First Down and Second Thoughts

I remember a little over two years ago, on a Thursday night, Nebraska traveled to play Minnesota for the first game of the Matt Rhule era. The previous year, the defense was poor. It marginally improved when interim coach Mickey Joseph moved Bill Busch into the defensive coordinator position for the remainder of the 2022 season. However, to start 2023, the Blackshirts held Minnesota to 55 yards rushing in a 10-13 loss. We didn’t know what to expect in Rhule’s first game, but we almost instantly saw a renewed physicality and toughness to the defense, especially along the line.

Fast forward two years, and I’m wondering where that toughness went. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how the defensive playcalling and scheme seem unwilling to change. I rationalized this by assuming the coaching staff was building towards a defensive system, one built around tight man coverage that relies on the front six or seven, especially the defensive line, to set the tone in the run game and provide pressure on the quarterback.

I assumed the belief is that this system would work if Nebraska had the proper talent up front to execute it. I try to rationalize it this way because it’s easier to stomach than the alternative.

This last game against Penn State has shaken my belief in my rationale, my attempt to understand why we see no improvement in the run defense, and if there is any hope for improving it next year. Nebraska had two weeks to prepare for this game and knew exactly what Penn State was going to do: establish a physical running game. Yet, we see no improvement. Consistently all year, Nebraska has ranked in the bottom of the nation against the run, even against lesser competition.

If the theory is that Nebraska needs better talent in the front seven to compete against the top competition’s run game, why is our current talent not good enough to contain a less talented opponent's run game?

The schedule only gets tougher next year. By this logic, an improvement in talent produces what, an average run defense at best? I don’t know how long Husker fans will stomach a run defense that appears to get pushed around. To me, it seems like the quickest way that fans could lose faith in a program. Especially a program where toughness is consistently preached from the head coach. We have one more similar test coming up against Iowa. Everyone knows what Iowa is going to try to do. Run the ball.

Will Nebraska be able and willing to do everything to try to stop it? To me, it seems like the defense needs to prove to themselves that they can do it. I’m afraid it may be more of the same frustrations.