Who has more to prove
- Thread starter walksalone
- Start date
exactly, evidently Wats talked with their OC before the game, because he didn't play to their stength until the game was almost over...if they would have played smashmouth and ball control from the beginning, they would have beat TCU.
walksalone
Heisman Trophy Winner
Thats a prime example of a game that shouldn't have been tough. We made it tough. Offensive ineptitude, bad penalties, lack of discipline.newearthhusker said:
I probably going to get lit up for this, but the same things happened with UT and UW. Both those games were winnable, very winnable. But dropping passing and lack of motivation killed us in both games respectively.
walksalone
Heisman Trophy Winner
I couldn't have gone with offense, because thats an unknown quantity. We're not necessarily sure what we're going to get with Beck. I mean, he did give a brief overview of what his plans are, be we don't even know who the QB is going to be yet.
We have a clearer picture of what we're going to look at on the defensive side of the ball. Thats why IMO, they have more to prove, because they're going to have to set the tone for an offense that may have trouble getting out of the gate.
We have a clearer picture of what we're going to look at on the defensive side of the ball. Thats why IMO, they have more to prove, because they're going to have to set the tone for an offense that may have trouble getting out of the gate.
Fuzzy
All-Conference
I don't expect too much from the offense since its under new leadership and direction, I don't care what circumstances are, I'm not expecting a flashy offense next season. More pressure on the defense particularly the defensive line, since we showed last year we could not defend the run very well and heading into a new conference that has many run heavy teams. It's time for a well experienced defensive front to show that they can win the battle in the trenches by stuffing the run and putting pressure on the QB so that he doesn't pick apart a reloading secondary.
In other words this season will be more like 2009, where we will rely more on our defense to keep us in the game. Offense has talent, no doubt about that, but miscues, execution and penalties I think will keep the offense from being as productive as it was in 2010.
In other words this season will be more like 2009, where we will rely more on our defense to keep us in the game. Offense has talent, no doubt about that, but miscues, execution and penalties I think will keep the offense from being as productive as it was in 2010.
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mmmtodd
All-Conference
the offense has more to prove, the defense has more to lose.
no one will be expecting the offense to put up 30 a game against the big twelve...but if the defense starts giving up that much...whoa nelly.
as far as the run defense last year...Bo's Big 12 D was built on denying the spread, so rushing numbers were a bit higher. Kind like a prevent, but in reverse? Who knows. All I know is that Bo is born and bred Big Ten, served MORE than admirably in the SEC, and has shown nothing but insane capability at adapting and putting players in position to shut whatever type of offense up on the defensive side. The offense proves it can give a little support to that d island, I like the Big Red's chances.
no one will be expecting the offense to put up 30 a game against the big twelve...but if the defense starts giving up that much...whoa nelly.
as far as the run defense last year...Bo's Big 12 D was built on denying the spread, so rushing numbers were a bit higher. Kind like a prevent, but in reverse? Who knows. All I know is that Bo is born and bred Big Ten, served MORE than admirably in the SEC, and has shown nothing but insane capability at adapting and putting players in position to shut whatever type of offense up on the defensive side. The offense proves it can give a little support to that d island, I like the Big Red's chances.
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mmmtodd
All-Conference
on the other hand, I do get where you are coming from walks...but to me, the offense has yet to prove anything other than consistent failure. You cant say that about the D. The D wears the belt, its the champ, he's taken a few knocks, sure. The offense is still looking for its own though. It has something to prove.
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bshirt
Banned
That sounds on the money to me. We get an reasonably consistent "average" offense and we're going to be tough.
walksalone
Heisman Trophy Winner
I completely agree with that. I think most any of us are only asking for some semblance of consistency on offense. Are we going to have to emulate what TCU did to Wiscy in the Rose Bowl? I'm thinking that it's a pretty good point of reference. I think the defense has more to prove, and more to lose. I'm assuming teams like Wisc are going to run it right at us, and see if we'll break.
Maybe the D doesn't have as much to "prove" as the offense, but they're expected to carry the team, to an extent.
junior4949
All-American
I went with the defense. The bend but don't break defensive philosophy doesn't seem like it will work as well in the Big 10 as it did in the spread oriented Big 12. Teams that make a living grinding it out running the ball are a lot less apt to get flustered fumbling the ball than a high speed spread offense unless they run into a team like us last year that led the nation in fumbles. In 2010, we gave up nearly a 150 yards a game to opposing offenses running the ball. In 2010, the Big 10 had four teams in the top 15 for rushing offense.
kchusker_chris
All-American
Agree, the bend/don't break philosophy worked much better with one of the best defensive backfields in the nation against teams that passed 70% of the time. We could give up a few first downs knowing they needed 5-7 of them to score, and the odds were we'd get em off the field before they got to the red zone.
I'm not too worried about Michigan's rushing attack - those numbers were skewed by HUGE chunks of yards early in the season by Robinson and Co. And Illinois, we don't play. That leaves Ohio St and Wisconsin. Both are far ahead of any rushing game we faced in the Big12 last year. But, with the tallent shifting more from the DB to the line similar to 2009 I think we'll be ok in this area. I see us improving dramatically over the 53rd ranking we found ourselves in last year. Our rush defense should be one of our stronger pieces in 2011 which sets up nice for the change.
zoogs
Assistant Coach
That's an interesting point junior. Bo's defense was built to stop a certain kind of spread attack. Just as the Big 10 won't be ready for our offense, this will be a new challenge for the defense to tackle.
Additionally, mobile QBs as well as Mike Leach's offenses, have given us trouble in the past.
Additionally, mobile QBs as well as Mike Leach's offenses, have given us trouble in the past.
junior4949
All-American
While I'm not exactly sure what our offense will look like, the Big 10 has seen the spread from Michigan when Rich Rod was there. The closest thing we've seen to their rush attack is KState last year. To me, it would be a complete shame for us to lose a game or two this year by teams doing exactly what we used to do especially against Miami in the 94' NC game.