Defensive Scheme

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zero_blitz

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This topic has been tossed around on the board before, but I do not believe it has ever been more evident than the first half of tonight's game that our scheme is simply not working. Not to bash the coaches and say it isn't a sound scheme, but obviously at this time we do not have the personnel necessary to run it effectively.

Historically the even front two gap has been a very successful scheme, Personally I look at the 2000 Baltimore Ravens defense as setting the standard on this defense. This was a NFL team of course, but the concepts of the defense are very similar. The down lineman are space eaters there to eat up blocks to allow the backers to run free to make plays, sounds simple enough. But personnel wise, we don't have 330lb behemoths up front, that push the pocket and command doubles. Baltimore had Tony Siragusa and Sam Adams up front, we're talking about close to 700lbs of man in the middle of the line. Suh was a freak of nature who regardless of scheme would command doubles a any time. Crick and Steinkuhler aren't that type of player. Especially with the large offensive lines in the big 10, O-lineman can base block these guys and get up to the 2nd level regularly. I'm not sure whether its stubbornness on Bo and Carl's part to change, or just an unwavering and somewhat naive belief that this is the best defense to run. Crick and Steinkuhler are athletes, I guarantee they are athletically superior to any opposing lineman they will face all year. Why not cut these guys loose, move to a one gap scheme and let these guys go? Bo's defenses at LSU did not play reactive up front, they were an aggresive, attacking defense that feature the penetrating ability of one Glen Dorsey. I really feel like these guys could wreck shop, ala the Peter brothers in the glory years of the blackshirt defenses. If anyone had the chance to watch Fresno St. play Boise on Friday night you would have seen Boise dominating Fresno up front. Their D-line was able to collapse the pocket on Carr all night, rendering their entire offense ineffective. Now I know Fresno does not have better athletes than we do up front. Also, I think a one gap scheme would take some of the pressure off of our linebackers. Just my own personal thoughts, what does everyone else think?

 
Bump. Instead of bickering back and forth about who are the real Nebraska fans I thought this post was worthy of some discussion. The OP brings up some very good points. I agree that we don't have the right personnel to run this defense against the O-lines in the Big10. I am very concerned about our run defense stopping a traditional attack that pounds the rock straight at us and playing against Michigan scares me to death. Should we change up our scheme on D? We basically have 3 weeks plus are playing the equivalent of a Texas high school team in Minnesota. Now may be the time for some tweaks... Thoughts?

 
I'm starting to question the 2-gap scheme the D-line runs. In the Big 12 and with past personnel, it worked wonderfully. Now we struggle to get to the QB. I understand the concept but I'm starting to wonder if this will work in the B1G. I also think with the size of Martin, he should start seeing playing time as DE.

 
It worked beautifully in 2009 with Suh, but once we lost that dominating presence that comes around once in a couple decades, we dropped from giving up 95.5 rush yards per game to 144.3 rush yards per game in 2010.

I don't know enough about defensive playcalling to coherently suggest one scheme over the other. We were used to stopping the run of teams that primarily sat in the shotgun all day. Many of the opponents we have faced so far this year, specifically FSU, UW x 2 and OSU, like to run out of the I-formation or single back set. Nebraska has always seemed to struggle with Pelini, at least by my estimations, with stopping the run out of the I-formation.

 
I think we have the talent to run Bo's 2 gap scheme, but we need to get bigger. I noticed more of Chase Rome and Alonzo Whaley in the second half last night. Steinkhuler should be a DE in my opinion, he is too light at DT. We need that run stuffer, and I think there are candidates on the roster.

 
Funny, gratefull, Huskers.com has TMo and Baker listed at the same weight. Only difference is Baker is 6-6 and Moore is 6-3. I agree though, Moore just plays with more intensity and ferocity when he's out there. Two very different players.I believe I am of the persuasion that Steinkuhler should've been left alone as an OT and he would've been a much bigger contributor to our team, though he has started on the D-Line for two years now, so.... I guess he must be alright : :P

Who do you think will step up behind Steiny and Crick? We don't necessarily have a ton of HUGE guys on the DLine... The addition of 6-3, 305 Peat helps, but who's going to step up? Rome, Guy, and Thad Randle strike me as the guys who are most ready physically and ability wise to contribute.

 
I'm really excited about Chase Rome. He seems to have a relentless motor and a vicious tenacity for trying to get through the line. He's only in his second year here, and he's got very little game experience, but he looks like he's going to be an absolute baller when his time comes.

He was also credited with a sack when he came into the game.

 
There is no question that Bo's 2 gap scheme worked wonders in the Big 12 conference against all of those spread teams, but I am not sure if it is going to transition well to the Big Ten? So far the jury is still out.

If I had to guess, I would think during this upcoming bye week that we will make some minor adjustments and possibly some personnel changes to the defense, but we will still be running the 2 gap scheme for the rest of the season. I do think when the offseason hits that Bo & Carl will heavily reevaluate the scheme and they will study what works best in the Big Ten.

I do believe starting next season we will see a transition over to a more attacking defensive line, instead of them just taking on blockers to open up plays for our linebackers.

After this bye week pay close attention to the play of our defensive ends. If Pelini starts turning them loose on more occasions, you will know then that the defensive scheme change will be under way.

 
Everyone wants to bash on the secondary, and with reason. There are problems there. The D gets into trouble because they get into 2nd and 5 way to often and that is on the front 7. I would like to see more of Josh Williams, Chase Rome, and Alonzo Whaley these guys were making plays in the 2nd half. Thad Randle hasn't impressed me, and I haven't seen much of him lately. I haven't seen Jay Guy at all, and he looks like a run-stuffer from the sideline. I think we will get better in this area.

 
I don't know what makes me think this.....but I just have a funny feeling that Bo and Carl might know how to coach a defense. Things will get better.

 
I could have sworn at some point I heard a sound bite either Saturday night or Sunday where one of the players said they reverted back to some old schemes from last year in the second half when they figured tOSU would be throwing more. This led me to believe they brought the peso back. Did anybody else catch this sound bite or notice us in the peso formation in the second half? I thought there were a couple of plays where we seemed to have that rover hybrid out there.

gratefullred said:
Everyone wants to bash on the secondary, and with reason. There are problems there. The D gets into trouble because they get into 2nd and 5 way to often and that is on the front 7. I would like to see more of Josh Williams, Chase Rome, and Alonzo Whaley these guys were making plays in the 2nd half. Thad Randle hasn't impressed me, and I haven't seen much of him lately. I haven't seen Jay Guy at all, and he looks like a run-stuffer from the sideline. I think we will get better in this area.
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I see Jay Guy on campus and he just doesn't look like a football player. He looks like a really big kid, so I agree with your assessment that he's probably a run-stuffer. Chase Rome was very impressive in the second half. He seems to have a great motor and great tenacity, as he was able to record a sack of Bauserman.

The most glaring issue on the defense is the front seven imho. You're right, we give up way too many yards on first and second downs, often giving teams easy 3rd and short conversions to make. Or we get teams into second and short, which means almost every play in the playbook would be a good choice at that time.

 
I'm not entirely sure that NU used the 'Peso" defense this past Saturday....but all season long I've been wondering if it would have been best NU left that in as the 'base' defense anyway.

Everyone likes to say 'The B1G is run heavy, power football', but in reality....more than half the teams we are going to play this year are teams with mobile QBs, that like to throw the ball around a bit. Not the spread fo the BIG 12, but certainly not 180 degrees different either.

Might have been over analyzed by the coaches.....why 'fix' something when it's not broken? Easy to say now....but it might be best to get the speed back on the field vs some bigger bodies.

 
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