What did we learn? OSU edition.

FrantzHardySwag said:
Iowa was at 13 pts/game in conf play, and Wisconsin was at 19 pts/game in conf play last season. Long story short, we need to be better on defense if we're gonna compete in the west.
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Not as a push-back but rather as devil's advocate, Iowa & Wisconsin don't turn the ball over like we do or play the piss-poor special teams that we did last year.

That said, I'll maintain that Chinz has gotten his run game defense figured out but has struggled and is struggling against teams who pass well. A lot of people will kick the can down the road and point to spots where there isn't enough talent (inb4 "we don't have a pass rusher"), but it's still an accurate assessment IMO.

By the way...it feels really good to be dissecting a game that we actually played instead of wondering if there was going to be football at all.    :cheers

 
FrantzHardySwag said:
I think the people that are skeptical of Chin are taking into account his full portfolio. 33 pts/game in the B1G since he's been here. Giving up that many points a game puts so much pressure on the offense. Iowa was at 13 pts/game in conf play, and Wisconsin was at 19 pts/game in conf play last season. Long story short, we need to be better on defense if we're gonna compete in the west. 
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I agree that the D needs to play better, however the D should be judged in the remaining games, and not this game. Ohio State is crazy good on offense.  In the game that I saw today, I thought the front 7 played decent to pretty good at times. I was puzzled why the secondary was playing so soft, but that was probably done to limit the big plays over the top.

 
JJ Husker said:
Yeah, I may be blaming the wrong group.

DL did fine against the run. But no pass rush and soft coverage are a no bueno combination.
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I also thought the DL was pretty good.  Holding Ohio State to 4.6 ypc is a huge improvement - it was 6.9 last year.  Granted, they don't have Dobbins but last year all four of the guys who had a carry had a gain of at least 26 yards (41 long).  Longest rush today was 21.  

It's not exactly the DL's job to generate the pass rush.  But we did have as many sacks as Ohio State (not that sacks tell the entire story).

 
This game turned on a few bad mistakes and some terrible officiating. OSU was always going to win because we couldn’t stop the pass but Nebraska looked good on both sides of the ball at times. Final score is not at all indicative of how we played. I’m not saying I’m happy with the outcome and the puzzling secondary play, but this team will win some games this year and I think they will hang with anyone else in the conference. I know this is probably a strange opinion coming off of what looks like a blowout but I saw some glimmers of hope. I think this offense is going to be tough to stop going forward

 
ColoradoHusk said:
I agree that the D needs to play better, however the D should be judged in the remaining games, and not this game. Ohio State is crazy good on offense.  In the game that I saw today, I thought the front 7 played decent to pretty good at times. I was puzzled why the secondary was playing so soft, but that was probably done to limit the big plays over the top.
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Which still amounted to OSU going up and down the field on us...I mean for f sakes, put some tighter coverage on with direct blitz/heat and atleast force him to throw immediate.

I dont put a very high, "they know what they are doing" label on coaches...for the most part, coaches are people who are stubborn people who get machismo with their "identity" and cannot adapt

 
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Undone said:
Not as a push-back but rather as devil's advocate, Iowa & Wisconsin don't turn the ball over like we do or play the piss-poor special teams that we did last year.

That said, I'll maintain that Chinz has gotten his run game defense figured out but has struggled and is struggling against teams who pass well. A lot of people will kick the can down the road and point to spots where there isn't enough talent (inb4 "we don't have a pass rusher"), but it's still an accurate assessment IMO.

By the way...it feels really good to be dissecting a game that we actually played instead of wondering if there was going to be football at all.    :cheers
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I am not a Chin fan. Really didnt like the initial hire. His def # have never been good. UCF had to outscore opponents.  That wont work vs Big 10. With that said, Iowa and Wiscy both have ball control offenses.  Teams dont get to get as many chances. 

Today's pass def was by design. Pick your poison.  Make them throw underneath and eat clock on scoring drives or play up and get run by for quick scores. By attempting to force multiple play drives, it gave more potential for mistakes or penalties, which obviously weren't made or called. Chin should be gone based on entire track record, but I wont say it based on today.

 
ColoradoHusk said:
Blitzing with tight coverage isn’t always the answer.
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Against the speed of OSU, combined with their oline would have been disastrous.  At least we can talk about a few breaks from being a closer contest. If we press, game over early and often against this team.

 
ColoradoHusk said:
I agree that the D needs to play better, however the D should be judged in the remaining games, and not this game. Ohio State is crazy good on offense.  In the game that I saw today, I thought the front 7 played decent to pretty good at times. I was puzzled why the secondary was playing so soft, but that was probably done to limit the big plays over the top.
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Yeah I wanted to find the right word so I went with "Skeptical". I still think we can win games with Chin's defense this year, but definitely something to keep an eye on. If  Illinois, Purdue, Minnesota, Iowa are able to throw up a 30+ spot against us, might need to change something. 

 
UniversalMartin said:
And I am not necessarily saying it is..but atleast use it
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NU blitzed on 4th and 5 on Ohio State’s first possession. The d-lineman tipped the ball, but it was still caught for a first down. I haven’t watched most of the 2nd half, but it sounded like NU had a stunt/blitz on a sack of Fields in the 3rd quarter. Blitzing is very tough against a mobile QB, because if that QB gets by the blitz they can basically run forever. 

 
HANC said:
Against the speed of OSU, combined with their oline would have been disastrous.  At least we can talk about a few breaks from being a closer contest. If we press, game over early and often against this team.
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In the first half, the D forced Ohio State into 1 punt and 1 FG. Those are wins on those possessions in my opinion. They also forced Ohio State to convert 2 fourth downs, one which the NU D almost stopped with a tipped pass at the LOS.  The dam broke in the 2nd half, that’s for sure, but that could have been due to a lot of reasons. 

 
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ColoradoHusk said:
NU blitzed on 4th and 5 on Ohio State’s first possession. The d-lineman tipped the ball, but it was still caught for a first down. I haven’t watched most of the 2nd half, but it sounded like NU had a stunt/blitz on a sack of Fields in the 3rd quarter. Blitzing is very tough against a mobile QB, because if that QB gets by the blitz they can basically run forever. 
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Our blitzes appeared slow and/or from distance...combine that with soft coverage and no mixing it up is shooting fish in a barrel 

 
ColoradoHusk said:
NU blitzed on 4th and 5 on Ohio State’s first possession. The d-lineman tipped the ball, but it was still caught for a first down. I haven’t watched most of the 2nd half, but it sounded like NU had a stunt/blitz on a sack of Fields in the 3rd quarter. Blitzing is very tough against a mobile QB, because if that QB gets by the blitz they can basically run forever. 
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Which is why generating some kind of a pass rush with your front 4 (or 3, I guess) is such a luxury. A luxury that Nebraska needs to find.

 
ColoradoHusk said:
In the first half, the D forced Ohio State into 1 punt and 1 FG. Those are wins on those possessions in my opinion. They also forced Ohio State to convert 2 fourth downs, one which the NU D almost stopped with a tipped pass at the LOS.  The dam broke in the 2nd half, that’s for sure, but that could have been due to a lot of reasons. 
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What?? Any punt is a win, but 1 punt in a half is not..and 1 Fg in a half + 3 TDs is not

 
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