CFN Nebraska Preview

[HuskerJen]

"However, with the great defense, decent promise on offense,......"

 

Not to be a troll, but how does the #80 in the country scoring defense - giving up over 28 per game - suddenly become "great" without playing a down?

 

Well compared to Nebraska's statistical rankings on defense from '07 we were a "great" defense in '08 and will be better in '09.

 

For example, in '07 Nebraska's:

 

* Rush defense ranked 116th, giving up an average of 232.17 ypg.

 

* Pass efficiency defense ranked 75th with 130.22.

 

* Total defense ranked 112th, giving up 476.83 ypg.

 

* Scoring defense, 114th, giving up 37.92 ppg.

 

In '08, Nebraska:

 

* Rushing defense ranked 21st, giving up 116.46 ypg.

 

* Pass efficiency defense ranked 82nd with 133.95.

 

* Total defense ranked 55th, surrendering 349.85 ypg.

 

* Scoring defense ranked 80th at 28.54 ppg.

 

To go from 116th to 21st in rushing defense is...nothing short of amazing.

We went from 112th to 55th in total defense.

Scoring defense from 114th to 80th.

 

Bottom line, while the defensive numbers are certainly not stellar...they are a vast improvement over '07 and the bad news for the rest of the north, and the Big 12 in general, is that we are only going to get better.

[HuskerInLostWages]

Jen very well stated actually. That drastic of an improvement should put other OC's on notice that something is happening with our defense. I doubt any other team in the country had anywhere near that sort of improvement over the time span of a year.

[Red Storm Brewing]

A couple of monkeys drawing straws could have called better defensive games than Koz. And I am more than sure that my 3 year old could teach better pass coverage technique than Elmo by the way he guards his toys.

 

Needless to say the staff, their philosophies and motivational ploys had mostly everything to do with the improvement. Thank you TO for making the right pick.

[Fuzzy]

I actually went a bit deeper and read the following stories from CFN as well....

 

http://cfn.scout.com/2/878725.html - Offense

http://cfn.scout.com/2/878723.html - Defense

http://cfn.scout.com/2/878722.html - Depth Chart

 

I have to say, among all of them i agree with the guys who wrote the articles. There were a few surprises though, i didnt realize there was such a lack of confidence in our WR core, but then again, i did know that we have an extremely talented TE lineup. It seems that they express a good amount of confidence for Zac Lee, and i think we all know, we were a little iffy about him. They definitely play up our DL, which i had no problems with at all, and i know they are going to dominant the backfield, much like they did last year. But once again the problem lies with the Coverage team, its good that Thenarse is predicted to take over O'Hanlon's spot, i kind of thought he didnt do alot when the ball was in the air, he just wanted to hit.

 

I like how he mentioned that the first real test for NU is the Virgina Tech game in Blacksburg, and if we win that, we might be looking at a National Title run. hahaha. But i do agree, that Nebraska has a good chance of getting a Big 12 Championship spot by winning the North, but if we cant beat Kansas or Missouri at home, might as well count it out. So it seems that this year will be a pretty exciting year for us, GO HUSKERS!

[Igetbored216]

I know everyone is touting how good our d-line is going to be, and for the most part I agree, but certain things have to fall into place.

 

Turner for instance. He had a nasty injury that took him out last year. Injuries like this can take a few games to get over before the player starts trusting themselves and their ability again. I hope it takes Turner two games or less to do so, because he really is a great player. Last year, Potter was great and Allen really stepped up, however Turner has the ability to bring a quick pass rush from the outside...something that was missing last year. He definitely has the ability to add another dimension to our d-line.

 

Another concern of mine is the depth at the defensive ends. Some of the other players besides Allen and Turner are going to need to step up; this may include some of the new/young players.

 

Before I get grilled, I still think our d-line will be very good. These are just two things to think about going into the season.