Husker Secondary

bhunt7

bhunt7

Four-Star Recruit
What was the problem with the Husker secondary last year? They were filled with talent but struggled all season. Andre Jones and Cortney Grixby started the entire 2006-2007 season and the Huskers were able it to make both the Big XII championship and the Cotton Bowl. 2007-2008 season came around and they both struggled to get on the field. Senior captain Zack Bowman didn't get much p/t either. Tierre Green was also a starter in 06-07 so I really do not understanding where the problems came from. Was the loss of Andrew Shanle the problem? Did Jones, Grixby, Bowman, and Green all digress? Was it the lack of a pass rush?

What was the problem and what should Coz have done to fix it?

 
bhunt7 said:
What was the problem with the Husker secondary last year? They were filled with talent but struggled all season. Andre Jones and Cortney Grixby started the entire 2006-2007 season and the Huskers were able it to make both the Big XII championship and the Cotton Bowl. 2007-2008 season came around and they both struggled to get on the field. Senior captain Zack Bowman didn't get much p/t either. Tierre Green was also a starter in 06-07 so I really do not understanding where the problems came from. Was the loss of Andrew Shanle the problem? Did Jones, Grixby, Bowman, and Green all digress? Was it the lack of a pass rush?

What was the problem and what should Coz have done to fix it?
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I think the problem was lack of pass rush. Alot of the QBs had all day back in the pocket, which made it easy for them to go through each progression, and then throw it to the open man.

It's a little different story when you have 2 or 3 guys chasing you down. You just don't have that time to go through the progressions. You can either: run for your life, throw it away, take the sack, or try to force a play (which can lead to turnovers).

If our defense wants to have a halfway decent performance this year, the front four will have to step up big-time.

 
bhunt7 said:
What was the problem with the Husker secondary last year? They were filled with talent but struggled all season. Andre Jones and Cortney Grixby started the entire 2006-2007 season and the Huskers were able it to make both the Big XII championship and the Cotton Bowl. 2007-2008 season came around and they both struggled to get on the field. Senior captain Zack Bowman didn't get much p/t either. Tierre Green was also a starter in 06-07 so I really do not understanding where the problems came from. Was the loss of Andrew Shanle the problem? Did Jones, Grixby, Bowman, and Green all digress? Was it the lack of a pass rush?

What was the problem and what should Coz have done to fix it?
Click to expand...
It definitely wasn't the loss of Shanle!! He was one of the worst D-backs to put on a Husker uniform. Not taking a jab at him personally, but his tackling and coverage were horrible. Maybe continuing to play him when others could have gotten some valuable playing experience might have been a problem, but if anything, I think the lack of a pass rush, no ability or call from the coaches to play a press coverage, and all the defensive players constantly being out of position led to our dismal display of defense and horrible secondary production last year. That will not happen under Bo's watch, GBR!!!!

 
I think the lack of a pass rush was the main culprit...but it also seemed to me that Bowman was only 75% or so for most of the season with his knee problems...also, as the season progressed, low morale began to have a tangible impact...

 
Michael said:
bhunt7 said:
What was the problem with the Husker secondary last year? They were filled with talent but struggled all season. Andre Jones and Cortney Grixby started the entire 2006-2007 season and the Huskers were able it to make both the Big XII championship and the Cotton Bowl. 2007-2008 season came around and they both struggled to get on the field. Senior captain Zack Bowman didn't get much p/t either. Tierre Green was also a starter in 06-07 so I really do not understanding where the problems came from. Was the loss of Andrew Shanle the problem? Did Jones, Grixby, Bowman, and Green all digress? Was it the lack of a pass rush?

What was the problem and what should Coz have done to fix it?
Click to expand...
I think the problem was lack of pass rush. Alot of the QBs had all day back in the pocket, which made it easy for them to go through each progression, and then throw it to the open man.

It's a little different story when you have 2 or 3 guys chasing you down. You just don't have that time to go through the progressions. You can either: run for your life, throw it away, take the sack, or try to force a play (which can lead to turnovers).

If our defense wants to have a halfway decent performance this year, the front four will have to step up big-time.
Click to expand...
I would like to re-watch last years losses and reevaluate our defensive line pressure and linebacker blitzes to see what the problem is, but I can't bring myself to watch!! From what I remember though, the complete lack of fire, horrible schemes, and flat out piss poor attitude by both coaches and senior leadership made for a horrible defensive showing. So instead of watching last year’s games, I watched the 1995 team destroy Florida in the Fiesta Bowl and it made me very happy!! I can’t wait for the return of the Blackshirts!!

 
SOCALHUSKER said:
I would like to re-watch last years losses and reevaluate our defensive line pressure and linebacker blitzes to see what the problem is, but I can't bring myself to watch!! From what I remember though, the complete lack of fire, horrible schemes, and flat out piss poor attitude by both coaches and senior leadership made for a horrible defensive showing. So instead of watching last year’s games, I watched the 1995 team destroy Florida in the Fiesta Bowl and it made me very happy!! I can’t wait for the return of the Blackshirts!!
Click to expand...
The d-line just got blown off the LOS almost every snap. You can especially see this against USC where the d-line either got pancaked, or they were about 5 or so yards away from the LOS.

It was awful!

 
Some of it was definitely because we had no pass rush, a lot though was because there were no fundamentals being used and people were routinely out of position.

There were countless times where you could clearly see DB's watching the receiver's feet out of the break instead of the hips, and not watching the eyes or playing the ball in coverage - it has been said that the coaching staff actually told players NOT to play the ball, whether that is true or not I don't know. But the fundamentals of defense weren't being taught, or executed properly at all.

It also didn't help that many times our linebackers didn't seem to have a clue what was going on and had no idea where they were supposed to be or whether they were in pass coverage or not. That makes it really difficult on a safety who than has to clean up after the linebackers - which leaves corners thinking they have help over the top when they don't.

 
The talent & the coaching were below average. The discipline & confidence wasnt there. The technique, the adjustments, and the skill was not there. The unit was not mentally or physically tough.

A few INTs and pass breakups over a course of a season do not qualify you as a good player. It just means you had a few good plays when you werent getting burned, picked on, run by or run over.

That was last year though. Thank the Lord its done with.

 
Addison Mode said:
The talent & the coaching were below average. The discipline & confidence wasnt there. The technique, the adjustments, and the skill was not there. The unit was not mentally or physically tough.

A few INTs and pass breakups over a course of a season do not qualify you as a good player. It just means you had a few good plays when you werent getting burned, picked on, run by or run over.

That was last year though. Thank the Lord its done with.
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Amen!

 
They were coached to stare at the WR as their backs were towards the ball. In other words...THEY NEVER TURNED AROUND AND LOOKED FOR THE BALL!

 
Bowman was benched vindictively because Callahan didn't like him. He played very well when he was actually on the field. He certainly saved our tail at Wake Forest.

It's been said many times already, but I think the lack of pass rush was the key factor. That and our linebackers SUCKED at pass defense. Our secondary got NO help whatsoever from the linbacking corps either. Bo Ruud fell over on roughly 98% of the plays, leaving someone wide open. Sometimes while meandering aimlessly across the field one of our defensive backs would tip the ball and he would catch it and run for a TD. Then people would put him on second team All Big XII. I don't get it. It wasn't all his fault, but our linebackers period were just awful at pass coverage.

12 yard slants to the middle were SO AUTOMATIC for our opponents. That isn't all on the secondary.

 
Games are won by teams winning the trench war. It doesn't matter whether on offense or defense, most games are decided in the trenches. If the offensive line is getting blown off the ball, the offense can't get anything started whether it be running or passing. If the defensive line is getting blown off the ball, it allows the opposing teams OL to get to the LB's clogging things up there as well. A backup redshirt freshman playing Center for USC tore up our Dline. Without much improved Dline play, our D will look similar to last year.

 
Ya the lack of a rush obviously hurt, half of pass-D is a good rush. Crappy schemes and db-coaching also hurt. I still can't believe we fired Sanders to bring Elmo in, what a travesty. There was plenty of talent and experience there. Coaches wasted it. We were way too passive. How many times did we hand the quick-slant to teams on third and medium? That is just absurd, granted LB's play a significant part there too. Don't even get me started on the unnecessary interference and how we had guys in position to make tackles rather than stop receptions from occurring.

Our coaches considered picks to be little more than happy accidents. They also come from db's being aggressive and in-position to make plays. Look at '03, we executed that zone like a muther, if a qb kept trying to thread the needle against it he was getting picked.

I'm not expecting miracles this year considering how much catching-up there is to do and how many guys we lost. But we'll be in-shape, aggressive, gang-tackling, motivated, and more fundamentally-sound. That should get us quite a ways.

 
bhunt7 said:
What was the problem with the Husker secondary last year? They were filled with talent but struggled all season. Andre Jones and Cortney Grixby started the entire 2006-2007 season and the Huskers were able it to make both the Big XII championship and the Cotton Bowl. 2007-2008 season came around and they both struggled to get on the field. Senior captain Zack Bowman didn't get much p/t either. Tierre Green was also a starter in 06-07 so I really do not understanding where the problems came from. Was the loss of Andrew Shanle the problem? Did Jones, Grixby, Bowman, and Green all digress? Was it the lack of a pass rush?

What was the problem and what should Coz have done to fix it?
Click to expand...
We seemed to be the only team in the country with huge problems on defense. I understand that the d-line struggled last year but there is no way that Nebraska was the only team with problems up front. The line will be made up of the same players as last year. If things are to turn around, what changes have to be made? Will a recruit such as Josh Williams or Cameron Merideth give the team the help they need? Is blitzing the answer? Will the Huskers have to run a good zone scheme to make up for a lack of a d-line? Will there be a breakout performance from one of the players?

What must be done to fix last years mess?

 
Dline Dline Dline....... We need our DLine to be a 200% turnaround from last year.

I believe we have the secondary and linebackers all in place...

 
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