Was Offense to blame for Defensive woes?

[Guy Chamberlin]

Well the article and this thread are based on people not blaming the offense enough this year, and my experience has been just the opposite. I think the the Martinez decline, the musical chairs at RB, and Frost's questionable playcalling have dominated the conversation.

Somebody earlier said that Nebraska in the Glory Days didn't have a lights out defense either, but that's not true. During that 40 year run there were almost always a Top 20 scoring defense, often a Top 10, and a few memorable Top 5s. The Blackshirts gave up anywhere from 8 points to 18 points a game, 14 ppg in Solich's last year and 10 ppg in Pelini's 2nd. That will give any offense a wide berth.

And it's a far cry from giving up 30 points a game, and why whittling it down to 28 this year doesn't feel like a difference maker. 

The real difference is that it's easier to imagine a replacement for Chinander, than it is for Frost. 

 

[4skers89]

Here's one. The Total Offense ranking of this year's opponents.

Ohio State   #1

Indiana  #34

Wisconsin  #36

Minnesota  #49

                              (Nebraska #58)

Purdue  #79

Colorado  #84

Iowa  #98

N. Illinois  #105

Maryland  #108

South Alabama  #113

Illinois   #119

Northwestern  #124

There are a lot of reasons for Nebraska's disappointing season. Scott Frost not running Mills enough isn't one of them. 

Our 5 wins were against the 5 worst offenses which were all very bad.  Not sure what to make of that other than our defense wasn't good enough to win games by itself.  In other words, we weren't a team where even with an anemic offense the defense was good enough to still win.

 

[lo country]

Man, they both are to blame.  An special teams....It's impossible to lay the blame on one or the other.....Our D "improved", but as @4skers89 mentioned, look at the offenses of those we beat......Not exactly world beaters.  Our O was just as bad with an almost complete inability to score in the red zone......

If we want to hang this on Chin, gotta hang it on Frost for the same reason....Both (all phases) need too drastically improve.  The schedule next year is rough.  2021 is brutal.....And next year, the D will have a lot of new faces.....

 

[Igetbored216]

Man, they both are to blame.  An special teams....It's impossible to lay the blame on one or the other.....Our D "improved", but as @4skers89 mentioned, look at the offenses of those we beat......Not exactly world beaters.  Our O was just as bad with an almost complete inability to score in the red zone......

If we want to hang this on Chin, gotta hang it on Frost for the same reason....Both (all phases) need too drastically improve.  The schedule next year is rough.  2021 is brutal.....And next year, the D will have a lot of new phases.....

Yep. Both. The answer is both. And special teams. I would add to my post, but you did a good job summarizing my thoughts. Hopefully the drastic improvement happens

 

[macroboy]

The real difference is that it's easier to imagine a replacement for Chinander, than it is for Frost. 

I've been a member of huskerboard for over a decade. This might be the most true thing I've ever seen.

 

[junior4949]

It was also easier to imagine a replacement for McBride over TO.  It doesn't make it make any more sense.  Coordinators are coordinators.  Venables was forced out at OU after 13 seasons.  He goes to Clemson and wins 2 NCs as DCoordinator.  How many has OU won since his departure?  I'm not saying Chinander is great, but I'm also not willing to throw the towel in on him either.  I'd like to see him get his 5 years. 

 

[TheSker]

Man, they both are to blame.  An special teams....It's impossible to lay the blame on one or the other.....Our D "improved", but as @4skers89 mentioned, look at the offenses of those we beat......Not exactly world beaters.  Our O was just as bad with an almost complete inability to score in the red zone......

If we want to hang this on Chin, gotta hang it on Frost for the same reason....Both (all phases) need too drastically improve.  The schedule next year is rough.  2021 is brutal.....And next year, the D will have a lot of new faces.....

If a few of those faces can get to the quarterback, and most of them can tackle, defensive improvement will be significant 

 

[BigPeterJ]

Chinander's brand of football is to blame for the defensive showing

I couldn't disagree more.  Our LBs are to blame for the poor defensive showing.  And there is a lot more truth to our offense hurting our defense than is ever talked about on here.  Frost has mentioned it so he isn't hiding from it, but it seems many fans on here dont recognize how that works, or just dont want to admit it.  I think many fans want to deflect blame off of Frost cause of who he is.  But Chin is just Chin, nobody knows the guy that well, so he is a good scapegoat. 

I think it is very telling that our defense was better than our offense this year, yet we hear more people complaining about the defense than we do the offense.  

 

[lo country]

If a few of those faces can get to the quarterback, and most of them can tackle, defensive improvement will be significant 

Recruiting is looking good. On both sides.  Hoping we get Manning at WR. He'd be huge.  Literally and figuratively.  About 2 more weeks to lock some guys in.....One "good" DE or dedicated edge rusher would be huge.  It'd make a difference on those passing downs.  Last good one was Gregory?

 

[SFW]

Who was to blame last year for the defense being even worse than this year?  The offense again, I don’t think so.  The offense was way better and the defense still stunk.

 Now the offense stinks and that’s why our defense failed again?  Wait...what??

New Flash!!!!

Our D sucks because we can’t stop the run or rush the passer.  Has nothing to do with offense.  Nice try though.

 

[Packerhuskerfan]

My biggest concern is when the game is on the line and all we need is a stop for OT or the win, can the defense be depended on?  The answer right now is no.  We had a 3rd string QB go in late and drive the length of the field on us.  We had another team with 30 seconds left and multiple ref calls go against their team still get in FG range for the game winner.

 

[Boy of the Corn]

The difference is that frost has had a top ranked offense (in his career) whereas chinander has never had a great defense. Also as far as talent and depth, one could argue we had more talent on defense with guys like lamar jackson, daniels, davis twins, etc than on offense. On offense in addition to youth, we had injuries all over the place and had very little depth. 

I don't think it is fair to give chinander a pass because we slightly improved. If you take a test and get a 50% and then take another test and get 55% you dont congratulate yourself for improving. You fail the course. Same could be said of a couple other assistant coaches.

I think frost may be able to turn around the offense (based on his past success at other programs) but he is still responsible for the whole team. Miniscule improvement isn't going to cut it in any faucet of the game.

 

[Jason Sitoke]

And if we refuse to use the eyeball test, the one where every middling quarterback we faced could stand flatfooted in the pocket waiting to pick and choose his receiver, then let's see if stats can explain our marginal and meaningless defensive improvement. 

Here's one. The Total Offense ranking of this year's opponents.

Ohio State   #1

Indiana  #34

Wisconsin  #36

Minnesota  #49

                              (Nebraska #58)

Purdue  #79

Colorado  #84

Iowa  #98

N. Illinois  #105

Maryland  #108

South Alabama  #113

Illinois   #119

Northwestern  #124

I think you can make the argument that NU played against slightly worse offenses this year than last.  Couple that with the addition of Darrion Daniels...and Barry, Honas, Jackson, Bootle, Davises all one year older and playing in their second season in the system...pardon me if I don’t jump for joy because we now give up 5.61 yards per play rather than 5.8 last year.