It's hard to play defense...

epocSoN

epocSoN

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When your safeties bite on long balls every single time. I think that is the first place we need to focus on improving going forward. PJ and Austin have no idea what is going on out there. How did this secondary fall apart like this considering where we were last year.

 
This is probably the single most confusing thing about this team for me. There was sure to be a dropoff after losing Gomes, Hagg and Amukamara - we all expected that. Backups don't become seasoned veterans in one offseason. But how could last year's backups be this bad?

Especially considering the fact that Bo is this defensive Guru, and especially in light of the turnaround we saw him work not only in 2008 after the Cosgrove mess, but in 2003 after the Bohl mess. If Bo could turn those secondaries around and get improvement, how is it possible that our secondary, which is comprised of guys Bo recruited and has - presumably - trained correctly from the beginning, so bad?

I really hate cracking on these players publicly, but this is just atrocious. There's no other way to describe it.

 
Tackling is also a major issue right now, just in the secondary but across the board. We have an undisciplined defense right now.

 
True, Enhance, which is also baffling since discipline is a word you hear from Bo all the time.

The honeymoon is definitely over with Bo. He says all the right things, and I think he has a definite gift for coaching defense, but as a head coach, he does not exhibit the qualities he expects from his players.

 
knapplc said:
True, Enhance, which is also baffling since discipline is a word you hear from Bo all the time.

The honeymoon is definitely over with Bo. He says all the right things, and I think he has a definite gift for coaching defense, but as a head coach, he does not exhibit the qualities he expects from his players.
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I would agree with that. I still think he deserves a lot more time, however. College football has become a game of immediacy. If a coach isn't doing well early he gets the boot. Some coaches need time, though, especially guys like Bo who still seem to be learning. Bo has won 9 games every year he has been here and has won 10 twice. That's not something to scoff at if you consider most of what we dealt with this last decade.

 
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Oh, absolutely. I'm not in any way advocating putting Bo on the hot seat. But the time to realize that changes have to be made - from Bo on down - is right now.

The strength of this program was always the longevity of the coaching staff. Bo needs to stay, but Bo also needs to grow.

 
knapplc said:
Oh, absolutely. I'm not in any way advocating putting Bo on the hot seat. But the time to realize that changes have to be made - from Bo on down - is right now.

The strength of this program was always the longevity of the coaching staff. Bo needs to stay, but Bo also needs to grow.
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Couldn't agree more.

When you say the time is now to realize changes have to be made, what are you thinking exactly? Just trying to gauge your perspective a little bit.

 
I believe that Gomes is the biggest loss on the team this year. Gomes was able to cover, but he made so many big open field tackles. He was always in position to make a play.

Obviously it is easy to talk about Hagg and Prince, but I really miss Gomes.

 
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I think the lack of physicality with the secondary is hurting the team. PJ and Austin both played consderably better last year. I think the fact that WRs were being knocked off of their preferred releases and routes by the corners allowed the safeties that extra second or two to recognize the play. These free releases by WRs are allowing them to get to the safeties too easily and that one false step or last peek into the backfield is allowing a lot of open spaces. Also by getting physical with the WRs again, the QBs timing becomes disrupted and he is forced to sit around in the pocket longer, helping the DLine. Not every QB is a freak runner like Wilson, and I'll take my chances with a QB running more than dropping back and hitting WRs in rhythem all night(like last night).

The technique thing being taught by Raymond was partially in a "response" to the B1G officials calling a tighter game, well I honestly have yet to see that and recall Wiscy defenders popping Kyler all night, slowing him up in the slot. This is a failed experiment. The physical secondary has been a staple of the defense and needs to return, it will help more than hurt IMO.

 
As in, what changes? I'd have to be inside the program to diagnose exactly what needs to change. Clearly we cannot change QBs at this point, since we don't have a superior backup. The only reason you bench Martinez is if you're intending to write off the season, and one loss is not enough to do that.

I can tell you that there is a disconnect between what Bo is saying and the results we're seeing on the field. After a summer of sunshine pumping from the coaches from everything between Martinez' growth to the team's overall unity, from the "All-Americans at three levels of the defense" to the alleged quality of all the coaching moves, I'm just not seeing the results Bo promised.

 
gobiggergoredder said:
I believe that Gomes is the biggest loss on the team this year. Gomes was able to cover, but he made so many big open field tackles. He was always in position to make a play.

Obviously it is easy to talk about Hagg and Prince, but I really miss Gomes.
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Me too. Gomes had great coverage skills. He was a ball hawk. And could really lay the wood when he got a clean shot. So far nobody has stepped up to take his place. Not even close.

 
gobiggergoredder said:
I believe that Gomes is the biggest loss on the team this year. Gomes was able to cover, but he made so many big open field tackles. He was always in position to make a play.

Obviously it is easy to talk about Hagg and Prince, but I really miss Gomes.
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Definitely agree. Gomes is a glaring loss.

 
Gomes was an outstanding Peso back, he had a great knack to defending the run and great coverage skills

 
The team Bo inherited was a very poorly coached group of pretty good players. Prince, Suh, Haag, Gomes, etc. The "veterans" we have now (with the exception of David who is a juco transfer) are from Bo's first recruiting class. He was at an extreme disadvantage that year. He lost commitments, he was an unknown as a head coach, Nebraska's reputation was damaged by Solich and ruined by Calahan; you just can't expect to pick up all the top recruits under those circumstances. The problems we are having in the defensive backfield are with kids that are too young and "veterans" that are just not good. It is a perfect sh!t storm. I still believe this team...the one we have right now on defense, could end up being one of the best ever in a year or two, once some of the young guys grow into their roles. This is just going to take some patience. That being said....I believe we have been patient enough on the other side of the ball. The O-line looked much improved last night (as promised), the receiving corp is one of the best groups we have had in a long time (as promised), Burkhead and the young guns at running back are pretty speacial (as promised)....so that leaves only leaves QB, which has been anything but spectacular (and has not performed as promised).

 
knapplc said:
As in, what changes? I'd have to be inside the program to diagnose exactly what needs to change. Clearly we cannot change QBs at this point, since we don't have a superior backup. The only reason you bench Martinez is if you're intending to write off the season, and one loss is not enough to do that.

I can tell you that there is a disconnect between what Bo is saying and the results we're seeing on the field. After a summer of sunshine pumping from the coaches from everything between Martinez' growth to the team's overall unity, from the "All-Americans at three levels of the defense" to the alleged quality of all the coaching moves, I'm just not seeing the results Bo promised.
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I think changing quarterbacks would be the absolute worst decision we could make right now. And if we do, I'm seriously going to question the entire coaching staff more than I ever have. Yanking a guy for not being put in a position to succeed, in favor of a freshman we know nothing about? Scary.

I agree with the disconnect you speak of, as well. That said, I thought Martinez has had some really good games this year. He didn't dominate the stat boards, but he played the game the way it was meant to be played given his skill set. The defense is still the biggest worry to me right now. The way we got lit up in the passing game is unnerving, and the tackling..oh my word.

 
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