In retrospect... please explain our defense?

Zaimejs

Zaimejs

New member
I just need someone who knows and understands defense to explain in logical terms what we were doing on defense last night. I am still trying to figure out how a team with one player can just give the ball to that one player the entire time and watch as the other team just lets that one player run and run and run.

When we play teams that know that we have one player, they tend to key on that player and stop that player until we do something else. We saw this with Michigan State. Unfortunately, we couldn't do anything else, so we lost that game, just as we have many other games.

Wisconsin did not do anything tricky. They handed their star player the ball and he ran straight down the field.

I stopped and watched a few of those runs. All of our linebackers would come crashing into the middle of the line and just get stuck in the pile. Then our safety would crash into a blocker and literally grab their blocker as if he were making some kind of play... isn't his job to AVOID being blocked? What good does it do for him to engage? I just don't understand.

So then all eleven of our defenders are within 3 yards of the line of scrimmage, and all that Gordon had to do was break containment and he was completely gone. I am just trying to figure out this scheme. I realize that Gerry was completely outmatched... but is he really that bad of an athlete that he can't even make a whiff tackle and slow the guy down?

Help me understand. Did we have a scheme? I can't believe that the entire team and coaching staff was that outmatched. There had to be some rhyme or reason to what happened.

 
I don't get it either and I've been saying this for a long time. It's like we just run down right into the blocks. It's strange stuff. There is no explanation.

There's also no explanation how the defense seems to be getting a pass from some people. I saw a lot of bitching about the offense, sure, they suck to. Pathetic. What's more pathetic is a BLACKSHIRT defense has now allowed the individual rushing record in the HISTORY of this game. 408 yards by one player.

The other problem, tackling. Same old story right? Sure it is, we've talked about tackling on Bo Pelini's teams for 4 years now. Here's the bigger problem with it though. It's not that these boys don't know how to tackle. They do. This is a lack of effort issue. There was multiple guys not even trying, including Nate Gerry and Corey Cooper. You don't just throw a shoulder at a guy and expect him to fall down. Especially Melvin Gordon. We knew that going in, and we didn't do it.

Where's the accountability? There is none.

 
I won't claim to be a defensive genius but, after Gordon's first long run the LB and secondary went scared. After that run the rest of the game they all had stone feet and waited for the ball to get to them. In that case it really is an execution problem. However, it's a coaching problem that it wasn't fixed. Maybe the coaches were telling the players that but they still had a mental block the rest of the game. I don't know and nobody else does either. There's no doubt there's a problem that needs to be fixed but, I don't know where to start. I don't think cleaning house will be a magical fix but, coordinators and position coaches need to be looked at very closely in January.

 
Bo's defense has to have a good LBs to make it work, we have none. Our best player is a walk-on, who is very smart and can tackle but is not a great athlete. Like yesterday, after the first quarter our LBs disappeared.

 
Bo's defense is only good to stop non-mobile passing QB's - that's it. I've always said he would be a good D coordinator in the NFL.

 
After that run the rest of the game they all had stone feet and waited for the ball to get to them.
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I saw this a lot. The worst part is that the running back gets time to pick up a blocker, figure out his cut, or gather himself for a hurdle, only he does it 10 yards closer to the end zone.

 
Here is what concerns me. Is our LBs that bad or is the scheme. All 3 normally line up in between the tackles, so they get caught up in the jam. Plus, they rush the line before the RB gets the ball & makes his move.

 
Poor run fits by the D and getting out of position. The latter is why you saw Bo ripping into Davie for so long after one of Gordon's huge runs. The former just means that guys were not plugging up gaps where they should have been. They may have been NEAR where they were supposed to be, but got owned by Wiscy's line and didn't make a play on Gordon.

The LBs and DEs we're going to be key in curtailing Wiscy's rushing by aggressively pursuing gaps and containing, forcing Gordon back inside. I thought the safeties would be aggressive in run support. None of it happened yesterday.

True, FWIW, I thought Gerry looked like he wasn't giving up when he chased down Gordon two times from behind to stop TDs. There are very, very few players in college football capable of doing that. I was more of the mind the front seven had hung our safeties out to dry. But that's just one man's opinion.

 
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