[Husker] the D

[Steve Stone]

Bill Laughlin wrote:

>I sent "Cousin Rich" Skylar's "Opposing Receivers 2006 Stats" which I
>found intriguing, and he said this: "Great stats!  Too bad that Callahan
>doesn't read stuff like this."

Callahan doesn't need to read that stuff ... it's engraved on his eyeballs.

>Then he sent this:
>Our problem is not o-line.  Of course, I know that you think you know
>what I am going to say next, because I'm sure it is what EVERYBODY
>complains about . . .

Both first-string tackles had to sit out the Sooner game, and the 
problem isn't the O-line? All offense begins with the tackle 
positions. Not that the reserve tackles played poorly, but against a 
defense like Oklahoma's, a fraction makes a major difference.

>And no, it is NOT Courtney Grixby and our d-backs.  We will never really
>know how good (or bad) Courtney or any of our d-backs are because of the
>total lack of coaching.  The coaches are questionable and the schemes are
>"high school"at best.

Here it's beginning to sound like this piece should have gone to one 
of those bulletin board gabfests.

>Grixby and Jones have to play man-man every down and get no help from the
>safeties.  The difference on how OU plays in the secondary vs. how we do
>it is incredible.  Just watch the interceptions that Zac threw.  There
>was always a safety there to make a play or if the cornerback didn't.
>Simple zone defense.

Simple - - simplistic - - or simple-minded?

>Zac would throw for 400 yards against our pathetic coverage.  We made
>Thompson look like a good QB.  All he had to do was lob balls out in
>front of receivers and they run under them.  He never had to try to
>figure out what coverage we were in, because it never changes.  If the
>corners get beat, it's all over, because our scheme is so bad.

Isn't this the same guy who posted a diatribe last year that our 
senior safety was the worst in the Big XII?

>And what is worse is Cosgrove never changes anything, never mixes
>coverages.  Every "blue moon," we go to a nickel.  We blitzed OU ONE time
>and got Thompson to panic and throw an interception.  Where was that
>blitz a 2nd time?

And let the catgorical imperatives fly!

>Zac Taylor, after the game: "They did a great job disguising their
>coverages, that was probably the thing that gave me the most trouble".
>Wonder if Callahan and Cosgrove heard that one?

I'll use this non-sequitur in Comp classes.

>If someone had asked Paul Thompson about "reading" our coverages, his
>quote probably would have been: "are you kidding?  I saw more complex
>coverages when I was in the 7th grade".

An imaginary answer to an imaginary question. I trust Cousin Rich's 
imaginary friend helped frame them.

>It was pretty cool to watch OU's defense line up in what looked like
>man-coverage, and then at the snap of the ball, they would rotate their
>safeties over to a different coverage.

Yeah, man, cooooool!

>Without changing a few defensive coaches we will never get back to where
>we want to be.

Where does Cousin Rich get this "we" sh*t?

>Better corners and safeties are not the answer.  By the
>way, it was recently pointed out to me

Recently?  R e c e n t l y ??   RECENTLY???

>that Zac Bowman was a 5-star
>recruit, Grixby a 4-star and Andre Jones a 4-star.  Not the players, but
>the coaches!
>And then we can get to the offensive problems  . . . I don't have time
>right now, but how about zero rushes in the last 25 minutes!

Yeah, how about that!

>_____________________________
>
>(I've invited "Cousin Rich" to get on the List several times, because his
>level of intensity re: NU football has always been several notches up
>above mine. But he's not gonna do it.)

Promise?

Steve Stone