[Husker] Ohio State Beats Illinois

[Nick Chevance]

Well, regardless of whether they get away with murder or not, they are
a formidable defense.  I can't say I'm terribly worried about their
offense, but they managed to score 28 on an improved Michigan defense,
so it will be a concern for the Huskers.  They did just enough to keep
the ball moving and keep their defense rested.  I know folks talk
about their QB but I was underwhelmed by his throwing yesterday.  But
he did run the offense well, "managed the game" in coachspeak.

But on the defensive side, they blitz very well, almost instinctively.
 They had at least one back or linebacker in the Michigan backfield
all day on Saturday.  Robinson had considerable difficulty running the
offense under those conditions; he didn't have much time to throw, and
wasn't able to run the option efficiently.  His first score came on a
broken tackle in his own backfield where he was able to get outside
and into the endzone.  The rest of the game was a struggle for
Michigan on offense.

For the Huskers, playing Michigan State, even in Lincoln, is going to
be difficult.  I suspect they believe that pressuring Martinez will
get him to do the wrong thing at the wrong time, forcing turnovers.
They are very good at getting someone, either a back, end, or
linebacker to jump the option, forcing the pitch.  So, if they can
disrupt the option, and pressure the passing game, they anticipate
turnovers, or at least lots of three and outs.  Michigan doesn't seem
to do a lot of running directly at the defense, so I can't say how
that might work against MSU, but they seem very active and they seem
to move to the ball very well.

So, I'm curious what others think the Huskers might do to try and
negate what Michigan State seems to do really well.  Clearly our run
defense needs to get better, but assuming we can slow them, we'll have
to figure out a way to out score them - perhaps not a great strategy
against that defense.

And yes, I'm overlooking Minnesota.  If we don't hang at least 40 on
them, we won't have much of a chance to score on anyone else on our
schedule.  Just sayin'

Nick
-- 
"If a million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing."
Anatole France