[Husker] My Take On The Game and the Defense

[Jeff Volk]

Greetings,

I thought I would chime with my take on the game. First, I totally agree
with those that say the offense was what cost us this game and not the
defense. The defense actually played pretty solid while our offense was
stopped not necessarily by great OU defensive play, but by poor NU
offensive play. I love Zac Taylor, but fact is he didn't have his best
game. Some of it was related to sub par and inconsistent o-line play but
mostly he just didn't have a sharp game. 

As for the defense, the focus was clearly to stop the run and make
Thompson win with the pass. Based on the number of throws they had
attempted in most of their games it was a game plan that made a lot of
sense going into the game. You can say what you will about in game
adjustments, but the bottom line is that Thompson just played big and
made big plays. The 2 biggest were probably the long TD pass and the 3rd
and 12 from his 1 foot line that went for 20-something and got the
99-yard back breaking drive going. 

I am no Bo Pelini, or cousin Rich for that matter, but in regards to
scheme it is my observation that the Huskers run the best scheme for the
personnel that they have. What this means is that Coz is somewhat
limited in his ability to run a lot of zone coverages due to the
strengths and weaknesses of our team. Our defense, which features an
above average defensive line and linebackers with smallish corners and
average at best safeties lends itself to playing a soft cover 2 or cover
3 man coverage with a lot of LB blitzes. When playing 2 deep, 3 deep,
quarters or other mixed zone schemes you rely more heavily on LB's to
cover in space - something they obviously cannot do when blitzing the
QB. Zone defenses are more often used with corner, safety and zone
blitzes. Zone coverages also require above average safety play and the
truth of the matter is that our safeties just aren't that great. Green
is a converted RB/CB with a lot of athleticism but poor instincts and
tacking and Shanle gives max effort but is also a poor tackler who is
often out of position in run support or Cover 2 man coverages. We do not
have the safety play required to play a lot of zone coverages. Again,
given these things the Huskers are somewhat limited in what they can do
defensively. They have to focus on stopping the run, establishing a
strong rush with DL & LB pressure and hoping the QB doesn't make plays.
In the USC game Booty made plays. In the UT game McCoy made plays. In
the OU game Thompson made plays. (In the OSU game the entire defense
just melted down in the 2nd and 4th quarters.)

The bottom line is that the injury to Bowman put the Husker's defense at
more of a disadvantage this year than people really believe. With Bowman
in the line-up you move Jones to #2 CB and Grixby to Nickle...which is a
HUGE difference. Bowman has the size to play man press coverage on
receivers like Jarrett, Smith, Sweed and the rest of the big receivers
that were chomping at the bit all season to face our DB's. I know there
have been comparisons by listers of our small DBs to smallish NFL DBs
like Nathan Vashar, but that is like comparing Zac Taylor to Tom
Brady...they just aren't apples to apples comparisons. No matter how
athletic he is, Grixby's size is a limiting factor to his performance
and you saw that against Jarrett, Smith, Sweed et al. 

Of course, this is just my opinion, I could be wrong. 

Jeff