Defensive Play

Yeah really is getting old. Wish someone could break down some film for us. But for whatever reason we cant seem to figure it out. I wonder if the coaches can figure it out. Some thing over and over it's a broken record. How many line backers have we missed out on in recruiting. With the way they have performed I not very optimistic going forward either.

 
I don't like how we line up a lot either, but thinking back I don't know if I believe it's our problem. I think the biggest plays where we failed defensively against Wisconsin were:

KO Return TD (7 points)

4th and 6 conversion to Cephus on our 27 (3 points on the drive)

55 yard TD pass with a bunch of missed tackles (7 points on the drive)

Taylor 14 yard run on the first play after the INT (7 points)

3rd and 10 screen pass where about 4 guys miss the RB (3 points)

3rd and 3 conversion from our 33 on a drag route (7 points)

Questionable PI call on 2nd and 8 from their 34 (0 points, backed us up when they punted though)

Obviously more things went wrong than just these, especially on offense. But the bolded one is the only one where I have issues with how we lined up on defense, and if we make a few of these plays that potentially takes points off the board. They still likely would've scored on a few of these, but maybe field goals instead of TDs. As dumb as it seems to me sometimes, the scheme didn't cost us this game - bad tackling and not being able to get points with our opportunities offensively did.

 
Ty Robinson showing how the defensive line should play in a 3-4. He stalemates his OL which should allow our ILB to fill a run gap and stuff this play. Not sure the gap responsibility but the playside ILB runs away from the hole. The future is bright if we can keep adding true freshmen who play like this against Wisconsin. 

 
WyoHusker56 said:
Ty Robinson showing how the defensive line should play in a 3-4. He stalemates his OL which should allow our ILB to fill a run gap and stuff this play. Not sure the gap responsibility but the playside ILB runs away from the hole. The future is bright if we can keep adding true freshmen who play like this against Wisconsin. 
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Stille gets turned, playside backer must be not trusting his reads because he ends up opposite side of where he should be. Other backer is flat footed and slow on his read. Taylor stays patient. Nice play by Ty. Man the LB play is truly awful. Who was the playside backer? Everything on the read coming towards him and he gets sucked up into the slop and negates everyone else’s work. 

 
WyoHusker56 said:
Ty Robinson showing how the defensive line should play in a 3-4. He stalemates his OL which should allow our ILB to fill a run gap and stuff this play. Not sure the gap responsibility but the playside ILB runs away from the hole. The future is bright if we can keep adding true freshmen who play like this against Wisconsin. 
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I would disagree about how a NG should be in a 3-4. The stalemate is great but he only takes one block. Both of the ends eat two. That is more useful even if they give ground (within reason).

Unfortunately Honas blitzes (or reads run ridiculously quickly) on the weak side A gap. This play already had a numbers advantage to the strong side and that made it worse. Barry wasn't able to flow to the hole and Bootle can't make up the difference. If TR is able to eat two blocks this is a very different play. 

 
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zeWilbur said:
I would disagree about how a NG should be in a 3-4. The stalemate is great but he only takes one block. Both of the ends eat two. That is more useful even if they give ground (within reason).

Unfortunately Honas blitzes (or reads run ridiculously quickly) on the weak side A gap. This play already had a numbers advantage to the strong side and that made it worse. Barry wasn't able to flow to the hole and Bootle can't make up the difference. If TR is able to eat two blocks this is a very different play. 
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We see this throughout much of the Wisconsin game. Whisky is able to block our NT one on one pretty much all day, which leaves 2 Guards climbing on our LBs to neutralize them. It's really evident on the drive right before halftime and the 2nd and 3rd drives of the 3rd qtr. It makes for a tough day playing LB, and it allows Wisconsin to reestablish the LOS 3-4 yards downfield, making it even tougher to limit a great RB like Taylor....

 
TheSker said:
Wisconsin's center (Biadasz I believe), is the top center in college football.  So any true freshman even "holding his own" in that situation is doing well.
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To be honest, when I found out Nebraska would play without its two Senior linemen against one of the best OLs in football, I thought it might actually be a good thing. 

 
TheSker said:
Wisconsin's center (Biadasz I believe), is the top center in college football.  So any true freshman even "holding his own" in that situation is doing well.
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Agreed. Ty used leverage well, and he had sufficient strength to stand Biadasz straight up , not yielding much of anything. Imagine his potential after another year or two in the weight room....

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
What's weirder is that this out-of-position, big cushion, easily exploited, no-adjustments defense  has been practiced by the last three coaching staffs. 
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Almost like us fans don't fully understand the intricacies of different defenses. Curious specifically about your reasoning for the bolded. I think a lot of us have issues with how players are positioned, although I'm sure there are drawbacks to however we would do it. And it's hard to argue against easily exploited given our results. But I haven't seen a lot of cushion being given recently, and adjustments are made every game.

 
Husker in WI said:
Almost like us fans don't fully understand the intricacies of different defenses. Curious specifically about your reasoning for the bolded. I think a lot of us have issues with how players are positioned, although I'm sure there are drawbacks to however we would do it. And it's hard to argue against easily exploited given our results. But I haven't seen a lot of cushion being given recently, and adjustments are made every game.
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I don't fully understand the intricacies myself. I just know the Husker defense took a wrong turn around 2011 and has been a liability ever since. My reasoning mostly comes from people who do understand the game. In-game announcers and post-game analysts who replay and diagram Husker defenders either caught out-of-position, or lining up with an unusual amount of cushion. Back in the Pelini days, announcers and opponents would say they could see the Husker D lined up to be exploited, and they were actually mystified why the Huskers refused to make adjustments. Some of that appears to have carried over through Riley and now Frost. Sometimes I see the oversized cushion myself before the play is made. Sometimes analysts and replays point it out for us. 

And if anyone has a plan to get more pressure on the quarterback, I haven't seen it. This includes very average quarterbacks playing behind unremarkable offensive lines. 

As far as in-game adjustments: I think our generally poor second ad third quarter performances speak for themselves. Other teams see our Plan A and make adjustments. At which point we don't have a Plan B. Adding insult to injury, our defensive players start playing like they've given up, and the open field tackling turns awful. 

Guess what I'm saying is that poor Nebraska defense looks really familiar at this point. Not sure why it spans four coaching staffs. 

 
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