Silver Lining? Will the UCLA game finally be the game that forces us to make the necessary changes that we need?

[The Duke]

As painful and as embarrassing as last night was for our Huskers, could the silver lining be that this will finally get the coaches attention that CHANGES ARE NEEDED...on both sides of the ball?

 

1) Will Pelini find some humility and start tinkering with the defense? Will he move us away from using a two-gap scheme to more of a one-gap scheme so that our front four can play more aggressive and not have to think so much before and during a given play?

I sure hope so. Everyone watch Alabama's defense under Nick Saban. They are running a one-gap Cover 1 mostly man-to-man defense with Robber coverage underneath, which acts like a Cover 2 defense except it is harder for the opposing quarterback to make that read pre-snap. The one-gap allows the defensive front four to only have to be in charge of one-gap, meaning they can play much more aggressively off the ball then a two-gap defender. Will Pelini switch Nebraska's defense? Maybe after the UCLA performance I hope so, but you never know with Bo.

 

2) Will Pelini and Beck become more committed to some of type of running game?

I don't care if it's a commitment to a zone-read game, power football (ISO, Power-O, Counter), or true triple option, but we need to find a solid running game that works for the players we currently have in the program right now, and we have to stay committed to it, and build some play-action passes off of those base runs. Taylor Martinez is much for comfortable throwing play-action passes then he is drop back passes because of the fact that the window he is trying to throw into is much larger. It provides him more of a safety net if you will even if he doesn't throw the ball perfectly.

 

3) Was this the wake-up call game that our coaches needed so that we can turn this program around?

I honestly do think this game will have a lasting effect on how Pelini's tenure plays out at Nebraska. I think our performance against UCLA shook Bo to his core, and that he will try to make some major changes to this team. What those changes will be is anyone's guess? But my point is, Nebraska has been down this road before.

 

Remember Osborne switched from a balanced offensive attack in the 1970's to the iconic option offense in 1980. Nebraska and Osborne didn't make the switch from his 5-2 defense to the 4-3 defense until 1992. In the book "A Salute to Nebraska's Tom Osborne" Osborne is quoted as saying they made the switch once they proved they could stop the run with the 4-3. He said, "We recruited people who could cover man-to-man, went to smaller, quicker defensive people up front and made the switch away from the 5-2 defense for the first time in almost 30 years." Osborne continued by saying, "When you can pressure on defense, get the ball back to your offense, you can do a lot of things with the offense."

 

It is hard to pressure a defense with a two-gap defensive scheme when you don't have a sold defensive line. I've posted this a few weeks ago, and those that want to read the entire interview can find it here: http://hailvarsity.c...-talks-two-gap/ but recently Charlie McBride told HailVaristy.com that "(The two-gap player) has to be able to have great strength. You have to have good hand strength, good position and you have to be ready to play both of those gaps. The thing is with it, you can't make a mistake." He continued by saying, "When you're playing two-gap, of course, you're a team that reads. You're really not a terrific attacking team. The strength factor is huge. You have to be a really strong person to do that." He concluded by saying, "If you don't have a defensive line, you can go home."

[Decked]

Two-gap is only good if you have a dominant DT. I would like to see us switch to a 3-4 or throw away the two-gap.

[ADS]

The scheme doesnt make a difference when your players never learned how to tackle properly.

[HuskerShark]

Good post OP. +1

 

I hope all of those things happen.

[Paul in WI]

As painful and as embarrassing as last night was for our Huskers, could the silver lining be that this will finally get the coaches attention that CHANGES ARE NEEDED...on both sides of the ball?

 

1) Will Pelini find some humility and start tinkering with the defense? Will he move us away from using a two-gap scheme to more of a one-gap scheme so that our front four can play more aggressive and not have to think so much before and during a given play?

I sure hope so. Everyone watch Alabama's defense under Nick Saban. They are running a one-gap Cover 1 mostly man-to-man defense with Robber coverage underneath, which acts like a Cover 2 defense except it is harder for the opposing quarterback to make that read pre-snap. The one-gap allows the defensive front four to only have to be in charge of one-gap, meaning they can play much more aggressively off the ball then a two-gap defender. Will Pelini switch Nebraska's defense? Maybe after the UCLA performance I hope so, but you never know with Bo.

 

2) Will Pelini and Beck become more committed to some of type of running game?

I don't care if it's a commitment to a zone-read game, power football (ISO, Power-O, Counter), or true triple option, but we need to find a solid running game that works for the players we currently have in the program right now, and we have to stay committed to it, and build some play-action passes off of those base runs. Taylor Martinez is much for comfortable throwing play-action passes then he is drop back passes because of the fact that the window he is trying to throw into is much larger. It provides him more of a safety net if you will even if he doesn't throw the ball perfectly.

 

3) Was this the wake-up call game that our coaches needed so that we can turn this program around?

I honestly do think this game will have a lasting effect on how Pelini's tenure plays out at Nebraska. I think our performance against UCLA shook Bo to his core, and that he will try to make some major changes to this team. What those changes will be is anyone's guess? But my point is, Nebraska has been down this road before.

 

Remember Osborne switched from a balanced offensive attack in the 1970's to the iconic option offense in 1980. Nebraska and Osborne didn't make the switch from his 5-2 defense to the 4-3 defense until 1992. In the book "A Salute to Nebraska's Tom Osborne" Osborne is quoted as saying they made the switch once they proved they could stop the run with the 4-3. He said, "We recruited people who could cover man-to-man, went to smaller, quicker defensive people up front and made the switch away from the 5-2 defense for the first time in almost 30 years." Osborne continued by saying, "When you can pressure on defense, get the ball back to your offense, you can do a lot of things with the offense."

 

It is hard to pressure a defense with a two-gap defensive scheme when you don't have a sold defensive line. I've posted this a few weeks ago, and those that want to read the entire interview can find it here: http://hailvarsity.c...-talks-two-gap/ but recently Charlie McBride told HailVaristy.com that "(The two-gap player) has to be able to have great strength. You have to have good hand strength, good position and you have to be ready to play both of those gaps. The thing is with it, you can't make a mistake." He continued by saying, "When you're playing two-gap, of course, you're a team that reads. You're really not a terrific attacking team. The strength factor is huge. You have to be a really strong person to do that." He concluded by saying, "If you don't have a defensive line, you can go home."

 

I've no answers for you, but I'll definitely give you a +1 for the effort in your post!

[lo country]

Duke, good stuff as always.

 

Correct about TO. Finally realized speed kills and 3 MNC's later there we are.

 

I hope that Bo and Co do a real honest self evaluation and realize that our current scheme is horrific at best. I said in another post it is easy to blame the players, as they are "missing tackles", but whose scheme puts them in that position. It is the staff's job to devise a scheme that puts our guys in the best position to win and make plays. Same with beck asking Martinez to drop back in the pocket and go all Manning back there.

 

_{Adjust the scheme to fit your players. Don't try and pound a square peg into a round hole.}

 

_{Watching the ESPN pre-game (NFL) and they commented that the Redskin's have pared down the playbook to what RGIII felt comfortable with. They got him plays that he can run. What a concept.}

[Decked]

Bring in my pee wee coach and he will teach our guys how to tackle. And did anyone notice we got smaller LBs in the 2012 class?? There weights were 210, 215, 220 (Juco), And 225.

[TonyStalloni]

Bo probably knows what he has in the last two recruiting classes....I and most of us do not. He may have been hoping to get through this year with the veterans and make needed changes next year. Whatever he decides will surely affect his legacy in Huskerland....but I doubt he is worried about that very much. His loyalty is to his players and his coaches. Hopefully he gets the ship righted soon.

[The Duke]

The scheme doesnt make a difference when your players never learned how to tackle properly.

Very true +1. It doesn't mean a darn what scheme a team runs if their fundamentals are lacking. I lost count last night on the number of arm tackles and players just throwing their bodies at the ball carrier without wrapping up. It boggles the mind.

[ADS]

The scheme doesnt make a difference when your players never learned how to tackle properly.

Very true +1. It doesn't mean a darn what scheme a team runs if their fundamentals are lacking. I lost count last night on the number of arm tackles and players just throwing their bodies at the ball carrier without wrapping up. It boggles the mind.

Slip screen to Jonathan Franklin late in the 4th quarter, he easily broke 5-6 tackles with no effort.

[The Duke]

As painful and as embarrassing as last night was for our Huskers, could the silver lining be that this will finally get the coaches attention that CHANGES ARE NEEDED...on both sides of the ball?

 

1) Will Pelini find some humility and start tinkering with the defense? Will he move us away from using a two-gap scheme to more of a one-gap scheme so that our front four can play more aggressive and not have to think so much before and during a given play?

I sure hope so. Everyone watch Alabama's defense under Nick Saban. They are running a one-gap Cover 1 mostly man-to-man defense with Robber coverage underneath, which acts like a Cover 2 defense except it is harder for the opposing quarterback to make that read pre-snap. The one-gap allows the defensive front four to only have to be in charge of one-gap, meaning they can play much more aggressively off the ball then a two-gap defender. Will Pelini switch Nebraska's defense? Maybe after the UCLA performance I hope so, but you never know with Bo.

 

2) Will Pelini and Beck become more committed to some of type of running game?

I don't care if it's a commitment to a zone-read game, power football (ISO, Power-O, Counter), or true triple option, but we need to find a solid running game that works for the players we currently have in the program right now, and we have to stay committed to it, and build some play-action passes off of those base runs. Taylor Martinez is much for comfortable throwing play-action passes then he is drop back passes because of the fact that the window he is trying to throw into is much larger. It provides him more of a safety net if you will even if he doesn't throw the ball perfectly.

 

3) Was this the wake-up call game that our coaches needed so that we can turn this program around?

I honestly do think this game will have a lasting effect on how Pelini's tenure plays out at Nebraska. I think our performance against UCLA shook Bo to his core, and that he will try to make some major changes to this team. What those changes will be is anyone's guess? But my point is, Nebraska has been down this road before.

 

Remember Osborne switched from a balanced offensive attack in the 1970's to the iconic option offense in 1980. Nebraska and Osborne didn't make the switch from his 5-2 defense to the 4-3 defense until 1992. In the book "A Salute to Nebraska's Tom Osborne" Osborne is quoted as saying they made the switch once they proved they could stop the run with the 4-3. He said, "We recruited people who could cover man-to-man, went to smaller, quicker defensive people up front and made the switch away from the 5-2 defense for the first time in almost 30 years." Osborne continued by saying, "When you can pressure on defense, get the ball back to your offense, you can do a lot of things with the offense."

 

It is hard to pressure a defense with a two-gap defensive scheme when you don't have a sold defensive line. I've posted this a few weeks ago, and those that want to read the entire interview can find it here: http://hailvarsity.c...-talks-two-gap/ but recently Charlie McBride told HailVaristy.com that "(The two-gap player) has to be able to have great strength. You have to have good hand strength, good position and you have to be ready to play both of those gaps. The thing is with it, you can't make a mistake." He continued by saying, "When you're playing two-gap, of course, you're a team that reads. You're really not a terrific attacking team. The strength factor is huge. You have to be a really strong person to do that." He concluded by saying, "If you don't have a defensive line, you can go home."

 

I've no answers for you, but I'll definitely give you a +1 for the effort in your post!

Thanks Paul! I don't claim to have the answers, I mainly just have some ideas and suggestions like many other Husker fans do out there. The main point of the post was to offer a little context and to put things into perspective.

 

Do we currently have some issues and questions in the program? Yes, but the good thing is that many of these issues are correctable and can be fixed. The real questions are when will these issues be addressed? How will they be addressed? And what specifically will they focus on first?

 

I honestly think we are going to be ok as long as we don't look at what happened yesterday in Pasadena with the continuous mindset of "we just didn't execute" type of excuse. As long as the coaches are honest with themselves and admit that the status quo isn't working, and that changes do need to be implemented than I really do think Nebraska will be fine.

[The Duke]

Duke, good stuff as always.

 

Correct about TO. Finally realized speed kills and 3 MNC's later there we are.

 

I hope that Bo and Co do a real honest self evaluation and realize that our current scheme is horrific at best. I said in another post it is easy to blame the players, as they are "missing tackles", but whose scheme puts them in that position. It is the staff's job to devise a scheme that puts our guys in the best position to win and make plays. Same with beck asking Martinez to drop back in the pocket and go all Manning back there.

 

_{Adjust the scheme to fit your players. Don't try and pound a square peg into a round hole.}

 

_{Watching the ESPN pre-game (NFL) and they commented that the Redskin's have pared down the playbook to what RGIII felt comfortable with. They got him plays that he can run. What a concept.}

Thanks lo country. I always enjoy reading your opinions as well. I also enjoyed your commentary last night during the game chat.

 

I do think Bo and the staff will take a real self evaluation of the entire program. They probably already started the preliminary process on the way home last night. Are these coaches stubborn sometimes? Yes, but they are not stupid. They know that their are problems that need to be fixed in a hurry. Lucky for them and for the program we have Arkansas State and Idaho State to work out some kinks before conference play starts against Wisconsin. If we can get back to a committed physical ground game to go along with their up-tempo stuff I think we will be fine. But we have to run the ball more to help out our defense this year.

[sd'sker]

i think a big problem with this game was that they just out-played us. our defense was embarrassing, but they did make a few key stops and out offense had its chances to win this for us (like some of us expected would have to happen this season). but ucla just played with more intensity and passion than we did. they played with a reckless abandon, our defense needs that.

 

finally, why go up the gut on 3rd and 1 when we were beating them consistently on the outside. let ameer do what he is best at.

[Hooked on Huskers]

Agreed except

 

2) Will Pelini and Beck become more committed to some of type of running game?

I don't care if it's a commitment to a zone-read game, power football (ISO, Power-O, Counter), or true triple option, but we need to find a solid running game that works for the players we currently have in the program right now, and we have to stay committed to it, and build some play-action passes off of those base runs. Taylor Martinez is much for comfortable throwing play-action passes then he is drop back passes because of the fact that the window he is trying to throw into is much larger. It provides him more of a safety net if you will even if he doesn't throw the ball perfectly.

Just leave it alone, at least for right now. First game was overall excellent ..... no droppies, no false starts, no picks, etc.

 

Hopefully freak UCLA performance. Hiccup

[HuskerThor]

Someone said something about scheme. Scheme has nothing to do with missed tackles, period! If you have your arms on someone, you must make a tackle.

 

If you can't tackle, you can't win!