What I don't get about the prevent style defenses is why would you run it in college ....... these QB's are in almost all cases not NFL caliber QB's who can handle pressure on a regular basis. By not seeking to rattle them and exploit mistakes you are basically giving the QB a break and not forcing him into making errors due to pressure.
Husker Defense Under Frost
- Thread starter URSS
- Start date
BIG ERN
All-American
I agree. The reason they run a prevent D is that they feel most QBs don't have the patience or ability to take what the D gives them all the way down the field
I think the biggest mistake Bo made was falling into the trap of thinking the Big Ten was still a bunch of prodding brutes, and tried to change to fit that mold. Fact is, this conference can't run the ball to save their life, and the most consistent of the lot is Ohio St. Wisconsin can be ranked very high or surprisingly low. Their big rushing games against us aren't out of two tight, though. 408 wasn't. Last year they didn't, preferring to stay in 3 wide and forcing our outside DBs to tackle, while Diaco's safeties were ever stationed on the blimp, as usual.
Despite its reputation, the Big Ten uses very few two tight sets, and generally only when those teams are struggling for offensive production. Even fewer two back sets, save for obvious short yardage or goal line conditions. Obviously you always want a strong defensive line, but secondly we need speed that rallies to the ball against teams like Wisconsin. They've been outnumbering us in the run game for years.
SuperBigFan69
Head Coach
See, I think it is the OC's that don't have the patience or ability but clearly against Diaco they realized they could just gash them with the run...it took NW the entire game to figure that out but the other teams that beat the hell out of NU realized it pretty quick.
I have called plays before as an OC and HC...it is hard and so easy to ruin a drive.
We have to differentiate between actual prevent defenses, which involve dropping everyone into deep zones, vs only rushing 3 guys and still playing a more aggressive coverage. A 3 man rush can be situationally effective and you see it more and more. A 4 man rush is by far the most popular by any team at any level but it's a natural compromise because there are 8 defensive zones to cover by only 7 players.
The key is to rush 3 but not make it look like you're rushing 3. Often times in a 4 man rush, your inside guys are mostly applying enough pressure to let your outside guys get 1 on 1 match ups. What if you make it look like you're rushing 5 or 6, get the interior guys blocking ghosts, but really only rush 3 and still get those juicy outside pass rush matchups while dropping 8 into coverage? Pressure isn't always about getting there, but just making them think you can get there and throwing short.
This kind of thing is why you're seeing so many hybrid defenses. Offenses want to be bean counters, so defenses are spilling the beans.
PasstheDamnBallGuy
Starter
It also helped a lot that our offense was inept for at least half of every game. Lets put up some points on these teams early and see if they still are content to run the ball when they are down by a couple scores or more.
Great info, I agree, I was a bit lazy with the term "prevent" as that tends to be the term used when team go all in to prevent big plays at the end of a game or half. I like your info.
huskerfan74
All-American
If you are winning games by outscoring opponents and making stops when it counts most, who cares what ranking your defense is? The coaching staff will be able to adjust much better than diaco ever could. Anything after diaco is a miraculous improvement. I am not concerned with defense under Frost. Let us give the guy a chance to build this program without starting with doubts already. Riley and his incompetent coaches destroyed this proud team. Frost and company are starting from rock bottom. Let us give them a chance. They are doing well so far. Hope is back and they will maximize the effort from some of our stars like tre Bryant and superstar spielman. I would not be surprised if we win the east division next season.
That's pretty much the idea. Mix a high octane offense with a swarming defense. Riley was far too passive on both sides of the ball.
Whatever this defense ends up, in terms of results, it definitely won't be passive. If anything, UCF could be a little too aggressive this year, not in terms of scheme, but execution. Flew by the ball carrier too often. Just learning to maintain leverage and forcing the runner into the right areas would have dramatically improved them. Too often they tried to pulverize the ball carrier instead of corralling him.