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The Big Red Husker

The Big Red Husker

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Is the softest DL I have ever witnessed as a NU fan who has been following NU for 40 years. On 3rd and 6 at a crucial point in the game NW called a running play up the gut between the tackles knowing how WEAK our front 4 is. Having said that Stein REALLY stepped up his game and if he had some more muscle next to him we might have had a prayer against a very weak opponent! We can no longer two gap with the 4 guys on our DL, they simply are not good enough to handle that PERIOD!

My suggestion....Move Choi to the DL....he is supposedly one of the strongest players on the team, we need a guy in there who does not get moved 5 yards back like #90 does. On their last drive they ran it over #90 on almost every play except for the 4th down conversion which #17 had an excellent opportunity to stop but didn't.

I also think we need to bench #17 he has zero confidence and he looks VERY slow out there. I am not sure he is blackshirt caliber, and I think we need to get youth in there to get the experience for next season, and IMO the rest of our opponents will be licking their chops seeing #17 out there, and we don't want to give opponents that much confidence, because believe me they will find him and exploit him play after play.

The lack of substituitons when players are dinged up is mind boggling...it happened last year too, against OU we had guards limping back to the huddle, then trying to lead on pulls the following play. Burkhead is definitely dinged, and like a warrior he stayed in, but that is hurting the "team". I feel if Pelini does not figure this out, and play backups when warranted this will expedite his exit out the door, and he better figure it out because no one else will be dumb enough to pay him the money we currently do with all of his baggage!

I Love Bo, but he needs to grow as a coach, and play guys down the depth chart to give them experience and the starters a rest!! It is good for team morale as well!!

 
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The Big Red Husker said:
The lack of substituitons when players are dinged up is mind boggling...it happened last year too, against OU we had guards limping back to the huddle, then trying to lead on pulls the following play. Burkhead is definitely dinged, and like a warrior he stayed in, but that is hurting the "team".
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The amazing thing is that in the Washington game, we freely substituted and had our best game of the year. The next week, we went back to playing only the starting 11. Whatever happened to getting fresh bodies in? I love Bo and glad he's here, but he needs to sub more. I think he's trying to teach his guys to man-up when they are injured, but that doesn't work. As for Choi, in the Fresno State and Washington games he was all-world. Since then, we've barely heard from him. Stupid.

 
Against mobile QBs the plan is contain for the defensive lineman.

Chase Rome is injured. Thad Randle is injured. Jared Crick is Injured. Thats the top 3 of 4 D tackles down due to injury, who do you sub in?

The problem was defending the crossing routes, we needed to free up one of the safetys to patrol the center of the field(it worked for one series in the second quarter) but we got away from it, i dont know why.

Baker had his best game.

I also like the push Eric martin is getting, he is starting to look more comfortable at end.

 
I've been pretty harsh on Baker over the last two years, but he played one hell of a game yesterday. That's what we need to see from him on a consistant basis. The talent is there with that kid.

 
We are thin at DL....hence my suggestion of moving Choi....

My subs refers to guys who get wore down like Burkhead, or guys who get banged up need to come out for a few plays....regardless of whether they want to or not. But I think we all pretty much agree Baker played great which is good to see. I am VERY concerned about our DT play, and I am also encouraged by Eric Martin who plays much bigger than his size..

Mobile QB's continue to kill us...But the real issue yesterday was WE were not able to ram it down the #95 rushing defense's throat, they did a good job of making us one dimensional at times....something we need to do to our opponents...it happens, but we just don't expect it to happen against that type of team at our house. Let's hope Rome gets healthy, and we find depth somewhere, or I see a few more ugly games up ahead!

 
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The Dude said:
I've been pretty harsh on Baker over the last two years, but he played one hell of a game yesterday. That's what we need to see from him on a consistant basis. The talent is there with that kid.
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Agreed. He's been a total non-factor up until yesterday. Hope he continues with that play.

Martin has a nasty bullrush. I saw him drive the lineman 3-5 yards backwards on several occasions yesterday. He also hits QBS like he hits blockers on kickoffs. Although, his tackle that injured Persa was a borderline horse collar. He brings a physicality to the defense that is extremely lacking. He has bad intentions on the field and I wish it would rub off.

 
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Husker Richard said:
Agreed. He's been a total non-factor up until yesterday. Hope he continues with that play.
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Actually if you really watch some of the early games he was the best DLineman and was outperfoming Crick. And there were games where opponents were doubling Baker and not Crick.

 
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The Big Red Husker said:
Is the softest DL I have ever witnessed as a NU fan who has been following NU for 40 years. On 3rd and 6 at a crucial point in the game NW called a running play up the gut between the tackles knowing how WEAK our front 4 is. Having said that Stein REALLY stepped up his game and if he had some more muscle next to him we might have had a prayer against a very weak opponent! We can no longer two gap with the 4 guys on our DL, they simply are not good enough to handle that PERIOD!
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2007 called..........

 
Steinkuler played well. The rest of the line looked abysmal. The DE's this year seem almost nonexistent. I thought we recruited talent at that position over the last couple years, but it seems that it didn't pan out. The defense this year was so grossly over hyped that it makes it worse to me than it probably is. I bit hard on the hype!

 
I think we have talent up front. This read and react stuff has to go. Let the boys get after it sometimes. That's what defensive lineman are for.

 
I don't think Pelini has ever had a pass rush in his tenure. Suh was a freak and either made plays for himself or opened up stuff for others. That being said, the talent that Suh has/had will likely not be seen anytime soon.

The difference between this year and last year (IMO) is there are no longer two players like Hagg and Gomes that cover the whole field. There was a non existent pass rush last year too.

One thing that is encouraging to me is that Martin has brought speed and power to the end spot that I haven't seen in a while.

 
I just noticed we had an OL playing DL early in the game....#72 Justin Jackson, maybe I missed that he was switched to the defense...but maybe my suggestion of moving Choi isn't that ridiculous, IMO it would help us clog the middle and let BO and Carl continue to play safeties back in their cover 2....We are definitely short on Big bodies on the DL, and few are getting on the stat sheet. On offense I like the suggestion of getting Turner a few plays a game at QB, but keep Martinez in at WR on these plays. I think we have relied TOO much on Burkhead, and defenses are figuring us out now. Keep changing week to week...

 
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