The 2003 Blackshirts

[zE bOp]

#2 in scoring defense (aka the stat that matters)

#11 in total defense

#1 in pass efficiency defense

#1 in interceptions BY FAR (#2 was 33% behind us)*

#2 in turnovers gained

 

10 players made NFL rosters

5 players are NFL starters five years later

 

If that doesn't fall under your definition of great... I don't know what to say. The biggest issue with the defense that year was our offense. Our total offense was ranked 83rd in the country, so our defense had to be on the field way more than we would have hoped, and the opposing offenses often had better-than-average field position. Put the '03 defense with a top 20 offense (like this year's) and they would have been unquestionably dominant. But to put up those types of stats in spite of a poor offensive counterpart, there's no way you can call that anything but impressive.

 

*32 interceptions on the season. I don't know of any McBride-coached team that had even close to that many. And no team in I-A has had even as many as 30 in the past decade. I'd like to know the last team that had 32 or more in a season.

32 INTs in one year?! That's friggin' unbelievable!

 

I'd say that D was very very good, especially at the 2nd level. These guys: Dan Bullocks: NFL (starter)

Josh Bullocks: NFL (starter)

Barrett Ruud: NFL (starter)

Fabian Washington: NFL (starter)

Demorrio Williams: NFL (starter)

[jayhawk]

I still have the official "Husker Defense 2003" poster on the wall in my room. It's hard to believe how much our talent level has diminished on that side of the ball since then. I love our guys now, but aside from Suh and Potter, I don't know if a single one of them would have been starting in '03. It makes me excited for the years to come when Pelini gets the guys he wants in there and we can have another great defense like '03 or '99.

 

Here's a look at some of the '03 Blackshirts, and where they are five years later:

 

Dan Bullocks: NFL (starter)

Josh Bullocks: NFL (starter)

Barrett Ruud: NFL (starter)

Fabian Washington: NFL (starter)

Demorrio Williams: NFL (starter)

Ryon Bingham: NFL

LeKevin Smith: NFL

Trevor Johnson: Not on a roster, but played several years as a backup in the NFL

TJ Hollowell: Not on a roster, but saw limited time in the NFL and CFL

Patrick Kabongo: CFL (starter on offense), signed NFL FA contract for a short time in '04

 

5 current NFL starters

7 current NFL contributors

10 made NFL teams at some point

 

Those numbers are pretty staggering.

 

I know I'll get slammed, but this was the team that got Solich fired. They gave up 41 to an unranked MU and 38 to K-State, They dominated bad and mediocre teams, but not so great against good ones. I did not see all the games, maybe they got no help fromt he offense or something, but it is hard to believe if they were that good of a defense (they were obviously talented in terms of players, per your note above) then how did they let Brad Smith win by so much?

 

Here is the Propaganda from the MU website on Smith

 

VS. #10 NEBRASKA ... Named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week for leading MU to historic 41-24 win which broke Huskers' 24-game win streak over Mizzou ... Burned the nation's top-ranked defense for 303 yards in total offense (180 pass/123 rush) and tied a school record by scoring 4 TDs (3 rush/1 receiving) ...Scored his 1st career receiving TD on a 47-yard throwback from WR and former QB Darius Outlaw in the 2nd ... Rallied Tigers to 27 unanswered 4th-quarter pts. to erase 24-14 deficit ...

 

And the next week against a KU team that this board mostly thinks was awful....

 

AT KANSAS ... Was held to career-low 95 yards of total offense in 35-14 loss (62 pass/33 rush), but accounted for both MU TDs, w/a 4-yd. run & 9-yd. pass that had MU ahead 14-13 entering 4th quarter ..

 

Odd that such a good NU squad could not do when a KU squad with a lot less talent could shut him down.

 

Maybe Solich deserved to get fired...

[huskerswrkhavoc]

I still have the official "Husker Defense 2003" poster on the wall in my room. It's hard to believe how much our talent level has diminished on that side of the ball since then. I love our guys now, but aside from Suh and Potter, I don't know if a single one of them would have been starting in '03. It makes me excited for the years to come when Pelini gets the guys he wants in there and we can have another great defense like '03 or '99.

 

Here's a look at some of the '03 Blackshirts, and where they are five years later:

 

Dan Bullocks: NFL (starter)

Josh Bullocks: NFL (starter)

Barrett Ruud: NFL (starter)

Fabian Washington: NFL (starter)

Demorrio Williams: NFL (starter)

Ryon Bingham: NFL

LeKevin Smith: NFL

Trevor Johnson: Not on a roster, but played several years as a backup in the NFL

TJ Hollowell: Not on a roster, but saw limited time in the NFL and CFL

Patrick Kabongo: CFL (starter on offense), signed NFL FA contract for a short time in '04

 

5 current NFL starters

7 current NFL contributors

10 made NFL teams at some point

 

Those numbers are pretty staggering.

 

I know I'll get slammed, but this was the team that got Solich fired. They gave up 41 to an unranked MU and 38 to K-State, They dominated bad and mediocre teams, but not so great against good ones. I did not see all the games, maybe they got no help fromt he offense or something, but it is hard to believe if they were that good of a defense (they were obviously talented in terms of players, per your note above) then how did they let Brad Smith win by so much?

 

Here is the Propaganda from the MU website on Smith

 

VS. #10 NEBRASKA ... Named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week for leading MU to historic 41-24 win which broke Huskers' 24-game win streak over Mizzou ... Burned the nation's top-ranked defense for 303 yards in total offense (180 pass/123 rush) and tied a school record by scoring 4 TDs (3 rush/1 receiving) ...Scored his 1st career receiving TD on a 47-yard throwback from WR and former QB Darius Outlaw in the 2nd ... Rallied Tigers to 27 unanswered 4th-quarter pts. to erase 24-14 deficit ...

 

And the next week against a KU team that this board mostly thinks was awful....

 

AT KANSAS ... Was held to career-low 95 yards of total offense in 35-14 loss (62 pass/33 rush), but accounted for both MU TDs, w/a 4-yd. run & 9-yd. pass that had MU ahead 14-13 entering 4th quarter ..

 

Odd that such a good NU squad could not do when a KU squad with a lot less talent could shut him down.

 

Maybe Solich deserved to get fired...

 

 

Kinda like this year how KU got smashed in almost every facet by NU but then stepped up and beat a MU team they were not supposed to compete with? A lot of that IMO has to do with who they are playing... MU wanted to beat NU at home bad. there was that drive, remember, this was an NU team that 2 years ago was in the MNC... while KU was well, bad. NU was on the road, KU was at home... should NU have given up all of those yards and points and lost to Mizzou? no. that is in no way an excuse, and this year shows how much times have changed obviously... but saying Solich deserved to get fired over that is like saying Cally deserved to keep his job bc they almost knocked off UT on the road... not a reason. Point being made in the thread is the 2003 blackshirts turned out to be some damn good pros. to me, this just shows that we can still recruit to Nebraska in this "new age" of college football, and with coaching, we can compete again.

[jayhawk]

I still have the official "Husker Defense 2003" poster on the wall in my room. It's hard to believe how much our talent level has diminished on that side of the ball since then. I love our guys now, but aside from Suh and Potter, I don't know if a single one of them would have been starting in '03. It makes me excited for the years to come when Pelini gets the guys he wants in there and we can have another great defense like '03 or '99.

 

Here's a look at some of the '03 Blackshirts, and where they are five years later:

 

Dan Bullocks: NFL (starter)

Josh Bullocks: NFL (starter)

Barrett Ruud: NFL (starter)

Fabian Washington: NFL (starter)

Demorrio Williams: NFL (starter)

Ryon Bingham: NFL

LeKevin Smith: NFL

Trevor Johnson: Not on a roster, but played several years as a backup in the NFL

TJ Hollowell: Not on a roster, but saw limited time in the NFL and CFL

Patrick Kabongo: CFL (starter on offense), signed NFL FA contract for a short time in '04

 

5 current NFL starters

7 current NFL contributors

10 made NFL teams at some point

 

Those numbers are pretty staggering.

 

I know I'll get slammed, but this was the team that got Solich fired. They gave up 41 to an unranked MU and 38 to K-State, They dominated bad and mediocre teams, but not so great against good ones. I did not see all the games, maybe they got no help fromt he offense or something, but it is hard to believe if they were that good of a defense (they were obviously talented in terms of players, per your note above) then how did they let Brad Smith win by so much?

 

Here is the Propaganda from the MU website on Smith

 

VS. #10 NEBRASKA ... Named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week for leading MU to historic 41-24 win which broke Huskers' 24-game win streak over Mizzou ... Burned the nation's top-ranked defense for 303 yards in total offense (180 pass/123 rush) and tied a school record by scoring 4 TDs (3 rush/1 receiving) ...Scored his 1st career receiving TD on a 47-yard throwback from WR and former QB Darius Outlaw in the 2nd ... Rallied Tigers to 27 unanswered 4th-quarter pts. to erase 24-14 deficit ...

 

And the next week against a KU team that this board mostly thinks was awful....

 

AT KANSAS ... Was held to career-low 95 yards of total offense in 35-14 loss (62 pass/33 rush), but accounted for both MU TDs, w/a 4-yd. run & 9-yd. pass that had MU ahead 14-13 entering 4th quarter ..

 

Odd that such a good NU squad could not do when a KU squad with a lot less talent could shut him down.

 

Maybe Solich deserved to get fired...

 

 

Kinda like this year how KU got smashed in almost every facet by NU but then stepped up and beat a MU team they were not supposed to compete with? A lot of that IMO has to do with who they are playing... MU wanted to beat NU at home bad. there was that drive, remember, this was an NU team that 2 years ago was in the MNC... while KU was well, bad. NU was on the road, KU was at home... should NU have given up all of those yards and points and lost to Mizzou? no. that is in no way an excuse, and this year shows how much times have changed obviously... but saying Solich deserved to get fired over that is like saying Cally deserved to keep his job bc they almost knocked off UT on the road... not a reason. Point being made in the thread is the 2003 blackshirts turned out to be some damn good pros. to me, this just shows that we can still recruit to Nebraska in this "new age" of college football, and with coaching, we can compete again.

 

I dunno. KU was not that good. MU was ok. NU was really good, and the talent in the pros proves it. That much talent should be able to stop Brad Smith. If KU's D can totally contain him the next week, NU should not let him run wild. This year, KU and NU are pretty comparble teams but with very different styles. We might have won in Lawrence, but the game was in Lincoln. The teams are pretty close. MU was better than us, but not that much better, and our style let us stay in the game. We coul d have beaten them last year, but we played the worst half of football of that year to start and could not quite make it back. This year, they started poor and the awful weather helped us. If we play that MU game 10 times, we win 4.

 

My point is, these 3 teams were not that far off. The ones in 2003 were VERY different in talent. By a lot.

[zE bOp]

I think there's space on the site for another thread in the long series of, "the few times KU and MU have beaten Big Red".

 

Ku and MU fans clearly get their jollies continually bringing it up.

 

Since we've been covering NU history a bit lately I think we should go down, game by game, and delineate every beat down NE has put on those teams for the past 35 yrs...in fact, why don't we just write an encyclopedia about it?

[jayhawk]

I think there's space on the site for another thread in the long series of, "the few times KU and MU have beaten Big Red".

 

Ku and MU fans clearly get their jollies continually bringing it up.

 

Since we've been covering NU history a bit lately I think we should go down, game by game, and delineate every beat down NE has put on those teams for the past 35 yrs...in fact, why don't we just write an encyclopedia about it?

 

That was not my point at all, I guess maybe you need to read the actual post.

[zE bOp]

blah, blah, blah, Brad Smith this, Jhawks that...yada yada...

[redout22]

Wow the 2003 defense was stacked

[junior4949]

The reason Brad Smith who was arguably the best ever college QB in D1 history to jump all over NU and then get corralled by KU has to do with the Pickle factor. Pickle tried his dambdest to make Smith a drop back passer. When Smith was allowed to freelance, he was awesome. When Pickle lobatomized him, he was average at best.

[MCAT800]

#2 in scoring defense (aka the stat that matters)

#11 in total defense

#1 in pass efficiency defense

#1 in interceptions BY FAR (#2 was 33% behind us)*

#2 in turnovers gained

 

10 players made NFL rosters

5 players are NFL starters five years later

 

If that doesn't fall under your definition of great... I don't know what to say. The biggest issue with the defense that year was our offense. Our total offense was ranked 83rd in the country, so our defense had to be on the field way more than we would have hoped, and the opposing offenses often had better-than-average field position. Put the '03 defense with a top 20 offense (like this year's) and they would have been unquestionably dominant. But to put up those types of stats in spite of a poor offensive counterpart, there's no way you can call that anything but impressive.

 

*32 interceptions on the season. I don't know of any McBride-coached team that had even close to that many. And no team in I-A has had even as many as 30 in the past decade. I'd like to know the last team that had 32 or more in a season.

 

I agree with you that our offesnse did not lend the defense much support that year. However, it was Bo's defense that surrendered 27 fourth qtr points, after NU pretty much dominated the first 3 qtrs, and provided the defense a 14 point lead, Bo's "D" simply collapsed and that's not a sign of great defense.

Stats are just that, when you dominate poor teams and loose big to the only decent teams on your schedule, that's not a great "D". Check out Bama's stats from the 50's-70's there are a lot of goose eggs while their offense only scored 3, 6, or 7 points. A great defense wins championships, regardless of the offensive output.

[junior4949]

Wow the 2003 defense was stacked

 

 

But, but, but Frank couldn't recruit remember?

[zE bOp]

Well, it was a very good defense. I don't think too many people would call it a great D.

 

BO was retooling it as he has been this year. We have yet to see BO's great D here, but it's on the way...