Our defense is missing an critical component..

I would also like to ask how people on here come to the conclusion we have no leaders? The same claims have been made here for years, most noticeably on the offense. What gives? Are you watching the sidelines every play? Do you have a camera/mic strapped to half the defense? Leadership can only take you so far - at the end of every play it comes down to whether or not you did the job you were supposed to. Leadership/motivation isn't always the end-all-be-all to playing good football, not that anyone here is really suggesting it.

The point is there's far more to this game than psychology. I'm not saying sports psychology isn't important, because it is, but sometimes a player just isn't very good and that has little to do with pscyhology.

 
Enhance89 said:
I would also like to ask how people on here come to the conclusion we have no leaders? The same claims have been made here for years, most noticeably on the offense. What gives? Are you watching the sidelines every play? Do you have a camera/mic strapped to half the defense? Leadership can only take you so far - at the end of every play it comes down to whether or not you did the job you were supposed to. Leadership/motivation isn't always the end-all-be-all to playing good football, not that anyone here is really suggesting it.

The point is there's far more to this game than psychology. I'm not saying sports psychology isn't important, because it is, but sometimes a player just isn't very good and that has little to do with pscyhology.
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I thnk we have some talent on this defense. A leader shows by example and also motivates the others to get better. Who on this defense got better from last year? Seems like everyone pretty much stayed the same or got a little worse. Now lets look at the other side of the ball. Martinez worked hard in the offseason and improved, Burkhead seems to have gotten faster, our Wr's seem to have better hands, Abdullah has gotten stronger, Heard seems to have gotten quicker and our O-line's play has gotten better. Where was that on defense? A leader is vocal out on the field, did you see how our defense got confused quite a few times when southern miss was running the no huddle, our dline got owned and didnt play with that much heart. A leader is suppose to light a fire under their butt's and make them play harder than that. Thats just my opinion, I havent seen compton being that vocal on defense and getting teammates faces to motivate them in the huddle.

 
huskerfan333157 said:
deedsker said:
When push comes to shove, we gave up 13 points on defense and only 3 after half. Hopefully things will be fixed.
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Southern Miss had plenty of miss opportunities. The screen pass that could have gone for a td if it wasnt dropped and their wr's dropped quite a few balls as well.
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And we missed a lot of opportunities. Almost had a pick that could have been returned for six. A couple more sacks could have stopped drives earlier and maybe we only give up 175 yds.

Ifs and buts...

 
I am comfortable with Will Compton as the leader. The guy is tough as nails.

I was as dissatisfied with the defensive performance on Saturday as anybody, but what I saw were fixable things, maybe with exception of the D-Line. I can definitely see this defense growing into a formidable group by years end.

 
As Dude said above, an elite DT. In this 2 gap system (see The Duke's explanation on another thread) you need a guy who is strong enough to stand his guy up, read the play and react into the correct gap. See SUH, now look. There in lies the difference. We need a game changing DT in there. IMO, we do not have that yet. Maybe one of the true Freshman. If the O line gets to our LB's, we are screwed (as is really any team that allows the OL to get to the second level), but we are set up to have the DL stuff the line and allow the LB's and secondary to clean up. Missed tackles also doesn't help, but we need those stud D tackles.

 
I figured the answer was going to be testicular fortitude. I'm not sure how a fiery coach can have such a soft defense. The off the field record is good for this team, but we need players with edge as Notre Dames radio guy puts it. Who really scares you on this team.

 
What are the things, specifically, that Compton did that has drawn so much negativity? I've watched the game twice and came away feeling better about not having Lavonte David. He's obviously not that guy, but all is not lost either.

I get why Whaley has gotten negativity, and I also think that's been kind of overblown. Dude brought a lot of energy and emotion to the defense and even made some plays to boot.

edit: However, I don't think Whaley should be covering running backs lined up in the slot. That could get ugly against better QBs.

 
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OH HSKR FAN said:
Michael Rose looks a like a leader to me. I don't care that he is a true freshman.
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I agree 100%. He has the fire and passion that I haven't beeing seeing from others.

Also, I think that Bo has been splitting time between the offense and defense. Now that Beck seems to have the offense headed in the right direction, Bo can spend more time being the defensive guru that he's famous for, and that can only be a good thing.

 
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greenmonkey51 said:
I figured the answer was going to be testicular fortitude. I'm not sure how a fiery coach can have such a soft defense. The off the field record is good for this team, but we need players with edge as Notre Dames radio guy puts it. Who really scares you on this team.
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Last I heard, Chase Rome is feared by paper towel dispensers from all parts of the US.

 
The Dude said:
What are the things, specifically, that Compton did that has drawn so much negativity? I've watched the game twice and came away feeling better about not having Lavonte David. He's obviously not that guy, but all is not lost either.

I get why Whaley has gotten negativity, and I also think that's been kind of overblown. Dude brought a lot of energy and emotion to the defense and even made some plays to boot.

edit: However, I don't think Whaley should be covering running backs lined up in the slot. That could get ugly against better QBs.
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Im not being negative on Compton, he's a slightly above average player. I was just stating that i dont think there is a true leader on this defense. Yeah, Compton is tough as nails but that doesnt automatically make him a leader. We need someone with a lot of fiery and passion on the defense side of the ball that can be outspoken.

 
I am not worried at all. This may not be a great D, but it will be a good D. Bo's defenses always get better as the year goes on, need I mention how the D looked early on last year.

 
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