D-Line Scheme?

[AR Husker Fan]

Hey da skers, J Peters might be a burned out druggie, but he still has more brain power than you if you honestly don't see a problem with the current Husker football team.

Enought with the personal attacks. A third violation will result in a ban.

[zoogs]

Not to say there's nothing wrong with the team but I think it's more an issue of talent than anything else. Jason Peter is one of those "back in MY day, blah blah" kind of guys. I don't put a ton of stock into what he says - as mentioned, guys like Damon Benning are a lot more interesting to listen to.

[Mavric]

Remember "Robbie Rouse" RB from WKU going wild on our defense last year? What about that Fresno RB? Or even Kendall Hunter getting 200+ yds?

 

Ridiculous.

 

I believe you're talking about Bobby Rainey from WKU. He ran for 155 yds vs. NU. But it took him 30 carries to get there, and he got 47 yards on one run. That means on the other 29 carries he averaged 3.6 yards per carry, which is not exactly shredding us. And, by the way, he's 3 yards away from 4,000 for his career while averageing over 5 ypc. I know it's Western Kentucky but he's not exacltly chopped liver.

 

Robbie Rouse is the RB from Fresno St. He's a Junior this year and is already nearing 2,700 career yards - putting him on pace for 4,000 - while averaging well over 5 ypc. It took him 36 carries to put up 169 yds against NU. Again, that's not great for us but if you keep pounding away, you're bound to have some success.

 

And Kendall Hunter? Another 4,000 yd rusher despite missing half his Jr. year with injuries and averaged almost 6 ypc for his career. Last year Okie St. had the #3 offense in the country and that was probably our worst defensive game of the year. Not a good combination. He put up 161 yds on about 2/3 the carries against Texas' one-loss 2008 team as a Soph. and is currently averaging 4.5 ypc in the NFL. Another chump.

 

And, by the way, the Huskers won all three games.

[panhandle husker]

How could you not put a ton of stock into what he says? I don't understand, really. Everyone is wanting Big Red to get back to the mid 90's mentality, and J.Peters was as big a part of that run as anybody! But he's just a "blah, blah, blah", guy to you? The mid 90's teams weren't out to just win, they wanted to hurt people BAD, and they did. Thats what made them special. Thats what the game of football is about. Thats why we love them some much. It seems now that a lot of fans are OK with losing to inferior teams year after year. I'm not one of those fans. Sorry, but I will never be one of those fans.

[bshirt]

I think Bo is a superb DC to say the least but I'd love to see him return to an attacking defense. Yeah, we'd probably give up more pts but we'd get wayyyyyy more early stops, 3 & outs and turnovers on opponent offenses. Just wishful dreaming.....

 

GBR!!

I don't understand what you're saying: If he's a "superb DC" then why doesn't he run a scheme that works?

 

And sorry - I don't buy the excuse that our talent is worse than Iowa State's.

 

It worked superbly in 2003, 2009 & 2010. Also, 2008 was a MASSIVE improvement from 2007.

 

This "one" year he's having problems.....so four out of five works for me.

 

GBR!!

[Mavric]

Anybody could of coached the LSU D when they won the NC. ... Now, they are fresh out of BC recruits and the defense is pretty bad.

 

So, when there are great defenses, it's only because the players are great but when the defenses are bad, it's got to be coaching, not because the players aren't as good. Interesting.

 

Those great BC recruits didn't exaclty help Billy out much, did they? Apprently they started playing better after Bo got here.

 

2007 - 37.9 points per game - #115 in the nation

 

Bo:

2008 - 29.2 ppg - # 84

2009 - 11.2 ppg - #2

2010 - 17.2 ppg - #8

 

 

I don't understand what you're saying: If he's a "superb DC" then why doesn't he run a scheme that works?

 

#2 in the nation in scoring defense then #8 the following year doesn't fit your definition of a defense that "works"? And that 2009 defense faced the #4 offense (Texas), #9 (Texas Tech), #28 (Virginia Tech), #30 (Oklahoma) and #33 (Missouri) so they weren't exactly doing it against a weak schedule.

[panhandle husker]

Never said BC could coach them, but you have to get them on campus to have a chance, and he did that!

[lo country]

Another issue I see is that Pelini's defense is so complex that it takes years to master. That works great in the pros, but it won't cut it in college where guys only have 5 years tops and are also going to school at the same time.

 

The defensive scheme will 'click' for a guy and then he gets 1-2 years to play knowing the defense really well, and then he graduates leaving his spot to a guy who probably doesn't know the defense as well. The problem becomes such that every starter is on a different page when it comes to knowledge of the D. Thus, you get breakdowns and lapses in coverage because this guy thought X was supposed to happen and that guy thought Y was supposed to happen.

 

My opinion as well. When one person misses an assignment and the whole D breaks down that is an issue. Wats was criticized for his 16 lb playbook, complicated schemes that took to long for a college kid to learn and length of time it took to become proficient in it. Ultimately, this cost him his job. Why does Bo get a pass when you have to have several years in the system before you can become proficient and on the same page as the other players. No doubt with experience ie Haag, Gomes, Prince, Assante, O'hanlon, Suh, Allen etc it works with incredible precision, but with new guys, new staff who are also learning the scheme it appears somewhat flawed and vulnerable.

 

Bo spoke of not dumbing down the system for the new guys. Did this cause the losses to Wisky and NW? Who knows. I am sure it didn't help. Maybe with all the new kids and new coaches a more simplified "hat on hat" D might be better.

[The Big Red Husker]

I'm not an expert when it comes to the 2-gap, but I'm not a fan of it. With the personnel we've had the last few years (first Suh, then Prince/Gomes/Hagg) you could've run any scheme you wanted and it would've worked.

 

Now that our talent and experience is depleted (injuries aren't helping either), I think we're seeing the deficiencies of the 2-gap system and it's frightening. Soft against the run, no pass rush and big gains through the air as a result.

 

The defense we currently run...is done to prevent the big plays...to make the opposing teams have 12 and 13 play drives and hope for mistakes...The issue we have is we have not been able to have any negative plays. Average running teams are able to get 4-5 yards between the tackles....We either need to change the scheme or we need to move bigger personnel to DT...Also if we are going to run nickle and dime we need to have athletic guys in those positions...yes they will make mistakes but they are also capable of BIG plays....These are ther areas opposing teams are attacking...#23 #17 need to be #12 and #6 etc.

[Enhance]

Just out of curiosity, what kind of defenses do LSU and Alabama run? Granted, they have far better athletes than we do, but Alabama has consistently been in the Top 10 defensively the last couple of years and they never seem to have a big drop off.

[Stumpy1]

Not sure what makes Bo a "superb DC". Anybody could of coached the LSU D when they won the NC. If not for Suh, the Pelinis don't make it to 2 B12 title games period. Now, they are fresh out of BC recruits and the defense is pretty bad. Coinsidence? Not sure, but if he was a "superb DC", NW doesn't shred us like they did. He and his brother need to change something that gives what we have a chance. Whether you admit it or not, getting talent on campus is a big thing, and so far it doesn't look like we will see a BCS game for quite a while.

If not for the Pelinis, Suh wouldn't be where he is at. Works both ways

[da skers]

Hey da skers, J Peters might be a burned out druggie, but he still has more brain power than you if you honestly don't see a problem with the current Husker football team.

I never stated I didn't see a problem with the defense did I? I just disagreed that he knew more about running a defense than what our current coaches do based on the fact that he played defense when we won a championship. The fact of the matter is he's most likely critical of Bo for the simple fact he lobbied so hard to be hired as a defensive intern and was turn down (more than once).

Honestly if anything I'm pretty disappointed in the guy. Having met him personally during his playing days and the fact I know people who attempted to help with his personal struggles and others with his radio career I think he's taken every advantage of being a former husker without the gratitude that I would have displayed. I don't know his current story or struggles because I honestly don't care. . but from the outside looking in I'm shocked he hasn't done more with what has been given to him.

[AustinHuskr]

I think Bo is a superb DC to say the least but I'd love to see him return to an attacking defense. Yeah, we'd probably give up more pts but we'd get wayyyyyy more early stops, 3 & outs and turnovers on opponent offenses. Just wishful dreaming.....

 

GBR!!

I don't understand what you're saying: If he's a "superb DC" then why doesn't he run a scheme that works?

 

And sorry - I don't buy the excuse that our talent is worse than Iowa State's.

 

It worked superbly in 2003, 2009 & 2010. Also, 2008 was a MASSIVE improvement from 2007.

 

This "one" year he's having problems.....so four out of five works for me.

 

GBR!!

For the millionth time - in all those years that you mention, he had GREAT players... and STILL managed to get beat by some ugly margins and in most cases by teams who had no business beating us:

 

2003: Wood shed beatings by KSU, tu and MU. Nuff said

2009: ISU, TTech. Nuff said

2010: tu, UWx2. Heck, even throw in #18 aTm who was ranked much lower than us.

 

I think you're letting youself get blinded by the this whole charade that Bo's some sort of defensive God. I've wondered many times if the people that keep saying this are simply too simple minded or just want to believe it bec. they cannot comprehend the what-if's. Take for instance the MU game in 2008. People like to gloss over it and give Bo a pass bec. it was his first season but to me - that game and how he designed his defense spoke volumes. He devised a scheme TOTALLY ill suited to the personnel and the result was one of the most embarrassing losses in recent memory. Fast forward to 2011 - same symptoms same results.

[caveman99]

I think Bo is a superb DC to say the least but I'd love to see him return to an attacking defense. Yeah, we'd probably give up more pts but we'd get wayyyyyy more early stops, 3 & outs and turnovers on opponent offenses. Just wishful dreaming.....

 

GBR!!

I don't understand what you're saying: If he's a "superb DC" then why doesn't he run a scheme that works?

 

And sorry - I don't buy the excuse that our talent is worse than Iowa State's.

 

It worked superbly in 2003, 2009 & 2010. Also, 2008 was a MASSIVE improvement from 2007.

 

This "one" year he's having problems.....so four out of five works for me.

 

GBR!!

For the millionth time - in all those years that you mention, he had GREAT players... and STILL managed to get beat by some ugly margins and in most cases by teams who had no business beating us:

 

2003: Wood shed beatings by KSU, tu and MU. Nuff said

2009: ISU, TTech. Nuff said

2010: tu, UWx2. Heck, even throw in #18 aTm who was ranked much lower than us.

 

I think you're letting youself get blinded by the this whole charade that Bo's some sort of defensive God. I've wondered many times if the people that keep saying this are simply too simple minded or just want to believe it bec. they cannot comprehend the what-if's. Take for instance the MU game in 2008. People like to gloss over it and give Bo a pass bec. it was his first season but to me - that game and how he designed his defense spoke volumes. He devised a scheme TOTALLY ill suited to the personnel and the result was one of the most embarrassing losses in recent memory. Fast forward to 2011 - same symptoms same results.

No we get your point of view just fine thank you, obviously Bo was only good because he had great players are recruited by Callahan. If those players are so great then what happened in 2007?

[3rd and long]

If the 2 gap is designed to prevent the big play, then it's obviously not working. Why not at least try something different. I would really like to see Bo turn the DL loose. Let them try to penetrate and make some negative yardage plays. This old up the OL so they can't get to the LB's just doesn't make sense to me. If you do that, most time initiall contact is occuring two or three yards past the line of scrimmage, because other than David, our LB's don't fill the holes quickly enough to stop a ball carrier at the line. And if you don't have the personel to adequately run your preferred scheme (LB's), you have to adjust (much like it's been continually called for Beck to do to help Taylor). I just think we have more to offer up front than at LB, lets see if some of them can make some plays.