Rich Fisher

[lo country]

Kaczenski is still out for a verdict, he had a solid resume from Iowa, but the D-line has been a weak point all season so far.

I CANNOT be the only one that thinks we just don't have the horses on the DL right now...

It's not Kaz's fault. He inherited our weakest defensive unit from last year and we just don't have the players right now.

Cam has been mediocre all year (good to see him finally do something last game), Baker's an All-American OT, All-Conference DT playing defense.

Anrkah and Rome are only non-frosh I see having a shot to be studs in the future. The frosh-- VV, Curry, Moss, and McMullen-- have good potential and could turn the line into a strength of the D in the future.

Speaking of which, not to threadjack, but McMullen has been MIA as far as getting shout outs so far this year. I know he's redshirting, but does anybody have any info how he's looked? He was our most hyped DL recruit last year.

In this scheme, a weak D line spells disaster. The OL gets to the second level on our LB's often and this makes it hard to stop a strong rushing attack. Even Bama would have issues if opposing teams got to their second level. Hard for a 230 lb LB to go toe to toe with a 300lb OL with a 3-5 yrd head start. It also makes the secondary play very hard. We have seen time and time again the need to blitz or rush more to get pressure, but Bo often seems content to rush 4. Prince, Haag, Gomes etc... couldn't cover receivers for 10 seconds. Even Pro Bowl DB's can't. It all starts up front with getting pressure and plugging up the OL to allow the LB's to scrape and make plays.

I really liked seeing us in more Peso this past week with Evans and Cooper. Great in run support and more speed to cover the RB's out of the backfield. This will allow us more flexibility to disguise blitzes and actually get speed to tee-off on the QB's. This would help take pressure off the DL and allow them to "contain". I think that Bo realized that the Big XII D will stuff this supposed power league in the B1G. A RB or QB might get a few more yards, but speed kills. It did against us for years until we went speed on speed. Then 3 MNC's........

If we continue to keep the 2 gap, we need the horses up front. Been beat to death, but McBride has mentioned previously the 2 gap is great if you have the horses. If not, well it is hard. Kaz, IMO, is not working with a lot with our current seniors. the fresh/soph look promising, but have seen little playing time. Seeing Cam move inside to a quicker DT instead of a slower DE seemed to work. IMO, Bo realizes he has issues and is trying to do something. Triage stop gap if you will. Try to eek out the next 5 wins, much like the offensive shell we went into in 2009. Patchwork D and try to let the O carry the load.

Agreed totally. +1.

Cam and Baker have given their all, but they need to go. The future up front is in our youth, and we need to make our #1 recruiting priority DL IMO.

Our lack of ability to recruit a star DT (or even a great JUCO one) still disturbs me. I just don't get it...

After SUH, I thought we would be turning guys away to play DL, but agree the lack of guys really trying to come here is baffling. SUH, Dorsey etc are 2 guys that IMO, Bo had a direct influence in their careers.

 

[Danny Bateman]

Lo, a question just came into my head...

Do you think Bo thinks like we do? As in, "Dear Lord, I need to get some much better DT's and much more athletic DE's to Lincoln if I want to win championships?"

Or does he think we're fine with what we've got? I like VV and Curry as much as anybody. Heck, even Kevin Williams as well. I think Chase could be great in the future.

But dang it, we need some horses on dat dere DL.

 

[skersfan]

The reason SEC dominates, according to every single coach is that they have the strongest lines period. You can not win on a National level with out them. I do not know how we get there, but that should be our main goal every single year. The big uglies are the key to winning and to keep winning. Our lines have not been good, even when Clownahan was here we should have had better.

I really do not think the ones mention stack up against a top 5 SEC team, most likely not their third teams. We have a lot of work to do in recruiting and coaching.

I hope we win this weekend, Michigan is at least thought to be half assed good.

 

[lo country]

Lo, a question just came into my head...

Do you think Bo thinks like we do? As in, "Dear Lord, I need to get some much better DT's and much more athletic DE's to Lincoln if I want to win championships?"

Or does he think we're fine with what we've got? I like VV and Curry as much as anybody. Heck, even Kevin Williams as well. I think Chase could be great in the future.

But dang it, we need some horses on dat dere DL.

I truly think Bo knows we have issues. I think that is evident with the guys he has recruited like the ones you mentioned above. I also like that we have started to get Santos more action (speed). Seeing us run more Peso also gives me hope that he is trying to do whatever it is to get us the wins much like we did by going into an offensive shell in 2009 and letting the D carry the team.

Bo was at LSU. He has seen first hand what is needed to dominate. He coached SUH and saw again how one guy, a DT, can change the entire outcome of a game.

He hired Kaz to get a guy with first hand experience to coach the DL. He has also hired some very inexperienced guys in key positions on D namely Paps and Els. That doesn't help in the short term, BUT if the administration is patient and the guys pan out in the future we are solid. IMO, it means several more seasons of what we have seen the past few years. Beat the bottom feeders, lose one we shouldn't and get blown out by an equal or possibly "better" team. I think that Bo also knows that in the off season he might have to let a friend or two go in order to get us where we need to get to sooner than later. The thing about hiring guys with no proven track record is you are going on gut instinct, perception of their skills and a whole lot of luck.

 

[FriendlyLurker2007]

I hope Rich Fisher sticks around awhile imo he has done an amazing job!!

 

[Creighton Duke]

I agree some what, but these were top recruits, which in the receiving corps we normally do not get. I give a lot of credit to the players, and will wait to see what he does with the next batch, before I say any are good enough.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/nebraska/football/recruiting/player-Kenny-Bell-96051 67th WR

http://rivals.yahoo.com/nebraska/football/recruiting/player-Quincy-Enunwa-104528 63rd WR

http://rivals.yahoo.com/texas/football/recruiting/player-Jamal-Turner-94910 7th Dual-threat QB

http://rivals.yahoo.com/footballrecruiting/football/recruiting/player-Tim-Marlowe-76697 5.1 Rivals Rating

Not exactly "top recruits". Mad props to Fisher (Rich, not Sean)

 

[ADS]

Enunwa had UCLA and Cal coming after him hard on signing day, while Kenny Bell came from a school that never produced top talent. Jamal on the other hand was recruited as a WR by every school besides Nebraska, one of the main reasons he chose us is because we were willing to give him a shot a QB.

 

[Creighton Duke]

Enunwa had UCLA and Cal coming after him hard on signing day, while Kenny Bell came from a school that never produced top talent. Jamal on the other hand was recruited as a WR by every school besides Nebraska, one of the main reasons he chose us is because we were willing to give him a shot a QB.

I see what you're saying, but I still wouldn't call these guys "top recruits". Solid, but not top. When I think of top recruits from HS, I think of Robert Woods, AJ Green, Julio Jones, etc. The Husker WR's are more akin to Justin Blackmon with where they were rated and how they have/potentially will produce...which I am more than fine with!

 

[ADS]

Enunwa had UCLA and Cal coming after him hard on signing day, while Kenny Bell came from a school that never produced top talent. Jamal on the other hand was recruited as a WR by every school besides Nebraska, one of the main reasons he chose us is because we were willing to give him a shot a QB.

I see what you're saying, but I still wouldn't call these guys "top recruits". Solid, but not top. When I think of top recruits from HS, I think of Robert Woods, AJ Green, Julio Jones, etc. The Husker WR's are more akin to Justin Blackmon with where they were rated and how they have/potentially will produce...which I am more than fine with!

Those three are the ebst to ever to come out of HS. Unfair to compare other recruits to them, I do agree that Justin Blackmon types are great. But are very hard to come by, and rare to see a kid flourish like that.

 

[Creighton Duke]

Enunwa had UCLA and Cal coming after him hard on signing day, while Kenny Bell came from a school that never produced top talent. Jamal on the other hand was recruited as a WR by every school besides Nebraska, one of the main reasons he chose us is because we were willing to give him a shot a QB.

I see what you're saying, but I still wouldn't call these guys "top recruits". Solid, but not top. When I think of top recruits from HS, I think of Robert Woods, AJ Green, Julio Jones, etc. The Husker WR's are more akin to Justin Blackmon with where they were rated and how they have/potentially will produce...which I am more than fine with!

Those three are the ebst to ever to come out of HS. Unfair to compare other recruits to them, I do agree that Justin Blackmon types are great. But are very hard to come by, and rare to see a kid flourish like that.

Yeah, you're right; those are probably pretty extreme examples, but I think you see where I'm coming from. Guys that are getting interest from mid-level PAC-12 teams aren't what I would refer to as "top recruits". Who knows, though; what if Bell had gone to a school with an offense like OSU the past few years? Maybe he would be Blackmon 2 (minus, like, the .3-whatever BAC).