Nebraska vs. Michigan Defense
OK, this is my first diary post...be kind. This is a bit dated, but still useful. After watching the Big12 championship game, I took at look at Nebraska's defense and compared it to ours. I sent it to Brian, and he suggested I post it as a diary. So I did.
Brian -
First, I'm a big fan of your work. You have made me a more informed
football fan. Much appreciated. EDIT: SHAMELESS KISS-UP...
So, after watching the suffocating and dominating defensive performance by
Nebraska last night, I thought I'd do a little research. I was impressed
that Bo Pellini could come in and turn around a team like he has (at least on
the defensive side of the ball); the stat was given last night that they went
from something like 107th in scoring D to 7th (those #s are probably a little
off).
We know all too well from many posts on MGoBlog (esp from Misopogon) about the
terrible attrition on D. But I was curious about how good the recruiting was
for Nebraska that could give them such a phenomenal D.
I went back and looked at the recruting classes from 2005-2009 as listed on
Rivals (I know that those ratings can be misleading, but since that seems to be
how we look at these things, I went with it. Here's each class (only D, since
we know how awful the other side of the ball is), with position (note some are
ATH and there's even an OT now playing D-line), and star rating; I've also
listed each player on the current 2-deep.
2005 class
Zach PotterDE****
Justin TomerlinDE****
Starter Barry TurnerDE***
Barry CryerDT***
Ola DagunduroDT****
Starter Ndamukong SuhDT****
Nick CoveyLB***
Starter Phillip DillardLB****
Dontrell MooreLB***
Steve OctavienLB****
Zackary BowmanDB*****
Robert RandsDB**
Bryan WilsonDB**
2* = 2; 3*=4; 4*=6; 5*=1
3 Starters
2006 class
Starter Pierre AllenDE***
Ben MartinDE**
Mike SmithDE***
Seth JensenDT***
Brandon JohnsonDT***
Steve AllenLB***
Andre JonesDB*****
Corey YoungDB***
2* = 1; 3*=6; 4*=0; 5*=1
1 Starter
2007 class
Starter Jared CrickDE***
William YancyDE****
Shukree BarfieldDT***
Demetrious DavisDT***
Kevin DixonDT****
Backup Terrence MooreDT***
Joseph TownsendDT****
Blake LawrenceLB****
Austin StaffordLB***
Starter Larry AsanteDB****
Anthony BlueDB***
Armando MurilloDB****
Shawn SullivanDB***
Latravis WashingtonDB***
Backup S Eric Hagg, ATH***
Starter CB Prince Amukamara, ATH***
2* = 0; 3*=10; 4*=6; 5*=0
3 Starters, 2 Backup
2008 class
Backup Cameron MeredithDE***
Backup Josh WilliamsDE***
Quentin ToailoaDT***
Starter Sean FisherLB***
Alonzo WhaleyLB***
Starter Alfonzo DennardDB***
Backup P.J. SmithDB***
Mason WaldDB**
David WhitmoreDB****
Starter LB Will Compton, ATH****
Backup S Courtney Osborne, ATH***
Backup DT Baker Steinkuhler, OL*****
2* = 2; 3*=9; 4*=2; 5*=1
5 Backups 3 Starters
2009 class
Jason AnkrahDE****
Cole PensickDT***
Thaddeus RandleDT***
Backup Eric MartinLB***
Chris WilliamsLB****
Starter Dejon GomesDB***
Andrew GreenDB***
Lazarri MiddletonDB***
Dijon WashingtonDB****
2* = 0; 3*=6; 4*=5; 5*=0
1 Starter, 1 Backup
Of their starters, 7 are 3*s and 4 are 4*s...
In total, there are 5 players on the 2-deep that aren’t on this list.
Backup LB Mathew May, So
Backup LB Colton Koehler, Sr
Starter S Matt O’Hanlon, Sr
Backup S Austin Cassidy, So
Backup CB Anthony West, Jr.
I'm not sure how to explain this....are they walkons, guys with no rating, something else?
In summary, the star ratings for Nebraska:
2005 2* = 2; 3*=4; 4*=6; 5*=1
2006 2* = 1; 3*=6; 4*=0; 5*=1
2007 2* = 0; 3*=10; 4*=6; 5*=0
2008 2* = 2; 3*=9; 4*=2; 5*=1
2009 2* = 0; 3*=6; 4*=5; 5*=0
Total 2* = 5; 3*=35; 4*=19; 5*=3
On the flip side, the summary ratings for Michigan (also only on D):
2005 2* = 0; 3*=5; 4*=4; 5*=0
2006 2* = 0; 3*=5; 4*=5; 5*=1
2007 2* = 1; 3*=4; 4*=3; 5*=1
2008 2* = 0; 3*=1; 4*=7; 5*=0
2009 2* = 1; 3*=5; 4*=4; 5*=1
Total 2* = 2; 3*=20; 4*=23; 5*=2
I guess this shows what we already know:
1) our recruting has been good but not great. We've gotten some good players, but there are many fewer 3*s on the defensive side of the ball in our classes than even Nebraska.
2) the attrition has really been a killer
And some other stuff
3) maybe Callihan just couldn't "coach 'em up"
4) the right coach (Pellini) can take a group that has underperformed and make them great.
I guess I was expecting some other things to jump out at me from the Nebraska classes... I thought I might see some terrible recruiting and then a miracle turnaround by a great coach. I was hoping for that actually since I hope beyond hope that Robinson is a good coach and he can take some mediocre (at best) talent and produce a good D. That's not what we see here. Nebraska has some studs AND a great coach who gets the best from his players.
I'd love to hear what you think.
Thanks.
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December 19th, 2009 at 11:50 AM ^
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