An Outsider's Appraisel

[Cy the Cyclone]

To be brutally honest...the Huskers sucked this year both defensively AND offensively for various reasons. My unbiased opinion for what it's worth as a Husker fan stuck in Cyclone Land:

 

Defense: The entire defensive squad was a joke. They popped people maybe three times the entire season. They got shoved around and pushed down...they got no respect and they didn't really deserve any. The D-Line was weak. Couldn't stop the run. Didn't attack or shoot gaps...just a bump and then flow. No disruption at all. No fire or leadership from any of them. It embarrases me when a runner breaks off 7 yards up the middle then our guys help the guy up! What the hell?!?. These guys...or the next batch...need so more weight and a lot more strength. I want to see guys with guns who don't get blown 3 yards off the line when the ball is hiked.

 

The linebackers were not good...they were too light, even when they blitzed, a 190 lb halfback could usually handle them..on sweeps tackles and guards buried them. Pursuit to the ball was horrible. They weren't fast enough to cover backs or ends so dropping them into coverage was a failure most of the time. They didn't act, they reacted. They let the opponent dictate to them. There wasn't an animal out there. Looked like a bunch of autobots the whole season..."If receiver A goes here, I must go there". These guys never popped anybody either....all arms tackles, when they tackled anybody at all.

 

The DB's had too much pressure on them the whole time. No line or backers made them play close so they could shut down the runners that leaked through. There was talent back there but, again, these guys were pretty dinky. Aren't there any DB's available over six feet and 180 pounds out there? However, there is hope for the DBs. If they had a line that could put some pressure on the QB, they would have been adequate.

 

All in all, the defense was a train wreck, but that's what you get for throwing a Big 10 guy into a Big 12 league. They lined up too far off the ball, they read instead of attacking, they continued to drop back in coverage when it was apparent that it wasn't shutting off anything....just a wreck.

 

Offense: There are a lot of people that think Ganz is the second coming and he might be but from what I've seen, he needs to have a lot simpler system to work with. Against Colorado he spent so much time running back and forth to the line making adjustments that I was wondering if he was ever going to beat the play clock. Give him or whoever is the QB a system that's not so complicated and a decent running game and maybe he can do away with trying to shove a ball into double or triple coverage.

 

Ball control was bad...very bad. But, when your offensive plan consists of "Throw three passes and hope one of them is completed for a 1st down", you aren't going to burn much time off the clock. You're up 35 to 17...run the damn ball! Grind out some yards! No offense to Marion but the ground game needs an injection of "punishment" in it...a big power back who, even if he only gains three yards...still busts some chops when he hits the line. The running game disappeared this season...very disappointing.

 

The O-Line played fairly decently once Ganz took over. Keller held the ball in one place way too long. Ganz's mobility helped a lot. The line didn't have a dominating look to it though. Wasn't the frightening line I'm used to. Just a bunch of kinda fat guys. Power rushers and quick DE's got by them way too often. And maybe if they didn't stand foot to foot all the time they could spread the defense a little more and maybe open a few more holes. I think this group could come along with some strength and conditioning along with a different offensive philosophy.

 

I may be the only one to think this but I'm totally relieved that Mo is gone from the receiving corps. He was already a pro anyway. He had "Throwing up the hands and looking for a ref everytime he dropped a ball" down already along with spotting all the TV cameras. Too bad he let so many passes bounce off his hands. If the QB would have thrown a TV camera instead of a football, he probably would have been the best receiver in football. Possession receivers like Swift are great. He was the unsung hero of this group. Catches the ball well...takes a hit. A few more guys like that...along with maybe throwing the ball to the TE once in a while, and the receivers would be pretty decent. Do the Huskers even have a TE?

 

The most important job for the new coach, whoever that may be (my vote is still for Switzer...Osborne can make sure he doesn't rile up the NCAA too much), needs to find himself some leaders and instill some ferocity onto this team. No one feared Nebraska this year. Everyone came in knowing that if they hit the Huskers hard a couple of times, they would collapse like a house of cards. Ferocity and confidence both on offense and defense. The teams needs to come out in 2008 and knock some other guys down...and then kick them a few times for good measure. Once we get back the Killer Instinct, everything else will start to fall into place.

[no_name_needed_2001]

I don't get it. Are you a husker fan?

[California Husker]

I am not going to reply to your entire post, but there was one point that was just wrong. The linebacker were not too light. We had the best linebackers in the game in 1995 and the outside linbackers were just over 200 lbs each. Once again in the late `90's with Johnson and Ortiz the outside backers just barely tipped the scales over 200 lbs each and they were dominant. So weight is not the issue. If you play with intensity, you can be light and quick and still get the job done. The best blitzing linebacker we have ever had was Terrel Farley and he only went 210.

[HuskerJosh82]

I would say that your assesment was pretty accurate. It was just a horrible coached team this year. We do have TE's and Keller used them a lot in the first couple of games.

[captain obvious]

I remember more drops by Swift this year than by Purify. Mo has pretty decent hands, is athletic enough to compete for any pass thrown his way, and knows how to gain yards after the catch. Plus, he's a big target.

 

I'm not really sure why you're dogging on him so bad. He dropped a couple passes that opposing CBs got their hands on, but nothing as blatant as all of the other receivers this season.

[robsker]

I am not going to reply to your entire post, but there was one point that was just wrong. The linebacker were not too light. We had the best linebackers in the game in 1995 and the outside linbackers were just over 200 lbs each. Once again in the late `90's with Johnson and Ortiz the outside backers just barely tipped the scales over 200 lbs each and they were dominant. So weight is not the issue. If you play with intensity, you can be light and quick and still get the job done. The best blitzing linebacker we have ever had was Terrel Farley and he only went 210.

 

Agreed. In fact the problem was that the OLB were too heavy and therefore too slow. Octavian played at 250 and could bench press, I am told, 500 pounds. Not weak at all. His problem was being out of position all the time and that he had, at best, modest speed. Probably a 4.6 - 4.65 guy. He played with heart and was pretty good because of that. Ruud, on the other side, ran, at best a 4.7, maybe even a 4.75 type 40 and was simply way too slow. He too survived and played OK because of a knack for the ball --- but his athleticism was just not even remotely there. He has recorded before a 4.6 but he was nowhere near that fast on the field. Guys like Ortiz and Johnson ran 4.5 or sub 4.5 --- that is day versus night speed differential relative to the current Huskers.

 

What the Huskers need are for the defensive lineman to LOSE weight. Turner should be at 240 not 270. Allan should be 235 not 265. The interior lineman were fat, slow and weak. They need to lose weight (fat) so as to be quicker, and yet increase strength. The LB's need to be fater. As OLB I would use Larry Asante at WILL and MAjor Culbert and Latravis Washington at SAM. Speed is needed. Coverage skill is needed. Size is not.

 

Bottom line. Field DE who are quick (40 @ 4.6 - 4.7), ILB @ 4.55 -4.60, and outside LB @ 4.4 - 4.5. If you cannot field that kind of speed with players of suitable size, then use a platoon system of multiple fast, smaller players to get the job done (spreading out the fatigue factor). What you do not do is field DE @ 4.9, ILB @ 4.7, and OLB @ 4.65 - 4.75. Not in the B12. No way. Unless you do not mind a #100 national defense ranking.

[Hunter94]

speed, speed, speed and quickness. need it at all positions. our guys looked like they were dragging ass around. all our linemen are pathetic.

 

they need to have a coach run their fat asses off in the off season.

[AR Husker Fan]

***SNIP***

 

The most important job for the new coach, whoever that may be (my vote is still for Switzer...Osborne can make sure he doesn't rile up the NCAA too much), needs to find himself some leaders and instill some ferocity onto this team. No one feared Nebraska this year. Everyone came in knowing that if they hit the Huskers hard a couple of times, they would collapse like a house of cards. Ferocity and confidence both on offense and defense. The teams needs to come out in 2008 and knock some other guys down...and then kick them a few times for good measure. Once we get back the Killer Instinct, everything else will start to fall into place.

DING!

 

We have a winner, folks.

[pctopeka]

***SNIP***

 

The most important job for the new coach, whoever that may be (my vote is still for Switzer...Osborne can make sure he doesn't rile up the NCAA too much), needs to find himself some leaders and instill some ferocity onto this team. No one feared Nebraska this year. Everyone came in knowing that if they hit the Huskers hard a couple of times, they would collapse like a house of cards. Ferocity and confidence both on offense and defense. The teams needs to come out in 2008 and knock some other guys down...and then kick them a few times for good measure. Once we get back the Killer Instinct, everything else will start to fall into place.

DING!

 

We have a winner, folks.

 

[REDSTEEL]

***SNIP***

 

The most important job for the new coach, whoever that may be (my vote is still for Switzer...Osborne can make sure he doesn't rile up the NCAA too much), needs to find himself some leaders and instill some ferocity onto this team. No one feared Nebraska this year. Everyone came in knowing that if they hit the Huskers hard a couple of times, they would collapse like a house of cards. Ferocity and confidence both on offense and defense. The teams needs to come out in 2008 and knock some other guys down...and then kick them a few times for good measure. Once we get back the Killer Instinct, everything else will start to fall into place.

DING!

 

We have a winner, folks.

 

I hope that ding was'nt for the Switzer comment.

[AR Husker Fan]

***SNIP***

 

The most important job for the new coach, whoever that may be (my vote is still for Switzer...Osborne can make sure he doesn't rile up the NCAA too much), needs to find himself some leaders and instill some ferocity onto this team. No one feared Nebraska this year. Everyone came in knowing that if they hit the Huskers hard a couple of times, they would collapse like a house of cards. Ferocity and confidence both on offense and defense. The teams needs to come out in 2008 and knock some other guys down...and then kick them a few times for good measure. Once we get back the Killer Instinct, everything else will start to fall into place.

DING!

 

We have a winner, folks.

 

I hope that ding was'nt for the Switzer comment.

 

Nope. But the rest was spot on...

[1997Alum]

***SNIP***

 

The most important job for the new coach, whoever that may be (my vote is still for Switzer...Osborne can make sure he doesn't rile up the NCAA too much), needs to find himself some leaders and instill some ferocity onto this team. No one feared Nebraska this year. Everyone came in knowing that if they hit the Huskers hard a couple of times, they would collapse like a house of cards. Ferocity and confidence both on offense and defense. The teams needs to come out in 2008 and knock some other guys down...and then kick them a few times for good measure. Once we get back the Killer Instinct, everything else will start to fall into place.

DING!

 

We have a winner, folks.

 

I hope that ding was'nt for the Switzer comment.

 

Nope. But the rest was spot on...

 

 

1997Alum Writes:

 

 

Why Nebraska was great:

 

1. The Big Red was a lot more intimidating when it had 90 to 100 players pour onto the field. Now our team looks like everybody else's.

 

2. Their starters were always great, but the backups played alot, and it gave the upperclassmen rest. Ask Warren Sapp.

 

3. Ball Control, Ball Control, Ball Control. The running game ate up alot of clock, shortening games. 3 passes and out burns up less than :45 of game clock - I'm sure Nebraska's D-Linemen loved that.

 

4. The offense used to be fun to watch. It was difficult to tell if the fullback had it on a dive, or the QB, etc. The West Coast Offense killed Ty Willingham at Notre Dame, and it has killed Nebraska. Several years ago, someone asked Osborne why he didn't pass more. He replied something to the effect: "Have you ever tried to throw a football in Lincoln Nebraska in late November - it's always freezing cold, always windy and usually snowing?" Every time you pass, 3 things can happen, and only one of them is good.

 

6. The only reason Solich got fired was because Jamaal Lord (albeit, one of my favorite Huskers) was a lanky, inaccurate passer, and teams stacked the line; Crouch, Frazier and Gill could easily hit the tight end on middle post routes. His teams were all nearly as physical as Osborne's, but he didn't play as many backups (starters played most of the game). If Lord had any accuracy as a passer, Solich would still be Nebraska's coach, and Nebraska would still be fun to watch (Why didn't Pederson ask Osborne before he fired Fearless Frank?)

 

Every Division I team has a killer instinct Every 18-21 year old that suits up is angry, fired up to play, and ready to hurt someone. To say this team needs to knock other teams down is obviously true, but the other team's players (who are just as big and just as angry) are trying to do the same thing--however, they will get worn down if they have to fight a fresh opponent, then another different fresh opponent (would you like to go one round with Muhammad Ali, and then one round with Joe Frazier, then one with Ali, then Frazier, etc.?) It was depth that punished opposing teams. It was ball control that won any game that ended up being close (except for 1993 FSU Championship game).

[T_O_Bull]

I am not going to reply to your entire post, but there was one point that was just wrong. The linebacker were not too light. We had the best linebackers in the game in 1995 and the outside linbackers were just over 200 lbs each. Once again in the late `90's with Johnson and Ortiz the outside backers just barely tipped the scales over 200 lbs each and they were dominant. So weight is not the issue. If you play with intensity, you can be light and quick and still get the job done. The best blitzing linebacker we have ever had was Terrel Farley and he only went 210.

 

 

In my book Farley ranks right up their with Rich Glover as one of the best Black Shirts ever.

 

...T_O_B

 

[T_O_Bull]

***SNIP***

 

The most important job for the new coach, whoever that may be (my vote is still for Switzer...Osborne can make sure he doesn't rile up the NCAA too much), needs to find himself some leaders and instill some ferocity onto this team. No one feared Nebraska this year. Everyone came in knowing that if they hit the Huskers hard a couple of times, they would collapse like a house of cards. Ferocity and confidence both on offense and defense. The teams needs to come out in 2008 and knock some other guys down...and then kick them a few times for good measure. Once we get back the Killer Instinct, everything else will start to fall into place.

DING!

 

We have a winner, folks.

 

I hope that ding was'nt for the Switzer comment.

 

Nope. But the rest was spot on...

 

 

[austintxhusker]

To be brutally honest...the Huskers sucked this year both defensively AND offensively for various reasons. My unbiased opinion for what it's worth as a Husker fan stuck in Cyclone Land:

 

Defense: The entire defensive squad was a joke. They popped people maybe three times the entire season. They got shoved around and pushed down...they got no respect and they didn't really deserve any. The D-Line was weak. Couldn't stop the run. Didn't attack or shoot gaps...just a bump and then flow. No disruption at all. No fire or leadership from any of them. It embarrases me when a runner breaks off 7 yards up the middle then our guys help the guy up! What the hell?!?. These guys...or the next batch...need so more weight and a lot more strength. I want to see guys with guns who don't get blown 3 yards off the line when the ball is hiked.

 

The linebackers were not good...they were too light, even when they blitzed, a 190 lb halfback could usually handle them..on sweeps tackles and guards buried them. Pursuit to the ball was horrible. They weren't fast enough to cover backs or ends so dropping them into coverage was a failure most of the time. They didn't act, they reacted. They let the opponent dictate to them. There wasn't an animal out there. Looked like a bunch of autobots the whole season..."If receiver A goes here, I must go there". These guys never popped anybody either....all arms tackles, when they tackled anybody at all.

 

The DB's had too much pressure on them the whole time. No line or backers made them play close so they could shut down the runners that leaked through. There was talent back there but, again, these guys were pretty dinky. Aren't there any DB's available over six feet and 180 pounds out there? However, there is hope for the DBs. If they had a line that could put some pressure on the QB, they would have been adequate.

 

All in all, the defense was a train wreck, but that's what you get for throwing a Big 10 guy into a Big 12 league. They lined up too far off the ball, they read instead of attacking, they continued to drop back in coverage when it was apparent that it wasn't shutting off anything....just a wreck.

 

Offense: There are a lot of people that think Ganz is the second coming and he might be but from what I've seen, he needs to have a lot simpler system to work with. Against Colorado he spent so much time running back and forth to the line making adjustments that I was wondering if he was ever going to beat the play clock. Give him or whoever is the QB a system that's not so complicated and a decent running game and maybe he can do away with trying to shove a ball into double or triple coverage.

 

Ball control was bad...very bad. But, when your offensive plan consists of "Throw three passes and hope one of them is completed for a 1st down", you aren't going to burn much time off the clock. You're up 35 to 17...run the damn ball! Grind out some yards! No offense to Marion but the ground game needs an injection of "punishment" in it...a big power back who, even if he only gains three yards...still busts some chops when he hits the line. The running game disappeared this season...very disappointing.

 

The O-Line played fairly decently once Ganz took over. Keller held the ball in one place way too long. Ganz's mobility helped a lot. The line didn't have a dominating look to it though. Wasn't the frightening line I'm used to. Just a bunch of kinda fat guys. Power rushers and quick DE's got by them way too often. And maybe if they didn't stand foot to foot all the time they could spread the defense a little more and maybe open a few more holes. I think this group could come along with some strength and conditioning along with a different offensive philosophy.

 

I may be the only one to think this but I'm totally relieved that Mo is gone from the receiving corps. He was already a pro anyway. He had "Throwing up the hands and looking for a ref everytime he dropped a ball" down already along with spotting all the TV cameras. Too bad he let so many passes bounce off his hands. If the QB would have thrown a TV camera instead of a football, he probably would have been the best receiver in football. Possession receivers like Swift are great. He was the unsung hero of this group. Catches the ball well...takes a hit. A few more guys like that...along with maybe throwing the ball to the TE once in a while, and the receivers would be pretty decent. Do the Huskers even have a TE?

 

The most important job for the new coach, whoever that may be (my vote is still for Switzer...Osborne can make sure he doesn't rile up the NCAA too much), needs to find himself some leaders and instill some ferocity onto this team. No one feared Nebraska this year. Everyone came in knowing that if they hit the Huskers hard a couple of times, they would collapse like a house of cards. Ferocity and confidence both on offense and defense. The teams needs to come out in 2008 and knock some other guys down...and then kick them a few times for good measure. Once we get back the Killer Instinct, everything else will start to fall into place.