Run Defense vs. Pass Defense (How big is the discrepancy?)

funhusker

funhusker

Active member
Just numbers I pulled off of ESPN's stat pages of Nebraska Opponents. Not sure what to make of it myself....

BYU:

vs. Neb

Passing: 379

Rushing: 132

vs. Boise State

Passing: 309

Rushing: 72

vs. UCLA

Passing: 244

Rushing: 161

vs. Michigan

Passing: 55

Rushing: 50 (Mother of GOD!!)

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South Alabama:

vs. Gard Webb

Passing: 184

Rushing: 224

vs. Neb.

Passing: 313

Rushing: 19

vs. San Diego State

Passing: 270

Rushing: 241

vs. NC State

Passing: 213

Rushing: 45

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Miami:

vs. Beth Cook

Passing: 184

Rushing: 195

vs. FAU

Passing: 300

Rushing: 226

vs. Neb

Passing: 379

Rushing: 132

BYE

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-

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Southern Miss

vs. Miss State

Passing: 311

Rushing: 102

vs. Austin Peay

Passing: 275

Rushing: 239

vs. Texas State

Passing: 233

Rushing: 280

vs. Neb

Passing: 447

Rushing: 11

Edit: Just noticed I didn't put the outcome of the games on here. I thought about going back and adding W vs L and score. But on second thought, leaving the outcome out (if we didn't know them) might make us look closer...

 
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I guess I was hoping to find passing numbers closer to our opponents' averages and rushing numbers much lower than opponents' averages. I found..., well not sure
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...

Is it because of play style? small sample? Good run d? Bad pass D? or "all of the above"? I want to look a little deeper myself.

 
Id teams know they can pass at will against Nebraska, they don't even need to try and run the ball.

Even BYU probably had a decent amount of their running yards were scrambles by the QB.

 
funhusker said:
I guess I was hoping to find passing numbers closer to our opponents' averages and rushing numbers much lower than opponents' averages. I found..., well not sure
default_smile.png
...

Is it because of play style? small sample? Good run d? Bad pass D? or "all of the above"? I want to look a little deeper myself.
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In one of the threads discussing our pass D, our opponents averages thus far was pulled. All of them threw more attempts than their average save for one. I think it's safe to say that we have not seen the last of the aerial assaults against NU. IIRC, Wisky, Iowa, Minnie and Illinois are all throwing over 200 yards per game. Illinois should be a great test. Talking heads say he is the best "pure passer" in the west.

We have no more guys to bench, so maybe the staff will pull their heads out of their collective butts and figure out something..........

I also think our rush D might not be near what we were told it will be. My guess is based upon non-existent pass rush (no real dominant performance) and the fact teams are stupid to run when they can put 245 yards on us in a quarter...... Southern Miss abandoned run and came close to upsetting us....

 
I "kind of" agree.

Look, I'm not trying to find an excuse for the pass defense. But I keep hearing your sentiments: "if team A knows they can pass...."

Passing is riskier than running. Words of Dr. Tom, "there are three outcomes of a forward pass, and 2 are bad."

A well coached team will not "give up the run" from the opening kickoff, unless they know for certain that they will have large gains through the air, and ZERO success on the ground. If they believe they have ZERO chance of running, isn't that a "plus 1" for the run defense?

Edit: this was in response to ColoradoHusk (some quick responses here)

 
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lo country said:
funhusker said:
I guess I was hoping to find passing numbers closer to our opponents' averages and rushing numbers much lower than opponents' averages. I found..., well not sure
default_smile.png
...

Is it because of play style? small sample? Good run d? Bad pass D? or "all of the above"? I want to look a little deeper myself.
Click to expand...
In one of the threads discussing our pass D, our opponents averages thus far was pulled. All of them threw more attempts than their average save for one. I think it's safe to say that we have not seen the last of the aerial assaults against NU. IIRC, Wisky, Iowa, Minnie and Illinois are all throwing over 200 yards per game. Illinois should be a great test. Talking heads say he is the best "pure passer" in the west. We have no more guys to bench, so maybe the staff will pull their heads out of their collective butts and figure out something..........

I also think our rush D might not be near what we were told it will be. My guess is based upon non-existent pass rush (no real dominant performance) and the fact teams are stupid to run when they can put 245 yards on us in a quarter...... Southern Miss abandoned run and came close to upsetting us....
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Your assumptions are based on what about S. Miss? They ran for 102,239,and 280 in their first three games, so you think they didn't want to run the ball or felt they didn't need to run the ball? They had like -14 yards rushing in the first half of that game.
You think they said we don't need to run the ball. We can assume we will put up 245 yards passing in a quarter? We can assume they thought this after throwing for about 140 in the first half? I think they said we aren't running and we are down 22 so we most likely are going to throw.

You assume a lot.

Look, in the first half NU played well defensively, they really did. In the second they didn't. That needs to be fixed. It is a game of momentum and NU lost the momentum om the second play of the first half. NU is not good enough to mail it in and they kind of did that.

The offense did their job they just didn't finish drives like they had all year. Remember up till the last game NU was 11 of 12 in the red zone.

The pass d needs to get a lot better, but you are making a lot of assumptions

 
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Pass D could get bettter, needs to get better, but we are doing a hell of a lot of other things right to be the worst ranked Pass D in the country and still be a couple,plays from being undefeated.

Don't change it. This is how Bankers defense is gonna look. Don't need to bail the players out right now. Players need to step up.

How many receivers have we faced that you all think require double coverage from most teams?

 
With all these passing yards the Huskers are giving up, then why are teams not scoring 40, 50, 60 points? And it's not like the Huskers have faced all easy teams with average QBs.

Since moving to a new conference, I know what happens when teams run all over us.... they score 40, 50, 60, 70.

Just something to consider.

 
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IA State Husker said:
funhusker said:
Passing is riskier than running. Words of Dr. Tom, "there are three outcomes of a forward pass, and 2 are bad.")
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Actually Woody Hayes and Darrell Royal both popularized that phrase in the early 60's. Not Dr Tom. Although he may have repeated it. FWIW
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Yeah, and the game is nowhere like it was during the days of Hayes, Royal, or even Osborne. The rules have changed so it's so much easier to pass, and the QBs and receivers are better, too.
 
ColoradoHusk said:
IA State Husker said:
funhusker said:
Passing is riskier than running. Words of Dr. Tom, "there are three outcomes of a forward pass, and 2 are bad.")
Click to expand...
Actually Woody Hayes and Darrell Royal both popularized that phrase in the early 60's. Not Dr Tom. Although he may have repeated it. FWIW
Click to expand...
Yeah, and the game is nowhere like it was during the days of Hayes, Royal, or even Osborne. The rules have changed so it's so much easier to pass, and the QBs and receivers are better, too.
Click to expand...
Another thing that's changed since those days is that the ball regulations have changed. In the early part of the 1900s, a football was almost as big around as a volleyball. The tips were more rounded as well. It was extremely difficult to get a grip and throw it with any kind of accuracy. In fact, up through the 40s, throwing a football was more similar to a shot put toss than the modern throwing mechanics. Conversely, the larger ball made it much easier to kick.

In the 50s and 60s, a series of regulatory revisions (started in the NFL, actually...) made the ball progressively smaller and more pointed. There's a reason why the Air Raid and WCO first developed in the 60s, it's because the ball got easier to grip and easier to throw.

If I remember the regulations correctly, the NFL regulation ball is actually smaller than most college balls, though the college regulations actually allow for a range of (very slight) differently sized balls.

Though, yes, other rules have changed to make football more of a passing game, the size and shape of the ball is also an important factor.

 
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