What will our defense be good at this season?

Mierin

Mierin

Assistant Coach
I stole this idea from @TGHusker‘s topic, because I think it’s a good topic on its own.

I have low expectations for the defense based on last year, but I expect them to improve enough for us to win a lot of games. 

The thing I can see us being good at or maybe even great at is causing turnovers. Chinander’s defenses at UCF were good at this and as the season went on last year we got better at it. I’m hoping that carries over and starts from game 1 this season.

One reason I expect improvement is because we didn’t lose much. We lost Gifford, but for the DL we didn’t lose anyone who wasn’t injured (Mick) most of the season or who made a lot of disruptive plays (I don’t remember hearing Freedom’s name much), so at the very least I don’t see us getting worse. Also we’re another year removed from Diaco so that has to help.

I also have to imagine we’re more improved physically which can’t hurt.

 
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All three primary units (line, linebackers, secondary) were pretty much embarrassingly bad in 10 out of 12 games.

If the "2018 Colorado game/Ohio State game Chinander" scheme shows up most Saturdays and brings aggressive blitzing, then I think our linebackers are the strongest unit. If he goes soft/conservative then I think that Bootle & Jackson will probably stand out the most.

There are huge question marks at safety and defensive line. The returning guys on the line aren't particularly strong nor talented, as much as that makes me sound like a total douchebag to say. Darrion Daniels ups the level for that unit but it's hard to say whether his inclusion gets us just up to "average" or whether "good" is attainable. The thing is that it's really up to Chinander to blitz his linebackers - something that he confusingly refused to do for the majority of the season. It was especially bad against Purdue.

 
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Moiraine I agree on the causing turnover.  That was my pick on the poll question about the D.  I think we will be much better at swarming to the ball and causing havoc in large part because the guys will be more at ease in the D - they won't have to think so much, just act and react.  But on top of that - one more year of S&C and one year of buying into the aggressive mindset - I think this will be the difference.  Mo Barry will be a monster plus we get Will Honas back from injury who I think will have a break out year.  Having our new DT from Okla State, Darrion Daniels,  upfront will play dividends by freeing up the rush ends also & inside LBs to wreak havoc.  I think he will be a lot to handle in the middle.

 
Undone said:
All three primary units (line, linebackers, secondary) were pretty much embarrassingly bad in 10 out of 12 games.

If the "2018 Colorado game/Ohio State game Chinander" scheme shows up most Saturdays and brings aggressive blitzing, then I think our linebackers are the strongest unit. If he goes soft/conservative then I think that Bootle & Jackson will probably stand out the most.

There are huge question marks at safety and defensive line. The returning guys on the line aren't particularly strong nor talented, as much as that makes me sound like a total douchebag to say. Darrion Daniels ups the level for that unit but it's hard to say whether his inclusion gets us just up to "average" or whether "good" is attainable. The thing is that it's really up to Chinander to blitz his linebackers - something that he confusingly refused to do for the majority of the season. It was especially bad against Purdue.
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I forgot about Tre Neal. That could be important. 

 
Moiraine said:
I forgot about Tre Neal. That could be important. 
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What is important? That dude was not good....

We need to be better at stopping the run. We are in the B10 West facing Wisconsin, Iowa, Purdue, Minnesota, and Illinois. The demographics will show that being better upfront is 2x as important. The Davis twins are now SRs, we got a good grad transfer in Daniels, Stille has seen a lot of PT, Green, Neal, and Thomas to go behind them. It's time to make a push 

 
BIG ERN said:
What is important? That dude was not good....
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He was good enough to start for us, and we have an unknown replacing him. I’m not terribly worried about it but he was a bigger loss than Mick (due to him not playing much) or Freedom in my opinion, and our DL seems deeper. 

 
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I don't think the defensive coaches get enough credit for the improvement we did see last year. Last years D improved from 118th in completion percentage in 2017 to 33rd in 2018. They also ended up 12th in takeaway opportunities after the second half of the year. They didn't end up in the turnovers, but I think that changes in 2019 and we see a big jump in take aways. https://hailvarsity.com/s/7245/hot-reads-revisiting-the-huskers-defensive-punch-list-from-2018

So, I think this defense is going to be good at stopping the pass even if the pass rush only improves marginally. I also think they are going to be good at taking away the football. The defensive line was really bad last year so, even improving to middle of the pack will make a massive difference on D. I think adding Daniels and pushing Carlos back to DE makes a big difference along with a year of S&C and the line play improves a lot in stopping the run.

 
Hey, I just wanna see stops on 3rd and 10+ yards. I listened to most games last year on the radio, and I lost count of how many times I heard something to the effect of "It's 3rd and 14. Here's the snap, QB drops back, looking, looking, throws it...and it's complete for a first down".

 
WyoHusker56 said:
I don't think the defensive coaches get enough credit for the improvement we did see last year.
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I think you're partially correct for sure. Our cornerbacks definitely took to the coaching as the season went on.

Some guys just played poorly for most of the year; Dedrick Young, Antonio Reed, and honestly our entire defensive line should probably be mentioned there.

I think I see where a distinction needs to be made: A lot on this forum are hesitant to blame Chinander for poor play because of the dynamic of Year 1 changes and all of that. To an extent that is perfectly fair. Where I blame Chinander is for scheme issues that he is directly responsible for. I thought sure we were going to be aggressive after the Colorado game, and then that scheme went dormant pretty much until we played Ohio State. He is not immune to criticism there last year and he won't be this year, either.

 
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Undone said:
I think you're partially correct for sure. Our cornerbacks definitely took to the coaching as the season went on.

Some guys just played poorly for most of the year; Dedrick Young, Antonio Reed, and honestly our entire defensive line should probably be mentioned there.

I think I see where a distinction needs to be made: A lot on this forum are hesitant to blame Chinander for poor play because of the dynamic of Year 1 changes and all of that. To an extent that is perfectly fair. Where I blame Chinander is for scheme issues that he is directly responsible for. I thought sure we were going to be aggressive after the Colorado game, and then that scheme went dormant pretty much until we played Ohio State. He is not immune to criticism there last year and he won't be this year, either.
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I think that is a totally fair criticism. There was some head scratching defensive calls for sure. My hope is Chin is a smart guy who can learn from his mistakes in the off season and adjust to the B1G. I think that'll help as much as other improvements. 

 
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