Hokies D may put onus on Ganz

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

Journal Star

 

Steven M. Sipple: Hokies' 'D' may put onus on Ganz

Wednesday, Sep 24, 2008 - 12:46:29 am CDT

 

He was serious. No cracking wise with reporters this time.

 

It evidently isn’t New Mexico State week anymore.

 

If I was reading him right, Joe Ganz seemed a tad nervous Tuesday during Nebraska’s weekly media luncheon — perhaps for good reason.

 

Virginia Tech’s defense is much more athletic than each of Nebraska’s first three opponents this season, although San Jose State was sneaky-good up front and had solid cornerbacks. The Huskers led the Spartans 14-12 early in the fourth quarter before pulling away late.

 

It’s difficult to imagine Virginia Tech’s offense pulling away from many teams. The Hokies seem lost on that side of the ball right now.

 

Their defense is another story.

 

“This game’s going to be a barometer of where we’re actually at and how good we can actually be, because this will be one of the better defenses we face all year,” said Ganz, the Huskers’ senior quarterback and foremost leader.

 

Virginia Tech’s front four was impressive in a 20-17 win Saturday at North Carolina. The Hokies’ entire defense looked fast and athletic. They swarmed to the ball. They limited a decent Tar Heel offense to 103 rushing yards on 32 attempts (3.2 yards per carry), and 307 total yards.

 

If Nebraska consistently runs the ball well against Tech, the Huskers ought to be able to pound it against almost anybody.

 

However, I’ll be surprised if Nebraska is able to consistently run the ball well Saturday.

 

I still think highly of Nebraska’s offensive line and I-backs. But it might take longer than I anticipated for the line, and the program in general, to evolve from a pass-blocking mentality to a run-blocking mind-set. Such an evolution doesn’t always occur overnight. It doesn’t happen just because you say it’s going to happen, especially against defenses the caliber of Virginia Tech’s.

 

“I know he’s going to find a way to put eight guys in the box,” Ganz said of Hokies top-flight defensive coordinator Bud Foster. “That’s all right. It just opens stuff up for the passing game.”

 

Which means the onus might be on Nebraska’s Mr. Cool — the talented and tough-minded Ganz. He clearly feels a sense of urgency. He sees this game as an opportunity for the Huskers to make a statement on ABC in prime time, in high-definition. He’s right. With a triumph, NU likely would crack the national top 25 polls. By improving to 4-0, Big Red would seemingly become a lock to return to the bowl scene.

 

With a win, Nebraska’s confidence would escalate. At this point, the Huskers understandably might retain lingering doubts about themselves, residual effects from the horror flick that was last season’s 49-31 loss to Southern Cal. The Huskers were physically and mentally whipped. How does a program recover from that mess?

 

Answer: topple an elite program such as Virginia Tech.

 

Yep, beat Tech and life in Huskerville gets awfully interesting. There’s already buzz about ESPN’s GameDay crew possibly descending upon Lincoln for the Oct. 4 Missouri game. But only if Nebraska beats Tech. Imagine, Herbstreit and company pumping up the Chase Daniel-for-Heisman discourse. They might also notice that Nebraska has a pretty decent QB of its own.

 

Ganz still flies under the radar in his own league. That could change if he sparkles under ABC’s glare, and avoids turnovers against a Tech defense known for being “opportunistic.” The offensively challenged Hokies probably will need help from their defense and special teams.

 

“You saw North Carolina had that game (last week) in the bag, then they started turning it over,” Ganz said. “In a big game, it comes down to who protects the ball. Protecting the ball’s probably going to be our No. 1 goal for this game.”

 

Maybe the rest of the country hasn’t quite noticed, but Nebraska’s in a meaningful game again. No wonder Joe was so serious Tuesday.

 

Not that it matters all that much — just an observation.

 

Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.

 

[Jamie]

Foster's style has always been to force the opposing team's offense to get one dimensional. once he gets them to do that, he really unleashes the hounds so to say. Typically, he puts max effort to getting the offense to give up on running the ball and make them a passing team. Once we get them in that spot, then we let the D line pin their ears back and hope to force the QB into bad decisions.

[Igetbored216]

Hint: run the option and triple option.

[junior4949]

Hint: run the option and triple option.

 

 

Haven't you heard? That outdated arachaic type of offense will never work in today's "new age" college football.

[admo]

Good article, good read.

[Wicked_Shadows]

Journal Star

 

Virginia Tech’s front four was impressive in a 20-17 win Saturday at North Carolina. The Hokies’ entire defense looked fast and athletic. They swarmed to the ball. They limited a decent Tar Heel offense to 103 rushing yards on 32 attempts (3.2 yards per carry), and 307 total yards.

[/i]

Not to mention the V Tech's Defense knocked out North Carolina's Starting QB for at least six weeks with a broken ankle.

No wonder Joe Ganz is a bit concerned!

[Drowning_in_the_Sea_of_Red]

I thought that said "anus"...

 

 

 

 

 

 

FWIW

 

 

And just so I actually add something of substance to this site today...

 

If I remember correctly VT's D is fairly young or inexperienced (i don't know, maybe I made that up)... I don't know what else to say, so... we'll see how it goes.

[huzkerbob]

Hint: run the option and triple option.

 

More like screens & draws! Our team isn't exactly built to run the option Consistently, not yet anyway.

 

If VT gets to agressive Ganz can dump it off to lucky in the flat. And quick ins to Swift will be open as well. We have a lot of weapons at our disposal.

[HSKRNOKC]

I thought that said "anus"...

 

 

[Jamie]

Teams that have traditionally picked apart Fosters defense are traditional drop back pocket passers.

 

We lost 8 starters from last years defense, which was top 5 in the nation, so this is mostly underclassmen. The talent is in the freshman and soph classes but they need a lot more experience.

[FLCLhokie]

The teams that have been successful against us have had some incredible players, see Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Matt Ryan, but the newer Foster defense is very hard to consistently defeat. I will concede that dump off passes could definitely work, Furman did a ton of that with decent success. However I wouldn't place too much hope on Swift being open on in routes, that's just asking for a pick 6.

[zE bOp]

I've been saying that we'll have to use the pass to set up the run. And

we gotta keep them guessing on D.

If we get +100 yds rushing and have few or no TOs we should be alright.