Physical secondary working on strategy

n.e.husker

n.e.husker

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http://www.omaha.com/article/20110830/BIGRED/708309788/-1#physical-secondary-working-on-strategy

Physical secondary working on strategy
Nebraska's talent-rich secondary developed the reputation as a physically oppressive unit during the past two seasons, a label that may not quite be as applicable going forward under a NFL-influenced position coach.

The defensive backs don't want to shy away from contact — they're not losing any aggressiveness.

But first-year assistant coach Corey Raymond is telling the Huskers to be a little more calculated and strategic when they start banging with receivers after the snap.

"You can play a physical game, but you have to change your game up at times," Raymond said. "Because what if you meet somebody that's more physical than you? Then you've got to do certain other things to them - play your technique."

It's not always necessary to bump a receiver off his route, or to tug at his jersey, or to run him out of bounds. That has been Raymond's message to his unit ever since he was hired in the offseason.

The mentality, though, happens to be a bit contrarian to the bullish approach the defensive backs regularly used to overwhelm opposing receivers in 2010.

It's undisputed that the Huskers' secondary had incredible talent last season, led by NFL draft picks Prince Amukamara, DeJon Gomes and Eric Hagg.

But it gained even more of an advantage because its style of play was defined by toeing the line between legal contact and illegal mauling. The Huskers were called for more defensive pass interference penalties (nine) than any other team in the Big 12 last year.

Asked specifically about what he saw from Nebraska's game film, Raymond just smiled.

"In the league I came from, you couldn't touch people," he said.
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n.e.husker said:
The Huskers were called for more defensive pass interference penalties (nine) than any other team in the Big 12 last year.
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Interesting, but I wonder how many more "passing downs" the opposing teams were in against us than against other teams.

 
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The Huskers were called for more defensive pass interference penalties (nine) than any other team in the Big 12 last year.
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Duh

And more suspended players for hits ... and more un-called personal fouls . . . and more . . . .

Where's the bump when drunk thread

while listening to BTN

 
This is probably the most interesting thing I want to see during the first 4 games this season. How much different the secondary plays compared to last year and if it is for the better.

 
I'm a bit skeptical. Raymond sounds like he doesn't think it was a great way to teach the DBs, but who led the nation in pass defense?

 
bball_backer said:
I'm a bit skeptical. Raymond sounds like he doesn't think it was a great way to teach the DBs, but who led the nation in pass defense?
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I took it a different way. He was just saying that it's not always a viable technique to be overly aggressive. Going one on one with the guy in front of them, the Huskers' DB's are more physical than most but it only takes one to get burned and lose because they didn't have anything else on which to lean.

That's where proper footwork, techniques, and strategies come in. I for one buy into that concept and the more coaching and development the players have, the better.

 
His point is, what Nebraskas DB's got away with in the B12, does not fly in most other conf's. SO if you had 9 last year, he doesnt want to see 15 this year. Smart man.

 
bigg10 said:
His point is, what Nebraskas DB's got away with in the B12, does not fly in most other conf's. SO if you had 9 last year, he doesnt want to see 15 this year. Smart man.
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We'll see... There's been a lot of talk about this throughout camp, but the Pelini bros have been clear that Nebraska's secondary will still be as physical as possible. The thing is, they don't know yet whether they can be as aggressive in the Big Ten as they were in the Big 12. Watching film, they think that Big Ten DBs are less physical, but they're not sure if they're just less physical or if the officials call the games differently.

My guess is we're still going to be very physical in the secondary - I don't think it was a "Big 12" thing. Our secondary didn't just push people around during conference play - we did it during non-conference play and during the last two bowl games, where we didn't have Big 12 officiating.

The bigger "officiating" question to me is whether Eric Martin will still have a bullseye on his back, and get penalized every time he hits somebody hard.

 
I would say the PI penalties had more to do with NU being a marked man than anything. I'm a little concerned about losing physicality. We need to continue doing what we do until someone A) beats us at it, or B) the league makes it apparent what we are doing will not be tolerated. The train of thought that someone is tougher than you or more physical than you so you should back down is a train of thought that could get us in trouble. Our guys should always be thinking they are the baddest M'fer's on the field and regardless of your size we are going to make you hate your job. But we will see.

 
Hercules said:
bigg10 said:
His point is, what Nebraskas DB's got away with in the B12, does not fly in most other conf's. SO if you had 9 last year, he doesnt want to see 15 this year. Smart man.
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We'll see... There's been a lot of talk about this throughout camp, but the Pelini bros have been clear that Nebraska's secondary will still be as physical as possible. The thing is, they don't know yet whether they can be as aggressive in the Big Ten as they were in the Big 12. Watching film, they think that Big Ten DBs are less physical, but they're not sure if they're just less physical or if the officials call the games differently.

My guess is we're still going to be very physical in the secondary - I don't think it was a "Big 12" thing. Our secondary didn't just push people around during conference play - we did it during non-conference play and during the last two bowl games, where we didn't have Big 12 officiating.

The bigger "officiating" question to me is whether Eric Martin will still have a bullseye on his back, and get penalized every time he hits somebody hard.
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"Perhaps you noticed Nebraska standout cornerback Alfonzo Dennard's comments last week. An exceptionally physical corner, Dennard raised eyebrows when he said, "In the Big Ten, you can't hardly put your hands on them (receivers) … Coach Raymond told me I have to change it up. It's kind of hard for me to play the game the way he wants to me to play."

That's the thing right there, you will get called on late jams and grabs. Hitting hard is allowed, it is football after all, but mugging is not and will be called. What they (in your camp) are seeing is officiating more like the nfl officiates.

 
bigg10 said:
"Perhaps you noticed Nebraska standout cornerback Alfonzo Dennard's comments last week. An exceptionally physical corner, Dennard raised eyebrows when he said, "In the Big Ten, you can't hardly put your hands on them (receivers) … Coach Raymond told me I have to change it up. It's kind of hard for me to play the game the way he wants to me to play."

That's the thing right there, you will get called on late jams and grabs. Hitting hard is allowed, it is football after all, but mugging is not and will be called. What they (in your camp) are seeing is officiating more like the nfl officiates.
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I watched a decent amount of B10 football last year, and tOSU, Iowa, and Wisky all got away with about the same amount of "mugging" at various times as NU was doing in the B12. This is, again, a "wait and see" item. I suspect this is a non-issue where opposing fans will think NU is getting away with PI and NU fans will think the PI calls are bogus. That's just how fans are.

Now I'll freely agree that officiating in the B10 has been better than the B12, but I'd also say the same about every conference out there (except the P10 5-7 years ago).

 
I think we're gonna have a good enough D-line this year that our DBs won't have to play as physical as they did in the past--that is, if hands-on coverage doesn't fly with B1G referees. QBs won't be able to stand in the pocket for long with our D-line coming at them. The Blackshirt's QB graveyard still has a few more plots ready to be filled.

:bonesflag:

 
RedDenver said:
bigg10 said:
"Perhaps you noticed Nebraska standout cornerback Alfonzo Dennard's comments last week. An exceptionally physical corner, Dennard raised eyebrows when he said, "In the Big Ten, you can't hardly put your hands on them (receivers) … Coach Raymond told me I have to change it up. It's kind of hard for me to play the game the way he wants to me to play."

That's the thing right there, you will get called on late jams and grabs. Hitting hard is allowed, it is football after all, but mugging is not and will be called. What they (in your camp) are seeing is officiating more like the nfl officiates.
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I watched a decent amount of B10 football last year, and tOSU, Iowa, and Wisky all got away with about the same amount of "mugging" at various times as NU was doing in the B12. This is, again, a "wait and see" item. I suspect this is a non-issue where opposing fans will think NU is getting away with PI and NU fans will think the PI calls are bogus. That's just how fans are.

Now I'll freely agree that officiating in the B10 has been better than the B12, but I'd also say the same about every conference out there (except the P10 5-7 years ago).
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Thats what I was trying to say. I dont think it's a big deal either, but the goal is to cut down on the calls and reconize what is allowable and whats not. So I would say your coach (and players) are doing a good job, in that area. You can look at it two ways. #1 It was a big enough difference (B12 to B10) for the coaches to reconize it (good job). #2 They want to reduce the amount of calls (good job).

I tend to think it was a bit of both.

 
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