B10 Fit

[HuskerNMO]

We'll need linebackers. Hopefully Fisher can get back to 100%, it's always iffy with broken legs. And hopefully Eric Martin can really turn it on.

 

Our line will have to get bigger. To be honest, I don't see the point of having undersized DTs if we're not going to let them pass rush. This is what frustrates me about our defense this year.

 

Sounds like we're recruiting some decent front 7 guys. Bo knows a thing or two about defense, we'll be fine.

 

I would not be shocked if they take Eric to redshirt next year, add 25-30 pounds and be a DE personally. He's too stiff to stay at LB.

[knapplc]

Remember this is the same Eric Martin about whom either Bo or Carl said, "He will be the defense." I have zero doubt we'll be singing Martin's praises this time next year. He's still young and learning.

[HuskerNMO]

Remember this is the same Eric Martin about whom either Bo or Carl said, "He will be the defense." I have zero doubt we'll be singing Martin's praises this time next year. He's still young and learning.

 

He won't pass Fisher, Compton or David, so unless we're going 3-4, I doubt it

 

Bo also said we'd be better on D this year, coachspeak can be deceiving sometimes.

[knapplc]

Remember this is the same Eric Martin about whom either Bo or Carl said, "He will be the defense." I have zero doubt we'll be singing Martin's praises this time next year. He's still young and learning.

 

He won't pass Fisher, Compton or David, so unless we're going 3-4, I doubt it

 

Bo also said we'd be better on D this year, coachspeak can be deceiving sometimes.

I would agree with you except that Bo never says any such thing about any player, ever. Even if it was Carl who said it (I'm having trouble tracking down the quote), it's still superlative praise for a guy from this staff. And unless Fisher and Compton suddenly turn into Phil Dill, they're not so good that they cannot be passed on the depth chart. So far I'd call both serviceable, not outstanding.

[krill]

The B10 wasn't exempt from the changes in college football. Ohio and Penn run more pro style offenses now. Michigan, Michigan State and Illinois all run some variation of a spread offense. Northwestern doesn't even pretend to have a run game outside their QB and yet they are competitive in every conference game. Iowa and Wisconsin are more balanced than they have been in the past and won't hesitate to pass.

 

I think that the Peleni's have been leaders in trying to come up with schemes that can slow down the spread offenses that threaten the house every play. That's the biggest question mark in college football, not smash mouth 5 yard runs. The problem this year is that when our offense either goes 3 and out or scores on the first position it leaves the defense out there a lot longer. So I think we clearly need as much depth as possible to keep fresh bodies on the field not necessarily more size. If Crick comes back next year we will be fine up front and the linebacker situation seems to be improving too.

[HuskerNMO]

The B10 wasn't exempt from the changes in college football. Ohio and Penn run more pro style offenses now. Michigan, Michigan State and Illinois all run some variation of a spread offense. Northwestern doesn't even pretend to have a run game outside their QB and yet they are competitive in every conference game. Iowa and Wisconsin are more balanced than they have been in the past and won't hesitate to pass.

 

I think that the Peleni's have been leaders in trying to come up with schemes that can slow down the spread offenses that threaten the house every play. That's the biggest question mark in college football, not smash mouth 5 yard runs. The problem this year is that when our offense either goes 3 and out or scores on the first position it leaves the defense out there a lot longer. So I think we clearly need as much depth as possible to keep fresh bodies on the field not necessarily more size. If Crick comes back next year we will be fine up front and the linebacker situation seems to be improving too.

 

Short of Indiana, every team in the Big Ten runs more than it throws this year, Northwestern even runs more than they pass, and have an almost identical run\pass ratio to Iowa. People don't really get our defense, our base package this year, and most of last year was our dime package. The peso is essentially a hybrid 4-3\Nickel package with an athletic DB filling in a linebacker spot. We have lots of options next year, expect to see much less dime, but the peso will NOT disappear. And our offense, wow, we run the ball a whole lot

 

Here's run\pass ratios once you change sacks into pass attempts (don't think it's fair to consider a sack a rushing attempt)

 

Big Ten

1 Illinois 64.0%

2 Wisconsin 63.9%

3 Michigan 60.3%

4 Ohio St. 57.1%

5 Northwestern 55.7%

6 Iowa 55.6%

7 Purdue 54.0%

8 Michigan St. 52.8%

9 Penn St. 52.1%

10 Minnesota 51.5%

11 Indiana 38.8%

 

Big 12

1 Nebraska 69.4%

2 Kansas St. 62.4%

3 Iowa St. 53.1%

4 Kansas 52.6%

5 Colorado 48.3%

6 Baylor 47.9%

7 Oklahoma St. 47.1%

8 Oklahoma 46.5%

9 Texas A&M 45.8%

10 Texas 44.1%

11 Missouri 42.3%

12 Texas Tech 38.4%

[HuskerExpat]

Similar things have already been pointed out in this thread, but here is my angle on it. If the Big 10's style of play is so dominating over those from other conferences, the Big 10 would have faired better during bowl seasons the last several years. Here is the Big 10's bowl record since 2003:

 

2003: 3-5

2004: 3-3

2005: 3-4

2006: 2-5

2007: 3-5

2008: 1-6

2009: 4-3

 

One winning bowl season since 2003! This is not to say that I think we are going to dominate the Big 10. I'm just saying that I'm not too worried about the "style of play" issue/argument.

[Caven]

Similar things have already been pointed out in this thread, but here is my angle on it. If the Big 10's style of play is so dominating over those from other conferences, the Big 10 would have faired better during bowl seasons the last several years. Here is the Big 10's bowl record since 2003:

 

2003: 3-5

2004: 3-3

2005: 3-4

2006: 2-5

2007: 3-5

2008: 1-6

2009: 4-3

 

One winning bowl season since 2003! This is not to say that I think we are going to dominate the Big 10. I'm just saying that I'm not too worried about the "style of play" issue/argument.

 

There is a huge difference in one off games at the end of the season and the full grind of week in/week out. It is the same argument made against Boise and TCU. They only have to get up for a game here and a game there, not a weekly grind. Also a majority of the Big 10 bowl wins are coming from Iowa, Wisconsin, Penn State and Ohio State in that time period.

[godd2]

As someone else mentioned, the B10 reminds me of the late 80's Huskers - big and muscled; while we remind me of the late 80's FSU - lean and fast. Keep in mind that the SEC has run by the B10 in several title games this decade. Bigger isn't always better. Look at how Michigan's smaller, faster offense is absolutely destroying the rest of the conference.

i agree with this...i remember in the 80's (barely remember) that we would be out played by the faster florida teams...so i thought as the 90's went on we went to a faster defense like the florida teams and that is when we competed with them...i think the big 10 teams will face the same problem we had in the 80's with us...speed kills..if you cant catch them you can use your size..

[bshirt]

Similar things have already been pointed out in this thread, but here is my angle on it. If the Big 10's style of play is so dominating over those from other conferences, the Big 10 would have faired better during bowl seasons the last several years. Here is the Big 10's bowl record since 2003:

 

2003: 3-5

2004: 3-3

2005: 3-4

2006: 2-5

2007: 3-5

2008: 1-6

2009: 4-3

 

One winning bowl season since 2003! This is not to say that I think we are going to dominate the Big 10. I'm just saying that I'm not too worried about the "style of play" issue/argument.

 

 

Ouch! Yeah, the Big10 has not done well at put up or shut up time recently. Starting next year I hope to see big improvement!

[HuskerExpat]

Similar things have already been pointed out in this thread, but here is my angle on it. If the Big 10's style of play is so dominating over those from other conferences, the Big 10 would have faired better during bowl seasons the last several years. Here is the Big 10's bowl record since 2003:

 

2003: 3-5

2004: 3-3

2005: 3-4

2006: 2-5

2007: 3-5

2008: 1-6

2009: 4-3

 

One winning bowl season since 2003! This is not to say that I think we are going to dominate the Big 10. I'm just saying that I'm not too worried about the "style of play" issue/argument.

 

There is a huge difference in one off games at the end of the season and the full grind of week in/week out. It is the same argument made against Boise and TCU. They only have to get up for a game here and a game there, not a weekly grind. Also a majority of the Big 10 bowl wins are coming from Iowa, Wisconsin, Penn State and Ohio State in that time period.

 

You make a valid point. Still, my point stands as far as saying that we just don't match up at all. And there are enough soft games in the Big 10 that I don't think it matters what style those teams play. We have a pretty rough schedule next year, but there are a number of soft teams in the Big 10...

[Caven]

Similar things have already been pointed out in this thread, but here is my angle on it. If the Big 10's style of play is so dominating over those from other conferences, the Big 10 would have faired better during bowl seasons the last several years. Here is the Big 10's bowl record since 2003:

 

2003: 3-5

2004: 3-3

2005: 3-4

2006: 2-5

2007: 3-5

2008: 1-6

2009: 4-3

 

One winning bowl season since 2003! This is not to say that I think we are going to dominate the Big 10. I'm just saying that I'm not too worried about the "style of play" issue/argument.

 

There is a huge difference in one off games at the end of the season and the full grind of week in/week out. It is the same argument made against Boise and TCU. They only have to get up for a game here and a game there, not a weekly grind. Also a majority of the Big 10 bowl wins are coming from Iowa, Wisconsin, Penn State and Ohio State in that time period.

 

You make a valid point. Still, my point stands as far as saying that we just don't match up at all. And there are enough soft games in the Big 10 that I don't think it matters what style those teams play. We have a pretty rough schedule next year, but there are a number of soft teams in the Big 10...

 

Yes - yes there are. Too bad you aren't playing most of them I still can't believe the schedule that they gave you. The top 3 teams from the other division for your crossovers.

[RedDenver]

Yes - yes there are. Too bad you aren't playing most of them I still can't believe the schedule that they gave you. The top 3 teams from the other division for your crossovers.

I think this has less to do with giving Nebraska a difficult schedule and more to do with maximizing the quality games NU has in the first 2 seasons for TV ratings. All the media will be talking about the Huskers moving to the B10 th entire off-season and throughout the season. How better to show what a powerful draw the Huskers are in TV ratings than to showcase them against all the big names in the conference? The B10 will be negotiating a new TV contract in 2014 which I'm sure they're hoping to get big, BIG money from with the addition of NU and the huge increase in TV money the last couple years.

[Creed]

Keep in mind that the SEC has run by the B10 in several title games this decade.

 

"Several" being exactly two games. Overall the Big 10 and SEC are even against each other in bowl games in the BCS era.

[Creed]

Similar things have already been pointed out in this thread, but here is my angle on it. If the Big 10's style of play is so dominating over those from other conferences, the Big 10 would have faired better during bowl seasons the last several years. Here is the Big 10's bowl record since 2003:

 

2003: 3-5

2004: 3-3

2005: 3-4

2006: 2-5

2007: 3-5

2008: 1-6

2009: 4-3

 

One winning bowl season since 2003! This is not to say that I think we are going to dominate the Big 10. I'm just saying that I'm not too worried about the "style of play" issue/argument.

 

 

Ouch! Yeah, the Big10 has not done well at put up or shut up time recently. Starting next year I hope to see big improvement!

 

I agree the record has not been good. There have been some other factors that come into play.

 

- Many of those losses were against USC who many considered the best team that year but had one loss that kept them from the NCG.

 

- B10 had two teams (sometimes justified, other times not) in BCS games which forces lower ranked teams (NW,MN) to play bowl games agains much higher teams.

 

- Many B10 games are virtual away games playing SEC schools in FL or Lousiana, TX schools in TX and USC in LA.

 

- The Big 10 has two or three games year vs SEC teams whereas other conferences have less. Big 10 is .500 against the SEC - not many conferences can say that.

 

- B10 does not have any games vs weaker conferences such as Conf USA, Big East, etc.