floridacorn

Says the player who spent spring ball as a free agent. He’s probably correct, but he’s one of the last people who should be saying it.

I expected a dedicated D-Line & S coach. Did not see this move coming at all. Clearly MJ is putting faith in Chins & I don’t think that’s the direction I would go in if I were in his shoes.

This was the only play on the day where I thought Casey made a weak decision. AM & LM had an infinite number of these plays it seemed. This stood out to me live and I didn't even notice Palmer completely turned the CB around.

This is a variation of Y Cross, which is a combo of Flood & Bubble Y Over (Y is flipped here). There's a reason Verticals & Flood are go to's vs C3. The rolled up S (Brown?) should be getting depth with the #2 receiver (Y) & typically the OLB would have the flat (H-back) with the ILB climbing to the over. But, they are all put in conflict and in no man's land here. This is a nice play design with NW motioning in a #3 receiver to the flat to complete Flood & bringing the Z receiver across on an Over to convert it to Cross. Typically Cross lacks the flat receiver (#3) & Flood lacks the play action away. Like I said, nice design, poorly defended. When in doubt, get deep, & rally as somebody stated.

The series I think that has gone unnoticed is the 2nd series. 2nd & 8 Thompson holds the ball on a deep post play that was available, they concede on 3rd & 8. You want to be ultra aggressive taking risks in the 1st half 2 minute and on-side kicking up 11? OK, don't be ultra conservative up 7 from inside your 10. It looked like Martin rounded his route off leading to Thompson's first INT. Leiwer failed to make a clean play on a ball behind him. Thompson was late on a few throws and threw a few out of round in the game, but I think that 2nd and 8 non throw was probably his weakest moment and that 3rd & 8 call was scared play calling.

You need to be in spring ball if you intend to have an impact. The first rule of 1st half 2 minute is do no harm If you're going to on-side up 11 against an impotent team, the kicker better kick it wider to the gap, or you'll look really stupid. Frost still has no urgency to win. How many backs up were on defense on Northwestern's scoring drive when Nebraska was up 14-3? How many on offense with 12 minutes to go in the game up 4? It's week zero. That's what the FCS games are for. Play conservative field position football, don't beat yourself, wait for NU to implode is a winning recipe for bad teams.

If I missed this, apologize in advance, but was there a reason for Wynn & Drew not being on campus until camp started/after camp started? Were they wrapping up degrees? Was this a known?

Yes

I pulled up the KSU spring game out of curiosity. First play AM threw a pick (pick 6?) on a simple stick route & I had my answer.

I think the better business model would be to go the opposite direction of 8 game conference schedules and the elimination of divisions. The pandemic championship week where every played to cap off the season would surely be a revenue boost. as well. Then again, why not just sit back, and watch the SEC continue to minimize the rest of college football.

I wouldn't hold my breath here. This kid was shopping around private high schools in Florida when his father received a new job last summer that moved him to Austin, TX to play for Westlake HS. Of course, it is entirely possible that's all a coincidence.

JoJo was IMO significantly better last season than the season before, so I agree, his play will be hard to replace, but his versatility is going to be perhaps even more challenging to replace. Nobody else currently in that role is going to play nickel and seamlessly slide up to 3-4 OLB versus a power or jumbo formation. And, is that even part of the defense currently? That role may slide into a true 4-3 Will now, I don't think we'll know till we see it. Even still, outside of Kolarevic, I don't see any of these guys holding up in the box whether at Will or on the edge. I would still like to see somebody with corner skills like a Buford at Nickel on true passing situations, but they seem determined to make it an every down role and I didn't particularly even love seeing JoJo caught in man vs a post or seam from time to time.

When is the last time a player entered the program in the fall and contributed? I think Mathis is a guy they can put out there & turn loose on the QB, but I wouldn't expect much from any other options, & frankly I feel any kid transferring post spring lacks a certain level of commitment to play.

Maybe the best line I've heard, Jerry Tarkanian once said, when the NCAA is made at Kentucky, they put Cleveland State on probation. Life was so much better when NU was Kentucky

I get that Damian Jackson was largely a culture guy and feel good story, but I still would have liked to see him used as a situational pass rusher on the interior d-line. With his athletic/size profile, that was a role I would have had to at least explore as a coach. He was never going to be an on field asset at OLB or as a base 3-4 DE.

In case there was any doubt that is what he's doing, Butler erased it. But, renegotiating with NU doesn't appear to be the likely motivation. Nothing divides an NFL locker room more than guys getting paid while others aren't. Now we seeing it trickle down to the college level. Live by the sword... On another note, is Jackson Bratton leaving Bama and not considering NU foreshadowing for Logan Smothers?

Adding to this, he invested too heavily in players who weren't ready, expecting a big payoff that never materialized. Perhaps his biggest fault is that he's taken the weakest opponents for granted. Playing down to the level of your competition always starts with the tone coaches set in the game plan imo. To piggy back off your point, I never liked how Frost's quick drop back game tied into the Chip Kelly offense. Milton bailed UCF out of a lot of plays, did a lot of freelancing, made a lot of plays off schedule, however you prefer to look at it. At NU, the productivity of those play has to be ugly.

I saw some glimpses of the O-Line attempting to displace vs cover up, but that 2 hand touch is far closer to walk through than thud.

Makes sense & Chins has evolved scheme wise from the UCF/early NU days for the positive, but man I would really prefer to see him work a true or hybrid CB in the slot in passing situations.

There's an equally big difference in how you teach a zone scheme. Some coaches run tracks, which is more like you're describing, & others employ the system more in line with what Milt taught. Regardless, I think if you want to understand what Bando is talking about, look no further than Farniok. That kid was built to be a people mover & yet what he did was engage (catch) and attempt to turn, rather than drive. That was clearly taught, and I think that's the crux of the comment.

Busch talks like a solid coach, and I recall him being a good recruiter, but didn't he produce the fair catch return game under Callahan?

I give it 4 games until the board is collectively questioning how you go into a season w/o a dedicated D-Line coach. I see a lot of parallels between Frost and Penny Hardaway. At a point where they should be relying on what they've built to take them over the hump, they are instead retooling the coaching staff, & seeking talent outside the roster to save the day. That typically spells the beginning of the end. I would like to be optimistic and it's rather difficult to imagine how NU isn't already bowl eligible after 8 games. Unfortunately, we're at a point where I have to see it. If NU doesn't lay egg in Ireland as it's done vs Colorado & Illinois previously, maybe I'll believe, until then, they roll into game 9, 4-4, lose out.

I'm guessing, but Chinander is a former D-Line coach was he not?

Outside of continuity, It's not a massive loss. He wasn't an exceptional recruiter & Raiola presumably fills that connection to Hawaii now. Losing Fisher would decimate that room and be a huge loss for example. It will be interesting to see how this void is filled. I assume Dawson back to D-Line. Maybe Blackshirts stay in 4-2-5 out of necessity. I joke.

The problem with that scenario is that OLB's are a very unnatural position for a DC to attempt to coach in game while calling game. IF NU went that route, Ruud makes the most sense, & frankly he's the weakest link as both a coach & recruiter on that side of the ball.