Nate Gerry

[Mavric]

I don't really disagree with you other than the significance. I'm not a big fan of picking and choosing which games to include and which not too in a statistical analysis, even if they are a bit of anomaly. I think it's interesting and another perspective, but, I don't think it's fair to draw many conclusions from. It's only one way to look at the puzzle.

 

Our rushing defenses for the last five years (from 2010 to 2014) have given up, on average, 155.6 YPG, 166.7, 204.9, 150.2 and 177.8. There isn't a ton of consistency there year to year, and clearly tells a different story than if you just focus on 3.8 YPC.

 

I'll settle on waiting to see how we finish this year before I stamp my opinion in stone. However, fact is we're on pace this year to have our best rushing defense in at least 5 years.

 

Generally speaking, I'm not a fan of picking and choosing either. There are two reasons why I do in this case. 1 - Wisconsin is more the anomaly than Nebraska. We didn't play them in 2013 and don't play anyone like 2014 Wisconsin this year. They were the #4 rushing offense in the country last year. The best rushing offense we've faced this year is #43 Northwestern. That's a pretty significant drop-off. 2 - Wisconsin had us figured out like no one else. They knew how to formation and motion into bad alignments and take advantage of that. That's still on us for lettting that happen but it also skews the big picture.

 

The reason I think it's more instructive to look at YPC is it gives a more accurate picture when you're not playing the same type of offenses. So far this year we've played the #98, #81, #116, #47, #99, #89, #103, #43, #110 and #90 rushing offenses in terms of yards per game. That's an average of #97 in the country. Last year we played #62, #46, #50, #114, #4, #30, #103, #73, #21, #65 and #63 rush offenses - averaging #57. We could be playing terrible rush defense this year and still be giving up fewer yards per game than last year simply because teams aren't running as much and aren't as good at running the ball.

 

We may have our best rush defense in the last five years but we have our worst pass defense ever. That also is due - at least in part - to the other side of the coin I just presented. If you look at total yards per game, we are giving up almost 60 more than last year - probably against worse overall offenses though I didn't take the time to look at that. You have to go back to 2007 to find a defense worse than this and that team at least played several teams with legitimate offensive weapons.

[Vince R.]

I am disappointed to see that Gerry's hips aren't fixed yet. I would say the most important physical attribute in football is hip fluidity and in some positions it is more glaring than others. Daimion Stafford, Corey Cooper (Some of the worst hips I have ever seen), (on the offensive side of the ball) Niles Paul. All three had all-american attributes, except for one thing, fluid hips. If you have bad change of direction, you will be limited significantly. This is limiting Gerry as well. If you watch him run you will see that his upper body is erect and it appears that his legs are moving only from the knee down. This limits not only his change of direction (his biggest issue) but also his impact when he delivers a hit. He has terrible flexibility that doesn't allow him to explode into the ballcarrier. What saves him in his tackling is his stature. The dude is built but seems tightly wound. His speed is diminished because of this. I heard that he was the fastest guy to ever come out of South Dakota but its not translating well into the football field. It is unfortunate because other than that issue (a big one) he is the perfect safety prospect.

 

One last thing, if you watch him in run support, sometimes when he goes in for the tackle and puts his head down, you will see that instead of his hips dropping, his legs widen out which hinders his foundation and strength into his tackle. Its a flaw yet also a testament to his natural strength because that more times than not should get you trucked.

[Enhance]

We may have our best rush defense in the last five years but we have our worst pass defense ever. That also is due - at least in part - to the other side of the coin I just presented. If you look at total yards per game, we are giving up almost 60 more than last year - probably against worse overall offenses though I didn't take the time to look at that. You have to go back to 2007 to find a defense worse than this and that team at least played several teams with legitimate offensive weapons.

IMHO that's fair and part of the puzzle. I believe teams are making conscious decisions to throw more against NU because they know how poor they are at defending the pass.

 

But, I also think they're looking at our ability to stop the run and choosing instead to air it out. I think there's a balance there. Are we not facing as potent of rushing attacks? Sure. Are we however still doing a good job defending against the run? Yes.

 

And, in my own personal opinion, I think our overall defensive numbers reflect more on the defenders in coverage than they do our lines. I think we certainly haven't gotten pressure like we want to this year, but no amount of pressure can prevent DB's from losing men in coverage, not turning their heads and not making effective plays on the ball. Our secondary, for whatever reason, is just flat out bad.