How do you think the game will be called on the defensive side this year

[walksalone]

It all starts up front...

I know this is a tall order but, the D line needs to be able to create pressure without having to rely on the blitz. That will make the secondary's life easier and the LB's will be able to make more plays and provide help where it is needed...

 

[EZ-E]

We are going to be up in a lot of games this year. This is where we will need Randy Gregory, Moss, McMullen, and Afalava to get pressure because the other team will need to pass to catch up.

How do you think the defense will be called to allow us to build such a lead?

I rewatched the MSU and UGA game today and I looked a ton at the DL and linebackers. To answer the question, I don't anticipate too much of a difference. What I noticed was that Compton, Fisher, and Whaley were often headed to the right place, but with the lack of top end athletic ability when talking about these guys they were often late. So when the ball carrier should have been gaining 1 or 2 yards, they were getting 4, 5, and sometimes 6. We as the casual fans would immediately blame the DL when in fact they had done their jobs. That would then open the play book for both those teams to do a lot more on 2nd and 5 or 4 then it would 2 and 8 or 9. I would hope with the added athletes we will have at LB that we are able to manipulate what OCs can call on us because we are able to keep some of the up the middle and tosses to minimal yardage.

Our conservative, 2-gap oriented line-scheme does set the plate for the guys behind them. Hopefully the LB's are more ready to eat this year, safeties too.

As far as blitzes mentioned earlier in the thread go I would hope with our added speed we can return the element of surprise. So often we saw guys hanging-out at the line showing blitz with the only question being whether we back-out or not. Would be nice if we can rely on speed and timing more, bring back the "oh s**t" factor.

In the two games I watched yesterday now I suppose, we had a good mix on obvious passing downs. The issue was not getting to the QB with enough explosiveness and sacking him, making his throws tougher, or hitting him as he throws.

 

[swmohusker]

The better we do at forcing a situation the higher our blitz percentage gets. Getting teams behind the sticks.and we will blitz. Getting them off schedule or getting a lead and forcing a team to pass more frequently. You can not just tee off and blitz people when they are in 50/50 situations. If we want to see more blitzing we need to win early downs or impose our will on a team. We just haven't been talented enough to do that recently.

 

[B.B. Hemingway]

I expect more "ups" this year from the defense, but also some "downs" that will be reminiscent of last year's dreadful defense.... A year or two from now is when this defense is going to shine....

 

[JJ Husker]

It all starts up front...
I know this is a tall order but, the D line needs to be able to create pressure without having to rely on the blitz. That will make the secondary's life easier and the LB's will be able to make more plays and provide help where it is needed...

^^^This. The blitzes have seemed few and far between because recently that has been the only way we can generate pressure. If the DL can generate some on their own, that will be a huge step for this D. Then, when we do bring a blitz, it will have that desired "oh sh#t" effect.

A blitz is supposed to overload the offensive protection scheme, not makeup for lack of DL push and lack of speed. Hopefully we will be athletic enough to use the DL and blitzes in the proper manner.

 

[TonyStalloni]

Last year, especially with the DL all beat up and the injury to Stein, it seemed the LB's were trying to help inside and the DB's were constantly caught trying to both pay attention inside and be in coverage that eventually we would get burned. If we get adequate push and are fortunate enough to be injury free in the tougher games we'll be alright.

 

[Ulty]

Didn't Pelini build much of his reputation based on his ability to call a blitz at the right place and time? I don't know much about defensive scheming, but it seemed like in 2003 at NU and 2007 with LSU, the blitzing was more aggressive. I recall the TV announcers talking about "Pelini dialing up another blitz" and it would usually work. Even in 2008 when he was still trying to patch things together, the Clemson game was essentially saved at the end by a couple of bold DB blitzes.

If it is a matter of having the right talent to make it worth the risk of blitzing more often, I hope we are finally there this year and can see more of it. Even though we haven't seen much blitzing the last couple of years, Pelini is damn good at calling them when the time is right.

 

[Chimalli]

We are going to be up in a lot of games this year. This is where we will need Randy Gregory, Moss, McMullen, and Afalava to get pressure because the other team will need to pass to catch up.</p>

How do you think the defense will be called to allow us to build such a lead?

I rewatched the MSU and UGA game today and I looked a ton at the DL and linebackers. To answer the question, I don't anticipate too much of a difference. What I noticed was that Compton, Fisher, and Whaley were often headed to the right place, but with the lack of top end athletic ability when talking about these guys they were often late. So when the ball carrier should have been gaining 1 or 2 yards, they were getting 4, 5, and sometimes 6. We as the casual fans would immediately blame the DL when in fact they had done their jobs. That would then open the play book for both those teams to do a lot more on 2nd and 5 or 4 then it would 2 and 8 or 9. I would hope with the added athletes we will have at LB that we are able to manipulate what OCs can call on us because we are able to keep some of the up the middle and tosses to minimal yardage.

This statement all day.When we had LaVonte David the D looked awesome do to his sheer speed/agility to explode on a play where as last season...well we all saw that slow maple syrup at LB. Lets look at our most likely starting LBs and their 40 yd dash times:

Z. Anderson 4.6s

J. Banderas 4.65s

C. Love 4.92s

M. Newby 4.6s

M. Rose 4.68s

D. Santos 4.6s

If the 2 gap works like it should then maybe our LBs can explode on some tackles.

 

[RedDenver]

Welcome to the board, Cimalli. What happened with your formatting?

As for blitzing, Bo has gotten burned blitzing like against Georgia. The key is getting at least SOME pressure on the QB without blitzing. Just make the QB have to move around and sometimes run him out of the pocket. Greatly cuts down the space on the field he can accurately throw it. Also the opposing OL is thinking more about holding up against our DL which makes blitzing MUCH more effective. We don't need tremendous pressure from the DL, just a decent push into the pocket.

 

[Chimalli]

Welcome to the board, Cimalli. What happened with your formatting?

As for blitzing, Bo has gotten burned blitzing like against Georgia. The key is getting at least SOME pressure on the QB without blitzing. Just make the QB have to move around and sometimes run him out of the pocket. Greatly cuts down the space on the field he can accurately throw it. Also the opposing OL is thinking more about holding up against our DL which makes blitzing MUCH more effective. We don't need tremendous pressure from the DL, just a decent push into the pocket.

Not sure, started using Chrome and this is what I get. I recall Joey Galloway last year commenting on our defense after UCLA, IIRC he said he was not sure if we were slow or confused or both.

 

[RedDenver]

Welcome to the board, Cimalli. What happened with your formatting?

As for blitzing, Bo has gotten burned blitzing like against Georgia. The key is getting at least SOME pressure on the QB without blitzing. Just make the QB have to move around and sometimes run him out of the pocket. Greatly cuts down the space on the field he can accurately throw it. Also the opposing OL is thinking more about holding up against our DL which makes blitzing MUCH more effective. We don't need tremendous pressure from the DL, just a decent push into the pocket.

Not sure, started using Chrome and this is what I get. I recall Joey Galloway last year commenting on our defense after UCLA, IIRC he said he was not sure if we were slow or confused or both.

I also use Chrome, so that's not it.

 

[The King]

We are going to be up in a lot of games this year. This is where we will need Randy Gregory, Moss, McMullen, and Afalava to get pressure because the other team will need to pass to catch up.

How do you think the defense will be called to allow us to build such a lead?

I rewatched the MSU and UGA game today and I looked a ton at the DL and linebackers. To answer the question, I don't anticipate too much of a difference. What I noticed was that Compton, Fisher, and Whaley were often headed to the right place, but with the lack of top end athletic ability when talking about these guys they were often late. So when the ball carrier should have been gaining 1 or 2 yards, they were getting 4, 5, and sometimes 6. We as the casual fans would immediately blame the DL when in fact they had done their jobs. That would then open the play book for both those teams to do a lot more on 2nd and 5 or 4 then it would 2 and 8 or 9. I would hope with the added athletes we will have at LB that we are able to manipulate what OCs can call on us because we are able to keep some of the up the middle and tosses to minimal yardage.

Not to be a d!ck or anything, but I've been saying this exact thing since last year and have gotten blasted numerous times for saying our DL wasn't as awful as people think.

We were in the right position to make plays, but we didn't have the athletes to make the play. Closing speed in a linebacker is what makes you Lavonte David or... not Lavonte David.

 

[The King]

Blitzkrieg.

This.

With the added speed, we're gonna let our horses run.

Lots and lots of this:



PS - Beware of the tool

 

[Count 'Bility]

We are going to be up in a lot of games this year. This is where we will need Randy Gregory, Moss, McMullen, and Afalava to get pressure because the other team will need to pass to catch up.

How do you think the defense will be called to allow us to build such a lead?

I rewatched the MSU and UGA game today and I looked a ton at the DL and linebackers. To answer the question, I don't anticipate too much of a difference. What I noticed was that Compton, Fisher, and Whaley were often headed to the right place, but with the lack of top end athletic ability when talking about these guys they were often late. So when the ball carrier should have been gaining 1 or 2 yards, they were getting 4, 5, and sometimes 6. We as the casual fans would immediately blame the DL when in fact they had done their jobs. That would then open the play book for both those teams to do a lot more on 2nd and 5 or 4 then it would 2 and 8 or 9. I would hope with the added athletes we will have at LB that we are able to manipulate what OCs can call on us because we are able to keep some of the up the middle and tosses to minimal yardage.

Not to be a d!ck or anything, but I've been saying this exact thing since last year and have gotten blasted numerous times for saying our DL wasn't as awful as people think.

We were in the right position to make plays, but we didn't have the athletes to make the play. Closing speed in a linebacker is what makes you Lavonte David or... not Lavonte David.

I'm with both of you on this. I've been sayin all along too. When Bo was blasted after the UCLA, Ohio St, and Wisconsin II games, I was also one pointing out that if you just watch subjectively, the guys are in the right spots, theyre just not making plays. Whether it's lack of talent, athleticism, mindset or whatever, Bo cant go out there and make a tackle for the guy too. How many times last year should Baptiste have made a play or pick on a ball only to let it go over and be caught? Now, this can be put on coaching from a fundamental and developmental standpoint, but definitely not from an x's and o'x one. Bo knows what he's doing. He's proven that with talent his defensive mind is top notch. This is no different from any coach in any sport at any level. Talent makes your system look awesome. Lack of talent makes it look bad. Bill Snyder may be the ONLY exception.

On the jet sweeps against Wisconsin II, I also recall a lot of complaining about 1 guy on defense out there on the ball carrier. That's the point. It was a reverse, with a fake. It was designed to get 1 man in space. Bama's defense, our Suh-fense for that matter, wouldnt have more than 1 or two guys at the ball carrier either, but I can guarantee you that Matt O'hanlon or Asante or Gomes wouldve flipped that little Gordon fellow head over heals one time and that play wouldve been scrapped for the night. That's a talent issue. That's a mental issue. Smith and Stafford lacked probably both. Hence got burned. It's not a scheme or X's and O's issue.

They got our guys thinking. The coaches made some alignment adjustments to defend more to the outside, so then we started getting gashed horribly inside because poor 260 LB Cameron Meredith playing DT was getting blown up by 650 pounds of cheese belly.

 

[JJ Husker]

I'll partially agree with the assessment that it's not an X's & O's problem. Yes, we had guys in the right position often and they just plain failed to make the play. So, in a sense, that is not Pelini's fault. But, when it happens time after time after time, it is Bo's job to make the adjustments that allows our defense to be successful. It might've been a great scheme but, if we don't have the talent/athletes to make it effective, then it's the wrong scheme to be using. I am hopeful that maybe this year we will have the guys to make it work but even more hopeful that, if it doesn't work, that Bo has some tweaks that will make it a much more serviceable D.