Pre-Season Pressers

Undone said:
I think another big thing about the player that we plug in as that "standup end" is whether or not they can actually pass rush. Alex's tackle stats are one thing...and then his ability to get to the QB is another issue as well.

I think year three for Chinander will give both him, Frost, and fans quite a bit of confirmation about whether or not some of Chinander's philosophy actually works well or not.

Everybody will have their own opinion on this but in year three I won't personally entertain any excuses about not having the right talent at that outside spot. If you expect one single guy to be the pass rusher and he can't get to the QB, then you have to change what you're doing & bring the house, IMO.

I remember one play against Indiana last year where I think Tannor ran free on a stunt and popped their QB right in the numbers with his helmet. Probably should have been a roughing penalty by today's standards but was a 'good hit' by yesteryear's standards. Anyway, I was like "Finally; where has that been all year!" One more big hit like that and that QB would have probably had to leave the game. We need more of that.

Anyway, the most frustrating part about all of this talk for me is the fear that we'll have a bunch of games get cancelled due to COVID. I just want to see our team get out there and watch some of this younger talent play!
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One frustration I've had is that we will have a DE/OLB get to the QB only to have the QB slightly move and it's a total whiff then the QB either makes a big throw or scramble for a first down.  That to me as athleticism and not scheme or coaching.  The scheme got the player free and to the QB in time.  It's up to the player to make the tackle. 

 
I will point out though for context that I think our defensive play was probably fifth on the priority list of problems last year. I think the biggest pain points were, in this order:

1. Atrocious special teams play.

2. Poor offensive line play across most of the season.

3. Bad depth at WR.

4. Bad depth at RB.

5. Poor run game defense.

 
Undone said:
Good point, and I don't think I can, no. Maybe could have been better collectively as a unit in terms of knowing where to be on the field to stop the run, but not being better pass rushers from better coaching.
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Completely agree with this on the run.  The most extreme example of this is the WI game where they ran the jet sweep for 782 yards and 32 TDs.  If you go back and watch that game, the DE was almost always there to at least slow the play down or stretch it at least slightly to the sideline.  But, they constantly all game long had their eyes in the wrong place and the ball carrier would just run right by them.

Man...that was so frustrating.

 
Martinez mentioned tempo as something that can help at Ohio State, and I hadn't really thought about that. It's really hard to go tempo early with 100,000 fans screaming when the offense is on the field, but without that it's an option right away. Just have to avoid negative plays derailing it, which is much easier said than done against them.

 
Decoy73 said:
Verduzco said Matt Lubick has figured out what Nebraska's base plays are and third down plays and repped those "over and over and over."
 

I’m thinking we’re going to like Coach Lubick. 
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Hm.  So, is this an admission that the staff didnt know what their basic plays were before Lubick?  What does this mean?   I remain optimistic but it is troubling to keep reading the same sorts of simplify and pare down the schemes.  Especially with third year starting QB and returning RB and O line.  New receivers I get but hopefully the offense is getting improved and more difficult to defend not easier?   

 
84HuskerLaw said:
Hm.  So, is this an admission that the staff didnt know what their basic plays were before Lubick?  What does this mean?   I remain optimistic but it is troubling to keep reading the same sorts of simplify and pare down the schemes.  Especially with third year starting QB and returning RB and O line.  New receivers I get but hopefully the offense is getting improved and more difficult to defend not easier?   
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The quote about the amount of practice spent on base plays and predetermined 3rd down plays doesn't mean much to me one way or the other, really. A guy like Verduzco gets asked all sorts of questions and both he and the reporters are just coming up with anything to fill the time.

We lacked attention to detail & physicality on offense last year. I can tell Frost is attempting to address this but I won't read much into that quote by Verduzco, personally.

 
84HuskerLaw said:
Hm.  So, is this an admission that the staff didnt know what their basic plays were before Lubick?  What does this mean?   I remain optimistic but it is troubling to keep reading the same sorts of simplify and pare down the schemes.  
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That might be overstating it, regardless, Lubick as a new OC, with a new cast, is sure to have a fresh perspective on what those base plays are.  A theme I like is that Lubick appears to be honing in on situational football.  Perhaps we'll see an offense running plays with purpose & won't see shovel pass on 1st & goal as a result.  

As a side note, was Held doing a Billy Bob Thornton impersonation, or is he still living the quarantine life? 

 
84HuskerLaw said:
Hm.  So, is this an admission that the staff didnt know what their basic plays were before Lubick?  What does this mean?   I remain optimistic but it is troubling to keep reading the same sorts of simplify and pare down the schemes.  Especially with third year starting QB and returning RB and O line.  New receivers I get but hopefully the offense is getting improved and more difficult to defend not easier?   
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No.

Just because Lubick has designated certain plays as their basic plays and practiced them a lot.  Doesn't mean that wasn't done last year or the year before.  It simply means that Lubick knows what plays HE thinks are the basic plays for this year.

 
BigRedBuster said:
No.

Just because Lubick has designated certain plays as their basic plays and practiced them a lot.  Doesn't mean that wasn't done last year or the year before.  It simply means that Lubick knows what plays HE thinks are the basic plays for this year.
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Could also mean that now that they have the personnel they want at receiver (bigger guys, willing blockers, etc.) they can actually build in some of their go to options they might have lacked last year. 

 
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84HuskerLaw said:
Hm.  So, is this an admission that the staff didnt know what their basic plays were before Lubick?  What does this mean?   I remain optimistic but it is troubling to keep reading the same sorts of simplify and pare down the schemes.  Especially with third year starting QB and returning RB and O line.  New receivers I get but hopefully the offense is getting improved and more difficult to defend not easier?   
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You're taking this to be a negative that our coaches didn't know what they were doing or were incompetent to this point. But I think the quote more meant that they are just going to try to have a different style of playcalling that hammers concepts that are working as opposed to the more grab-bag philosophy we've seen the last two years. Grab-bag can work; Andy Reid just won a Super Bowl and ripped apart the Ravens doing it. But there's also something to be said for just running a play until a defense stops it and then hitting them with your counters when they do. That's all Verdu meant, I think.

 
J-MAGIC said:
But there's also something to be said for just running a play until a defense stops it and then hitting them with your counters when they do.
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Yep. And for anybody who follows football closely like the majority of us that post on here this is obvious, but you can't do that until you have at least decent line play.

Doesn't matter whether we're talking about your bread & butter plays being rushing or passing plays; have to block in order to get to that point where you run a couple plays over and over until the defense stops it.

Last year when defenses blitzed us (which was probably the majority of the time) we just looked fairly bad.

 
One plus to having OSU first is we get to

run our new and improved, but simplified, basic offense without their staff getting film to game prep.  Future opponents may have that edge but with more time, maybe throw new/alternate basic plays weekly.  ?  

 
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