Is the defensive scheme to technical

lo country

lo country

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I remember several times this season Bo addressing the youth on D and saying that he would not "dumb down" the system regarding our defense.

Can this be the root issue? It seems that Wats was fired as his play book was too large and took to long for college kids to learn. Has Bo ever had a player really excel in year one or even 2? I look back to 2003 and see a lot of great stuff his first year ie Ruud tackle record, Bullocks and the DB's on an INT tear, Super D's crazy performance, but all these guys had been playing D1 ball for 3-5 yrs. They were not Rhirts or Fresh or Sophs.

Suh broke out his senior year same with Prince, Haag, Gomes, O'Hanlon. Assante, Allen etc.... This year it is Dennard (last year also yr 3). Has there been a player to excel with only 2-3 yrs or less in his system ie RS Soph or younger. (David is a freak and JUCO, same with Stafford) I am aware we have had guys starting for several yrs, but a real playmaker, highlight type, solid every down type guy. Not NFL caliber per say, but a guy everyone knows can play.

Bo also talks about his system depending on each person doing their job. If one players misses and assignment, it goes down hill from there.

I am not an X and O guy, but it seems like this scheme is heavy on experience, takes a while to master and prone to issues if player A can't hold his end or if player A gets hurt and is replaced by less learned player B.

 
I have often wondered this myself. This isn't the NFL, these kids have to go to class and they're in college so they want to have a social life, can't blame them there. They can't have their noses buried in the playbook at all times.

You only get 5 years tops in the program. If it takes you 2-3 years to master the defense then you've only got 1-2 years to play before you graduate. This leads to huge depth issues, which are now coming to fruition.

I think knowledge of the D is part of the reason why Cassidy and Thorell see the field over some of the more talented and athletic guys that haven't mastered the playbook. This is a grave mistake in my opinion. Knowledge of the playbook only gets you so far. If you don't have the athleticism to make a play, what good is knowing where you are supposed to be during a particular play?

It's possible Bo asks too much from these kids, and remember that they are still kids, and it's hurting the product on the field. His unwillingness to dumb it down or reconsider his scheme is alarming. Especially since it isn't working or we don't have the players to run it or whatever the case may be.

 
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Husker Richard said:
I have often wondered this myself. This isn't the NFL, these kids have to go to class and they're in college so they want to have a social life, can't blame them there. They can't have their noses buried in the playbook at all times.

You only get 5 years tops in the program. If it takes you 2-3 years to master the defense then you've only got 1-2 years to play before you graduate. This leads to huge depth issues, which are now coming to fruition.

I think knowledge of the D is part of the reason why Cassidy and Thorell see the field over some of the more talented and athletic guys that haven't mastered the playbook. This is a grave mistake in my opinion. Knowledge of the playbook only gets you so far. If you don't have the athleticism to make a play, what good is knowing where you are supposed to be during a particular play?

It's possible Bo asks too much from these kids, and remember that they are still kids, and it's hurting the product on the field. His unwillingness to dumb it down or reconsider his scheme is alarming. Especially since it isn't working or we don't have the players to run it or whatever the case may be.
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A part I didn't think of, but another prime example that it might be "too much" for college kids to learn.

 
It also comes down to fundamentals. The scheme could be as basic as it gets and we'd still screw it up because we can't tackle worth a damn. The arm tackling is becoming a huge problem. I can't remember how many times we've had a guy stopped for a loss or no gain only to have him squirt out for 5 or 6 yards.

My most frequently yelled phrase during games this year has got to be, "Wrap the eff up!!!!!"

 
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I think it is much more a talent issue. And it's very concerning. Is this the typical level of talent Bo and his staff will bring in (90% of these players are Bo's recruits)? I hope not. Let's compare the 2009 defense (mostly the old staff's recruits) to this one, ranking their talent 1-5 for the top 13...

2009:

Suh 5

Dillard 4

Asante 4

Crick 4

Ohanlon 3

Prince 4

Allen 3

Turner 4

Gomes 4

Hagg 4

Compton 2

Dennard 4

Fisher 1

Total: 46

2011:

David 5

Compton 3

Stafford 3

Cassidy 2

Meredith 3

Green 2

Steinkuhler 3

Thorell 1

Evans 1

Fisher 1

Dennard 5

Martin 3

Crick 5

Total: 37

You can quibble with my ratings, but that's roughly a 20% drop-off in talent. That's huge, and it doesn't even count the Crick injury. IMO, all other things equal, you put that defense on this team and we're 10-1 now.

 
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JTrain said:
I think it is much more a talent issue. And it's very concerning. Is this the typical level of talent Bo and his staff will bring in (90% of these players are Bo's recruits)? I hope not. Let's compare the 2009 defense (mostly the old staff's recruits) to this one, ranking their talent 1-5 for the top 13...

2009:

Suh 5 Dillard 4 Asante 4 Crick 4 Ohanlon 3 Prince 4 Allen 3 Turner 4 Gomes 4 Hagg 4 Compton 2 Dennard 4 Fisher

1

Total: 46

2011:

David 5 Compton 3 Stafford 3 Cassidy 2 Meredith 3 Green 2 Steinkuhler 3 Thorell 1 Evans 1 Fisher 1 Dennard 5 Martin 3 Crick 5

Total: 37
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Not trying to knock your post, but just curious how you came up with these rankings? Just your opinion or was this supposed to be based on recruiting stars or something?

 
MVPujols said:
Well, just like the WCO. Its successful in the NFL where its guys 9-5 job to know it.
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Nobody knew the system in year one when Pelini completely turned the defense around. It has far more to do with the players than it does with the scheme. I don't seem to recall any complaints the past three years when Bo was a defensive genius.

 
beanman said:
JTrain said:
I think it is much more a talent issue. And it's very concerning. Is this the typical level of talent Bo and his staff will bring in (90% of these players are Bo's recruits)? I hope not. Let's compare the 2009 defense (mostly the old staff's recruits) to this one, ranking their talent 1-5 for the top 13...

2009:

Suh 5 Dillard 4 Asante 4 Crick 4 Ohanlon 3 Prince 4 Allen 3 Turner 4 Gomes 4 Hagg 4 Compton 2 Dennard 4 Fisher

1

Total: 46

2011:

David 5 Compton 3 Stafford 3 Cassidy 2 Meredith 3 Green 2 Steinkuhler 3 Thorell 1 Evans 1 Fisher 1 Dennard 5 Martin 3 Crick 5

Total: 37
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Not trying to knock your post, but just curious how you came up with these rankings? Just your opinion or was this supposed to be based on recruiting stars or something?
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Not recruiting, just my assessment of how talented they actually were on the field.

 
jgreen727 said:
MVPujols said:
Well, just like the WCO. Its successful in the NFL where its guys 9-5 job to know it.
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Nobody knew the system in year one when Pelini completely turned the defense around. It has far more to do with the players than it does with the scheme. I don't seem to recall any complaints the past three years when Bo was a defensive genius.
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Actually that defense was pretty bad. It was ranked in the 80s or so, but it seemed better becasue the defense the year before was dead last. Missouri scored 50+ on us that year, Oklahoma scored 60+, Kansas scored 30+, Texas Tech I believe scored near 40.

 
Why don't you ask this question to Dejon Gomes, Prince Amukamara, Eric Hagg, Larry Asante, Matt O'Hanlon, Ndamukong Suh, Barry Turner, Lavonte David, Alfonzo Dennard, Daimion Stafford? When the defense as a unit gets it and are athletic enough to make plays, it is the best defensive scheme in the country. This year, we don't have the depth in the secondary or the athleticism to make the plays. We also have no depth behind David and Compton at LB. Combine this with not having big bodies at DL to clog up holes and stand their ground, and that is why the D is struggling so much this year.

I know I don't know all the answers, but this is my diagnosis. Once we get better athletes here, we start dominating again.

 
You have to have a good secondary for Bo's scheme. This year we just dont have it. Green isn't good, Evans isn't good, Thorell isn't good, Blatchford isn't good, Cassidy isn't good. Said since day 1 I said that Washington should have got looks but Bo doesn't always play the best players as we've seen. Not getting Jackson and Tevin Mitchell didn't help either

 
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For any defense to be great you need to have one of two things... 1) a physical, overpowering defensive line or 2) a physical, lockdown secondary.

Right now, we have neither, and it shows. We can't get pressure with our front four so we have to rely on using safeties in coverage. We can't cover man-to-man in the secondary so we can't bring additional pressure from linebackers/safeties. It all plays together.

 
HuskerShark said:
Why don't you ask this question to Dejon Gomes, Prince Amukamara, Eric Hagg, Larry Asante, Matt O'Hanlon, Ndamukong Suh, Barry Turner, Lavonte David, Alfonzo Dennard, Daimion Stafford? When the defense as a unit gets it and are athletic enough to make plays, it is the best defensive scheme in the country. This year, we don't have the depth in the secondary or the athleticism to make the plays. We also have no depth behind David and Compton at LB. Combine this with not having big bodies at DL to clog up holes and stand their ground, and that is why the D is struggling so much this year.

I know I don't know all the answers, but this is my diagnosis. Once we get better athletes here, we start dominating again.
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DING DING DING...we have a winner....I agree 100% ...I also agree that because of the complexity of the scheme we see guys like Cassidy and Thorell vs our more athletic younger albeit inexperienced guys...watching other great defenses fly to the ball today......well that just does not resemble our defense this year.

 
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