Whats up with the D-line?

HuskerBill85 said:
Only 12 sacks the whole year when do we see Ankrah get more playing time?
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I don't know what their deal is,I think that they are just supposed to keep gap responsibility and containment so that the linebackers have clear lanes to make the tackles.It really sucks that we are 119th in the country when it comes to tackles for loss.

 
Its really not too much the lines fault as much as the scheme. We play a 2 gap read scheme. This doesn't allow our lineman to just bow up and rush hard. I do wish Bo would call up some full out pass rushes on obvious passing downs especially when QB is not a threat to run.

However, I do still think Bo expected more push into the backfield from our front four this year than they have gotten. I really think Crick needs another year to improve and get stronger and hope he stays. Look at the jump Suh made from junior to senior year. And obviously stein and meredith need more time. I think we will be better at pierres spot next year with some more maturity for our young DEs.

 
The defense is just not elite this year. I think most of us figured that would mean, "Okay, we're going to be Top 15." I think we may not even be that. And not even about the rankings, but fundamentally there seems to be a huge drop-off this year with the loss of 4 key cogs on D. We'd do alright if we had all of those guys back, but reality is we don't.

Last year we counted on the D to win us games. This year, it looks like we will have to count on the O. And if the O doesn't deliver - then we could be stuck, because the D won't be there to make the critical stops when they need to.

That said, I hope the team will get revved up by the end of the year and pull out of this rut. We'll need it because you can hardly expect the O to deliver week in, week out yet against anybody.

 
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Last year, the defense had 1 bad game - Texas Tech. This year, the defense has had one bad game - Oklahoma State.

Be patient, Husker fans. We've made it through the first two weeks of October, and this is about the time of year when Bo Pelini's teams catch fire.

 
zoogies said:
The defense is just not elite this year. I think most of us figured that would mean, "Okay, we're going to be Top 15." I think we may not even be that. And not even about the rankings, but fundamentally there seems to be a huge drop-off this year with the loss of 4 key cogs on D. We'd do alright if we had all of those guys back, but reality is we don't.

Last year we counted on the D to win us games. This year, it looks like we will have to count on the O. And if the O doesn't deliver - then we could be stuck, because the D won't be there to make the critical stops when they need to.

That said, I hope the team will get revved up by the end of the year and pull out of this rut. We'll need it because you can hardly expect the O to deliver week in, week out yet against anybody.
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The Defense won us the SDSU game... that's not saying much though.

 
I'm not sure if that game was terrible or anything. They had a very high powered offense, and scored 24 points on 259 total yards. But it was the most exposed the D was last year. I think this year, we've seen systematic DL/safety issues that haven't disappeared...in addition to LB growing pains. Really I think we are relying a lot on Prince/Dennard/Hagg, those three definitely the centerpiece of this D. Of course last year, there were LB issues that were fixed after Dillard came in. Agreed that there should be patience, but maybe we should temper the expectations too for the D, and not start hanging Pelini out to dry if they don't exactly live up to the standard we got used to last year.

 
Zoogies your posts make me depressed. I agree that our D-line is average at best but we still have an elite secondary and good linebackers.

 
I almost think we should try a 3-3-5 against Missouri. Not scrapping the whole system but just a different formation with similar concepts. The DL absolutely couldn't get off blocks in the run game against OSU. So we had them running it straight at us, all four lineman being held in place and our LBs being forced to either make brilliant plays or Hunter getting to the next level like nothing.

A pass rush with the DL will not happen against Mizzou because their whole offense is about getting the ball off quickly, plus we don't really have a passrusher save a few flashes from Meredith. Why not put 3 down lineman and let Compton, David and Hagg (or Martin with Hagg at SS) fly around to fill gaps? At least then we have a chance of confusing an o-lineman and slipping someone into the backfield to tackle the RB.

I'm not saying this will magically shut down their offense, but I think it gives us hope of making some plays that we aren't making with the "Let's Sit in Our Base Nickel/Dime/Peso and Pretend We Still Have Suh" defense. Because if we get into a shootout and allow 500 yards and/or 40 points to Mizzou, we'll lose and probably by a lot. Unlike the Pokes, they actually play a little defense.

 
Crap happens.

We have bad games. TO had bad games.

Anyone remember Daunte Culpepper and the numbers he put up on NU's D? 318 passing yards and 24 points.

Then we had Wyoming in 1994, threw for 344 yards and 32 points.

 
I think they are playing to their strengths which is the secondary, the only thing that hurts is that you give up big plays up the middle. It does not seem like they blitz too often either. Still believe that OSU is the best offense we face this year, not a knock on Mizzou, but I think the D will slow them down better and be forced to go to the run. Biggest thing will be to get to Gabberts confidence early and make adjustments to Mizzou short game.

 
Hercules said:
Last year, the defense had 1 bad game - Texas Tech. This year, the defense has had one bad game - Oklahoma State.

Be patient, Husker fans. We've made it through the first two weeks of October, and this is about the time of year when Bo Pelini's teams catch fire.
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Although we didn't have a great first half, our second half D did extremely well. I also would not take anything away from the OSU offense. Hunter and Blackmon are flat out playmakers. Contain - thats what we did in the second half.

 
JTrain said:
I almost think we should try a 3-3-5 against Missouri. Not scrapping the whole system but just a different formation with similar concepts. The DL absolutely couldn't get off blocks in the run game against OSU. So we had them running it straight at us, all four lineman being held in place and our LBs being forced to either make brilliant plays or Hunter getting to the next level like nothing.

A pass rush with the DL will not happen against Mizzou because their whole offense is about getting the ball off quickly, plus we don't really have a passrusher save a few flashes from Meredith. Why not put 3 down lineman and let Compton, David and Hagg (or Martin with Hagg at SS) fly around to fill gaps? At least then we have a chance of confusing an o-lineman and slipping someone into the backfield to tackle the RB.

I'm not saying this will magically shut down their offense, but I think it gives us hope of making some plays that we aren't making with the "Let's Sit in Our Base Nickel/Dime/Peso and Pretend We Still Have Suh" defense. Because if we get into a shootout and allow 500 yards and/or 40 points to Mizzou, we'll lose and probably by a lot. Unlike the Pokes, they actually play a little defense.
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Ironic for sure. Before the season if you would have told me I would be most worried about our D against misery, I would have given you chapter and verse why that was not the case. Sadly our D is not elite, not good, more likely a little below average. I think OUs defense is just about average, but a little stronger than ours overall.

If we go to the 3-3-5, I think Misery will run worse than they did against ou. If we play three or four up front, I don't see us getting pressure on Gabby. Ou never got him to hurry and covered the short stuff really well, but were devastated when receivers faked a stop and then took off on their route deep in the middle.g No D back can stop an accurate qb if you give him five or six seconds with five targets. They are now good enough to find and hit the open man. In the Illinois game I thoght Gabbert had happy feet. I didn't see that against ou.

J

I think the best shot is a myriad of blitzes with a lot of movement before the snap to disguise. Hope to get to Gabbert or the rb on their slow developing running plays behind the Los. Get him hit a couple times and restore the happy feet or cause a turnover. Sure you might give up a big play, but otherwise you will be nibbled to death by a duck IMO.

Our straight up D has neither the speed or strength to get it done.

 
Honestly I'm not all that surprised about how our Dline has played thus far. The first indication I had that we wouldn't be nearly as good without Suh was how the Dline played way back in the spring game. Not much has changed since then. We never pin our ears back b/c that's not how the D is designed to work, but they're supposed to get a big push on the Oline to collapse the pocket, and that's not happening either, at least not as quickly as we need it to.

At the same time, the Dline has done well enough to aid in shutting down solid passing QBs like Locker, Enderle and Gilbert (debatable I know). And we'll definitely need that against Gabbert.

 
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