McKeon says, they changed the defense this year

[DCHusker]

Maybe by they changed the defense, he meant they graduated the whole defensive line that made him look so good. Without them it became obvious he was a joke.

I think there's some truth to this, but what I never understood this season was why 95% of the criticism fell on the LBs when the defensive line play was so bad.

It was pretty clear to me all year that the DL was getting steamrolled, OL were getting out and blocking linebackers and RBs were running through gigantic holes. When gaps aren't tightly controlled along the line, it gets much harder for LBs to do their job. Instead of the LB coming up to trap the RB in a gap and make a tackle, the RB has a lot more room to maneuver and it becomes more of an "open field" tackle.

Don't get me wrong, our LBs did a terrible job of open-field tackling this year, but you can't expect them to perform well when RBs are coming over the line of scrimmage untouched on virtually every running play.

 

[Hunter94]

Maybe by they changed the defense, he meant they graduated the whole defensive line that made him look so good. Without them it became obvious he was a joke.

I think there's some truth to this, but what I never understood this season was why 95% of the criticism fell on the LBs when the defensive line play was so bad.

It was pretty clear to me all year that the DL was getting steamrolled, OL were getting out and blocking linebackers and RBs were running through gigantic holes. When gaps aren't tightly controlled along the line, it gets much harder for LBs to do their job. Instead of the LB coming up to trap the RB in a gap and make a tackle, the RB has a lot more room to maneuver and it becomes more of an "open field" tackle.

Don't get me wrong, our LBs did a terrible job of open-field tackling this year, but you can't expect them to perform well when RBs are coming over the line of scrimmage untouched on virtually every running play.

pretty good observation. it always begins with the 4 guys up front and they were pitiful as well.

 

[pctopeka]

Brian Bosworth...without the size...skill...speed...or mullet.

:rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin

 

[Glendower]

And see how well that worked out for everybody. Who really cares what whiners have to say?

If he wasn't a senior already, either Bo would man him up or he'd quit and go crying to his mama.

Based on what appeared to be a backhanded comment about the fans, I'm calling him out as the whiner. Jamal Lord aside, has there ever been a group of Husker players (Callahan's) that did so much belly-aching about the fans? Traditionally Husker players have liked the fan support. Of course if a player doesnt give his all, should he expect "all" from the fans? Quid pro quo, Corey.

Then again, the players had no reason to complain about fans because the team was winning and fans were not jumping down the players throats. Also, this is the internet age and boards like this did not exist 5 years ago. So players could not then simply go to a web page and read how the fans are calling them wimps, cowards, and whiners. Now we have fans on this and other boards continually calling out players and saying that they suck, that they.... so players read that and think"well why should I take that from these ...." And it is downhill from there.

I assure you that if this and other boards were up in the late 80's and 90's people then would have called out the players, the players would have been mad and would have responded just like McKeon and Purify and others have now. There is nothing new under the sun. When players (or anybody else) are called names and are told they suck, are wimps, or whatever in a public forum (in this case the internet), they will retaliate. If the context were the same years ago, the response would have been the same too. Consider that now that everyone can demean anyone in a public forum now and that people in visible positions (like coaches) will not last long at any one place because the abuse will get to them after a time and they will move elsewhere until the abuse is unbearable there ... and they move again. For players, they just take the abuse and try their best to cope. And hope that they do not go on record for saying that they don't appreciate the slander --- for if they do, then the abuse just gets worse. No, the players of old, were they in the same position as the players now, they would have been pretty similar in their responce.

Call them out about what? That's like grounding your kid for no reason. Of course the fans were critical, there was a lot to be critical about. This isn't the Special Olympics where we're just happy that they're able to do it (and that is not a knock against the SO). You can't look at a 41-40 squeaker with Ball State and say, "Good job, team! Yay! Perfect!" or a 38-0 deficit against Oki State and be happy that everyone is well. Yeah, there's no reason to be cruel, that's for sure, but there's also no reason to smile and nod while the team gets embarrassed when we know that they have the capacity to do better.