Defense Wins Championships? Let’s Hope Not
Saturday's showdown between Nebraska and Michigan will pit what has been the Big Ten's best offensive team against one of the nation's better defensive squads. The Huskers are scoring an average of 42 points per game while allowing 28. The Wolverines are scoring 31 and allowing 16. NU has turned the ball over more but Michigan is still 80th in the country in turnover margin themselves. In the end, this may simply come down to the classic matchup of a strong offense versus a strong defense. Which is better? The irresistable force, or the immovable object?
Defense Wins Championships?
We've all heard that one before. Of course, that wouldn't explain the great run that Oregon's had in the Pac-10/12 in recent years or Wisconsin's conference championship a year ago. Nebraska took the field against Texas in 2009 and Oklahoma in 2010 with a better scoring defense, but walked away on the wrong end each time. Despite some pretty bad defensive outings by the Huskers this season, NU has opened as a slight favorite against the Wolverines.
That's Offensive
The tale of Nebraska's win at Northwestern was the two touchdown drives engineered in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. The defense nearly permitted a game-winning field goal by the Wildcats. As well as the Blackshirts played on the day, it was the offense that delivered the victory. They needed 20 points in less than 2 quarters to beat the Badgers. Even for Michigan to eke out a victory in a defensive struggle in East Lansing, it was their offense that produced the game-winning field goal drive. It's hard to find fault with the Wolverines' defense against Notre Dame, it was the offense that let them down. You've got to get points on the board to get victories. NU's shown that they do it well.
It Takes Two
It may be strength on strength when the NU offense faces the UM defense. But it may be the Husker defense on Wolverine offense that's most pivotal. Nebraska could win a game in which they allow four touchdowns, like against Northwestern. But it's got to stop there. The Big Red can bend, but if they break even the red-hot offense may not be able to save the day. Hopefully, fans create an environment where that won't happen.
10/23/2012
All we gotta do is pressure barnyard Robinson. We all know he just throws up passes anyway and wrs make the play. Look wat we did to coulter. Just keep it up and we will walk away w a 17 pt win
10/23/2012
Not so fast…
that young man you call “barnyard” had one hell of a game against the Huskers last year.
Why the disrespect?
10/23/2012
I fear nerves in this BIG game. The fear of making mistakes creates mistakes. Compound that with the fear of what you are going to face from your head coach when you come off the field IF you make a mistake is a lot to handle. Not too much, I hope.
Just once I would like to see Coach Pelini talk the talk and let a mistake go instead of blowing up. Meet the guy on the field that makes the mistake as he comes off the field, with ALL the media cameras waiting to catch a ‘Pelini Ass Chewing’ but instead, look the player in the face with nods of encouragement, a tap on the helmet and a pat on the butt. Pelini would grow as a coach, the player would learn instead of bear that cross and recruits would think that being a Husker might not be so bad.
This is a mind game to be played this week. Focused. Relaxed. Ready to feed off the crowd. No “fixing” what they already know what they did wrong. Execute the ‘fun’damentals they all have in them.
10/23/2012
If the huskers don’t turn the ball over and have a ridiculus number of penalties in critical situations ie…. 3rd and short or 1st and goal they could easily beat michigan but since we have a coaching staff full of jr high coaches michigan will probably win easy
10/23/2012
If they can contain the QB they will do just fine. They really dropped the focus last year. Maybe a cocky Michigan team will show up Saturday night.
GBR!
10/23/2012
Howard and John,
I’m not sure you guys remember “The Coach We Don’t Speak Of,” but there is no way one of his teams would have been able to come back from any of these deficits. Those “Jr. High” coaches have done a damn good job. They weren’t the ones putting the ball on the ground putting us in that position in the first place. Do you guys think that they don’t go over ball security in practice? Antonio Bell committed a huge penalty in a big situation that could have cost them the game. He got his ass chewed. As a coach I would be pissed too when the team addresses penalties in practice. These are good coaches who will become great. It doesn’t happen over night. 4+ seasons is not a very long time for a new, first time head coach.
I get tired of reading from fans about how Pelini should be fired and that he’s not a good coach at all. We’ve lost 2 games this year. One by 6 to a BCS conference team that is 5-2 and another by 25 to the best overall team in the B1G. The sky is not falling. Crawl out of your fallout shelters and step into the light. The air is breathable up here.
10/23/2012
NodakHuskerFan- Crawl out of your fallout shelters! Priceless.
John you are correct. Win the turnover battle most likely win the game. I will say this team is certaintly fun (not in a good way) to watch. If our defensive backfield can play man to man the whole game like last week it will be huge to contain Robinson and force him to throw. Our defense must not be offensive and at least slow down the Michigan offense.
10/23/2012
NodakHuskerFan - Amen to all.
10/23/2012
If Nebraska wins its a close one but if they lose its going 2 be a blowout I bet. I still don’t think we can stop a mobile quarterback and I won’t be surprised if that shows Saturday. Also how can we get in denards face when we can’t ever get 2 the quarterbacks let them have all day 2 throw.
10/23/2012
NodakHuskerFan ~ I am absolutely NOT saying the players should be handled with kid gloves. I believe fear is not a motivational tool in the heat of battle. Did TO blow a fuse at every mistake during games? Pelini said in a presser that they, as a team, move on from play to play and don’t dwell on mistakes BUT does he practice what he preaches? You can tell the players like TM that just tune him out when he rants. You said exactly what I meant, “I would be pissed too when the team addresses penalties in practice.” NOT on the sideline.
10/24/2012
I guess I didn’t write that out very clearly. What I meant was “I would be pissed [during the game] too when the team addresses penalties in practice [but still commits them repeatedly in game].” That’s how I meant that to be interpreted.
Regardless, I think Bo has proven that he wants to be here and he wants to win here and he’s going to do it with his own style. He’s not Tom Osborne or Bob Devaney. As fans we have to stop expecting him to be that. If we get another coach like that then we will know how to appreciate it. Until then lets jump off of the bandwagon and enjoy our competitive team with quality coaches and outstanding kids who play hard for our entertainment.
10/24/2012
I am not for booting Bo. I am for improvement and demeanor is a quality he needs to work on. He was reprimanded and has improved.
If it is believed that ranting at a players mistake follows the presser talk of not letting emotion impede the flow of the game, something does not jive.
10/24/2012
I’m not in favor of booting Bo either…anymore. I do think he has made bad decisions that have cost us, like in his hires. But there are lots of teams that would LOVE to have Bo Pelini as coach. And who’s to say he won’t be the next Bob Devaney or Tom Osborne in time? He does need time and he is himself a fairly new head coach.
The thing is this…it’s frustrating. We’re all very frustrated. Because we are a good team in lots of ways, and we have a lot of really good players and when they put it all together, they can play with anyone. But they just can’t seem to turn the corner and play up to their level on a consistent basis and kick ass game to game. We are plagued with the same recurring problems…namely turnovers, penalties and lack of sound defense. But be that as it may,we’re still the best offense in the conference, our passing game is excellent and our running game is one of the tops in the country. So there are bright spots to look at…which of course makes it even more frustrating when they don’t do what everyone knows they can. No one apparently knows how to fix it so we’ll just go on and hope they figure it all out. Sometimes problems fix themselves.
Right now, if we fired the whole crew it would take another few years to ramp up anyway so there’s no gain, and who’s to say Bo wouldn’t get there in that time anyway? Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
We can win Saturday. They’re not that good. They’ve got the film of how to tear them apart (Alabama). The didn’t even score a touchdown against Michigan State. They’ve got one guy who is truly a great athlete, but they don’t have anywhere near the offense we do.
If we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot we’ll be fine. I know…big if.