Let's lay off of Bo Pelini, DC, a little bit

[zoogs]

Bo Pelini is catching a ton of flak as the DC right now. I think it's unfair.

 

They gave us a chance to stay in the game when we had no business doing so. We didn't take advantage of it.

 

Field position: Michigan frequently got the short field to work with from us. 1) Bell fumbles the kickoff return, deep in our territory. 2) Maher punt blocked. 3) Taylor fumbles. Deep in our own territory. edit, 4) Marlowe fumbles a kickoff return, completely forgot how ridiculous things had gotten.

 

Bad breaks: the D made numerous stops, only to watch nothing come of it. 1) Thorell flagged for PI, on 3rd-and-goal from the 5. 2) Different drive, another goal-line stand. But they convert 4th-and-1 on a ST fake. 3) Different drive, a beautiful 3rd down stop, and an extremely tacky roughing the punter call on 4th-and-7.

 

That's a lot to work against.

 

Yardage standpoint:

 

Michigan's offense got three big plays on us. 1) Dennard bumps into the receiver, both fall down. No flag, and the ball falls right into the fallen receiver's arms. 45 yards. 2) 31-yard touchdown romp to make it 45-17, right after Taylors' fumble. Our guys were dispirited and just gave up. Not fundamentals, not scheme. A beaten down team, and a game that was over.

 

3) 38-yard touchdown pass to make it 38-17. We were taking a measured risk in playing the safeties up to stop the run, and Urban noted this minutes before it happened. At that point, things were getting desperate and we had little choice but to take the risk.

 

Key Stat: yards per play

 

Michigan:5.2

Nebraska: 4.8

 

Surprised? You shouldn't be. Our offense couldn't keep our defense off the field to save its life, and we ran 53 plays to Michigan's 80. Over 41 minutes of possession, for crying out loud. The game is 60 minutes long.

 

The bottom line...we showed up with a decent plan to contain Michigan. They aren't easy to contain and it's not like we could just shut them down. Our D made an admirable effort and shined on many occasions. Bo was right to take charge of the D from Carl recently.

 

Sadly, we bumbled and fumbled the game away at literally every possible turn. Not our day.

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Zoogies, you're sunshine pumping. How dare you!

[Hercules]

I don't think there is a way to pin this game on one coach or one player, or one unit, offense, defense, or special teams, or on the officiating. Everything was bad today, but the most discouraging thing was just how much self-destruction there was. That does come back to Pelini the head coach- his teams self-destruct. Way, WAY too many unforced errors.

[gobiggergoredder]

I'm waiting to see how it's Beck's fault.

 

When things go well Beck did an OK job. When they have a tough time Beck is out of his league.

[NU5XChamps]

We beat ourselves again.... It is getting old watching this over and over.... That is the only thing that I pin on the coaches, the team played without disipline today!!!

[zoogs]

I don't think there is a way to pin this game on one coach or one player, or one unit, offense, defense, or special teams, or on the officiating. Everything was bad today, but the most discouraging thing was just how much self-destruction there was. That does come back to Pelini the head coach- his teams self-destruct. Way, WAY too many unforced errors.

 

Yeah, I get that angle: self-destruction, and going back to the head coach.

 

IMO, though, self destruction is just something that's hard to put a finger on. The buck stops at the head coach, certainly, but can anybody really say exactly what Bo is doing wrong to cause it? I can't. I have no idea what really needs to change for that to stop. I don't really believe in generic, meaningless statements like "Bo is undisciplined" (I'd argue the opposite! and maybe that is having an effect, but really, who's to say?)

 

Mostly, in this post, I wanted to focus on the defense. I thought the D showed up OK today. They should not get too many fingers pointed at them. If Bo continues to take charge of the D, I think we'll have promising results. But it is disappointing that he has had to.

 

Beck had his moments this game, but our offense held onto the ball for fewer than 20 minutes. Pretty inexcusable. They were ineffective. Of course, we still might have won the game anyway...but Beck, as much as I like him, he has some up and down weeks. This was a down week, and I will not be too hard on the guy, but let's not pretend otherwise.

[Hoosker]

It isn't Bo's fault that Cassidy and Thorell are our best options....is it?

[JTrain]

Defense gets a C today. They certainly weren't awful, especially given the TOP. However, when they really had a chance to turn the game in Nebraska's favor (tied 10-10 and Michigan starting at their own 26) they bent, and bent, and broke. They did the same thing against Northwestern.

 

So overall a decent defensive performance, but they didn't adjust and play well when they really needed to to help the team be in a position to win.

[knapplc]

It isn't Bo's fault that Cassidy and Thorell are our best options....is it?

 

Definitely is. That's either teaching or recruiting. Either way, it falls on the coaches, and ultimately on Bo.

[zoogs]

That is one thing I do have an issue with, Bo's personnel decisions on defense. See my sig: FREE COURTNEY OSBORNE.

 

Please?

 

But let's remember, Bo is one of the best defensive coordinators in the game, and he is an outstanding defensive coach. Talent may be an issue, the doghouse is almost certainly an issue (JMO), but Bo's defensive coaching acumen should not be.

[Army Husker]

 

Surprised? You shouldn't be. Our offense couldn't get off the field to save its life, and we ran 53 plays to Michigan's 80. Over 41 minutes of possession, for crying out loud. The game is 60 minutes long.

 

 

Guessing you meant defense? Seemed like the o was off the field a ton??

[zoogs]

Yeah, I meant the offense couldn't get our defense off the field. Good catch.

[Hercules]

I don't think there is a way to pin this game on one coach or one player, or one unit, offense, defense, or special teams, or on the officiating. Everything was bad today, but the most discouraging thing was just how much self-destruction there was. That does come back to Pelini the head coach- his teams self-destruct. Way, WAY too many unforced errors.

 

Yeah, I get that angle: self-destruction, and going back to the head coach.

 

IMO, though, self destruction is just something that's hard to put a finger on. The buck stops at the head coach, certainly, but can anybody really say exactly what Bo is doing wrong to cause it? I can't. I have no idea what really needs to change for that to stop. I don't really believe in generic, meaningless statements like "Bo is undisciplined" (I'd argue the opposite! and maybe that is having an effect, but really, who's to say?)

 

Mostly, in this post, I wanted to focus on the defense. I thought the D showed up OK today. They should not get too many fingers pointed at them. If Bo continues to take charge of the D, I think we'll have promising results. But it is disappointing that he has had to.

 

Beck had his moments this game, but our offense held onto the ball for fewer than 20 minutes. Pretty inexcusable. They were ineffective. Of course, we still might have won the game anyway...but Beck, as much as I like him, he has some up and down weeks. This was a down week, and I will not be too hard on the guy, but let's not pretend otherwise.

 

The defense was probably the most successful unit today, I'll grant you that. They really struggled to get off the field on third down though, which hurt TOP. UM also had several drives extended by bad calls, and that hurts TOP. We fumbled away two kickoffs, and that destroys TOP. So, the offense was bad today, and Beck wasn't able to get much going, but they probably played pretty close to the same level as the defense today. But that's a pretty low standard, and there were way too many other factors for either unit to overcome.

[NU5XChamps]

BTW, where has Carl been??? This is the second game now that I don't recall them showing him.... With the way our "D" is playing you would think he would be getting lots of air time!!

[zoogs]

I think that may not be a coincidence; this might be the 2nd game now that Carl has been a "DC in name only" with Bo really being more hands on to clean up the situation on defense.

 

Hercules, I won't disagree much, I'm not going to be too hard on Beck, but really do not think they showed as much as the D over the course of the game.