Is the D struggling? Of course.
Is Nebraska giving up lots of yards through the air? YEP.
Should there be a change. Abso-freaking-lutely not.
If Nebraska were still in the B12, Bo would probably still be here. I'll give the man credit where credit is due. His peso and dime D was pretty good against spread teams (of course he had talent through 2010).
Bo was too stubborn to realize his match up zone was vulnerable against power teams.
This current scheme when ran with the right athletes works in the BIG. See Michigan State.
In the west division Nebraska must beat:
Wisky
Minnesota
Northwestern
Nebraska struggled against NW and got lucky in 2 of the 3 wins.
Wisky has absolutely bitch slapped us in 3 of 4, and bitch slapped doesn't adequately explain how bad it was.
The most hard to take for me is losing the last 2 to Minne-freaking-sota.
Wisky isn't changing what they do on O. Kill and Fitzgerald are at their schools as long as they want to.
So, what does Nebraska have to do to win the division? Stop the damn running game.
Stopping the run since 2012 has been a chore to say the least, not to mention that Nebraska was the joke of the country after the championship game in 2012 and after Melvin Gordon needed oxygen after running for a quarter mile last year.
This D is designed to try to take away the run first. In return, you are playing a lot of cover zero and one one one match ups. You WILL give up passing yards, but if you have to get beat one way or the other, I'd much prefer to have a team have to beat us through the air vs the completely helpless feeling of watching Wisky run through us like a Jr High team, or watching Minnesota slowly jam it down or throats and be unable to stop it. You have zero chance to win when that is happening.
I've said it before, we will struggle this year. You can't expect MSU type D performances, when the secondary responsibilities are such a drastic change. We've got some young but potentially talented CBs, who for the most part are not being helped by a great pass rush. These things are not Banker's fault.
So yes we gave up a lot of yards today, but I can make an argument that had the offense not had to settle on 5 drives for field goals in the first half, USM might have been so demoralized after half that they don't make a run. USM also had to pull out all the stops (onside kick, fake punt, and a pathetic flop that got rewarded) to make the game interesting.
So new staff, new schemes on both sides, no depth at OL, DE, LB, injury issues at DL and LB, and a lot of youth at CB, and we are 2-2, with a hail mary and OT loss.
So freaking face reality and chill out. I'm hoping and praying for 4 more wins so we make postseason, get to practice in December, and build for the future.
Is Nebraska giving up lots of yards through the air? YEP.
Should there be a change. Abso-freaking-lutely not.
If Nebraska were still in the B12, Bo would probably still be here. I'll give the man credit where credit is due. His peso and dime D was pretty good against spread teams (of course he had talent through 2010).
Bo was too stubborn to realize his match up zone was vulnerable against power teams.
This current scheme when ran with the right athletes works in the BIG. See Michigan State.
In the west division Nebraska must beat:
Wisky
Minnesota
Northwestern
Nebraska struggled against NW and got lucky in 2 of the 3 wins.
Wisky has absolutely bitch slapped us in 3 of 4, and bitch slapped doesn't adequately explain how bad it was.
The most hard to take for me is losing the last 2 to Minne-freaking-sota.
Wisky isn't changing what they do on O. Kill and Fitzgerald are at their schools as long as they want to.
So, what does Nebraska have to do to win the division? Stop the damn running game.
Stopping the run since 2012 has been a chore to say the least, not to mention that Nebraska was the joke of the country after the championship game in 2012 and after Melvin Gordon needed oxygen after running for a quarter mile last year.
This D is designed to try to take away the run first. In return, you are playing a lot of cover zero and one one one match ups. You WILL give up passing yards, but if you have to get beat one way or the other, I'd much prefer to have a team have to beat us through the air vs the completely helpless feeling of watching Wisky run through us like a Jr High team, or watching Minnesota slowly jam it down or throats and be unable to stop it. You have zero chance to win when that is happening.
I've said it before, we will struggle this year. You can't expect MSU type D performances, when the secondary responsibilities are such a drastic change. We've got some young but potentially talented CBs, who for the most part are not being helped by a great pass rush. These things are not Banker's fault.
So yes we gave up a lot of yards today, but I can make an argument that had the offense not had to settle on 5 drives for field goals in the first half, USM might have been so demoralized after half that they don't make a run. USM also had to pull out all the stops (onside kick, fake punt, and a pathetic flop that got rewarded) to make the game interesting.
So new staff, new schemes on both sides, no depth at OL, DE, LB, injury issues at DL and LB, and a lot of youth at CB, and we are 2-2, with a hail mary and OT loss.
So freaking face reality and chill out. I'm hoping and praying for 4 more wins so we make postseason, get to practice in December, and build for the future.
