Illinois

[Eric the Red]

Anyone on this board telling anyone else to stop over reacting needs to look in the mirror. we have all over reacted about something, it just depends on what we are talking about. I have over reacted plenty of times. Which is why I won't stand on a f'ing box and preach to any of you about it.

 

Now as far as Illinois. It sounds to me like they have an offense that could move the ball on the majority of the Big Ten. Now forgive me if I'm wrong, it hasn't been discussed a lot, but if I have heard correctly it sounds like Nebraska has a defense that sh#ts their pants every time they take the field. Hmmmm...good offense versus sh#t defense. Sounds like it might be tough.

 

At this point, we have been given no evidence to believe we should be able to stop a Big Ten team considering we can't stop an FCS team. It goes both ways folks.

 

 

Couldn't have said it better myself. Nebraska has shown the ability to stop no one and I have no reason to believe they can stop Illinois. Illinois will run the same 5 plays Nebraska's 5 previous opponents have run and be successful. It's whether or not Illinois has the athletes to keep the pressure on. Wyoming did.

[Mavric]

I'll add some fuel to a potential dumpster fire....Zenner has 0 rushing yards after 3 quarters against NDSU...

Up to 4 yards on 8 carries.

Watching online and he can't even get to the LOS. Didn't think watching this game was going to make me more uncertain about the rest of the season for the skers...

Did NDS load the box and dare them to throw? Why did they run Zenner 8 times and throw 30 times.

[Fuzzy]

FWIW - Illinois is ranked #11th in the Big Ten when it comes to defending against the pass.

[Shuck U]

This is the game when our defense will put it all together.

So much evidence to the contrary...how the fu$! would you know?

[HuskerNationNick]

WYO used and abused our defense. Brett Smith knew what we were doing and used it against us. Our defense was horrid all 4 quarters. They have been full throttle since their opening game, with the exception of tonight, against Texas St. Game still has 2 quarters left right now.

 

UCLA, we did OKAY for the first quarter of that game. Sure, we only gave up 3 points, but we gave up almost 100 yards. NOT good. Those 4th quarter yards could have gone WAY up from there, had Mora not let off the throttle. UCLA letting up off the throttle, we still gave up almost 100 yards. If Mora didn't have respect for Nebraska, that would have been a 600+ yard game again.

 

Southern Miss, really... its Southern Miss. Nothing to really be proud of a decent defensive performance, when they have only put up 31 points in 3 games.

 

SDSU, we couldn't stop Zenner. The only reason they didn't put up 600, is they pulled Zenner when the game was out of hand. Had he played much in the 2nd half, he could have had a 300+ yard game. They slowed down and started playing everyone outside their 1st team.

 

To me, I wouldn't be impressed, or happy about a single quarter the Huskers have played. Out of 16 quarters, its pretty sad that there isn't one that we didn't get torched on. Just by observation, 3 out of the 4 games we have had, could have easily gone for 600+ yard games. I can't honestly believe that we will stop Illinois' offense, but I can pray for it. Until proven, everyone on our schedule will give me some level of uncomfort.

[huskerhill]

I'll add some fuel to a potential dumpster fire....Zenner has 0 rushing yards after 3 quarters against NDSU...

Up to 4 yards on 8 carries.

Watching online and he can't even get to the LOS. Didn't think watching this game was going to make me more uncertain about the rest of the season for the skers...

Did NDS load the box and dare them to throw? Why did they run Zenner 8 times and throw 30 times.

 

Camera work isn't the best for these type games online so it was kind off tough to see how many guys were in the box (with the assist - out of context). I think they may have brought another guy in on occasion but it appeared to be more the front 7 causing havoc. More or less looked like State knew they couldn't move the ball on the ground against them and abandoned it. They we're down 7-0 after the 3rd so there was no real reason to be chucking it up except to set up the ground attack which didn't work.

[The King]

WYO used and abused our defense. Brett Smith knew what we were doing and used it against us. Our defense was horrid all 4 quarters. They have been full throttle since their opening game, with the exception of tonight, against Texas St. Game still has 2 quarters left right now.

 

UCLA, we did OKAY for the first quarter of that game. Sure, we only gave up 3 points, but we gave up almost 100 yards. NOT good. Those 4th quarter yards could have gone WAY up from there, had Mora not let off the throttle. UCLA letting up off the throttle, we still gave up almost 100 yards. If Mora didn't have respect for Nebraska, that would have been a 600+ yard game again.

 

Southern Miss, really... its Southern Miss. Nothing to really be proud of a decent defensive performance, when they have only put up 31 points in 3 games.

 

SDSU, we couldn't stop Zenner. The only reason they didn't put up 600, is they pulled Zenner when the game was out of hand. Had he played much in the 2nd half, he could have had a 300+ yard game. They slowed down and started playing everyone outside their 1st team.

 

To me, I wouldn't be impressed, or happy about a single quarter the Huskers have played. Out of 16 quarters, its pretty sad that there isn't one that we didn't get torched on. Just by observation, 3 out of the 4 games we have had, could have easily gone for 600+ yard games.

 

So 9 points Nd 400 yards would be an unacceptable game for you??

 

This is why Bo says yards don't matter. Points do.

[huskerhill]

"@937JakeSorensen: RT @BShawn17 Wow, #SDSU coach John Stiegelmeier says that #NDSU is much more physical on defense that Nebraska... Yeah, the Cornhuskers..."

[MLB 51]

Bo needs to get some game film of NDS and see how they play D against a team like SDSU.

[HuskerNationNick]

So 9 points Nd 400 yards would be an unacceptable game for you??

 

This is why Bo says yards don't matter. Points do.

Yeah, doesn't matter, but yet those yards matter, because whenever they are put on us we lose. Seems like a logical point /sarcasm

 

Yards always freaking matter, because an offense needs to produce them to score.

 

9 points and 400 yards would be unacceptable, depending on who it is against. tOSU, no not unacceptable, rather I would be happier than a whore involved in a gang bang. 9 points, 400 yards against someone like Kent St, it would be unacceptable.

 

For f#*k sakes, our defense has a TON of issues. We don't wrap up, we hit high on bigger RB's and we completely miss tackles. When we contain, we somehow have a DE come inside and allow a whole on the edge for the QB to hit and make a large gain. We barely bring pressure to the QB (with the exception of Gregory), and we miss more tackles in the backfield than we do on getting the sack. Our secondary isn't being as physical as they use to be. SJB seems to be the only one.

 

The positive thing, all these issues can be fixed. How? Coaching. Starts and ends there. The pressure part, play calling. Everything else goes right back to practice. If a kid continues to miss tackles and can't get the simple concept to wrap up, hit low, then they shouldn't be on the field. We learn to tackle, we save most of our yards after contact. As I said, it can be fixed, but will it, is the real question. Same issues, different season. Even more sad when its happening to much lesser competition.

[MichiganDad3]

When I listen to Bo talk about fixing the defense every week. It seems like listening to an alcoholic talk about how he just had his last drink.

[Haspula]

"@937JakeSorensen: RT @BShawn17 Wow, #SDSU coach John Stiegelmeier says that #NDSU is much more physical on defense that Nebraska... Yeah, the Cornhuskers..."

 

He can say South Dakota state has a better FB program than NU for all anyone cares...

 

It's South Dakota st... Nobody on this team is gonna to play to full potential against an FCS team

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Well, it's like he said. Maybe it's a game where we are consistently in stalemate vs the offense, or maybe it's a game where the defense does a great job for a while, and then utterly falls apart. Total yards don't tell that story.

 

Junior, I don't know. I suppose any time ever the argument could be made about whether it was Team A doing a good job or Team B just being terrible.

 

FYI, and this goes for everyone who cares, I changed the original post to include big plays. Take a look and come away with whatever you want. I do plan, when I have the time again, to take a look at how other opponents have done against those teams.

[whateveritis1224]

Well, it's like he said. Maybe it's a game where we are consistently in stalemate vs the offense, or maybe it's a game where the defense does a great job for a while, and then utterly falls apart. Total yards don't tell that story.

 

Junior, I don't know. I suppose any time ever the argument could be made about whether it was Team A doing a good job or Team B just being terrible.

 

FYI, and this goes for everyone who cares, I changed the original post to include big plays. Take a look and come away with whatever you want. I do plan, when I have the time again, to take a look at how other opponents have done against those teams.

 

Those numbers tell me we gave up way to many big plays to SDSU. It would be way worse if they had gotten to 30 points, but they only scored 3 points in 45 minutes. At this point I don't give a flying f' about how many yards we give up, just as long as the defense keeps up timely big plays. (see what happened after SDSU got called for OPI through the rest of the game)

 

The biggest thing that concerns me is going to be the W-L record. Right now we're at 3-1 with no game on our schedule that we can't win. Do we need to step up? Absolutely, but Pelini has shown he can get his defense in respectable shape. Last year the defense came back from the bye week and held Northwestern to 300 yards of offense (including the Mark 80 yd td run). I just don't see the doom and gloom about Illinois beating us. Sure it's possible, football is an unpredictable sport. But if the offense is anything close to what it was against SDSU, we win the game going away.

[MLB 51]

No need to overreact.

 

I like looking at stats, but you should know as well as I do that the overall stats don't tell the whole story. It is fair to evaluate a defensive performance differently given how and when they allowed the stats they allowed. A defense which surrenders 500 yards, 245 of which came in one quarter should be evaluated differently than a defense that allowed 500 yards of which 125 yards of it came in each quarter.

 

So, I took a look at the drives against our defense by Wyoming, Southern Miss, UCLA, and South Dakota State as well as the overall yards and points allowed. Big Plays are runs that went for 10 or more yards and passes that went for 15 or more yards.

 

Wyoming

 

1st Quarter:

133 yards (22.1%), 7 points (20.6%), 21 plays = 6.33 yards per play (-1.8) | Big Plays = 2 (9.5%), 50 yards (37.6%) | Adjusted = 19 plays, 83 yards = 4.37 YPP

 

2nd Quarter:

152 yards (25.2%), 7 points (20.6%), 20 plays = 7.6 yards per play (-0.53) | Big Plays = 5 (25%), 106 yards (69.7%) | Adjusted = 15 plays, 46 yards = 3.07 YPP

 

3rd Quarter:

128 yards (21.2%), 7 points (20.6%), 15 plays = 8.53 yards per play (+0.40) | Big Plays = 2 (13.3%), 32 yards (25%) | Adjusted = 13 plays, 96 yards = 7.38 YPP

 

4th Quarter:

190 yards (31.5%), 13 points (38.2%), 18 plays = 10.55 yards per play (+2.42) | Big Plays = 7 (38.9%), 165 yards (86.8%) | Adjusted = 11 plays, 25 yards = 2.27 YPP

 

Total: 602 yards, 34 points, 74 plays = 8.13 yards per play | Big Plays = 16 (21.6%), 353 yards (58.6%) | Adjusted = 58 plays, 249 yards = 4.29 YPP

 

Southern Mississippi:

 

1st Quarter:

134 yards (47.2%), 3 points (23.1%), 25 plays = 5.36 yards per play (+0.92) | Big Plays = 3 (12%), 68 yards (50.7%) | Adjusted = 22 plays, 66 yards = 3.00 YPP

 

2nd Quarter:

20 yards (7%), 3 points (23.1%), 12 plays = 1.67 yards per play (-2.77) | Big Plays = 1 (8.3%), 18 yards (90%) | Adjusted = 11 plays, 2 yards = 0.18 YPP

 

3rd Quarter:

54 yards (19%), 7 points (53.8%), 11 plays = 4.91 yards per play (+0.47) | Big Plays = 1 (9.09%), 15 yards (27.8%) | Adjusted = 10 plays, 39 yards = 3.9 YPP

 

4th Quarter:

73 yards (25.7%), 0 points (0%) = 16 plays = 4.56 yards per play (+0.12) | Big Plays = 2 (12.5%), 34 yards (46.6%) | Adjusted = 14 plays, 39 yards = 2.78 YPP

 

Total: 284 yards, 13 points, 64 plays = 4.44 yards per play | Big Plays = 7 (10.9%), 135 yards (47.5%) | Adjusted = 57 plays, 149 yards = 2.61 YPP

 

UCLA:

 

1st Quarter:

99 yards (19.6%), 3 points (7.3%), 20 plays = 4.95 yards per play (-1.35) | Big Plays = 2 (10%), 72 yards (72.7%) | Adjusted = 18 plays, 27 yards = 1.50 YPP

 

2nd Quarter:

107 yards (21.2%), 7 points (17.1%), 20 plays = 5.35 yards per play (-0.95) | Big Plays = 4 (20%), 78 yards (72.9%) | Adjusted = 16 plays, 29 yards = 1.81 YPP

 

3rd Quarter:

243 yards (48.2%), 28 points (68.3%), 22 plays = 11.04 yards per play (+4.74) | Big Plays = 7 (31.8%), 164 yards (67.5%) | Adjusted = 15 plays, 79 yards = 5.27 YPP

 

4th Quarter:

93 yards (18.4%), 3 points (7.3%), 18 plays = 5.17 yards per play (-1.13) | Big Plays = 1 (5.55%), 18 yards (19.3%) | Adjusted = 17 plays, 75 yards = 4.41 YPP

 

Total: 504 yards, 41 points, 80 plays = 6.3 yards per play | Big Plays = 14 (17.5%), 332 yards (65.9%) | Adjusted = 66 plays, 172 yards = 2.61 YPP

 

South Dakota State:

 

1st Quarter:

170 yards (36.5%), 17 points (85%), 20 plays = 8.5 yards per play (+1.86) | Big Plays = 7 (35%), 162 yards (95.3%) | Adjusted = 13 plays, 8 yards = 0.61 YPP

 

2nd Quarter:

103 yards (22.1%), 0 points (0%), 16 plays = 6.44 yards per play (-0.20) | Big Plays = 3 (18.7%), 49 yards (47.6%) | Adjusted = 13 plays, 54 yards = 4.15 YPP

 

3rd Quarter:

158 yards (34%), 3 points (15%), 26 plays = 6.08 yards per play (-0.56) | Big Plays = 4 (15.4%), 62 yards (39.2%) | Adjusted = 22 plays, 96 yards = 4.36 YPP

 

4th Quarter:

42 yards (9%), 0 points (0%), 8 plays = 5.25 yards per play (-1.39) | Big Plays = 2 (25%), 52 yards (124%) | Adjusted = 6 plays, -10 yards = -1.67 YPP

 

Total: 465 yards, 20 points, 70 plays = 6.64 yards per play | Big Plays = 16 (22.9%), 325 yards (69.9%) | Adjusted = 54 plays, 140 yards = 2.59 YPP

 

 

Ranking the games in order of defensive performance from best to worst:

 

1) Southern Miss

2) UCLA

3) Wyoming

4) SDSU

 

Make of those stats what you want to, I just put them out here for you guys.

I'll bump this to this page. Good stuff by the way.