Boy this is getting to be fun. None of our opponents so far have been great, but three of the 5 have been right on the edge of the top quartile (top 32 teams) as measured by SP+.
Indiana 29, Cincy (now recovering statistically from our game) is 38 and Nebraska (reeling from Saturday) is 39.
All of them demolished.
Add in the night game on the road and quality of some of the offensive players on Nebraska and this week's shellacking is even more impressive.
I said going in, that Nebraska had a punchers chance if they could avoid turnovers. If not it would be a blow out. They couldn't and it was.
The play of the game was the Okudah TO off of the tipped pass. The Huskers added in a wrinkle that took us by surprise (I will dig into this below) and were moving the ball.
Jeff fell down on the play, and if that ball is on target... it's a TD and the game is 14-7, the crowd is into it and the wrinkle has our D coaches scrambling.
The ball wasn't on target, Hitler didn't have nukes, we won WWII and the Huskers were done for the game.
When the Bucks were on O...
I learned nothing. The Bucks have a Top 10 Offense. Maybe Top 5 or even higher.
Given a short field with turnovers, Nebraska D had no chance going in and no chance as Martinez turned the ball over like pancakes. Boy was that fun to watch.
When the Bucks Were on D
What I learned - or took away - from this game is the way the D adjusted to the Wrinkle and I think it's pretty cool.
We've been talking about the Bucks D as a 4-2-5. And you COULD view it that way. But I don't think that's best way to think about the base.
I think it's a 4-4-3.
Where the TWO hybrid dudes (OLB's in the base scheme) can be mixed and matched.
The light bulb went off when we brought in Hilliard and swapped out Wade when the Huskers went into the I.
This actually makes sense with how they've been using Wade with Werner and White so far against mainly 1 back sets, or specifically sets with no Full Back.
The most famous 4-4-3 was the "46" deployed by Buddy Ryan, and right behind that in public awareness is the Bud Foster version deployed at VaTech.
Both of those schemes most often used ODD fronts and aggressive blitzing. I don't think Mattison/Hafley are following that path AT ALL... although they COULD if the opponent warranted it.
The TCU 4-2-5 and Ryan's "46" use one hybrid player. #46 was Doug Plank. Plank was a safety who came all the way into the box as an extra LB. Ryan wanted to 2 back run-centric NFL teams on the mid-70's through the 80's and attacked the pass by blitzing.
Gary Patterson's TCU 4-2-5 also uses a hybrid player who is a safety/LB as the 5th DB, but his approach was to be in nickel the hole game to stop pass-centric teams in the B12.
I think Mattison/Hafley have blended these to stop the downhill run game and address proliferation of the spread.
The common element is the 4-2 base, and M/H have tried to keep this front as simple and downhill as possible. The performance of the LBs clearly indicates the strength of this approach.
Mattison/Hafley use a single high safety and hybrid safety/LB (Werner) from Ryan's 46 and the nickel DB (Wade) from Patterson in their base scheme.
But based on how they responded to the Husker I, I expect that they will use multiple mix and match for the two HYBRID OLBs as needed.
Given the Sparty staff... #47 may get some more PT this weekend.
FINAL THOUGHT
Garret Wilson is going to return a punt for a TD before the end of October
Indiana 29, Cincy (now recovering statistically from our game) is 38 and Nebraska (reeling from Saturday) is 39.
All of them demolished.
Add in the night game on the road and quality of some of the offensive players on Nebraska and this week's shellacking is even more impressive.
I said going in, that Nebraska had a punchers chance if they could avoid turnovers. If not it would be a blow out. They couldn't and it was.
The play of the game was the Okudah TO off of the tipped pass. The Huskers added in a wrinkle that took us by surprise (I will dig into this below) and were moving the ball.
Jeff fell down on the play, and if that ball is on target... it's a TD and the game is 14-7, the crowd is into it and the wrinkle has our D coaches scrambling.
The ball wasn't on target, Hitler didn't have nukes, we won WWII and the Huskers were done for the game.
When the Bucks were on O...
I learned nothing. The Bucks have a Top 10 Offense. Maybe Top 5 or even higher.
Given a short field with turnovers, Nebraska D had no chance going in and no chance as Martinez turned the ball over like pancakes. Boy was that fun to watch.
When the Bucks Were on D
What I learned - or took away - from this game is the way the D adjusted to the Wrinkle and I think it's pretty cool.
We've been talking about the Bucks D as a 4-2-5. And you COULD view it that way. But I don't think that's best way to think about the base.
I think it's a 4-4-3.
Where the TWO hybrid dudes (OLB's in the base scheme) can be mixed and matched.
The light bulb went off when we brought in Hilliard and swapped out Wade when the Huskers went into the I.
This actually makes sense with how they've been using Wade with Werner and White so far against mainly 1 back sets, or specifically sets with no Full Back.
The most famous 4-4-3 was the "46" deployed by Buddy Ryan, and right behind that in public awareness is the Bud Foster version deployed at VaTech.
Both of those schemes most often used ODD fronts and aggressive blitzing. I don't think Mattison/Hafley are following that path AT ALL... although they COULD if the opponent warranted it.
The TCU 4-2-5 and Ryan's "46" use one hybrid player. #46 was Doug Plank. Plank was a safety who came all the way into the box as an extra LB. Ryan wanted to 2 back run-centric NFL teams on the mid-70's through the 80's and attacked the pass by blitzing.
Gary Patterson's TCU 4-2-5 also uses a hybrid player who is a safety/LB as the 5th DB, but his approach was to be in nickel the hole game to stop pass-centric teams in the B12.
I think Mattison/Hafley have blended these to stop the downhill run game and address proliferation of the spread.
The common element is the 4-2 base, and M/H have tried to keep this front as simple and downhill as possible. The performance of the LBs clearly indicates the strength of this approach.
Mattison/Hafley use a single high safety and hybrid safety/LB (Werner) from Ryan's 46 and the nickel DB (Wade) from Patterson in their base scheme.
But based on how they responded to the Husker I, I expect that they will use multiple mix and match for the two HYBRID OLBs as needed.
Given the Sparty staff... #47 may get some more PT this weekend.
FINAL THOUGHT
Garret Wilson is going to return a punt for a TD before the end of October
