Defense Evolution

Well I think Pelini said that they are always tweaking things, but I'd imagine schematically that not that much has changed. One thing I get curious about, did the type of players we recruited to counter Big 12 offenses not match up well against Big 10? Or maybe alot of our speed players tried to bulk up too much and lost that edge they had before?

 
Agree that Bo's philosophy and defense was the same. It all comes down to the players. In the secondary if the players know where their help is coming from, they can jump routes and get interceptions, tips etc. So lack of experience was a big issue for a lot of players. Green, Stafford and Dennard's backup by committee were all inexperienced. Cassidy had decent experience but was not the speediest player.

The secondary didn't get much help from the Dline (and vice versa). They lost their disrupter in Crick. They had a lot of injuries. They didn't get any push on the pocket. B1G has better lineman than the b12-2. Our ends put on to much weight in to short of time.

 
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I think last year, although we had potential AA's at DT, LB and CB, the rest was quite a drop off. Young, inexperienced, new coaches, and new league did't help.

Bo's scheme is predicated on on every guy knowing where they should and being there at the right time. Inexperience and youth really threw that off last year. Bo also depends on the DL to get the penetration and the DB's to play INT machines. I really think not actually using LB's in a "traditional" role for 3 years (our time in the Big XII) really hurt. Bo developed the perfect scheme to defeat the spread and speed of the Big XII. We move into the B1G and face more traditional and "bigger" teams he had to adjust to a different scheme to a degree and lacked the personnel to do it. Hopefully in year two, BO will have devised a way to counter some of the B1G offensive staples much like he did in the Big XII.

Chemistry is talked about with the kids, but often forgotten with the coaches. Maybe there were issues amongst the staff that also caused some "lack of chemistry". (My thoughts not based on anything I have read or heard)

With the second year in the B1G, a new DLine coach, experienced secondary, new LB's and a hopefully healthy DLine, I expect to see enough of a difference to get us at least 2 more wins. I think that Bo will dial up enough blitzes and a better pass rush to rush to shut or at least slow down some teams. Against teams like OSU, Michicken and NW with mobile QB's I would love to see him re-invent he Super D role from 2003 with SJB, Osbourne or one of the other athletes to really help pressure and contain those mobile QB's.

An improvement in the fundamentals ie tackling, penalties etc would also go a long, long way in getting us another win or two.

 
In Pelini's first 2 years I remember defensive lineman trying to get into the backfield. Last year there were many occasions where I saw defensive lineman just standing around making no effort to put pressure on the QB. Was this Carl, or was it an attempt to contain mobile QBs. I remember the defensive lineman going after the Michigan State QB, but giving the Michigan QB all day to throw.

 
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I don't think we've ever really tried to rush the QB with our DEs under Pelini. I thought maybe at first we were just enjoying the luxury of having Suh and Crick in the middle wreaking enough havoc that we didn't have to rush our DEs. Apparently this is not the case because we still really didn't rush our DEs last year.

It was hard to tell last year how much of the trouble on the DLine was due to player's abilities and how much was due to injuries. We apparently weren't off to a good start on the injury front in Spring Ball so hopefully we can be healthy by fall.

 
Mavric said:
I don't think we've ever really tried to rush the QB with our DEs under Pelini. I thought maybe at first we were just enjoying the luxury of having Suh and Crick in the middle wreaking enough havoc that we didn't have to rush our DEs. Apparently this is not the case because we still really didn't rush our DEs last year.

It was hard to tell last year how much of the trouble on the DLine was due to player's abilities and how much was due to injuries. We apparently weren't off to a good start on the injury front in Spring Ball so hopefully we can be healthy by fall.
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Agree about the DE's. For some reason, maybe because os the SUHnami, Bo seems to like the DE to play contain and not really try to get into the backfield. Perhaps Bo realizes we do not currently have the horses that can motor into the backfield and actually get to the QB. He schemes to cover up the possible lack of athleticism by getting the push from the DT's in an attempt to get the RB/QB to bounce to the outside into the DE's.

 
lo country said:
I think last year, although we had potential AA's at DT, LB and CB, the rest was quite a drop off. Young, inexperienced, new coaches, and new league did't help.

Bo's scheme is predicated on on every guy knowing where they should and being there at the right time. Inexperience and youth really threw that off last year. Bo also depends on the DL to get the penetration and the DB's to play INT machines.
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I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head with that right there.

 
B1G linemen > Texas 10 linemen. This is why you dont see penetration from the D line. Texas 10 run wide splits, smaller and faster linemen. Its easier to shoot a gap or push the linemen back. In the B1G, these are NFL caliber linemen you face every weekend. They dont take wide gaps and they are big/strong mofos. Your not just going to push them around like you could against Baylor, ISU, etc.

 
WAHusker said:
B1G linemen > Texas 10 linemen. This is why you dont see penetration from the D line. Texas 10 run wide splits, smaller and faster linemen. Its easier to shoot a gap or push the linemen back. In the B1G, these are NFL caliber linemen you face every weekend. They dont take wide gaps and they are big/strong mofos. Your not just going to push them around like you could against Baylor, ISU, etc.
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IDK man, OU has always had some big nasty O-Linemen. I have to say without a doubt, Suh would push these B1G linemen around just like he did in the Big 12. The only team I really saw "beat" Suh was KU when we played them because they had the G take the contact from him and then the C came and layed as big of a hit on his side as he could, and that totally threw him off.

 
zoogies said:
Sort of. I think it was the scheme. I remember that one of his star safeties that year went and ran a 4.72 40 or something of that nature. The match read or whatever it's called that we run as a coverage scheme...I don't know if Bo is a huge blitzer.
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Blitzing is overrated. It has it's place, but if you can't create pressure with your front 4 you're screwed anyways.

 
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Now THIS was an opportunistic defense. But we had about twice as many NFL caliber players on that '95 squad than we got today.
 
HuskerShark said:
WAHusker said:
B1G linemen > Texas 10 linemen. This is why you dont see penetration from the D line. Texas 10 run wide splits, smaller and faster linemen. Its easier to shoot a gap or push the linemen back. In the B1G, these are NFL caliber linemen you face every weekend. They dont take wide gaps and they are big/strong mofos. Your not just going to push them around like you could against Baylor, ISU, etc.
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IDK man, OU has always had some big nasty O-Linemen. I have to say without a doubt, Suh would push these B1G linemen around just like he did in the Big 12. The only team I really saw "beat" Suh was KU when we played them because they had the G take the contact from him and then the C came and layed as big of a hit on his side as he could, and that totally threw him off.
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Suh is a different animal, he would have dominated anywhere. I was refering to our current talent.

 
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