One thing I noticed during the Nebraska game was how much the passing game relied on spreading the field horizontally using the running backs and quick outs to the WRs.. I really don’t remember using the RB’s to give pass protection the whole game. On passing downs, they were used in play action, flared on snap, or faked a block and flared. There were a fair number of times where they set on a wing or slot. Overall, Nebraska had a terrible time accounting for them, and they were very reliably available for a profitable check down (or screen, which was great to see). Overall, the Cats put out a buch
It did look like Nebraska was fighting the last war, assuming they could pressure Hilinski up the middle. When they brought an extra pass rusher, it looked to me that it was always on the inside. Hilinski did a great job of getting rid of the ball quickly, and of rolling away from the pressure when he could not find an immediate target. Almost all the completions were short routes to the edge, the exceptions being the Navarro ones over the middle, the TD to Niro, and a couple of intermediate curls to Washington.
I think if I was the Duke DC, I would take a really different approach than Nebraska did. It’s pretty clear that NU doesn’t have a legitimate game breaking deep threat, and I would probably play most downs with safeties cheating up to contest the areas underneath; I would also press the wideouts at the line, trying to take away quick throws, assuming that the corners would not be beat too badly due to the relative lack of breakaway speed on the Cats’ part. Finally, I would probably alternate pressing with a shallow zone that allows the outside linebackers to read and execute a delayed rush outside on Hilinski’s rolls. The long and short is that the Cats completely defeated quick pressure up the middle on passing downs, and so taking away quick options for completions and pressuring from outside the tackles strikes me as the logical response.
One side effect if Duke does cheat up the safeties is the possibility of Hull breaking a long run or two. If I am Duke, I think that is a chance I take.
It did look like Nebraska was fighting the last war, assuming they could pressure Hilinski up the middle. When they brought an extra pass rusher, it looked to me that it was always on the inside. Hilinski did a great job of getting rid of the ball quickly, and of rolling away from the pressure when he could not find an immediate target. Almost all the completions were short routes to the edge, the exceptions being the Navarro ones over the middle, the TD to Niro, and a couple of intermediate curls to Washington.
I think if I was the Duke DC, I would take a really different approach than Nebraska did. It’s pretty clear that NU doesn’t have a legitimate game breaking deep threat, and I would probably play most downs with safeties cheating up to contest the areas underneath; I would also press the wideouts at the line, trying to take away quick throws, assuming that the corners would not be beat too badly due to the relative lack of breakaway speed on the Cats’ part. Finally, I would probably alternate pressing with a shallow zone that allows the outside linebackers to read and execute a delayed rush outside on Hilinski’s rolls. The long and short is that the Cats completely defeated quick pressure up the middle on passing downs, and so taking away quick options for completions and pressuring from outside the tackles strikes me as the logical response.
One side effect if Duke does cheat up the safeties is the possibility of Hull breaking a long run or two. If I am Duke, I think that is a chance I take.
