*** Matt Rhule Hired as New Husker Head Coach ***

[Husker in WI]

4 minutes ago, lo country said:

NU DL during the hey day of the 90's had the majority of guys under 300 lbs.  Faster and meaner than the oppossing OL's they went up against. The old axiom "speed kills" still holds true. I don't think we can have 245 lbs DL bang week in and week out against B1G OL, but I do think we can get guys who give up 15-20 lbs (maybe a little more) and do well.  If they are taught how to exploit the "slower" OL.

 

I agree we could trade some bulk for some athleticism, but OLs were smaller in the 90s too. The DL was not comparatively undersized. Florida didn't have a single starting OL listed at over 300 lbs in 1995. Colorado had Chris Naeole who was considered massive, and he was listed at 310. We had one of the bigger lines in football, and only Dishman was listed at 300+.

 

All that to say, 290 is the new 270. And I like 290 a lot more than 310 for Ty Robinson.

[Huskerfollower4life]

1 hour ago, Husker in WI said:

 

I agree we could trade some bulk for some athleticism, but OLs were smaller in the 90s too. The DL was not comparatively undersized. Florida didn't have a single starting OL listed at over 300 lbs in 1995. Colorado had Chris Naeole who was considered massive, and he was listed at 310. We had one of the bigger lines in football, and only Dishman was listed at 300+.

 

All that to say, 290 is the new 270. And I like 290 a lot more than 310 for Ty Robinson.

I do to but you got to remember Nebraska is playing in the big boy league so you should have some guys that can move and still be around 300ish pounds.

[Husker in WI]

46 minutes ago, Huskerfollower4life said:

I do to but you got to remember Nebraska is playing in the big boy league so you should have some guys that can move and still be around 300ish pounds.

 

Right, I think we all agree here. If you've got a guy who can still move at 300+ absolutely that's great! But it's not a magic number where we should be forcing guys up to that weight. Iowa is always an elite defense, they have exactly 1 DL on their roster over 300 lbs and he wasn't a starter. It seems like Frost's staff decided to just get as big as possible and that hasn't worked out great.

[TGHusker]

3 hours ago, Husker in WI said:

310 for Ty Robinson

That I cannot believe.  How agile & quick can a 310 rusher be?  How big was Gregory - our last great edge rusher?  Nothing like that as I recall. 

[ColoradoHusk]

8 minutes ago, TGHusker said:

That I cannot believe.  How agile & quick can a 310 rusher be?  How big was Gregory - our last great edge rusher?  Nothing like that as I recall. 

Are you actually comparing Randy Gregory to Ty Robinson? They play completely different positions and asked to do different things on defense. 

[Xmas32]

4 hours ago, lo country said:

NU DL during the hey day of the 90's had the majority of guys under 300 lbs.  Faster and meaner than the oppossing OL's they went up against. The old axiom "speed kills" still holds true. I don't think we can have 245 lbs DL bang week in and week out against B1G OL, but I do think we can get guys who give up 15-20 lbs (maybe a little more) and do well.  If they are taught how to exploit the "slower" OL.

While that's true, a lot of those D-Linemen were also absolute freaks (I'm looking at you Kyle Vanden Bosch) that played on Sundays so while I'm not disagreeing with what your saying at all, I'm also saying we had some pretty special talent at the position as well.

[ColoradoHusk]

15 minutes ago, Xmas32 said:

While that's true, a lot of those D-Linemen were also absolute freaks (I'm looking at you Kyle Vanden Bosch) that played on Sundays so while I'm not disagreeing with what your saying at all, I'm also saying we had some pretty special talent at the position as well.

Sam McKewon was on 1620 on Monday, and he commented that the front 4 NU had in the mid to late 90s were consistently among the best and most talented defenders in all of college football.  They had guys who would play years in the NFL, who couldn't crack the starting lineup until they were late in their career.  McKewon said that type of talent is so sought after and highly recruited now, it would be nearly impossible to replicate.

 

EDIT:  I was partial to Donta Jones and Mike Rucker back in those days.  Their length and athleticism was incredible to see.

[lo country]

2 hours ago, Xmas32 said:

While that's true, a lot of those D-Linemen were also absolute freaks (I'm looking at you Kyle Vanden Bosch) that played on Sundays so while I'm not disagreeing with what your saying at all, I'm also saying we had some pretty special talent at the position as well.

No doubt.  Some of the greatest to ever play at NU for sure. 

 

To paraphrase an interview with McBride, he recruited speed, guys who could hit and worried about size less.  I'm guessing Rhule is following that.  Gotta have some size, but speed can be a huge equalizer.  NU hasn't looked "fast" in quite some time.

[TGHusker]

1 hour ago, lo country said:

No doubt.  Some of the greatest to ever play at NU for sure. 

 

To paraphrase an interview with McBride, he recruited speed, guys who could hit and worried about size less.  I'm guessing Rhule is following that.  Gotta have some size, but speed can be a huge equalizer.  NU hasn't looked "fast" in quite some time.

Agree. When you look at Baylor under Rhule they were fast and aggressive. Osborne’s trajectory changed after 92 Orange bowl when he changed his D and went after speed. Correct me if I’m wrong but I believe it was after Miami beat us around 1992

[thexyz]

3 hours ago, TGHusker said:

Agree. When you look at Baylor under Rhule they were fast and aggressive. Osborne’s trajectory changed after 92 Orange bowl when he changed his D and went after speed. Correct me if I’m wrong but I believe it was after Miami beat us around 1992

 

I think that's correct. We couldn't quite keep up and it was limiting us. It was recognized that the game had changed, that we needed to incorporate more speed into our play to increase our competitiveness. 

[ColoradoHusk]

8 hours ago, TGHusker said:

Agree. When you look at Baylor under Rhule they were fast and aggressive. Osborne’s trajectory changed after 92 Orange bowl when he changed his D and went after speed. Correct me if I’m wrong but I believe it was after Miami beat us around 1992

Yep, McBride switched to the 4-3 defense (from the 5-2) for the 1992 season after continually getting smoked by faster offenses in the bowl season year after year.  He moved safeties to LB’s (Ed Stewart being the most well-known) to better cover receivers, and also stood up his DE’s like LB’s from time to time to rush the passer (That’s how Trev won the Butkus as the nation’s best LB, even though he was really a rush end). They also got more aggressive dictating the play, instead of a passive, read and react defense. The only Achilles heel for that defense was a mobile QB who could also throw (see Corby Jones) but thankfully QB’s were mainly statues back then. 

[Red Five]

14 hours ago, ColoradoHusk said:

Sam McKewon was on 1620 on Monday, and he commented that the front 4 NU had in the mid to late 90s were consistently among the best and most talented defenders in all of college football.  They had guys who would play years in the NFL, who couldn't crack the starting lineup until they were late in their career.  McKewon said that type of talent is so sought after and highly recruited now, it would be nearly impossible to replicate.

 

This is one of my favorite pictures

 

DE Grant Wistrom 1998 1st round

DT Jason Peter 1998 1st round

DL Mike Rucker 1999 2nd round

DT Jason Wiltz 1999 4th round

LB Jay Foreman 1999 5th round

 

Also pictured: some guy from Isidore Newman HS in New Orleans.

 

[ColoradoHusk]

11 minutes ago, Red Five said:

 

This is one of my favorite pictures

 

DE Grant Wistrom 1998 1st round

DT Jason Peter 1998 1st round

DL Mike Rucker 1999 2nd round

DT Jason Wiltz 1999 4th round

LB Jay Foreman 1999 5th round

 

Also pictured: some guy from Isidore Newman HS in New Orleans.

 

Plus, off the top of my head their backups were Chad Kelsay, Chris Kelsay, and Steve Warren who all had good careers in the NFL.  Vanden Bosch might have been a young pup on that team, as well.  In those days, I  liked watching NU's defense more than the offense, just because they would absolutely dominate players.

[MyBloodIsRed16]

27 minutes ago, Red Five said:

 

This is one of my favorite pictures

 

DE Grant Wistrom 1998 1st round

DT Jason Peter 1998 1st round

DL Mike Rucker 1999 2nd round

DT Jason Wiltz 1999 4th round

LB Jay Foreman 1999 5th round

 

Also pictured: some guy from Isidore Newman HS in New Orleans.

 

Tennessee's offense was pretty stacked.  Manning went 1st and Jamal Lewis went 5th (different drafts).  Had a WR go in the 1st that year and at least two OL go in the 2nd round 

[TGHusker]

40 minutes ago, ColoradoHusk said:

Plus, off the top of my head their backups were Chad Kelsay, Chris Kelsay, and Steve Warren who all had good careers in the NFL.  Vanden Bosch might have been a young pup on that team, as well.  In those days, I  liked watching NU's defense more than the offense, just because they would absolutely dominate players.

How the AP gave the NC to Michigan that year is beyond me after watching both play in their bowl games.  Perhaps it was Nebraska fatigue.   Fortunately the Coach's poll got it right.  I have no doubts what-so-ever that Nebraska would have done the same if not worse to Michigan that we did to Tenn.   

Fortunately we ended up with the nice big trophy and Michigan got a participation plaque