switching to 3-4 look

DJR313 said:
Guess this wasn't a permanent change.
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Kind of hoping we would see more of the speed on D than Fish, Compton and Whaley. Hoped Bo would develop a hybrid like Haag or Super D in 2003. Oregon did ok last year with their smaller, but much faster D 45-38. TCU 21-19. TO won 3 MNC's with smaller quicker guys. Do not know why he is insistent that to beat Wisky and the other B1G teams we need some slow a$$ LB's who can't run in space. Boggles the mind. We have shown an inability to win with the "True LB's". How about play the speed until we lose with them. David was a freak, but proved you can be smaller and still succeed. Look at his tenure at NU and now at Tampa. Mitchell seems to be doing well at 155 (lightest guy on team). Not to mention Baron Miles didn't do to bad either (5'8, 165 lbs).

I want NU to force a change in the opponents like the Florida schools did to us.

A little excerpt about another ok NU LB, Terrell Farley

Farley was exactly what the Huskers were looking for in a speed linebacker. Former NU Defensive Coordinator Charlie McBride said he fit their linebacker mold.

“We were not afraid to recruit him, even though he was a little undersized for most linebackers," said McBride. "But our philosophy was speed and quickness, and he fit that perfectly for our WILL linebacker position. When we changed our defense, we went to the speed backer. We didn’t worry about if they were 230 or 240 pounds. Some linebackers are blue-collar, ground-level grunts, but to me, Terrell was a high-wire flyer.”

“Coach McBride told me that he wanted me to hit somebody first before I would get to play. I was making plays, but he wanted to see me get that pop in on somebody. Instead of making full contact, I would run around and make the play. I didn’t really like making contact at first, especially against certain bigger players,” Farley said.

Farley got an A+ for what he did his first season at NU. To come in your first year from junior college and immediately impact a defense and a team that just won the national championship the year before means that you are a special player.

He led the team in 1995 in tackles (62), interceptions (three) and blocked kicks (two), and was second in sacks (5), setting the tone for a hard-hitting, playmaking style of Black Shirt defense that ran over every opponent in its path en route for a second straight national championship. (all 205 lbs of him)

 
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The problem is, w what farley said, sometimes you HAVE to hit people and get through blocks. I want speed too. But if they can't off blocks, then there are gapping holes that turn into nice run plays. Lavonte was the outlier that he avoided blockers and was still somehow able to take on RB in the hole for the tackle, a la Penn St 4th down play.

Look, Whaley was in position to make tackles at UCLA, he just didn't make the physical play. That can be corrected. who do we have proven that can speed around blockers and make the play? We don't have a Farley or David this yr. We missed over 20 tackles against ucla, if whaley alone makes 4 of the 6 he missed we might have won that game, especially in the 4th qtr when he missed on big plays.

The conundrum.

 
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NUpolo8 said:
This might be the Acme of stupidity, but whatever happened to Jared Afalava and his reported awesomeness?
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He remains reportedly awesome. His issue is that it took so long for him to get cleared by the NCAA that he got into fall camp late and is behind in learning the defense. I think they are trying to redshirt him at this point. I have not seen him on special teams but don't care enough to go digging through participation reports to double check that.

 
I am I said:
The problem is, w what farley said, sometimes you HAVE to hit people and get through blocks. I want speed too. But if they can't off blocks, then there are gapping holes that turn into nice run plays. Lavonte was the outlier that he avoided blockers and was still somehow able to take on RB in the hole for the tackle, a la Penn St 4th down play.

Look, Whaley was in position to make tackles at UCLA, he just didn't make the physical play. That can be corrected. who do we have proven that can speed around blockers and make the play? We don't have a Farley or David this yr. We missed over 20 tackles against ucla, if whaley alone makes 4 of the 6 he missed we might have won that game, especially in the 4th qtr when he missed on big plays.

The conundrum.
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I agree with you. BUT I don't think size = getting off of blocks better. I saw Dennard and Amukamara get off of a lot of blocks in their careers to make the tackles that they made. They just had that killer mentality that you can never see too much of.

I've said this a few times in various threads: I would rather see Cooper on the field than Fisher or Whaley. I hope both of those guys prove me wrong. If they go out and make big plays week after week, I'm more than pleased to see it. The problem with Fisher is, he hasn't been very good at all, period. The problem with Whaley, as you said, is that he gets to the play pretty well but so far hasn't made the tackles. He needs to improve upon that going forward, and I am confident that he can. Something like that is all about mentality and physicality.

 
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