Previously: Nebraska Offense We return to our regularly scheduled FFFF programming on this fine Friday morning. Yesterday we looked at Nebraska's offense, which was described as the Adrian Martinez show. Though the Huskers torched Northwestern on offense, it's actually the defense that has been carrying the weight for the team. The blackshirts held Oklahoma to just over 400 yards of offense and 23 points, and Michigan State barely got over the 250 yard threshold against this unit. How for real is the defense? Let's investigate:
The Film: We used the Northwestern tape on offense because we had to, due to Nebraska's OL shakeup. It was not my preferred choice, and some of those clips were just astonishingly bad. Thus, free from the confines of having to use the NW tape for this side of the ball, I selected Michigan State, as they are the best team that runs a similar style of offense to Michigan that Nebraska has faced (Oklahoma's offensive philosophy is a poor match for this Michigan team). MSU won that game 23-20 in OT, a game Nebraska famously lost due to a bizarre punt return TD they ceded to Jayden Reed. Step outside of special teams, and Nebraska was clearly the better squad, especially in this side of the ball. Their defense kicked MSU's butt, and I will show you how shortly. Personnel: The chart
Nebraska runs with a front seven that shifts around an awful lot in terms of how it looks. On technicality, you would say that they run a 3-4, with a NT and two DT-ish players, much like Michigan. But as we've learned from watching the Wolverines this year, the actual formations that are trotted out there rarely look like a traditional, Wisconsin-type 3-4. Also like Michigan, the "OLB's" are just defensive ends. Unlike Michigan, there's a true Hybrid Space Player who normally takes the spot of the other "OLB". We'll dig into how this looks on the field in a bit. The three DT-ish players are Ty Robinson and Ben Stille, with Damion Daniels as the nose. Deontre Thomas rotates in quite a bit, and those four are the extent of the true linemen you need to know. This is a Nebraska defense that is not heavy on rotation, unlike Michigan (you can tell from how all the starters are "solid red" in the chart above). The DE's masquerading as OLB's are manned by Garrett Nelson and Caleb Tannor. They may play together on pass rushing downs, or it may be just one or the other, but they are largely out there to rush the QB and don't provide much else. Phel Payne is another backup to mention who sees the field some here. The LB level sees two traditional ILB's, Nick Henrich and Luke Reimer. Typically it's just two of them out there, and when one comes off, we see Chris Kolarevic rotate in. The Hybrid Space Player (Nebraska does not name it, which is very disappointing) is JoJo Domann, who decided to come back to school rather than to test his chances as a potential late round draft pick. Domann lines up as a DB more often than as a LB, but he has responsibilities in both run defense and coverage. There is not an obvious replacement for him on the defense among the second-stringers. The secondary features veteran corner Cam Taylor-Britt, as well as first-time starter Quinton Newsome, who is a tad wobbly and earns this defense's only cyan. Braxton Clark comes on as the third option at corner, but when Nebraska rolls with 5 DB's, it's far more likely they use Domann as the fifth than go with a nickel corner. The two safeties are both grizzled veterans and returning starters, Marquel Dismuke and Deontai Williams. In total, this defense features 8 returning starters from last season and has now been operating under Erik Chinander's scheme for four years. Inexperience is not their problem. [AFTER THE JUMP: Nebraska!]