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Veteran presence a positive on defense
By Jon Nyatawa
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN — Nebraska's defensive coordinator spent his game weeks in 2008 studying opponents' film, trying to pinpoint every possible scenario his players might face on Saturday.
Carl Pelini wasn't comfortable leaving anything to chance. He prepared the Huskers for it all. Otherwise, he feared, they'd pay on the field.
“We've always felt, as a staff, a lot of pressure to show our guys everything,” Pelini said.
While there is still plenty of coaching going on, the players, it seems, are showing the ability to take care of a lot of things on their own.
The veterans in the defensive secondary especially have developed such a solid grasp of the concepts of NU's defensive system that they're no longer reliant on coach-led tutorials to feel comfortable against opposing offenses.
“Experience is invaluable,” Pelini said. “There's so much communication going on … (There are) things that weren't happening three years ago that now they're to the point where it's like having assistant coaches out there. They're adjusting to things on the fly.”
Rewind to last weekend. There was a second-down play where Washington seemed to have set up a desirable mismatch for its top receiver, lining up Jermaine Kearse opposite a young Nebraska linebacker.
But as soon as a Husky running back motioned out of the backfield, indicating a likely passing situation, Prince Amukamara instinctively flip-flopped positions with linebacker Lavonte David. Advantage eliminated.
Seconds later, when the quick slant pass arrived, Amukamara was right on Kearse's hip, able to easily smack the ball away. David never argued.
“Our whole secondary's going to play in the NFL,” David said. “When I started to get reps with them, I realized, man, they take a lot of pressure off me.”
Nebraska's stinginess on defense is not just because of the defensive backs, though.
Sure, the secondary can be difficult to read — the Huskers typically play a matchup zone that can sometimes be mistaken for man-to-man coverage. They often jump a quarterback's primary reads, knowing that safety help will prevent the big play.
But the defensive line factors into it all, too. Its gap-clogging responsibilities can sometimes create the illusion to a quarterback that time's running out.
“You'll see guys step into a sack, not because the pressure's great,” Pelini said, “but because he just feels the pocket collapsing, people are covered and he just steps into our arms.”
Take Jake Locker's final interception Saturday. Had the Washington quarterback utilized the extra split-second he appeared to have in the pocket, maybe he would have realized that Alfonzo Dennard had position on his outside receiver and that he needed to deliver the pass to a different spot.
That's not easy to recognize, though, and partly why so many offenses have stalled against the NU defensive approach.
The players, already well-schooled, are showing they can roll with the changes thrown at them.
“If they give us something new, they just apply their roles and it's OK,” Pelini said. “We weren't there last year, even at the end of the year. We certainly weren't there year one. I feel like we're starting to get there.”
Veteran presence a positive on defense
By Jon Nyatawa
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN — Nebraska's defensive coordinator spent his game weeks in 2008 studying opponents' film, trying to pinpoint every possible scenario his players might face on Saturday.
Carl Pelini wasn't comfortable leaving anything to chance. He prepared the Huskers for it all. Otherwise, he feared, they'd pay on the field.
“We've always felt, as a staff, a lot of pressure to show our guys everything,” Pelini said.
While there is still plenty of coaching going on, the players, it seems, are showing the ability to take care of a lot of things on their own.
The veterans in the defensive secondary especially have developed such a solid grasp of the concepts of NU's defensive system that they're no longer reliant on coach-led tutorials to feel comfortable against opposing offenses.
“Experience is invaluable,” Pelini said. “There's so much communication going on … (There are) things that weren't happening three years ago that now they're to the point where it's like having assistant coaches out there. They're adjusting to things on the fly.”
Rewind to last weekend. There was a second-down play where Washington seemed to have set up a desirable mismatch for its top receiver, lining up Jermaine Kearse opposite a young Nebraska linebacker.
But as soon as a Husky running back motioned out of the backfield, indicating a likely passing situation, Prince Amukamara instinctively flip-flopped positions with linebacker Lavonte David. Advantage eliminated.
Seconds later, when the quick slant pass arrived, Amukamara was right on Kearse's hip, able to easily smack the ball away. David never argued.
“Our whole secondary's going to play in the NFL,” David said. “When I started to get reps with them, I realized, man, they take a lot of pressure off me.”
Nebraska's stinginess on defense is not just because of the defensive backs, though.
Sure, the secondary can be difficult to read — the Huskers typically play a matchup zone that can sometimes be mistaken for man-to-man coverage. They often jump a quarterback's primary reads, knowing that safety help will prevent the big play.
But the defensive line factors into it all, too. Its gap-clogging responsibilities can sometimes create the illusion to a quarterback that time's running out.
“You'll see guys step into a sack, not because the pressure's great,” Pelini said, “but because he just feels the pocket collapsing, people are covered and he just steps into our arms.”
Take Jake Locker's final interception Saturday. Had the Washington quarterback utilized the extra split-second he appeared to have in the pocket, maybe he would have realized that Alfonzo Dennard had position on his outside receiver and that he needed to deliver the pass to a different spot.
That's not easy to recognize, though, and partly why so many offenses have stalled against the NU defensive approach.
The players, already well-schooled, are showing they can roll with the changes thrown at them.
“If they give us something new, they just apply their roles and it's OK,” Pelini said. “We weren't there last year, even at the end of the year. We certainly weren't there year one. I feel like we're starting to get there.”
