return to 100% and IF Banderas stays healthy and plays up to his athletic potential. After them, it gets dicey. We HAVE to have some young guys step up and play minutes. Jaws makes very good points later about the pressure that the up-tempo offense put on our defense. Riley will take some of that pressure off our defense, BUT our lack of depth at linebacker is a MAJOR concern. IMO, our defense early in Bo's tenure was primarily a function of the tremendous talent left for Bo especially on the D line by Callahan. Bo filled in some holes with a JUCO or two and brought in some good DBs but Carl absolutely killed us with his D-line recruiting. It all starts up front and we failed for several years in recruiting. IMO, we absolutely payed for Carl's issues for years after his departure. On top of that, a football team often takes on the character of its head coach and there is no doubt that Bo was an unstable explosive personality that melted under pressure. IMO, we would have been a better team with the same staff and no Bo on game days. I have no idea how some of those assistants could function with him screaming at them.

 

[dinglefritz]

The issue stems from 2 factors:

1. Not consistently recruiting elite talent in the defensive front 7.

2. Not filling up the depth chart in the front 7.


Both are problematic. Championships are won with QBs, offensive lines and the front 7s on defense.

Nebraska has struggled to maintain consistency in all 3 areas.

Your defensive line MUST have a rotation. If you're forcing 4 or 5 guys to play 70 snaps, you're going to get beat. This puts pressure on your linebackers. If the Dline is worn down and the linebackers have no depth, then you're "effed."

It appears we have the Dline for this fall. THIS year is going to hinge IMO largely on our linebacker health and depth. IF our starters can stay healthy and play up to their potential we could be pretty good. We are going to have to have some guys step up and play well at linebacker this year or we're in trouble. Hopefully Banker's simpler scheme makes that possible.

 

[Rocky Mtn Husker]

Solich did run a similar offense...........but not very well at times and that put more pressure on the defense. Agree it was a combination of poor recruiting and poor coaching as well, and all of that really exposed our defense at times (See CU). As good of an athlete that Eric Crouch was, he was not the best option QB that we've ever had, but in his defense, he did not have TO guiding and teaching him either.

 

[NikkiSixx]

To me, it is concerning when looking at Bankers stats at Oregon State.. apparently he got quite a bit of backlash from their fans too. However, this is a different place and a different level of talent to work with. So one can't always draw a straight line that predicts his success or lack thereof based on what he did at another school. Truth be told, I think the results, whatever they may be this year, fall directly on coach Riley's shoulders.

 

[omnione]

To me, it is concerning when looking at Bankers stats at Oregon State.. apparently he got quite a bit of backlash from their fans too. However, this is a different place and a different level of talent to work with. So one can't always draw a straight line that predicts his success or lack thereof based on what he did at another school. Truth be told, I think the results, whatever they may be this year, fall directly on coach Riley's shoulders.

I'm not sold on Banker either. I understand the argument regarding fewer resources at Oregon State, but you'd think that he would have shown more. I know that OSU is overshadowed by Oregon and the California schools, but it's not like Oregon State is Iowa State. Heck, KSU is in a much worse position but Snyder often creates good defenses.

We just have to hope that he's one of those coaches who can be good with abundant resources.

 

[sparky62]

I'm not sold on Banker either. I understand the argument regarding fewer resources at Oregon State, but you'd think that he would have shown more. I know that OSU is overshadowed by Oregon and the California schools, but it's not like Oregon State is Iowa State. Heck, KSU is in a much worse position but Snyder often creates good defenses.

We just have to hope that he's one of those coaches who can be good with abundant resources.

I actually think that Iowa St & K st is in a better position then Oreg St. The facilities at Oreg St is that of almost a JC. I also love how they developed talent out there.

 

[dockentwo]

**** Way better fb AD and staff
*** Better everything else; good people at both.
**** This is not the same coaching staff; not close / but also remember they upset USC and had other ups and downs; but two seasons ago they lost 37-36 to Oregon; so outmanned, was Bo going to do that - takes coaching and motivated players.
*** So many things have changed that simple criticism seems trite - contributions , not so much.

 

[tithay01]

Not a fan of what Banker did at OSU and I believe that Riley left OSU because he did not want to make a change at DC. But there is hope because Hughes and Stewart both have experience as DC. Let's just hope the defensive staff will work together.

 

[nothingkevin]

since 2001 and that fateful game against CU is that we not played consutently good defense since that point.

For decades up until that point the blackshirts were consistently in the 25 and most times in the top ten in scoring defense. Since then we have had a few good years but most year we are middle of the pack at best or flat out horrible

If this program is going to come back it has to start on the defensive side of the ball imo. There are plenty of teams that play top level defense without recruiting top ten classes. Defense is more about coaching - attitude and playing hard to the ball.

We have as a program the ingredients to have great defense -

• One of the top defensive traditions "Blackshirts" in all of CFB
• We play in a run heavy Big10
• Weather even helps us in this regards

I hope Riley and Banker make this happen. If they are I think we see the start of it this season, defense is not something that takes years to put in place. If we start playing good defense and get our swagger back on this side of the ball the offense will follow

Consistently? like season after season? correct. but i'll tell you what...coach bo had some good defenses in his early yrs. now, that largely can be attributed to the stellar recruiting by coach callahan but nonetheless.....

 

[dockentwo]

Not a fan of what Banker did at OSU and I believe that Riley left OSU because he did not want to make a change at DC. But there is hope because Hughes and Stewart both have experience as DC. Let's just hope the defensive staff will work together.

* Agree its good we have so much DC experience. ** They all came here to work together; look at the resumes, imo they believe they have a special opportunity and independence of a sort. *** I think HCRM must be taken at his word in regard to his motives; there are a multitude of articles and interviews, imo it was not for the Benefit of Banker. Banker can get his own job; it was huge for HCMR to leave OSU