NW Husker

Bankers defense has always struggled against the spread offense. It wasn't surprising Ohio State ran all over his us. Oregon ran all over Bankers D for the last 7 years while he was at Oregon State. This year, Oregon isn't very good, so we got a few stops. As long as Banker is our defensive coordinator, athletic spread teams will put up big points on us. On the bright side, his defensive scheme works well against pro style offenses. Unfortunately, those are becoming less and less common.

 

 

Wow. Busy all day and came back to this. Good luck to Hank, seems like a good, professional guy and wish him nothing but the best.

 

 

But. Can we shift focus a little bit and talk about how encouraging of a move this is on Riley's end? My absolute biggest fear would be him not getting rid of dead weight, the same way Callahan was undone, and the same way Bo was undone. This is a HUGE statement and a great look for our program going forward. Very, very encouraged by this.

 

When's the last time we had a coach get fired straight up?

Getting rid of Read or Banker would be a huge statement. Firing a DL coach that he didn't have a long term Relationship is not that big of a deal

Not a big deal? MR just did something the other regime refused to do. He was not great at recruiting and the pass rush was terrible. Give at least some credit!

Also, the last regime never lost 7 games. When you lose more games than you win, staff changes should be expected, not a surprise...

 

 

Wow. Busy all day and came back to this. Good luck to Hank, seems like a good, professional guy and wish him nothing but the best.

 

 

But. Can we shift focus a little bit and talk about how encouraging of a move this is on Riley's end? My absolute biggest fear would be him not getting rid of dead weight, the same way Callahan was undone, and the same way Bo was undone. This is a HUGE statement and a great look for our program going forward. Very, very encouraged by this.

 

When's the last time we had a coach get fired straight up?

Getting rid of Read or Banker would be a huge statement. Firing a DL coach that he didn't have a long term Relationship is not that big of a deal

Not a big deal? MR just did something the other regime refused to do. He was not great at recruiting and the pass rush was terrible. Give at least some credit!

Some credit, sure. But to act like this is a huge move by Riley is an over reaction. Going 6 - 7 for the season and the only move you make is getting rid of a DL coach isn't exactly shaking things up. If he changed a long term assistant ls that hasn't performed in years (Banker/Read/Langs), then I would give him a lot of credit.

Wow. Busy all day and came back to this. Good luck to Hank, seems like a good, professional guy and wish him nothing but the best.

 

 

But. Can we shift focus a little bit and talk about how encouraging of a move this is on Riley's end? My absolute biggest fear would be him not getting rid of dead weight, the same way Callahan was undone, and the same way Bo was undone. This is a HUGE statement and a great look for our program going forward. Very, very encouraged by this.

 

When's the last time we had a coach get fired straight up?

 

Getting rid of Read or Banker would be a huge statement. Firing a DL coach that he didn't have a long term Relationship is not that big of a deal

Not a surprise at all, one of the few coaches without long ties to Riley. Expect a coach that has been with Riley before. Very unlikely it will be someone he hasn't worked with in the past. Nepotism is a theme with our coach

I think we need to temper our expectations for what POB can do his first year in Riley's offense. Most of the examples people are giving of successful freshman qb's are running a simplified spread offense. Running a pro style offense is much more complicated and usually takes several years to learn.

 

The last highly recruited qb Riley brought in to run his offense was Sean Mannion (4 star 5.8). His redshirt freshman year was rough,(record was 3 - 9) 18 int to 16 td's. This was with 3 NFL receiver (Brandon cooks, Markus Wheaton, James Rogers). To expect POB to come in and win 8+ games is very optimistic.

I went and took the two best seasons for Nebraska and Oregon State under its previous coaches...then compared the defensive stats to the national averages and standard deviations (came up with the z-scores and took the average for all the z-scores within the defensive categories) to get the following comparison. Please note that Oregon State made the final AP poll three years in a row between 2006 and 2008 - their highest finish was 18th in 2008. Nebraska made it four years in a row between 2009 and 2012 - our highest finish was 14th in 2009. I don't need to remind anyone that Oregon State : Nebraska is apples : oranges and most football fans know who Suh is.

 

Average Z-score within the Passing Defense category

Nebraska 2009: 1.755

Oregon State 2008: 0.838

 

Average Z-score within the Rushing Defense category

Nebraska 2009: 1.381

Oregon State 2008: 0.498

 

Average Z-score within the Scoring Defense category

Nebraska 2009: 2.315

Oregon State 2008: 0.530

 

Average Z-score within the Total Defense category

Nebraska 2009: 1.314

Oregon State 2008: 0.847

 

What's the significance? I DON'T KNOW! These seasons were a long time ago, though...

 

One thing I would point out is 2008 was the prior to the spread offense becoming commonplace in the Pac 10/12. Before the more "modern" offenses arrived, Banker was a very good DC. The problem is that he hasn't been able to adjust his defense to slow down a spread offense like UO, Washington, Eastern Washington. He has been good at stopping more traditional offenses like MSU, Iowa, USC.

 

 

Bankers defenses have always been pretty good verses pro style offenses with immobile quarterbacks. The problems usually arise against dual threat qb's and spread systems. I'm fairly sure the games that Bankers defense has played well in this year are due more to a good match up than improving defense.

Are you talking out of your butt? Beathard is a mobile qb. He's shown it throughout the year.

He rushed for a total of 285 yards all year. Not exactly a running qb...but you're right, Iowa has always been known for their spread attack on offense!

In defense of TA, I decided to look back at Riley's qb's over the years. I found some info that was surprising and a little troubling

2003 - 24 int - Derek Anderson

2004 - 17 int - Derek Anderson

2005 - 19 int - Matt Moore

2006 - 7 int - Matt Moore

2007 - 21 int - Sean Canfield/Lyle Moevao

2008 - 15 int - Sean Canfield/Lyle Moevao

2009 - 7 int - Sean Canfield

2010 - 11 int - Ryan Katz

2011 - 19 int - Ryan Katz/Sean Mannion

2012 - 16 int - Sean Mannion/Cody Vaz

2013 - 16 int - Sean Mannion/ Cody Vaz

2014 - 8 int - Sean Mannion

 

Looking at this list, TA's int total should not surprising. These were all pro style qb's many of whom are in the NFL. I think we should get used to seeing double digit int's as long as Riley is coach. Especially with first year starters...

Bankers defenses have always been pretty good verses pro style offenses with immobile quarterbacks. The problems usually arise against dual threat qb's and spread systems. I'm fairly sure the games that Bankers defense has played well in this year are due more to a good match up than improving defense.