Cam Meredith: does he keep his starting position?

zeWilbur, as a discussion point, do you feel that Nebraska's talent level and scheme don't mesh well right now? That's pretty much how I feel. It seems like what we want to run can't be done by our player limitations. And as a further point, what areas on defense do you believe Nebraska significantly needs to improve in to be more successful? In your opinion, do you think Nebraska is going to be able to consistently get the players Pelini wants to run his defense, or that he should consider revamping the scheme?

I realize that's a lot of questions, but it seems you know a fair bit about defense, so I'm interested in your thoughts.

 
I've been trying over the last few months to be more honest about my personality and knowledge. It's really easy to be on here and hide behind the anonymous veil - it allows you to pretty much say whatever you want to whoever you want and not have to worry about providing evidence for what you know (in most situations). I always respect people more when they can admit they don't know something. It's like when you ask someone "Have you seen X movie?" and they say "Oh yeah!", but when you talk about it, you realize they know nothing about it and just said yes to be included? It's a similar idea. I've also been trying to listen to people's arguments more and concede to them if they make a good point, or maybe even change my mind on a topic.

And to your final question, yes - how much do you need, and do you take cash? :wasted
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I take strong notice of stuff like that. Anytime I see a concession made, especially from someone who has made a ton of good points in the past, I think it actually adds not just fractionally but substantially to that person's credibility. Because there isn't a single one of us who knows every single friggin nuance to every aspect of this game. I know I don't. I've never studied film and the one's who do for outrageously extended periods of time still don't know everything.

Cash wise? I'd say enough to cover a round or four :cheers . Hell...I got Canadian coins. They take those at bars around here, right?

 
Enhance89 said:
zeWilbur, as a discussion point, do you feel that Nebraska's talent level and scheme don't mesh well right now? That's pretty much how I feel. It seems like what we want to run can't be done by our player limitations. And as a further point, what areas on defense do you believe Nebraska significantly needs to improve in to be more successful? In your opinion, do you think Nebraska is going to be able to consistently get the players Pelini wants to run his defense, or that he should consider revamping the scheme?

I realize that's a lot of questions, but it seems you know a fair bit about defense, so I'm interested in your thoughts.
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No worries Enhance. I like talking about this stuff and hopefully the thread will not derail completely as I have no ponies to share...

As long as a team like Alabama exists the talent level and what can be done with it will always be in question. Regardless, we do have the personnel to run Pelini's defense now. It just isn't a scheme predicated on pressure. Once you get that then the rest makes sense.

First, if we tackle better then a LOT of the existing concerns go away. The first two games looked like people were trying so hard to get to the ball they were not in position to make a tackle when they finally did they were checking to make sure their shoes were tied. This was much better Saturday. Hopefully it continues. On a related note, Alonzo Whaley is giving me an ulcer...

The key to my argument is the line all doing their assignments to not leave rather large escape routes. Collapsing the pocket is more desirable than flushing QBs from it. We have not collapsed it well recently and will not without a stud tackle. I'm sure Pelini cares but that is like focusing on the cherry rather than the sundae. There are quite a few stunts and blitzes that get called to help with this once we know the secondary is doing well but not until then. We've seen the aggressiveness increase within games as the last few seasons have gone along. I expect this year to be the same.

Martin's pass rush ability seems to exceed our other tackles and ends to the point that when he is set loose and doesn't get there it leaves large holes on the left side. If the coaches were just letting him go and having everyone else play patty-cake then then you would likely see the others shifting during the play to cover the hole. I haven't seen much to indicate that is the case. I can't find a game clip from last Saturday to illustrate but I'm still looking. That is what I meant by mentioning him as a liability above. It is a very interesting problem to have. If he(or any pass rush for that matter) is effective enough that other teams start keeping a back or TE in to block then life is good. One less receiver to cover leaves LBs to sit in zones and help with the underneath routes that NW burnt us with last year, bring extra pressure, spy mobile QBs, etc. However, we have yet to do anything to make teams respect our pass rush by design. Offenses in the last few years have gone away from extra protection in favor of spreading the field so more pressure is rarely the answer. Most people don't like to hear that. Southern Miss dropped a few screen passes that would have gotten huge yardage when we kept bringing heat on third down. When teams spread you out then you have to rely on your front four to contain the QB. We have absolutely struggled in this. But being beaten to the sideline is usually preferred to being beaten up the middle with no LB support. Which can happen when one of your lineman is seven yards further downfield than everyone else and only taking up one blocker.

Ultimately, there is no right answer, only end results. The defense has given up a lot of yardage but not a lot of points(relatively) and played well enough for us to win every game so far. Yes, even at UCLA. They will continue to get better as they always do. Now if only the offense/special teams would stop giving up points too...

My guess(as I don't have an aquarium guy) is that the intent is a complicated coverage scheme will buy time for our pass rush and get QBs to make mistakes with safeties used as run support. That is why a young secondary made last year painful. It does work well against pocket passers but has obvious pitfalls. Switching to a 3-4 would probably result in more of a dedicated pass rush from a LB spot but as long as Pelini is involved I doubt we will see a fundamental shift away from what we are doing.

As far as recruiting athletes for the system, I think he brings in enough that we won't change philosophically. Last year had some issues with athleticism(read: Blatchford) but that seems like a one year roster management issue. Every Saturday this year we all hear about the challenges of getting kids to come to Lincoln(and the damn roller skating museum). Pelini seems to do a decent job at getting solid to really good guys, just struggling on the whales like Peat. While they would make life easier it seems to point to talent development being more important and I do not see enough of the younger guys to be able to comment either way on that. He does seem to bring in some pretty good DBs though and those are the backbone of his scheme. He might change schemes because he is evolving as a coach but I don't see him doing it out of necessity.

Sorry for the essay.

 
zeWilbur said:
Enhance89 said:
zeWilbur, as a discussion point, do you feel that Nebraska's talent level and scheme don't mesh well right now? That's pretty much how I feel. It seems like what we want to run can't be done by our player limitations. And as a further point, what areas on defense do you believe Nebraska significantly needs to improve in to be more successful? In your opinion, do you think Nebraska is going to be able to consistently get the players Pelini wants to run his defense, or that he should consider revamping the scheme?

I realize that's a lot of questions, but it seems you know a fair bit about defense, so I'm interested in your thoughts.
Click to expand...
No worries Enhance. I like talking about this stuff and hopefully the thread will not derail completely as I have no ponies to share...

As long as a team like Alabama exists the talent level and what can be done with it will always be in question. Regardless, we do have the personnel to run Pelini's defense now. It just isn't a scheme predicated on pressure. Once you get that then the rest makes sense.

First, if we tackle better then a LOT of the existing concerns go away. The first two games looked like people were trying so hard to get to the ball they were not in position to make a tackle when they finally did they were checking to make sure their shoes were tied. This was much better Saturday. Hopefully it continues. On a related note, Alonzo Whaley is giving me an ulcer...

The key to my argument is the line all doing their assignments to not leave rather large escape routes. Collapsing the pocket is more desirable than flushing QBs from it. We have not collapsed it well recently and will not without a stud tackle. I'm sure Pelini cares but that is like focusing on the cherry rather than the sundae. There are quite a few stunts and blitzes that get called to help with this once we know the secondary is doing well but not until then. We've seen the aggressiveness increase within games as the last few seasons have gone along. I expect this year to be the same.

Martin's pass rush ability seems to exceed our other tackles and ends to the point that when he is set loose and doesn't get there it leaves large holes on the left side. If the coaches were just letting him go and having everyone else play patty-cake then then you would likely see the others shifting during the play to cover the hole. I haven't seen much to indicate that is the case. I can't find a game clip from last Saturday to illustrate but I'm still looking. That is what I meant by mentioning him as a liability above. It is a very interesting problem to have. If he(or any pass rush for that matter) is effective enough that other teams start keeping a back or TE in to block then life is good. One less receiver to cover leaves LBs to sit in zones and help with the underneath routes that NW burnt us with last year, bring extra pressure, spy mobile QBs, etc. However, we have yet to do anything to make teams respect our pass rush by design. Offenses in the last few years have gone away from extra protection in favor of spreading the field so more pressure is rarely the answer. Most people don't like to hear that. Southern Miss dropped a few screen passes that would have gotten huge yardage when we kept bringing heat on third down. When teams spread you out then you have to rely on your front four to contain the QB. We have absolutely struggled in this. But being beaten to the sideline is usually preferred to being beaten up the middle with no LB support. Which can happen when one of your lineman is seven yards further downfield than everyone else and only taking up one blocker.

Ultimately, there is no right answer, only end results. The defense has given up a lot of yardage but not a lot of points(relatively) and played well enough for us to win every game so far. Yes, even at UCLA. They will continue to get better as they always do. Now if only the offense/special teams would stop giving up points too...

My guess(as I don't have an aquarium guy) is that the intent is a complicated coverage scheme will buy time for our pass rush and get QBs to make mistakes with safeties used as run support. That is why a young secondary made last year painful. It does work well against pocket passers but has obvious pitfalls. Switching to a 3-4 would probably result in more of a dedicated pass rush from a LB spot but as long as Pelini is involved I doubt we will see a fundamental shift away from what we are doing.

As far as recruiting athletes for the system, I think he brings in enough that we won't change philosophically. Last year had some issues with athleticism(read: Blatchford) but that seems like a one year roster management issue. Every Saturday this year we all hear about the challenges of getting kids to come to Lincoln(and the damn roller skating museum). Pelini seems to do a decent job at getting solid to really good guys, just struggling on the whales like Peat. While they would make life easier it seems to point to talent development being more important and I do not see enough of the younger guys to be able to comment either way on that. He does seem to bring in some pretty good DBs though and those are the backbone of his scheme. He might change schemes because he is evolving as a coach but I don't see him doing it out of necessity.

Sorry for the essay.
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This is an issue I had during the UCLA game. It was obvious that our LB's could not cover the RB out of the backfield. Yet we kept trying. Is this on Bo, or was it Compton failing to make the adjustment on the field?

 
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Sounds like zeWilbur knows his stuff. refreshing.

I noticed one thing he said in particular that I've been quietly thinking for the last few yrs: if guys would make the tackle at point attack, a lot of the (Meredith/DL) issues would be a non factor, based on scheme, some of their shortcomings are further exposed by poor second level play thus far. We had Hagg, Gomes, Prince, David, Dennard, Dillard etc that if nothing else were solid tacklers. we may be getting back there w some of our young blood, we'll see.

When Bo took over in 08 we had such HORRIBLE tackling from 07 and such HORRIBLE in game adjustments that many of us were quite astonished how much better 08-10 was in terms of the defense bringing guys down and not getting beat by the same 3 plays all game.

The start of this year has seen us regress some in tackling obviously. Also, ucla had clearly learned from the tape of USM, wherein Whaley and Co were covering backs and slot WR in the open field, USM just missedo on execution. Ucla exposed this all night. BUT, there were plenty of plays left out there that killed us all night, which means if we can shore up (ie, get guys practiced up and get some athletes on the field) the tackling, we can vastly improve.

Meredith has gotten beat to the edge. He has had big lapses of attack. He's not doing some things well hecpreviuosly did. But, it's not all his problem, based on some of the poor play behind him. What do we do?

 
I know it gets old seeing merediths name in the back of his jersey. What sticks out to me is at least he is in pursuit! Several times he is the only one in pursuit till the play is ten yards downfield. Also where the hell is the swarming gang tackling mentality at? Despite what most people think, when cam is pursuing a RB to the outside, the RB is suppose to win that one! But where are the backers to help stretch the play to the sideline for 2 yards instead of 8-10?

 
RedRedJarvisRedwhine said:
I know it gets old seeing merediths name in the back of his jersey. What sticks out to me is at least he is in pursuit! Several times he is the only one in pursuit till the play is ten yards downfield. Also where the hell is the swarming gang tackling mentality at? Despite what most people think, when cam is pursuing a RB to the outside, the RB is suppose to win that one! But where are the backers to help stretch the play to the sideline for 2 yards instead of 8-10?
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I completely agree with this.

While rewatching the UCLA game I got frustrated at how often we missed an open field tackle. Then it dawned on me, it shouldn't have been a one on one tackle attempt because we should be swarming to the ball. They were better at this in the ASU game and they still need to get better at it.

Good defenses don't rely on one on one tackling. It's great when it happens but they rely on swarming to the ball and team tackling.

 
Really think it needs to be Joe Carter and Ankrah starting with EMart subbing, esp on passing downs. Meredith needs to just be a backup in my mind. It's really too bad. I know he knows what he's doing and knows the defense and can even pick out plays the other team is running, but he just can't make the plays b/c of his lack of speed. I feel for him b/c he is basically me. He can read plays, and knows what to do, but just doesn't have that speed. It works in high school(for me anyway), but it's the main reason(along with 2 bad knees) I didn't even try playing in college.

 
MLB 51 said:
This is an issue I had during the UCLA game. It was obvious that our LB's could not cover the RB out of the backfield. Yet we kept trying. Is this on Bo, or was it Compton failing to make the adjustment on the field?
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This is where we miss David the most. Compton is a good middle linebacker but he is a true middle linebacker. Asking him to cover anything smaller than a TE is setting him up to fail. Evidenced by his coverage of the HB when they went 5 wide. I can't see any reason to point the finger at Comton.

Whaley was the man going with the backs out of the backfield more often then not and we all know how that ended up. Zaire Anderson or Santos may have made the situation better but only Bo knows if they are actually ready to play. The only finger pointing here would be for missed tackles. The in game adjustments were effective and the defenders were in good positions, just didn't finish the play.

It is hard to pin on BO as well. They were running the ball effectively so taking a LB off the field was asking for trouble. It is also VERY difficult to defend a team that can go 5 wide effectively with their RB and TE staying on the field. Having two OLBs we can bring in when in a situation like this would be a boon for the defense. We might have them now, I just haven't seen them.

 
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