Rivals Midseason Honors Crick, David, Martinez

[Nexus]

Crick and David are honored as Rivals Midseason All-Americans. Martinez is honored as Rivals Midseason Freshman of the Year.

[unl123]

Still havent been that impressed with Crick, but good for him.

[Husker_x]

As long as the D is playing solid team football, the individual sack records and stuff don't matter a'tall.

[knapplc]

Crick is playing exactly the role Pelini wants him to play, as is the rest of the D Line. Bo's defense is a containment-style, slow-rush defense. The D Line's job first and foremost is to secure their gap(s). If they can provide solid gap security while rushing upfield pell-mell, Bo's all for it. Suh could do that, but he was a generational talent. It's no knock against Steinkuhler and/or Crick that they're not Suh. Nobody is Suh.

 

I remember quite fondly the glory days of the Blackshirts under Charlie McBride, where our rush ends would take their three-point stance before the snap and twitch their first-step leg, wiggle their fingers, whatever, all pent up like a coiled spring ready to release like a missile at the QB or RB. Everyone on the D Line would rip through the O Line and wreak havoc in the backfield. Grant Wistrom, The Peter Bros., Jared Tomich, Trev Alberts, etc, would tear upfield with reckless abandon. It was a hell of a thing to watch – but it was also susceptible to the long play if they missed the tackle or blew past the RB.

 

Bo fixes that with his "mush rush" mentality, where the focus is on containment, avoiding the big play, making the opposing offense work the length of the field to earn points rather than allowing for big plays on either side of the ball. Back in the 90s we'd overpower a lot of teams, but we just can't do that anymore.

 

Bo's philosophy isn't exciting, but it's effective.

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

Crick may not be glam but his 23 tackles and 2.5 sacks have to measure up with the other DTs around the country. (trying to find that stat site that breaks down by position)