This year's NU defense and conventional wisdom about tackling

[7levery7]

Just about the oldest cliche in the books about tackling is that good tackling is all about desire: the "want to" factor or the " Goddamn gotta do it" factor. OK, that's a big part of it, but without the kind of athleticism the NU defense, particularly the back 7, has shown so far, all you've got is a bunch of highly motivated guys grabbing air. That's especially true when tacklers play "in space".

Let's hope the same Cat defense shows up Saturday night.

 

[hdhntr1]

Just about the oldest cliche in the books about tackling is that good tackling is all about desire: the "want to" factor or the " Goddamn gotta do it" factor. OK, that's a big part of it, but without the kind of athleticism the NU defense, particularly the back 7, has shown so far, all you've got is a bunch of highly motivated guys grabbing air. That's especially true when tacklers play "in space".

Let's hope the same Cat defense shows up Saturday night.

From what I have seen, technique has been pretty solid which starts with being in the right place to make the tackle.

 

[SmellyCat]

From what I have seen, technique has been pretty solid which starts with being in the right place to make the tackle.

This. The one thing I've noticed in the three games isn't just that they've tackled well - they have - it's that they always seem to know what's coming and they're right there. So many times the last few years NU gave up seven-yard passes to the sideline, and in many cases those passes were behind the sticks, but the runner was able to get the yards he needed. Now it seems like when the opposing offense tries it there's someone waiting for him.