What's Up With Our D?

H

huskermaniac

Three-Star Recruit
I want to start by saying I could not be happier with the transformation our D has undergone under Pelini. Our future is VERY bright!

My topic however, is about the number of yards that opposing teams seam to get against us. On the other hand, they simply cannot convert those yards into points. Is our defense a "bend but don't break" defense? How do they seem to come up with a turnover or big play when they really need it? Is it luck? Is it coaching?

 
Its a great D. Some coaches have figured out a few week spots, some times we can just say our D has tired legs, and other times, just great plays with the ball put in just the right spot against our D....over all, we have a great D! Our Offense is a different story.

 
um...when your offense is glorified for having a 7 minute drive...when your offense completes 3 of 10 third downs...these yardages are not a by product of your d giving up unreasonable numbers, but rather that the other team has so many damn opportunities. in the words of about every single smack talker that has ever lived, scoreboard.

 
The surprising thing is the D is holding the opposing teams on a whole to about 150 yards below their average.

While I wish the defense was up to 3 and out caliber they are not there yet. Coach Pelini says it will get better and I think it will. The longer players are in his system the more it will be second nature and they will start to dominate. Some people call it a Bend not Break D. I think it could also be called Rope a Dope D. Our offense isn't capable so the D has to take most of the blows for the sake of the team. That is fine this year. But I hope to see them shutting the other teams down next year.

 
BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA said:
The surprising thing is the D is holding the opposing teams on a whole to about 150 yards below their average.

While I wish the defense was up to 3 and out caliber they are not there yet. Coach Pelini says it will get better and I think it will. The longer players are in his system the more it will be second nature and they will start to dominate. Some people call it a Bend not Break D. I think it could also be called Rope a Dope D. Our offense isn't capable so the D has to take most of the blows for the sake of the team. That is fine this year. But I hope to see them shutting the other teams down next year.
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exactly, in a sense. im not so sure they arent the 3 and out caliber. the first quarter spells that out. if we had an offense that could spare them just 2 more possessions a game...oh man. this D is carrying this team. a literal, he's not heavy, he's my handicapped brother type of carry. have you ever actually watched how tired Suh and Co. are at times when they come off the field? i mean, compared to the glory days when we rotated the d-line like it was a valentinos pizza buffet, these guys are on the field fighting like hell, with not the chance to even have that kind of relief. they have to play balls out the entire game.

 
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mmmtodd said:
BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA said:
The surprising thing is the D is holding the opposing teams on a whole to about 150 yards below their average.

While I wish the defense was up to 3 and out caliber they are not there yet. Coach Pelini says it will get better and I think it will. The longer players are in his system the more it will be second nature and they will start to dominate. Some people call it a Bend not Break D. I think it could also be called Rope a Dope D. Our offense isn't capable so the D has to take most of the blows for the sake of the team. That is fine this year. But I hope to see them shutting the other teams down next year.
Click to expand...

exactly, in a sense. im not so sure they arent the 3 and out caliber. the first quarter spells that out. if we had an offense that could spare them just 2 more possessions a game...oh man. this D is carrying this team. a literal, he's not heavy, he's my handicapped brother type of carry. have you ever actually watched how tired Suh and Co. are at times when they come off the field? i mean, compared to the glory days when we rotated the d-line like it was a valentinos pizza buffet, these guys are on the field fighting like hell, with not the chance to even have that kind of relief. they have to play balls out the entire game.
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yes, I'm proud of their gladiator efforts. :bonez

 
Did they have any sacks today?

Saw em in the backfield a lot. They can't seem to get off blocks. The last two plays of the game were sick.

 
some of the no calls on holding against our 'd' today was disgusting, what is it to even the playing field or something. their 'd' is so much better than your o-line, what the heck, it is only fair to let you hold. this is not golf, there are no handicaps.

 
The Snork said:
Did they have any sacks today?

Saw em in the backfield a lot. They can't seem to get off blocks. The last two plays of the game were sick.
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We had pulled our starters at that point, and there were 8000 holding no calls. We were actually chanting "holding" from the NU section.

Our DT's job is to eat up blocks so others can make plays. That's why it is even more amazing that they have such stellar numbers.

 
huskermaniac said:
I want to start by saying I could not be happier with the transformation our D has undergone under Pelini. Our future is VERY bright!

Actually I'm a little worried about next year's D. The defense without Suh is scary. But I haven't been impressed with Will Compton and Sean Fisher at all, so the loss of Phil Dillard is going to be a real issue.

In defense of the defense, our defensive success could be part of the reason for a tired D. The D works hard, forces the punt, Niles Paul returns it for a touch, and the D is right back out there. Then we get the pick-six from O'Hanlon and the D is right back out there.

The announcers were all about possession minutes and number of plays, but the punt return and the pick-six were scores off of the Buffs possessions, and the offense doesn't see the field.
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Well as some have touched on our offense isn't necessarily helping our defense out by going 3 and out all the time. The defense starts to get gassed by the end of the game and I think that's when you see teams start putting some yards on us. Our defense is great, but not fantastic, we still have some weak spots in the middle of the defense and break down on the outside at times. Our defensive line is getting held so much it's ridiculous, but we can't use that as an excuse. The refs just need to pull their heads out of their arses and that's not going to happen anytime soon.

 
BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA said:
The surprising thing is the D is holding the opposing teams on a whole to about 150 yards below their average.

While I wish the defense was up to 3 and out caliber they are not there yet. Coach Pelini says it will get better and I think it will. The longer players are in his system the more it will be second nature and they will start to dominate. Some people call it a Bend not Break D. I think it could also be called Rope a Dope D. Our offense isn't capable so the D has to take most of the blows for the sake of the team. That is fine this year. But I hope to see them shutting the other teams down next year.
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At least our offense is up to 3 and out caliber!

 
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