Why all the Safety bashing???

C

CornHunka

Five-Star Recruit
Almost every thread talking about the defense eventually gets to the play of the safety. Why? I realize that the safeties are supposed to be the last line of defense between us the the goal line, but most of the time the breakdown occurred long before the safety gets involved.

O'Hanlan, Hagg, Asante and Thernarse are going to be just fine this year because as Carl Pelini says in the OWH, "“Breakdowns were an issue (last season),” he said. “You've got 10 guys on the same page and one guy not. When you're playing team defense, you can't have that. Those seem to be going away. More and more, we're seeing 11 guys on the same page. You're not perfect, because they've got great athletes, too. A receiver might make a great catch. But you're not seeing people run wide open. You're not seeing a running back break through a gaping hole because someone went the wrong way.”

Here's the link to the rest of the article.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20090830/SPORTS01/708309850

 
I think our safeties are gonna be fine, aside from the CB's, they are strongest set in the secondary. Its been speculated that Thenarse and Asante will be starting this year, back up to Thenarse is O' Hanlon, and back up to Asante will be Hagg/Smith. Hagg maybe seeing more time as a CB for the Nickel or Dime package during the pass heavy teams since it appears we are kinda stretched thin at the CB position.

Hagg and Smith will be the future for the safety spots after the seniors leave this year, which is why i think its very important that we pick up some good CB's and Safeties in the recruitment pool.

 
I'm still concerned about the safeties because of how badly they played last season. I think O'Hanlon is solid but not great, isn't as good a blitzer as the others. He will likely start ahead of Thenarse who is a monster on ST, but tackles poorly and is lost in the secondary. Asante gets a lot of props from the media, but I have yet to see him play even one good, complete game. He also misses some tackles (not as many as Thenarse). We haven't seen Hagg play safety yet; he looked okay as the nickel and backup CB last year. And we haven't seen PJ Smith and some of the other young players at all.

That's why I'm concerned about the secondary this season. Do I think they could turn it around and be good or great? Absolutely, but I haven't seen it yet. We heard from Sanders before last season how great they were going to be, and then they sucked for much of the year. FAU is a good early test to see if the secondary can carry their weight this year.

 
Part of breakdowns is not understanding the system you're in and where you fit. Now everyone taking snaps at that position has had two spring camps, two fall camps, and one complete season to get the defense down. I expect better play.

But let's also remember what they were coming off of in 2007. They played better by leaps and bounds. Time to make another jump.

 
Husker_x said:
Part of breakdowns is not understanding the system you're in and where you fit. Now everyone taking snaps at that position has had two spring camps, two fall camps, and one complete season to get the defense down. I expect better play.

But let's also remember what they were coming off of in 2007. They played better by leaps and bounds. Time to make another jump.
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Yeah, our rush defense made huge strides. Hopefully they improve too and our pass defense can make similar strides this year.

 
CornHunka said:
Almost every thread talking about the defense eventually gets to the play of the safety. Why? I realize that the safeties are supposed to be the last line of defense between us the the goal line, but most of the time the breakdown occurred long before the safety gets involved.

O'Hanlan, Hagg, Asante and Thernarse are going to be just fine this year because as Carl Pelini says in the OWH, "“Breakdowns were an issue (last season),” he said. “You've got 10 guys on the same page and one guy not. When you're playing team defense, you can't have that. Those seem to be going away. More and more, we're seeing 11 guys on the same page. You're not perfect, because they've got great athletes, too. A receiver might make a great catch. But you're not seeing people run wide open. You're not seeing a running back break through a gaping hole because someone went the wrong way.”

Here's the link to the rest of the article.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20090830/SPORTS01/708309850
Click to expand...
Last season, every time the opposing team launched the ball deep downfield, an unsettling terror always gripped me-almost to the point where I couldn't breathe until after the play was over. Now is it unfair to blame the SS and FS? Maybe. But in a cover 2 scheme, if a CB or LB makes a mistake it's usually a big gain that the defense can recover from. If a SS or FS makes a mistake it's usually a TD.

 
HuskerJen said:
CornHunka said:
Almost every thread talking about the defense eventually gets to the play of the safety. Why? I realize that the safeties are supposed to be the last line of defense between us the the goal line, but most of the time the breakdown occurred long before the safety gets involved.

O'Hanlan, Hagg, Asante and Thernarse are going to be just fine this year because as Carl Pelini says in the OWH, "“Breakdowns were an issue (last season),” he said. “You've got 10 guys on the same page and one guy not. When you're playing team defense, you can't have that. Those seem to be going away. More and more, we're seeing 11 guys on the same page. You're not perfect, because they've got great athletes, too. A receiver might make a great catch. But you're not seeing people run wide open. You're not seeing a running back break through a gaping hole because someone went the wrong way.”

Here's the link to the rest of the article.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20090830/SPORTS01/708309850
Click to expand...
Last season, every time the opposing team launched the ball deep downfield, an unsettling terror always gripped me-almost to the point where I couldn't breathe until after the play was over. Now is it unfair to blame the SS and FS? Maybe. But in a cover 2 scheme, if a CB or LB makes a mistake it's usually a big gain that the defense can recover from. If a SS or FS makes a mistake it's usually a TD.
Click to expand...
Yes. :yeah

I can remember specifically the Colorado game last year, when Colorado scored two touchdowns off of 4 plays. Those were perfect examples of the secondary not recovering and getting beat deep. I don't recall the plays exactly, but from where I was in the stands, those receivers caught those balls with at least a couple of yards space between them and the closest defender.

Just because they are our "last line of defense" doesn't mean they don't make mistakes and get a "it's ok" pat on the back after something like that. It was a prime example of our safeties getting beat deep on consecutive drives. Even if another guy makes mistakes, you're still accountable as a team and as an individual.

 
Husker_x said:
Part of breakdowns is not understanding the system you're in and where you fit. Now everyone taking snaps at that position has had two spring camps, two fall camps, and one complete season to get the defense down. I expect better play.

But let's also remember what they were coming off of in 2007. They played better by leaps and bounds. Time to make another jump.
Click to expand...
:yeah

The combination of corners and safties making mental mistakes has been painful, but I'm sure we'll continue to see improvement. And was already stated, usually if a safety blows it you're looking at a massive gain or a TD. The more time they have in the system, and also working as a unit, the better it will get.

 
I was very vocal about how O' Hanlon was never that good. He would constantly get sucked up to the LOS and then get burnt on a seam route. He did play pretty good against Clemson but he needed that game to make up for the many mistakes he made in previous games. I hope he plays more consistant this year.

 
yes, big mistakes in the secondary stand out like a turd in a punch bowl, and sometimes it is on the safety, period...missed tackles for big gains always look the worst.

 
I just hope Asante was listening when Minter was talking to him. If anyone can teach you to play good safety, it's that guy.

 
Blackshirtsguru said:
I was very vocal about how O' Hanlon was never that good. He would constantly get sucked up to the LOS and then get burnt on a seam route. He did play pretty good against Clemson but he needed that game to make up for the many mistakes he made in previous games. I hope he plays more consistant this year.
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And he did, knocking the game winning TD out of Spiller's hands as time ran down.

 
Thenarse definately needs to get the plays down in the secondary, if he could he would be a beast considering his play on special teams. Hagg, as someone said before, is going to be a wait and see type of guy in that position and I personally think he'll do well. O'Hanlon needs to pay attention to his angles in the secondary because I remember several times last season where he was out of position and got burnt bad. Asante.......................don't get me started.

 
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