Will Compton & Stafford

[robsker]

I did not listen to or watch the game --- missed it --- was fly fishing in Yellowstone all day (caught 85 cutthroat trout).

Anyway, I saw the stats and unless it was a typo Will Compton had 15 tackles and Stafford had nearly 10 --- yet I have read many posts this morning that the LBers (in particular) and Db's looked bad.

How did Compton play? 15 tackles seems impressive. This is a really critical position and Compton must be very solid once we hit B10 play. Is he progressing? Again I missed the game and do not know.

Regarding Stafford --- his numbers looked good. Did he start? If he did not start who was in front of him? Did he play most of the game? How did he look?

Who has been playing the nickel position?

 

[macroboy]

Stafford looked pretty good and did start. Compton and Fischer both look really bad to me. 15 tackles maybe more a result of their RB being st the second level all game. He had 150+ yards I think.

 

[n.e.husker]

They had a few long sustained drives allowing us to make tackles, just not before they got first downs.

Lavonte looked good, but Fisher was non existant IMO. The DBs are playing to soft, i dont know if its by design but its not working and the safetys are often late helping the corners.

The Fresno offense had a lot of quick 3 step dropbacks and roll outs so we were unable to get any pressure on the QB.

 

[flatwaterfan]

I did not listen to or watch the game --- missed it --- was fly fishing in Yellowstone all day (caught 85 cutthroat trout).

Anyway, I saw the stats and unless it was a typo Will Compton had 15 tackles and Stafford had nearly 10 --- yet I have read many posts this morning that the LBers (in particular) and Db's looked bad.

How did Compton play? 15 tackles seems impressive. This is a really critical position and Compton must be very solid once we hit B10 play. Is he progressing? Again I missed the game and do not know.

Regarding Stafford --- his numbers looked good. Did he start? If he did not start who was in front of him? Did he play most of the game? How did he look?

Who has been playing the nickel position?

I am extremely jealous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There were some busts in the secondary. Most concerning were guys getting behind us. I think Compton did okay. His foot may be slowing him a little? Fischer missed some tackles. Our DL was inconsistent at times but they did occupy the line which frees up the LB's. When our LB's do get engaged, they are fast and able to come off blocks, but unfortunately they are not strong and are getting a lot of tackles in pursuit where they are behind the runner as in getting pushed back or they are in pursuit as the runner is in the 2nd level. Our LB's are not always meeting the backs in the holes all the time. We are having trouble covering backs out of the backfield in the passing game still. Stafford is really good in run support. He's still learning coverage. I think he did start and played most of the game. He needs to be out there. Blatchford is playing the nickel. He doesn't make mistakes but he is not the fastest. FSU did a good job of exploiting the speed difference between the slot receiver and the nickel. We need to get more speed at that spot. Thorell made a decent play one time but I am not sure if he was dime or nickel. This is just my opinion. I am just a casual fan so take it with a grain of salt.

Our blitzing was ineffective AND that is a big concern.

 

[kyle sibert]

Stafford looked pretty good and did start. Compton and Fischer both look really bad to me. 15 tackles maybe more a result of their RB being st the second level all game. He had 150+ yards I think.

I wouldn't say Compton looked bad. More than a few of his tackles were right around the LOS. He didn't look extremely range-y, but he did fairly well in the a-gap. Fish has yet to impress me. He really has a 35/65 chance of making an open field tackle. The thing is, he's a great spill-player, allowing David and Compton to rack up 15 tackles each.

 

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Fischer didn't play very well IMO, Compton played okay, and David was beast as usual. Secondary played horrible and defensive line wasn't getting enough penetration considering how good we are supposed to be on defense. Our defensive backs played off of their receivers instead of up on them like we have in the past and it didn't work......at all!

 

[robsker]

I did not listen to or watch the game --- missed it --- was fly fishing in Yellowstone all day (caught 85 cutthroat trout).

Anyway, I saw the stats and unless it was a typo Will Compton had 15 tackles and Stafford had nearly 10 --- yet I have read many posts this morning that the LBers (in particular) and Db's looked bad.

How did Compton play? 15 tackles seems impressive. This is a really critical position and Compton must be very solid once we hit B10 play. Is he progressing? Again I missed the game and do not know.

Regarding Stafford --- his numbers looked good. Did he start? If he did not start who was in front of him? Did he play most of the game? How did he look?

Who has been playing the nickel position?

I am extremely jealous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There were some busts in the secondary. Most concerning were guys getting behind us. I think Compton did okay. His foot may be slowing him a little? Fischer missed some tackles. Our DL was inconsistent at times but they did occupy the line which frees up the LB's. When our LB's do get engaged, they are fast and able to come off blocks, but unfortunately they are not strong and are getting a lot of tackles in pursuit where they are behind the runner as in getting pushed back or they are in pursuit as the runner is in the 2nd level. Our LB's are not always meeting the backs in the holes all the time. We are having trouble covering backs out of the backfield in the passing game still. Stafford is really good in run support. He's still learning coverage. I think he did start and played most of the game. He needs to be out there. Blatchford is playing the nickel. He doesn't make mistakes but he is not the fastest. FSU did a good job of exploiting the speed difference between the slot receiver and the nickel. We need to get more speed at that spot. Thorell made a decent play one time but I am not sure if he was dime or nickel. This is just my opinion. I am just a casual fan so take it with a grain of salt.

Our blitzing was ineffective AND that is a big concern.

Wow. The lack of speed at nickel may really burn us in the future. Is it too late to have C. Osborn or PJ Smith there? It seems that the two safties/nickel should be some combination of Osborn, Stafford, and Smith --- with, as back ups, guys like Blachford and... where is this kid that was such a high-level recruit --- Cory Cooper?

The lack of strength to get off of blocks may hurt us as well --- as you point out our LBers are getting off blocks against the glorified HS teams we have played so far... but will they against the B10 beef --- there strength and speed/quickness are needed. I am very thankful that Lavonte David is there!

Fisher's missing tackles seems to be a recurring theme. We moved from the LB corp this kid Eric Martin --- he had fire and could tackle --- he is now a DE... has he played or had an impact there at all? Seems we have better DE depth than we do LB depth. I fear that our LBers will be eaten alive in the B10.

 

[3rd and long]

I don't ever recall Fisher's name being called. I thought Compton looked extremely slow. We're in trouble when he's covering backs out of the backfield, but I think he plays the inside runs pretty well, which may bode well for conference play. But it does seem that our LB's are making an awfull lot of initall contact two or three yards on our side of the line of scrimmage. David seems to be the only one who consistently is driving forward into his tackles. And that may just be a symptom of our DL not playing well last night, they were getting to the second level on a regular basis, we really had very little penetration up front to disrupt thier offense.

I think we have a couple issues in the secondary as well, but I think last night you also have to give Carr a lot of credit, he made some really outstanding throws that were just right on the money. I don't like the big cushion were giving right now either, but with as little pressure as we were getting up front, maybe they felt we couldn't afford to press.

 

[Eric the Red]

I don't ever recall Fisher's name being called. I thought Compton looked extremely slow. We're in trouble when he's covering backs out of the backfield, but I think he plays the inside runs pretty well, which may bode well for conference play. But it does seem that our LB's are making an awfull lot of initall contact two or three yards on our side of the line of scrimmage. David seems to be the only one who consistently is driving forward into his tackles. And that may just be a symptom of our DL not playing well last night, they were getting to the second level on a regular basis, we really had very little penetration up front to disrupt thier offense.

I think we have a couple issues in the secondary as well, but I think last night you also have to give Carr a lot of credit, he made some really outstanding throws that were just right on the money. I don't like the big cushion were giving right now either, but with as little pressure as we were getting up front, maybe they felt we couldn't afford to press.

Just not sure on Compton yet. Especially in the 4th when Fresno was gashing us, he was constantly out of position. Unless the skeme called for him to follow his key (sometimes for MLB it's the offensive guard) which then he was flowing the right way but the Fresno RB was constantly cutting it back.

 

[Husker Richard]

Compton is too slow to cover a RB/TE in the flats or on the rollout. I highly doubt he had 15 tackles. I know for a fact LaVonte had 15 tackles because he was the Home Depot do'er of the game or something like that.

Fisher cannot tackle.

Stafford's coverage skills are iffy (a little early to pass judgement though). I would move him up to a hybrid LB/S and get Compton/Fisher off the field.

When Dennard comes back I hope we never see Blatchford again. Hopefully Green (also still a question mark) moves to his spot.

Cassidy may know the D inside and out but he is not an elite athlete. I'd take Osborne or Smith over him.

 

[TJ Alum Husker]

both Compton and Fisher were a step slow to react, causing them to be out of position. Stafford played OK but I am concerned about our ability to cover.

 

[flatwaterfan]

On review of the game our DL did a poor job of playing their gaps. Compton ended up covering WR's a few time which is one reason he looked slow. Some of this was because we didnt get a good rush and some is because their coaching staff did a good job of exploiting some match ups. I am impressed with Fresno's coaching staff. We got trapped a few times on the dline, we didn't hold containment a few times and we over pursued a few times. They did a lot of cross blocking and did a good job with that. They were well coached. We also got held a few times. (Crick got tackled) I actually think our offense played better than the D. We weren't really that far away from having more good plays. I really like Thompsen as an Hback. That's a good personnel group for us and we had some positive yardage with that. That was a counter that worked and they could of run more. I would say that some of the problems last night were due to Tmart. Like on the option he's got to be patient and let Legate get out front. Still the option was a good play more times than not. They also ran 1 bunch formation/screen that looked good. It's clear they are limiting the playbook right now. We could of scored on the option pass if we wanted or ran some reverses as they had their safeties fully committed to the run game. I have to think we are holding back.

The replay booth sucked. Calling the fresno TD on that replay angle was bogus. That's not clear evidence due to parallax. You can't make that call to overturn. Cripes. The spot on Tmart's fumble should of been a first down. We should not have been called for delay of game. They wound the clock and we had an injured player walking on the field to the locker room. The clock should not have been running. I think they wound the clock a few times to early for both sides.

 

[knapplc]

The replay booth sucked. Calling the fresno TD on that replay angle was bogus. That's not clear evidence due to parallax. You can't make that call to overturn. Cripes. The spot on Tmart's fumble should of been a first down. We should not have been called for delay of game. They wound the clock and we had an injured player walking on the field to the locker room. The clock should not have been running. I think they wound the clock a few times to early for both sides.

From my angle it looked like Carr was in watching live. I couldn't believe they didn't call it a TD, and I'm glad they overturned it on replay because it was the right call. I haven't watched the broadcast of the game yet so I don't know what angles they had, but he was clearly in. There's a picture of him going in over the pylon from the OWH photographers.

The GLARING error on the refs was that delay of game penalty they called on us. YOSHI WAS STILL ON THE FIELD when they wound the clock, and he didn't make his way off the field until the clock was what, halfway down? I was watching him walk off the field and not even paying attention to the clock until we lined up, and it was already way down. Bonehead mistake by the refs, and when we told them, they didn't fix it.

 

[PaulCrewe]

The replay booth sucked. Calling the fresno TD on that replay angle was bogus. That's not clear evidence due to parallax. You can't make that call to overturn. Cripes. The spot on Tmart's fumble should of been a first down. We should not have been called for delay of game. They wound the clock and we had an injured player walking on the field to the locker room. The clock should not have been running. I think they wound the clock a few times to early for both sides.

From my angle it looked like Carr was in watching live. I couldn't believe they didn't call it a TD, and I'm glad they overturned it on replay because it was the right call. I haven't watched the broadcast of the game yet so I don't know what angles they had, but he was clearly in. There's a picture of him going in over the pylon from the OWH photographers.

The spot was the correct call. Taylor fumbled before the first down marker. Since the Fresno player recovered the ball, but was out of bounds, the ball is placed where NU lost possession. And that was a yard short. So they got it right.

And knapp, it was pretty obvious from all angles that Carr was in. He was a yard deep in the endszone with the ball stretched out. The kid made a great play, refs eventually got it right.

And if people are really going to get all butt hurt over that one, what was going to happen. It would have been 1st and Goal from the 1. They score a play later. The review did its job and got the call right.

 

[bbeerma2]

Any kind of size on those trout? A few hours drive south in the Wind River range we ran into some nice 16+ inchers, but finding large cutthroats in Wyoming is not a terribly easy venture.