After last year’s train wreck on the defensive side of the ball, Like almost all Cats’ fans, I was fearful of a ‘22 repeat.
I thought JON did a very good job Saturday, and the defense showed some real improvement. While I am not at all sure Nebraska was a good yardstick for what will happen the rest of the year, it was a good start, and I think JON’s game plan and management was a contributor to success.
As many have pointed out, Nebraska picked up 465 yards, hardly a lockdown game, but I will address that in a bit. I thought there were some breakdowns and screw ups that can be attributed to first game craziness (the late hit, unnecessary grab that led to the PI call, some early tentativeness on the part of the LB’s on the first few series, and a loss of gap control on the long TD run, fast main examples), but I suspect focused coaching will clean up a lot of those sorts of things, and I really hope the frequency of breakdowns reduces as the season moves on.
So here is why I thought JON called a good game, and how his adjustments put the defense a step ahead of Nebraska most of the game:
It is important to remember what the Huskers did to the Cats last year, and the facts that both the OC and QB were new to Nebby. While there was certainly a lot of video on both Casey Thompson and Whipple’s offensive tendencies, you have to assume that a first priority in JON’s game plan was to not let the Husker’s repeat the plays that were so successful last year. While Thompson did not run at Texas, he is mobile; protecting against the QB options that were so effective last year had to be a high priority. It looked to me as though the defense came out configured to not repeat last year, leaving a lot of room in the zone and not attacking at the LOS to avoid overcommitment. Thompson took advantage. He settled in on his throws, had wide open receivers, and despite decent coverage deep, made a pinpoint throw for the first TD. Nebraska gained 230 of its 465 yards on its first four possessions, the only hiccup being the 3 and out for 4 yards when they tried power runs from their goal line.
JON clearly figured out what was going on. I think he drew a couple of inferences: Nebby was not going to get much running between the tackles, the Nebby game plan was no using a QB option as an integral tool and while the Husker transfer receivers were fast, the Cats’ CBs were able to provide decent if not perfect coverage on them. His main adjustments, it seemed to me, were to start mixing up coverage, giving the linebackers the go ahead to cover more aggressively and disregard the run, and let the safeties switch into more aggressive positions closer to the LOS. He also let the DLine become more aggressive in playing pass first. He didn’t use the LB’s much in pass rush, as he respected Thomason’s mobility. He did hope (successfully) that the DLine could move Thomson off his comfortable marks. The rest of the game, Thompson was throwing into smaller windows with less accuracy, and the stats the rest of the game for the Huskers are brutal.
Coming back to the 465 yards yielded, 235 came after JON started his tweaks, on 9 possessions. Of those 235 yards, 58 came on the 11 second scramble and throw (I have a feeling the video session for the linemen who did not pursue and gave up containment on the play will not be fun), 46 on the TD run where the Nebby blocked well and the DLine lost gap control, but would have been about a 10 to 15 yard gain if a flagrant downfield hold on one of the Cats’ safeties had been called, and 35 yards came against the prevent at half’s end.
The other 35 plays the Huskers had yielded 96 yards and 2 interceptions. The last six Husker possessions did not even come close to threatening.
I am not sure this means the Cats D will shine every game. The Husker OLine was bad, and they have no running game. I do think JON deserves credit for recognizing hat was going on and making good adjustments. I also think there is improvement in all position groups relative to last year.
I thought JON did a very good job Saturday, and the defense showed some real improvement. While I am not at all sure Nebraska was a good yardstick for what will happen the rest of the year, it was a good start, and I think JON’s game plan and management was a contributor to success.
As many have pointed out, Nebraska picked up 465 yards, hardly a lockdown game, but I will address that in a bit. I thought there were some breakdowns and screw ups that can be attributed to first game craziness (the late hit, unnecessary grab that led to the PI call, some early tentativeness on the part of the LB’s on the first few series, and a loss of gap control on the long TD run, fast main examples), but I suspect focused coaching will clean up a lot of those sorts of things, and I really hope the frequency of breakdowns reduces as the season moves on.
So here is why I thought JON called a good game, and how his adjustments put the defense a step ahead of Nebraska most of the game:
It is important to remember what the Huskers did to the Cats last year, and the facts that both the OC and QB were new to Nebby. While there was certainly a lot of video on both Casey Thompson and Whipple’s offensive tendencies, you have to assume that a first priority in JON’s game plan was to not let the Husker’s repeat the plays that were so successful last year. While Thompson did not run at Texas, he is mobile; protecting against the QB options that were so effective last year had to be a high priority. It looked to me as though the defense came out configured to not repeat last year, leaving a lot of room in the zone and not attacking at the LOS to avoid overcommitment. Thompson took advantage. He settled in on his throws, had wide open receivers, and despite decent coverage deep, made a pinpoint throw for the first TD. Nebraska gained 230 of its 465 yards on its first four possessions, the only hiccup being the 3 and out for 4 yards when they tried power runs from their goal line.
JON clearly figured out what was going on. I think he drew a couple of inferences: Nebby was not going to get much running between the tackles, the Nebby game plan was no using a QB option as an integral tool and while the Husker transfer receivers were fast, the Cats’ CBs were able to provide decent if not perfect coverage on them. His main adjustments, it seemed to me, were to start mixing up coverage, giving the linebackers the go ahead to cover more aggressively and disregard the run, and let the safeties switch into more aggressive positions closer to the LOS. He also let the DLine become more aggressive in playing pass first. He didn’t use the LB’s much in pass rush, as he respected Thomason’s mobility. He did hope (successfully) that the DLine could move Thomson off his comfortable marks. The rest of the game, Thompson was throwing into smaller windows with less accuracy, and the stats the rest of the game for the Huskers are brutal.
Coming back to the 465 yards yielded, 235 came after JON started his tweaks, on 9 possessions. Of those 235 yards, 58 came on the 11 second scramble and throw (I have a feeling the video session for the linemen who did not pursue and gave up containment on the play will not be fun), 46 on the TD run where the Nebby blocked well and the DLine lost gap control, but would have been about a 10 to 15 yard gain if a flagrant downfield hold on one of the Cats’ safeties had been called, and 35 yards came against the prevent at half’s end.
The other 35 plays the Huskers had yielded 96 yards and 2 interceptions. The last six Husker possessions did not even come close to threatening.
I am not sure this means the Cats D will shine every game. The Husker OLine was bad, and they have no running game. I do think JON deserves credit for recognizing hat was going on and making good adjustments. I also think there is improvement in all position groups relative to last year.
