Defensive Issues - Who's more at fault?

[Big Red 40]

In my opinion  nope. There are many on here saying they "know" the coaches suck it all their fault  and i don't think that's true. Part of my point was that the only ones who really know whats happening, and why, are the coaches and players.

 

[clyde40]

Personal, these upperclassmen were recruited for a 4-3 and some have now played in three different schemes. You also have to consider the lack of development and strength and conditioning over the last few years. This season has been a complete trainwreck, but the program needs some stability and time to purge so to speak before it can heal. 

 

[Nebhawk]

Blame is on everyone in this program in the past and present.  Frost is here to build a program right now.  Build it his way, for his style and system.  While I don't like up tempo run and gun in the Big 10, it is what he wants and believes in.  I am keeping faith in the fact that he will revamp his system, tweak it a bit, and we will be fine.  

I think our tradition has taken a big hit the last few years with our decisions and with how things have been portrayed in the media.  Bo was over blown in the national spot light.  He did some undesirable things for a HC at a tradition rich program, but the coverage of these things were a bit unfair.   Every move that has been made here, has been scrutinized in the media since we fired Solich.  In a way we became a laughing stock for most out there.  We got pissed and left the Big 12 because we thought Texas was running the league, and they might be, but almost every conference will favor a team in a game that has Natty implications.  Welcome to the Big 10.  We have beaten the teams we should, and obviously can't beat the good ones.  Don't give a crap about beating the Buckeyes once here with an interim coach.  RichRod coached Michigan........

Now here we are with a team that is depleted on both sides of the ball.  Bad decision was hiring an inept staff after we fired a 9 win guy then fired that guy when we got beat by Northern Illinois.  Sure we waited for the season to end, but he was done after that one loss.  

Now we have the guy who was deemed as cant' miss hire.  Frost.  He has learned from some of the games greats.  He has played for some of the greats in coaching history.  Yet, armchair qb's here are second guessing every move thats made!  

We suck.  The blame is program wide for this season, but overall its all on everyone thats made a decision here for the last 15 seasons.  Each AD, president, and booster who wanted someone else.

 

[HuskerNation1]

Chinander's to blame.

So here's what I thought about for like three hours after it felt like I got punched in the gut - We've complained and complained about terrible cornerback play, right? So if our corners are that terrible at covering receivers downfield, why not use them in disguised blitz packages and bring them in from the edge?

That's what was missing when we were up by 10 points in the fourth. We need zone blitz packages. Bring a bunch of guys in from one side and then drop the opposite side. We pretty much telegraphed where we were blitzing guys on the occasion that we actually blitzed.

Terrible football to watch. Can't take much more of this without losing a bit of faith in Chinander. You have to figure out a way to get your guys to execute something that will be more effective than what we're seeing here. 

I actually agree with these comments so its odd you are not interested in taking a more in depth look at Chinaders background prior to coming to NU given your comments on looking at historical data. 

 

[Mavric]

I posted this in another thread.  But it ticked me off enough all through the second half - not just at the end of the game - that I'm posting it again here.  Plus, it actually fits better here anyway.

I put a lot of this on Chin today.  I mentioned last week that my biggest complaint was playing too much base personnel and not matching up with the offense enough.  

We continued to ask Aaron Williams to cover Nagel despite him getting burned over and over again.  Williams even gave up completions on two plays where he got penalties.  He couldn't even cover him when he held or interfered.  

Nagel had almost as many receiving yards today as any other NW receiver has on the SEASON.  WHY COULD WE NOT PUT SOMEONE ELSE ON HIM???  WHY COULD WE NOT BRING IN ERIC LEE OR CAM TAYLOR OR ANYONE ELSE TO TRY TO COVER HIM???  WHY DID WE INSIST ON COVERING THEIR BEST RECEIVER WITH A SAFETY???

Instead, we just kept doing the same thing over and over and hoping for a different result.  There was no different result and it was a major reason that we lost.

 

[chamrocck]

@lo country I agree with all of your points. Currently battling it out on my status regarding our mutual take on the poor use of Gifford against an OT all day. He's not Jadeveon Clowney, so maybe don't use him as such. 

Where are the mixed fronts? Bring 8 guys up to the LOS, rush 5/drop 3 or rush 3 /drop 5, etc. Make them at least think a blitz might come. This is a Diaco-level base 3-4 with poor in-game adjustments and it's maddening. 

DB's need to learn how to turn their head and play the ball. If you're not even at least looking back toward the ball, you're gonna get flagged for any amount of contact. 

This post is so much what I would say it is scary.  +1 for you.  

 

[Big Red 40]

I posted this in another thread.  But it ticked me off enough all through the second half - not just at the end of the game - that I'm posting it again here.  Plus, it actually fits better here anyway.

I put a lot of this on Chin today.  I mentioned last week that my biggest complaint was playing too much base personnel and not matching up with the offense enough.  

We continued to ask Aaron Williams to cover Nagel despite him getting burned over and over again.  Williams even gave up completions on two plays where he got penalties.  He couldn't even cover him when he held or interfered.  

Nagel had almost as many receiving yards today as any other NW receiver has on the SEASON.  WHY COULD WE NOT PUT SOMEONE ELSE ON HIM???  WHY COULD WE NOT BRING IN ERIC LEE OR CAM TAYLOR OR ANYONE ELSE TO TRY TO COVER HIM???  WHY DID WE INSIST ON COVERING THEIR BEST RECEIVER WITH A SAFETY???

Instead, we just kept doing the same thing over and over and hoping for a different result.  There was no different result and it was a major reason that we lost.

I listened to the game on the radio and didn't see these things. Your input helped me understand what happened, better than what i heard. I was thinking its kind of a pick your poison thing myself. Our d line cant get pressure on their own so we need to bring others in to help. That puts more pressure on the cover guys who are struggling to make plays though . Or we can can drop extra guys into coverage which gives the opposing QB all day to pic our D apart. Ideally you would want to have guys who can put pressure on the QB AND guys who can lock down coverage, do we really have either?

 

[Danny Bateman]

I'll put it this way:

The last time I remember the Nebraska defense being good, Randy Gregory was a Husker. Randy Gregory is a bonehead, but he's pretty very at football.

No disrespect to any defenders, but I don't see any Randy Gregory's running around out there right now.

Chin's no great shakes, probably. But I'm not sure Wade Phillips could do a whole lot better with our current roster. Players gotta make plays.

Gotta get some playmakers and coach 'em up.

 

[Toe]

Our DL cannot get pressure on their own.

 I understand we don't have top level edge rusher.  I understand that we don't have an elite level NT.  BUT with that in mind, get a scheme that maximizes the talent you do have.  They had no run game.  They came in with a team that was completely one dimensional.  We didn't have a game plan designed to get to the one weapon they had-Thorson.......We used Gifford as a standup edge rusher.  He was going up against a 300lb OT....That's a mismatch for a OLB.  Gifford was game and made some plays, but was that really Chins best idea?

This I think is our most glaring weakness. First of all, for anyone who doesn't know, 3-4 D-linemen are usually not expected to get a whole lot of pressure or make a ton of plays on their own. That should be obvious just from the numbers: 3 DL vs 5 OL - it's kind of a thankless job, really.

So yeah, you need some real edge rushing OLBs to be the attack dogs. But uhhh... we don't have any. Northwestern was picking up everything we threw at them all day long. And TBH, I doubt that our current guys will ever really develop into them, regardless of coaching. I hope we're in on some JUCOs who can step in and fill that role next year. That, or find a scheme that works for the guys we've got...

 

[The Dude]

Entirely different circumstances and Riley was trending down towards 0-12.

Be negative if you want, I don't care.  But you should at least be honest enough to admit that Riley left us in an incredibly deep hole.  Coach Frost said it in his post game presser: "Winning is a habit, unfortunately so is losing."

Mike Riley put a feel good about losing feeling on the team for 3 years.  Yeah this 0-6 season sucks, but changing our players mentalities takes time.  I am all in with Coach Frost.  He'll fix this mess, we just have to accept that we might be 0-12 at the end of the year.  Or we could be 6-6 or anything in between.

I am seeing this team fight.  I am seeing an 0-6 team that hasn't given up.  And I won't give up on this team either.

None of this supports your ridiculous claim that any coaching staff in America would have lead this team to 0-6.

Also, I'm not being negative.  I'm saying let's take it easy on the outrageous claims.

 

[3rd and long]

This I think is our most glaring weakness. First of all, for anyone who doesn't know, 3-4 D-linemen are usually not expected to get a whole lot of pressure or make a ton of plays on their own. That should be obvious just from the numbers: 3 DL vs 5 OL - it's kind of a thankless job, really.

So yeah, you need some real edge rushing OLBs to be the attack dogs. But uhhh... we don't have any. Northwestern was picking up everything we threw at them all day long. And TBH, I doubt that our current guys will ever really develop into them, regardless of coaching. I hope we're in on some JUCOs who can step in and fill that role next year. That, or find a scheme that works for the guys we've got...

Which is why, until we have personnel more suited to this, you have to adjust what you’re doing. If your OLBers can’t get there (which is true), maybe drop them into coverage and bring a safety or corner. Someone who has a chance of getting to the QB. You’re going to have to disguise some things up front (which I’ve seen very little of from us this year) to try to show the QB some different looks. 

Point is, change something up. We don’t cover well, that’s evident. Guys are going to get open. The best defense for that is the QB on his back. 

 

[ArcticHusker]

I honestly don’t know. Is it in the scheme for dbs to face guard and not look back for the ball? We actually had someone get hit in the back with the ball in the end zone. If these guys are not looking for the ball and not capitalizing on easy interception opportunities on their own. Then it’s personnel.

 

[Hayseed]

What's the expression "you either coach it or allow it." holding and pi's on the db's another late hit on a davis twin sooner or later some of this is on the coaches even if these aren't your guys. 6 gane and seven weeks is enough time to show some improvement. 

After five games, THEY'RE YOUR GUYS.

 

[Making Chimichangas]

None of this supports your ridiculous claim that any coaching staff in America would have lead this team to 0-6.

Also, I'm not being negative.  I'm saying let's take it easy on the outrageous claims.

Let me ask you this: based on what we have seen from Nebraska thus far this season...do you seriously believe any other coaching staff would be better?  What rationale do you have to make the claim any other staff would be better?  

Because any other coaching staff would still have to face all the issues Coach Frost and his coaches are facing:

1. Most players didn't do S&C under Riley.

2. They had a very lazy or no work ethic.

3. Little to no depth at many positions.

When you take every factor and add it up, I seriously think that even Nick Saban's staff at Alabama could be coaching Nebraska this year and we'd probably still be 0-6.

So yeah, disagree all you want, but what I said isn't ridiculous. 

 

[huskered17]

When this staff was hired, I said thought Chinander was the weak link. He may well be, but I think he needs time to get what players he thinks he needs, to build "his" defense.

Someone  posted they think Chin should be up in the booth, instead of down on the field, this week. I think maybe it would help him evaluate the players better.

Is it just me or did anyone else think we should have been trying to move the ball, instead of trying to get NW to use their time outs. I was used to seeing Frost always pushing forward no matter what the score was, when I watched some of his games at UCF. 

I guess maybe he has faith in our D that we don't. 

I do like being ahead and having the other team playing catch up for a change, just to bad it didn't get us the W. 

We are getting closer and I think next week we get that W. 

GBR!!!