Alright Guys, Fill us In...

[Danny Bateman]

EZ, good to hear we're actually sitting really well with Priest at this point. I like how you pointed out Bo's forte of strong secondaries and ability to shut down passing games.

 

This of course, made me want to play devil's advocate...

 

What exactly are we doing to shore up our WEAKNESS on defense, the front seven and their ability to stuff running games?

 

I strongly believe that most of the reason for the struggles since Suh left is lack of talent and depth in the front seven. Specifically, on the DL. There's a reason Baker almost never came off the field before he got hurt. We simply didn't have the horses behind him to be able to sub him out.

 

IF you look at our depth chart there this year:

 

DT: Baker, Rome, Thad, Cam, Guy, Peat, Williams, Curry, VV.

DE: EMart, Ankrah, Cam, Moss, McMullen.

 

Forgive me if I have forgotten anyone. I feel they're listed in order of coaching staff's comfortability playing them. Anybody Below basically Cam on the DT list was either RSing or injured this year.

 

LB, we are basically spread very thin. 3 starting seniors + Santos, ZA (before injury) and possibly Roach, though we haven't heard much of him.

 

So, we've definitely upgraded the depth and skill at the LB position the last two classes. But our DL remains shaky to me. VV, Curry, and Moss all pushed for playing time this year and obviously the latter two had their shirts burnt.

 

However, we lose all three starters at LB and 3 of our DL starters. Moss, Curry and VV look like monsters, and McMullen was the most heralded of any of the guys from last year, but where do you see the help coming from on DL? I still think we definitely need a major upgrade of talent there, similar to the influx we've seen at LB the last two years.

 

Gregory looks like he could possibly walk in and start next year, but we have no DT's committed, which is arguably our biggest need. Who do you see us getting? This is a call to EZ, Hedley, or anyone else who has more than a guess where we lie with DL recruits and who the staff likes the best. Basically, anybody who has any information that is going to make us be very happy, very soon.

[Comish]

Is it certain that Curry and Moss played enough to burn their R-shirts?

[da skers]

85-90% our issues on D against Wiscy came from being more injured that the other team, being less mentally prepared (for what ever reason) to hit the other team in the mouth, and poor execution of the plays and tackling. I don't know how many times we whiffed on a kid or tried to arm tackle and just didn't wrap up or stopped driving through the defender once we made contact head on. We hadn't been doing that the prior 4 or 5 games but this one we did.

 

But the biggest area we need is extra bodies on the Dline. We have good ones in Curry and Valentine once they are healed but we need at least 4 more bodies to rotate.

[RedDenver]

85-90% our issues on D against Wiscy came from being more injured that the other team, being less mentally prepared (for what ever reason) to hit the other team in the mouth, and poor execution of the plays and tackling. I don't know how many times we whiffed on a kid or tried to arm tackle and just didn't wrap up or stopped driving through the defender once we made contact head on. We hadn't been doing that the prior 4 or 5 games but this one we did.

 

But the biggest area we need is extra bodies on the Dline. We have good ones in Curry and Valentine once they are healed but we need at least 4 more bodies to rotate.

IMO the last couple seasons there's been an epidemic of bad tackling throughout college football, and especially at NU. I can't even count the number of times I've yelled, "Don't dive at his legs - run through the tackle!!!"

 

In addition to the injuries it looked like the Huskers just ran out of steam against Wisky. So many close, tough games in row seemed to finally catch up to them.

[HuskerFowler]

Is it certain that Curry and Moss played enough to burn their R-shirts?

 

Curry played too much, Moss will get a Med RS

 

As for DT no one is going to be able to answer that, not even the coaches. I think we have the best shot a Quincy Russell, then Toby Johnson (hes talking about bringing his family back and it would be for a 3rd time) Pecko is probably MSU or Utah, Hooks is Ole Miss or Miami. We may have a shot with Devante Bond. Bo will be soon or already is visiting Hooks tonight, so things could swing, but doubtful. If we could just kidnap (or pay) Hooks Toby and Russell our Dline would be majorly upgraded for the next few years, scary good.

 

We will be lucky to get one to be honest with you, even thou we need 3. Kaz will have a lot of work to do with the young guys and we will lack the depth again next year, unless a couple guys swing our way.

[Danny Bateman]

Is it certain that Curry and Moss played enough to burn their R-shirts?

 

Curry played too much, Moss will get a Med RS

 

As for DT no one is going to be able to answer that, not even the coaches. I think we have the best shot a Quincy Russell, then Toby Johnson (hes talking about bringing his family back and it would be for a 3rd time) Pecko is probably MSU or Utah, Hooks is Ole Miss or Miami. We may have a shot with Devante Bond. Bo will be soon or already is visiting Hooks tonight, so things could swing, but doubtful. If we could just kidnap (or pay) Hooks Toby and Russell our Dline would be majorly upgraded for the next few years, scary good.

 

We will be lucky to get one to be honest with you, even thou we need 3. Kaz will have a lot of work to do with the young guys and we will lack the depth again next year, unless a couple guys swing our way.

How does this vicious cycle change then?

 

It continues to baffle me how, when we run a scheme that is predicated so heavily upon the DL generating pass rush on the opposing QB and fill gaps in run support, that we continue to fail at getting big time DL recruits. McMullen and VV were highly regarded last year, but Curry was a gimme with him loving Kaz while he was at Iowa. Moss didn't really have any other schools that were as high profile as us. I believe it came down to us and ASU no?

 

Especially after Suh's Heisman run, and how he continues to generate headlines to this day, I am shocked that more DL recruits aren't lining up to come to NU. I just wish I knew why.

[MLB 51]

Is it certain that Curry and Moss played enough to burn their R-shirts?

 

Curry played too much, Moss will get a Med RS

 

As for DT no one is going to be able to answer that, not even the coaches. I think we have the best shot a Quincy Russell, then Toby Johnson (hes talking about bringing his family back and it would be for a 3rd time) Pecko is probably MSU or Utah, Hooks is Ole Miss or Miami. We may have a shot with Devante Bond. Bo will be soon or already is visiting Hooks tonight, so things could swing, but doubtful. If we could just kidnap (or pay) Hooks Toby and Russell our Dline would be majorly upgraded for the next few years, scary good.

 

We will be lucky to get one to be honest with you, even thou we need 3. Kaz will have a lot of work to do with the young guys and we will lack the depth again next year, unless a couple guys swing our way.

How does this vicious cycle change then?

 

It continues to baffle me how, when we run a scheme that is predicated so heavily upon the DL generating pass rush on the opposing QB and fill gaps in run support, that we continue to fail at getting big time DL recruits. McMullen and VV were highly regarded last year, but Curry was a gimme with him loving Kaz while he was at Iowa. Moss didn't really have any other schools that were as high profile as us. I believe it came down to us and ASU no?

 

Especially after Suh's Heisman run, and how he continues to generate headlines to this day, that more DL recruits aren't lining up to come to NU. I just wish I knew why.

Good question. Still waiting on the "Suh affect" to pay off.

[da skers]

Is it certain that Curry and Moss played enough to burn their R-shirts?

 

Curry played too much, Moss will get a Med RS

 

As for DT no one is going to be able to answer that, not even the coaches. I think we have the best shot a Quincy Russell, then Toby Johnson (hes talking about bringing his family back and it would be for a 3rd time) Pecko is probably MSU or Utah, Hooks is Ole Miss or Miami. We may have a shot with Devante Bond. Bo will be soon or already is visiting Hooks tonight, so things could swing, but doubtful. If we could just kidnap (or pay) Hooks Toby and Russell our Dline would be majorly upgraded for the next few years, scary good.

 

We will be lucky to get one to be honest with you, even thou we need 3. Kaz will have a lot of work to do with the young guys and we will lack the depth again next year, unless a couple guys swing our way.

How does this vicious cycle change then?

 

It continues to baffle me how, when we run a scheme that is predicated so heavily upon the DL generating pass rush on the opposing QB and fill gaps in run support, that we continue to fail at getting big time DL recruits. McMullen and VV were highly regarded last year, but Curry was a gimme with him loving Kaz while he was at Iowa. Moss didn't really have any other schools that were as high profile as us. I believe it came down to us and ASU no?

 

Especially after Suh's Heisman run, and how he continues to generate headlines to this day, I am shocked that more DL recruits aren't lining up to come to NU. I just wish I knew why.

We had a Carl problem for awhile on the DL. I think the guy was a hell of a recruiter and was great at finding Juco guys but on the Dline high school kids he often wanted the under rated guy or a guy he though was a diamond in the rough. A little bit in his defense the Dline recruit s the hardest to get right coming from HS because often these guys are fully developed or don't have a lot of room for growth. They're looking like all pros because they're just bigger and better than most high school kids. But that being said he often over ruled the RC and JP and made us take someone else. Thats why we've got a hole there now between our RS and our SRs.

[Danny Bateman]

Is it certain that Curry and Moss played enough to burn their R-shirts?

 

Curry played too much, Moss will get a Med RS

 

As for DT no one is going to be able to answer that, not even the coaches. I think we have the best shot a Quincy Russell, then Toby Johnson (hes talking about bringing his family back and it would be for a 3rd time) Pecko is probably MSU or Utah, Hooks is Ole Miss or Miami. We may have a shot with Devante Bond. Bo will be soon or already is visiting Hooks tonight, so things could swing, but doubtful. If we could just kidnap (or pay) Hooks Toby and Russell our Dline would be majorly upgraded for the next few years, scary good.

 

We will be lucky to get one to be honest with you, even thou we need 3. Kaz will have a lot of work to do with the young guys and we will lack the depth again next year, unless a couple guys swing our way.

How does this vicious cycle change then?

 

It continues to baffle me how, when we run a scheme that is predicated so heavily upon the DL generating pass rush on the opposing QB and fill gaps in run support, that we continue to fail at getting big time DL recruits. McMullen and VV were highly regarded last year, but Curry was a gimme with him loving Kaz while he was at Iowa. Moss didn't really have any other schools that were as high profile as us. I believe it came down to us and ASU no?

 

Especially after Suh's Heisman run, and how he continues to generate headlines to this day, I am shocked that more DL recruits aren't lining up to come to NU. I just wish I knew why.

We had a Carl problem for awhile on the DL. I think the guy was a hell of a recruiter and was great at finding Juco guys but on the Dline high school kids he often wanted the under rated guy or a guy he though was a diamond in the rough. A little bit in his defense the Dline recruit s the hardest to get right coming from HS because often these guys are fully developed or don't have a lot of room for growth. They're looking like all pros because they're just bigger and better than most high school kids. But that being said he often over ruled the RC and JP and made us take someone else. Thats why we've got a hole there now between our RS and our SRs.

If true I find that VERY interesting skers.

 

I have never heard this before.

 

Can you give a specific example of times this happened? It's a shame if Carl really did this. It implies he was hand-picking his favorite recruits, instead of the consensus higher rated ones, correct?

[dylan]

2009 - Ankrah was a big time de recruit and randle was one of the best defenders in Texas.

2010 - Rome was a big time recruit. The three defensive ends had decent offers.

2011 - Peat and Williams both had big time offers at DT.

2012 - valentine is a big time recruit at DT, McMullen is at end. The other two dl had decent offers.

 

I'd say we've done fine recruiting good DT prospects. Our bigger problem in recruiting was not taking enough linebackers for a few years and missing on defensive ends. If we could get some breaks with health at DT (randle, Williams, peat, steinkuhler) we'd be fine.

 

On a side note, I still expect a lot out of Williams, now that he's healthy and can put some good weight on. Less optimistic on peat.