Looking @ Nebraska Defense

Defense

Judging from the Coaches All-Big 12 team, this is the finest collection of defenders the Big 12 has ever seen. Outside of the Big 12 North Galapagos where there are no offensive predators and beyond the Big 12 South Bob Stoops sewing circle, they’re the 2nd or 3rd best defense in the league with all of their impact players loaded on the DL and 1-2 secondary spots. They put a few players on the field that are outright poor, in fact. They have also feasted on a schedule of bad offenses. They’re as vanilla as Omaha foreplay and pretty much run a base 4-3 and dare you to beat them. Obviously, they’ll go base nickel against us but I doubt we see too much exotic unless Pelini pulls out all stops and rolls the dice. After seeing his management of the Va Tech game, that would surprise me.

DE Barry Turner
DT Ndamukong Suh
DT Jared Crick
DE Pierre Allen

This is the clear strength of the Nebraska defense and I expect to struggle with them. They’re huge and very active. They do a great job of batting balls when they can’t get to the QB and given the rhythms of our passing game and Colt’s instincts in a collapsing pocket, I could see this being a problem.

Suh gets so much publicity now for being underappreciated (including his contrarian Heisman campaign – NO ONE AFFECTS GAMES LIKE HIM! I SAW PART OF THE MIZZOU GAME!) that he almost borders on overrated. Don’t get me wrong, the guy is fantastic and his ability to disrupt in mutiple ways is absolutely unique, but Reggie White he is not. Lamarr Houston is as effective on a traditional running down and his equal as a pass rusher despite whatever babble you may read elsewhere. He’s just not dropping into short zones and covering RBs like Suh because no one else can pull it off. Suh could be interesting messing with our dinky-dunk short game if we try to swing on his playscape over the middle. I hope Tanner and Huey eat their Wheaties.

Jared Crick is a big, rangy DT with a good first step and he’s feasted on some of the opportunities that Suh has provided him. He had five sacks in one game. Not bad for a sophomore from Caucasian, Nebraska. He’s 6-5 or 6-6 and I have seen guys get under his pads in the run game.

Barry Turner is a power DE. Pure strength. Pelini did get him to lose some weight in the offseason and increase his quickness, but he’s no blur. Pierre Allen is the DE I fear most if he plays with consistency, but he seems to fade in and out during a ballgame. These are quality ends and big boys against the run.

These guys play with discipline and they constrict the pocket like an anaconda chomping on a peccary. Nebraska is quite content to rush 4. Because their DEs are big and not super quick laterally, I could see Colt getting outside of them, but I expect Pelini to play them wide and contain.

Phil Dillard
Will Compton
Sean Fisher

I consider this unit a weakness and whatever production they have here is largely a function of their DL. Teams are leaving these guys totally unblocked and taking their chances while doubling the playside DL and I hope we do the same. Colorado had some success doing this, for God’s sake.

If Greg Davis can get some sets where our inside receivers are matched on these guys, we have a good chance of creating a miss and manufacturing a big play. That little bootleg flip out to Tre Newton in the flat will be a go on Saturday as would a well-designed reverse.

DBs

CB Prince Amukamara
CB Alfonzo Dennard
S Larry Asante
S Matt O’Hanlon

These guys aren’t super-athletic and they’re not interested in manning up, pressing, and trying to turn and run with anybody. They play good technique, sit in zone or two deep man, pass off WRs to each other, and feast on what the DL serves up to them. If we “take what they give us” on every down, we’ll be playing right into their hands. They’re good tacklers.

Asante is a former JUCO who finally had the light come on and he’s a poor man’s Darren Sharper and a legitimate player. He’s a big safety and he likes to sit back and react to what unfolds in front of him. The more we spread the field and get him matched up vertically with Malcolm Williams and Jordan Shipley, the less comfortable he’ll be. If we dink and dunk in front of him, that’s firmly in his wheelhouse and he will create a turnover.

O’Hanlon is Gideon, basically.

They moved Alfonzo Dennard to starter at CB mid-season and he has played well. I know nothing about him save that his secondary coach raves about him.

The other CB (1st Team All Big 12) Prince Amukamara is the rightful ruler of Zamunda but gave up his throne in order to travel to Queens and find his bride. The boy good! He is Nebraska’s best corner and no, he is not as good as Aaron Williams. Apparently he impressed the shit out of ISU and CU though. He’s a big physical corner.

Eric Hagg is the nickel. He’s a good tackler and the Huskers love to use him as a blitzer when Pelini wants to change things up a bit.

Special Teams

Their field goal kicker is also the punter (Alex Henery) and he’s 16 of 19 on the year and kicking pretty well on punts. They present little threat in the kicking game in terms of a big play – no scores on the year on punt or kick returns. So less potential for cheap points, thank God.

How Do We Attack Them?

As I suggested before the Aggie game, we need Colt running.

Nebraska doesn’t want Colt running around and extending plays against their big DL and a secondary that relies on keeping WRs in front of them. That means they’ll either need to split out their DEs wide or assign LBs to that task. Either choice creates opportunities in the zone read and honesty in defending our offense. If they collapse a bit more inside, you create bootleg ops as well as the chance to get something going downfield with play action. Nebraska has no desire to see their safeties turning and running with Shipley.

The trap we cannot fall into is taking the “easy play” (see OU) with 3-5 yard completions, batted balls, and jumped routes. It’s Fool’s Gold and the risk-reward calculus doesn’t work. It works against UTEP when a bumbling fool misses the tackle and the play goes for 12, but not against sound defense.

As I mentioned above, I also think we’ll have opportunities for our WRs and Newton with their LBs in space. The key is getting them the ball on the run so that they can make an athletic play.

I think it’s absolutely reasonable to expect 20-27 offensive points and that should be enough to get it done.

Article Tags:

A Boy Named Suh, Big 12, Bo Pelini, College Football, Defense, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Scouting Report

43 Responses

Hiphopopotamus said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 11:04 am

If you ever see them with three LBs on the field, I’ll be stunned. I’d expect them in nickel, or just as likely dime, most of the game. Especially if they’re getting pressure with their front four.

When that happens, they use Dejon Gomes as their next DB. And you should try and get Shipley (or anyone, for that matter) matched up on him as much as humanly possible. If you do, Colt will have fun.
Dan said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 11:04 am

NE has one punt returned for TD in colorado game.
Charlie said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 11:10 am

This guy is claiming Stoops is a done deal at ND.

http://twitter.com/RotoRadar
uthookem said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 11:18 am

I read that they blitz about 20% of the time, let’s all pray that they don’t instead blitz 70% of the time because Davis will shit his pants and have no idea WTF is going on for roughly three quarters.

Jamaal Charles is not around to bail us out in this one. Let’s hope we show up ready to play.
John Carson said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 11:21 am

The Pelini Bros are firm believers in the “earn the right to blitz” model. First down success will dictate that blitz percentage.
huskerwes1 said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 11:26 am

“…but I doubt we see too much exotic unless Pelini pulls out all stops and rolls the dice.”

You are right on in your assessment. Pelini will not roll any dice until he has the quality to do so…and maybe not even then…Also, Niles Paul returned a punt for a TD against Colorado, but it is highly unlikely for us to do anything like that again this year.

Our D can keep us in any game, but controlling the clock and scoring in any way will be very difficult unless Texas somehow shoots themself in the foot or anywhere else.

If we can find a way, great, if not, ya’ll best find a way to spank Florida in the title. Look forward to playing Texas in regular season next year.
John Carson said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 11:26 am

“They present little threat in the kicking game in terms of a big play – no scores on the year on punt or kick returns.”

Our special teams ability to switch field position combined with our 3 and out offense makes the kicking game our biggest threat.
Scipio Tex said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 11:30 am

John –

You’re exactly right on the “earn the right to blitz.”

uthookem -

Shades of Washington St, eh?

hiphop -

Thanks. Yeah, I expect them in nickel at minimum too. Their LBs just aren’t that athletic. It seems like the more DBs they put on the field, the more likely they are to play 2-3 safeties deep too.
ransomstoddard said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 11:30 am

Oh man, our offensive line against any good defensive line. Yikes. Colt better wear a flak jacket.
Scipio Tex said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 11:31 am

huskerwes -

Thanks for the correction on Niles Paul and his punt return. Totally slipped my mind though I watched it happen.

I’m glad we’re playing the Huskers. Even if they’re not up to your traditional standard, it just makes it feel more like a big game.
Levander Williams said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 12:15 pm

I’m concerned about facing a team that blizes infrequently. In the past, we haven’t shown the propensity to recognize that opponents “might” break tendency to put pressure on our QB, and plan accordingly.

I’m hopeful that we see a continuation of the trend re: offensive play-calling and scheme that we saw against A&M. It probably won’t be as successful, but seeing Colt run made me happy. The offense is a lot more effective when we show two running threats from our backfield.
SeeingRed said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 12:18 pm

NU’s kickoff & punting game might be the best in the conference. Kunalic is leading the nation in touchbacks for the 2nd straight year & Henery over the last 2 games has averaged over 50 yds a punt and buried 4 or 5 inside the THREE yard line.

Besides Paul’s punt return, Burkhead was averaging over 18 yds/return before being injured & while not breaking any for 6, both Paul & Tim Marlowe have busted a few 40+ yarders in the past few weeks. Granted, not against athletes like Texas, but still, special teams has been coming up huge lately.

I suspect Dillard will be the only linebacker on the field most downs, NU lists 4-3 starters but rarely lines up in it. Asante will rarely cover Shipley. Since he’s been lining up in the slot a great deal, Gomes will have him most of the time, although if how NU covered Briscoe is any indication, he’ll rarely be alone on the job.

One of the biggest differences NU will face is that McCoy will be accurate when flushed out & throwing on the run unlike Hansen, Reesing, whoever the fuck that K State guy was, Landry Jones, etc.

Colt will be an upgrade like we have not seen this year. Interesting to see if the coverage can hold while he scrambles. I suspect there will be a few ‘Horn big plays that develop after we’ve come out of chairs then sat back down again watching a near Suh sack turn into a 40 yard gain after a scrambling Colt finds someone breaking alone into a patch of open field. I’m already pissed.

But make no mistake, he will be flushed out plenty. NU hasn’t seen an offense like this, but Texas hasn’t faced a D-line near this quality yet, either. Well, maybe Oklahoma, who, like NU, faced Texas with a top-notch D led by an award winning defensive tackle & brought an offense that was pretty one-dimensional with a less than stellar QB and if memory serves, that one ended up being decided by just a field goal,

hmmmmm…………
brucebond said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 12:37 pm

if nebraska doesn’t score a non-offensive TD, we win.
Tim's Bleeding Vagina said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 12:38 pm

if you believe this to be the same texas offense that played ou, i have some very bad news for you, husker. that’s not to say this won’t be the best defense we have faced since then. but we will score more than 16.
TOR said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 12:40 pm

Omaha Foreplay is a great stage name.
huskerwes1 said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 12:45 pm

brucebond said:
December 2nd, 2009 at 12:37 pm

if nebraska doesn’t score a non-offensive TD, we win.

Bruce – It will take more than one.
Phenomenal Smith said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 1:13 pm

Re special teams, NU has blocked five kicks this year. Also, in my new favorite stat, field goal kickers are successful at a rate of less than 50% against them – 10 of 22. A rate that leads the nation. A couple of those are blocked while the rest are that OU idiot’s fault. Oh, and Grant Ressel’s only miss this year came in the Monsoon Bowl. NU puts a hex on kickers. Beware.
Roach said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 1:13 pm

The thought of a Nebraska’s punter leaving the ball inside the five against that D-Line is not comforting.

I hope Greg Davis has the foresight to come up with a new backed up package.
uthookem said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 1:22 pm

“I hope Greg Davis has the foresight to come up with a new backed up package.”

=

Ivan Williams in the I-formation.
Cubehead said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 1:37 pm

No way the Cornhuskers win unless they get 2 TD’s from defense, special teams, and/or ridiculously short fields. This could happen-it could. It will not, but it could. Otherwise, this game will be like the battle at the beginning of Gladiator: over before it starts. Things get interesting if Suh obliterates and sidlines Colt, though.
Roach said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 2:16 pm

uthookem:

I’d rather see Colt pooch kick on first down maybe we can get a good roll.
trkhorn said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 3:25 pm

Asante is probably good for a personal foul or two, which is fine as long as he doesn’t knock one of our guys out of the game. Dude brings the wood and doesn’t seem to care much about whistles, flags, officials, etc.
Travis said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 4:36 pm

Scip- Great write up as usual, but I’ve come to expect nothing less.

I really believe that this is the best possible game we could be playing before we play an SEC champion , because pelini and nebraska are the closest thing we will see to the bama/ fu winner. Nebraska’s d-line is better than either one, suh makes cody and any of the florida guys look like bums, and they play such a north/south physical style of play that will only help our guys moving forward.

Even though my nerves wont agree, I would much rather see us beat nebraska by 7-10 points then see us beat k-state by 50.

Colt is playing his best football right now and it couldnt come at a better time for us.
Seattle Husker said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 5:40 pm

Not a bad writeup, Scip. The Lamar Houston comparison is a little absurd though when you consider that Suh has 20QBH, leads Nebraska in PBU’s and has 5 career INTs…as a DT. If you’re looking ONLY at sacks that comparison holds but obviously Suh has much more of an impact on the opponents passing game than as a pass rusher. His football IQ may be his strongest asset. You should take a look at ESPN’s Draft Lab evaluation of Suh and their comparison of him to Gerald McCoy and Marvin Austin. In review or 6 games for Suh and 5 for each of the others he doubled up their performance combined when looking at impacted plays. I’m not normally prone to hyperbally but Suh is a darn good so the Houston comparison got me riled up a little. That is not to degrade Houston either.

I also don’t think you gave LB Dillard enough respect either.

If I’m concerned about anything it’s Dennard’s health. West is a MAJOR dropoff from Dennard and prone to getting beat deep.

Good luck on Saturday…or at least in your bowl game. If you don’t mind I’m going to skip the Nebraska O vs. the Texas D commentary because I want to think only “happy” thoughts until Saturday.
dedfischer said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 5:46 pm

You’re missing on Dillard. He’s a baller.
Nate said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 8:44 pm

Not a bad write up, but not great either. You underestimate the secondary and Phil Dillard (Mike LB) and you may be over-rating our DE’s… they do a pretty good job of closing the pocket to prevent mobile QBs from running (i.e. the Va Tech game).

Also, our ST, while not likely to outright return a kick/punt, is going to flip the field on UT a couple of times if given the opportunity. They don’t give up many big kicks and Alex Henery is as much of a weapon as a kicker/punter can be.

Not bad, reaks of homerism, but we’re all homers, whether or not we’re willing to admit it (see Lou Holtz).
Nordberg said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 8:47 pm

“The Lamar Houston comparison is a little absurd though when you consider that Suh has 20QBH”

I know you wrote more after this, but I’m pretty sure Houston has like 28 QBH. Throw everything together and their stats are very comparable.
magnusbleuveigner said:

December 2nd, 2009 at 9:30 pm

Nate,

Homerism, or realism? We’re 15 point favorites. Any write-up by anybody would make us sound better.
westwardHUSKER said:

December 3rd, 2009 at 1:40 am

Another good read….As a Husker fan the two points you bring up that I agree with, and that scare the most, are the following:

1) McCoy running the ball outside. Our DL does a good job of QB contain up the middle typically, but if he can escape pressure to the outside of the pocket he can hurt Nebraska.

2) Crossing routs over the middle…Nebraska seems to struggle with crossing and drag routs. The tendency to want to keep things in front of the defense and limit big plays results in the secondary having a propensity to be easily run-off by deep routs, leaving the shallow middle wide open for connecting on delayed crossing routs….this is a HUGE concern of mine against TX

Personally I think you’re underselling the Husker defense in the write up, but that is to be expected given the primary audience it was written for…I think the defense gives the Huskers a chance but will need to provide points or short fields for the Husker offense if the Huskers are to win…my prediction, Texas 24, Huskers 13….hope I’m wrong.
TXStampede said:

December 3rd, 2009 at 7:51 am

West Husker – team.speed.kills. In the case of Texas, that is like all sides of the ball. Dude.
Barking Carnival — Blog — Why Texas Stomps a Mudhole In Nebraska said:

December 3rd, 2009 at 8:06 am

[...] defense is plenty good. Scipio gives a fine breakdown of it further down the threadlog and I generally agree with his takes. I don’t like their secondary as much, but it’s hard to [...]
Nate said:

December 3rd, 2009 at 8:32 am

Magnusbleuveigner,

Nebraska was a similar favorite over TTU, that didn’t work out so well. Wasn’t UT something like a 20 point favorite over TAMU? I’m just saying lines don’t tell the whole story.

There are good points made in this post, as I tried to convey. There were also some fairly… “homer-ist-ic” ones, but hey, it’s a site intended for a specific audience.

UT’s greatest offensive success will likely be over the middle as NU’s dime/nickel packages have been MIA as of late. However, I don’t like McCoy’s chance of running on NU’s defense, Tyrod Taylor couldn’t run at all and he’s a more talented running QB (not throwing mind you) and all NU did against him was have DE’s press down-field to cut off the sidelines and hold one DT (usually Suh) back at the line to hold the gap.

UT will probably win, NU’s offense is too anemic. However, give NU easy field position a time or two and things will get very dicey for the horns.
BEHorn said:

December 3rd, 2009 at 8:51 am

“However, I don’t like McCoy’s chance of running on NU’s defense, Tyrod Taylor couldn’t run at all and he’s a more talented running QB (not throwing mind you) and all NU did against him was have DE’s press down-field to cut off the sidelines and hold one DT (usually Suh) back at the line to hold the gap.”

Sounds like that approach — especially holding your best DT at the line — vs Texas would create something that looks a lot like a “pocket” for a QB to stand in while routes develop. Pity that poor Tyrod couldn’t throw very well … but maybe we can find a guy who, I dunno, leads the NCAA in career completion % (and QB wins)? Maybe if we had THAT guy, NU couldn’t use the D that worked so well against Taylor.
Scipio Tex said:

December 3rd, 2009 at 8:58 am

Thanks for all of the comments from the Husker faithful. I definitely picked up some interesting points. I enjoy having you all around here.

Travis –

I think we’ll benefit from playing Nebraska’s D, but I don’t see much parallel between Cody and Suh or Florida’s LBs vs Nebraska’s bunch. I totally agree with you though that it’s a nice way of checking ourselves to see if we really have made legitimate improvements on offense.
98 said:

December 3rd, 2009 at 9:10 am

Scipio got compare to Lou Holtshhhz.

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!
98 said:

December 3rd, 2009 at 9:10 am

Scipio got compared to Lou Holtshhhz.

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!
kafka said:

December 3rd, 2009 at 11:57 am

If Bo stays vanilla on D, it will probably be because he is getting enough pressure with his DL. Having said that, NU will certainly zone blitz some.

Nebraska probably can’t keep Colt in the pocket with just their DEs. On the TE side, Greg Smith will hinder the DE enough that Colt can get outside. It sounds like the Nebraska DEs are too slow to catch up to Colt once he has a lead. On the weak side, the horns can fake the TB off tackle, forcing the DE to honor the run (thus permitting the UT OT to get into his block on the DE). Colt then rolls out.

Rolling Colt out and also moving the pocket a very few steps will make it tough for the Nebraska rush to figure out where Colt is going to be and also improves the blocking angles for the UT OL. When Colt stays in the pocket, he needs to throw immediately because Suh is going to be pushing Hall backwards a bunch. There will probably be at least one errant snap by Hall.

Obviously Colt will find it much, much tougher to run on Nebraka than A&M. Better that Colt limit his running to rollouts and opportunity draws. If the game is still close in the 4th quarter maybe use him on zone reads, too (especially on short yardage situations).

If UT can run well on NU, then UT can go to intermediate and long routes on play action passing. If UT does not run well on NU => ineffective play action passing => mostly short passes from the pocket. Moving the pocket and rollouts will be critical for UT passing success. UT will often have 6 OL (including the TE) to block 4 DL. That means both DTs can be double teamed (if Greg Smith can block a DE by himself). You would think 6 OL guys should be able to block 4 DL guys but who knows.

Use the rollout to set up the run in the opposite direction.

Put the slot in motion frequently.

Throw short to Malcolm a bunch.

Overload a zone with the TE, TB, and Malcolm (i.e. the side with one WR) to keep the LBs occupied with covering the TE and TB (the TE initially chip blocks the DE and then releases), Malcolm goes long but might run a stop pattern. Should be an opportunity for Colt to sometimes pick up some running yards before heading out of bounds.

Throw to the TB.

When rolling left, frequently run Ship on a very quick crossing pattern to the outside.

If you can run, then play action pass when you want to go long.
Barking Carnival — Blog — Trail Mix said:

December 4th, 2009 at 1:38 pm

[...] already penned great previews of our match-up with the Huskers on both sides of the ball and CTJ has blessed us with the first [...]
TOR said:

December 4th, 2009 at 2:53 pm

“It’s just part of the business. There are two kinds of coaches: one’s you want and one’s you don’t want. Unfortunately, we have a couple that guys want.”

Hmmm, now which type do you think Greg Davis is?

from here – can’t believe meyer actually benched carlos dunlap
http://www.gatorsports.com/article/20091203/ARTICLES/912049992/1136?Title=Notebook-Dunlap-won-t-make-trip-to-Atlanta
action said:

December 4th, 2009 at 9:53 pm

During the Colorado game, I saw O’Hanlon lunge off of the field with his arm dangeling after a big hit. At the time, it looked like a separated shoulder. He didn’t return that I know of.

I never heard or read anything about it.
Grange95 said:

December 5th, 2009 at 9:58 pm

Care to re-evaluate that Husker D now? :-p

Good luck to the Longhorns in the National Title Game!
Editionshield said:

December 6th, 2009 at 12:54 am

Scip,

Longtime admirer of your writing. Thought maybe you should see this. Apologies for placing it here, and for it being so long, but couldn’t find a way to send to you via other means.

Would be interested in your assessment. Thanks.

To Turtle Or Not To Turtle? The Paradox Of GD

First things first: Greg Davis is plenty good. His consistent high-ranking offensive output is ironclad proof of that. Now, does he have some annoying and consistent blind-spots? Sure. By no means is he perfect, or even close to it. But he’s still better than the vast majority of OCs out there. That he’s not as good an OC as Muschamp is a DC is really much more a compliment to Will than it is a diss to Greg.

This game was a REALLY interesting case-study, though, because it basically required a complete flipping-upside-down of what we typically wish from GD. The general fear is of greg retreating into his shell — “going turtle,” if you will — but the absolute best thing we could have done in this game was to play it as completely conservatively as possible.

I didn’t fault him for trying to do a little more early on. Obviously when you’ve got a guy like Colt on your side, you wanna try to use him. But there was a real dual-danger here: 1) Nebraska has the best DL in the country, and could wreak havoc on Colt in the backfield; and 2) They’ve got a really good ball-hawking secondary, very near the equal of ours. Add those two things together, and there was enormous potential for interceptions that set up Nebraska for points. And of course, that’s exactly what happened in the first quarter. Two picks, two field goals, and we’re down 6-0.

I give Davis credit for making some adjustments after that. Clearly he did pull the reins in a bit on Colt. Some folks were misinterpreting the next quarter or two of play as being a matter of Colt playing poorly and being inaccurate with his throws — but that’s not what was going on. What Colt was doing was just not taking any pass that wasn’t a sure completion; if there was good coverage, he was throwing it away. Which is exactly what he should have done.

Basically the lesson of the first quarter — when combined with the fact that our defense was not giving up anything at all — was: Do not try to win this game with the offense. Let the defense win this game with field-position, their own turnovers, and Hunter Lawrence’s leg. That was absolutely enough to send us to Pasadena, although we had to first dig ourselves out from the 6-point hole we’d already dug.

Fortunately we got that near the end of the half, by winning field-position battles and finally getting one short drive (42 yards) from Colt and company. Do not overlook the significance of that accomplishment: Think of how bad we were on almost every possession, but we did manage to drive 40-odd yards and get all the way to the end zone, for the only TD of the entire game by either team. That was huge.

The rest of the way, going into halftime with a 7-6 lead, was all about playing it close to the vest. To be a smart offensive coordinator in this case, GD’s approach should be to play the most “turtle” he’s ever played in his life. Put the game in the hands of a defense that had just held Nebraska to 32 yards for an entire half. The blueprint could not be clearer or more obvious: The defense will win the game, if you just let them.

Davis followed this pretty much to the letter for the third quarter. We played classic field-position duel, and we won the quarter 3-0; a 4-point cushion in this game was like being up by 14 on A&M last week. Then Greg got a bad break early in the 4th, when he played a gamble on the long throw to Kirkendoll and it should’ve paid off, but James dropped the ball. And then of course they inevitably got a long punt-return, and it was back to a 1-point game (fortunately the defense kept the punt-return from being fatal).

Once Marquise muffed the kickoff and stuck us at the 1-yard line, Greg was kinda backed into a corner, actually. In that position, you really CAN’T play it safe; trying to run it out just means susceptibility to safety (see: Tech ’08), so you might as well just take your shot and air it out. Sure enough, we get a couple of completions. And then, marvelously, we finally put together a drive. We’ve moved the ball, incredibly, 65 yards on 14 plays, converting three third-downs in the process. This was Colt’s shining moment: he had faced the Corn Beast, and defeated it.

And then, sitting there on 3rd and 6 on the far end of Hunter Lawrence’s FG-range, Davis threw it all away.

Run the ball one play, send in Hunter to kick the FG, and we head into the last 5 minutes with a once-again insurmountable 4-point lead. Game over.

Instead, GD does the worst possible thing: He goes NON-turtle.

Colt takes to the air. Husker ball-hawks have a shot to get it back. And they do.

Finally, the defense bends. Zac Lee makes his one great play of the night — a 17-yard scramble — and a few plays later they’ve got their FG. Game, set, match, Nebraska, all because GD couldn’t stand to just go ONE more play without putting our fate in the hands of Nebraska’s defense.

And then Nebraska gave us a shot with a fatal kickoff, and Colt made good on his last-gasp chance by hitting (of course) Shipley, and the Huskers commit hari-kari via horse-collar. And then Mack nearly makes the biggest sports gaffe of all-time, and Hunter delivers in spades.

Weird game, huh?

But, really, think about it. GD didn’t almost lose this game by going turtle. He almost lost this game by NOT going turtle, when turtle was exactly what was called for.
John Carson said:

December 6th, 2009 at 10:59 am

Ya…Suh is over rated and the secondary doesn’t like to man up or press.

Now go kick Alabama ass.

GBR

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43 Responses

Hiphopopotamus said:

Dan said:

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