It looked great in every respect. Something that we expected from the start of the season and started seeing against USC and UCLA.

The offensive line looked better.

Nebraska is good team. They took Indiana to the wire in their only earlier loss.

I almost have the feeling like the one after The Pick, which fueled our 1994 season.

So I have been pretty silent about criticizing the staff as of late. I am not happy with the defense. Despite how well they played. But...they did what was necessary to win. I'll take that.

I wanted to show everyone some things about the defense this week-good and bad. And I understand some of the dynamics of what is happening right now. I need to look at the offense like that as well (I just don't have the time).

I may wait until the end of the season to go into the kind of detail I have uncovered.

I didn't want to stress everyone out this week. We are rightfully all on edge at the moment. We don't need any more stress than the nightmares we are witnessing right now.

5 hours ago, Mike West said:

So I have been pretty silent about criticizing the staff as of late. I am not happy with the defense. Despite how well they played. But...they did what was necessary to win. I'll take that.

I wanted to show everyone some things about the defense this week-good and bad. And I understand some of the dynamics of what is happening right now. I need to look at the offense like that as well (I just don't have the time).

I may wait until the end of the season to go into the kind of detail I have uncovered.

I didn't want to stress everyone out this week. We are rightfully all on edge at the moment. We don't need any more stress than the nightmares we are witnessing right now.

There was a lot of stress in Duck nation for sure. That was easily the most boring exciting head scratching game I’ve experienced in my 55 years as a Duck fan.

7 hours ago, Mike West said:

So I have been pretty silent about criticizing the staff as of late. I am not happy with the defense. Despite how well they played. But...they did what was necessary to win. I'll take that.

I wanted to show everyone some things about the defense this week-good and bad. And I understand some of the dynamics of what is happening right now. I need to look at the offense like that as well (I just don't have the time).

I may wait until the end of the season to go into the kind of detail I have uncovered.

I didn't want to stress everyone out this week. We are rightfully all on edge at the moment. We don't need any more stress than the nightmares we are witnessing right now.

The scheme has it's issues for sure but the players are now executing it at a high level, and seemed extremely prepared for everything Nebraska tried to do.

This defense is as good or better than the 2019 defense now. The cornerbacks are likely the best cornerback group in college football (next year it won't even be a question).The LBs are hitting the right gaps more often than not and the DL is starting to dominate consistently.

There is still room for improvement as well, which I expect to continue.

The Lincoln Riley's of the world will continue to exploit the weaknesses of the scheme, but I think our players are finally talented enough and experienced enough to keep that in check.

I don't see any team in the country that could score more than 30 on us, which makes this a championship level defense.

The problem is there are about 80 teams that could keep us from scoring more than 30 points right now...

I'm loving Brandon Finney at nickel! First off his run support is excellent and his tackling is some of the best on the team. Having him at nickel brings him closer to the middle of the field and therefore closer to the action on every play.

Nasir Wyatt getting more playing time has been a big plus as he has the speed to get to the sideline and pursue a speedy QB when they take off. Not to mention his ability to pass rush. He needs more playing time.

Devin Jackson was looking good as a true freshman. It's always fun when you say out loud "who was that".

A ton of underclassman got a lot of playing time last night and they look pretty good.

13 hours ago, Solar said:

The scheme has it's issues for sure but the players are now executing it at a high level, and seemed extremely prepared for everything Nebraska tried to do.

This defense is as good or better than the 2019 defense now. The cornerbacks are likely the best cornerback group in college football (next year it won't even be a question).The LBs are hitting the right gaps more often than not and the DL is starting to dominate consistently.

There is still room for improvement as well, which I expect to continue.

The Lincoln Riley's of the world will continue to exploit the weaknesses of the scheme, but I think our players are finally talented enough and experienced enough to keep that in check.

I don't see any team in the country that could score more than 30 on us, which makes this a championship level defense.

The problem is there are about 80 teams that could keep us from scoring more than 30 points right now...

The players are fine. The scheme isn't. The right scheme? This would be an elite defense and we would be undefeated had they showed up in September with the scheme. I see several teams that are going to crack it if we were fortunate enough to reach the playoffs. Of course, the install is flexible enough they could shift away from tendencies and actually dominate. As much as I love DL, he won't do that. All the points scored this year are do to scheme (and looking at that damn QB). Change the scheme to better fit the talent and this is a 14 PPG unit ( and nobody would have scored 20 this year). My opinion of course.

13 hours ago, Mike West said:

The players are fine. The scheme isn't. The right scheme? This would be an elite defense and we would be undefeated had they showed up in September with the scheme. I see several teams that are going to crack it if we were fortunate enough to reach the playoffs. Of course, the install is flexible enough they could shift away from tendencies and actually dominate. As much as I love DL, he won't do that. All the points scored this year are do to scheme (and looking at that damn QB). Change the scheme to better fit the talent and this is a 14 PPG unit ( and nobody would have scored 20 this year). My opinion of course.

I can't disagree with this, other than to say no defensive scheme is perfect, but there should be other schemes that are more net positive.

I was hopeful DL would return from the Seahawks with Mike MacDonald's defensive playbook, but maybe all he really did was stand on the sidelines and watch them practice.

10 hours ago, Solar said:

I can't disagree with this, other than to say no defensive scheme is perfect, but there should be other schemes that are more net positive.

I was hopeful DL would return from the Seahawks with Mike MacDonald's defensive playbook, but maybe all he really did was stand on the sidelines and watch them practice.

You and me both. My response wasn't directed at you per se (or simply a response to your analysis). As I have said before-you see the game in slow motion-better than most of us. Let me expand on why I believe the scheme is the issue: the install for this defense allows for some flexibility that fits the unit, its components, and the talent within the unit. But there's more, it also is flexible enough as a base to provide a multitude of looks and strategies. I didn't believe that myself until I looked into it.

You specifically mention Koi has a terrible sense of pursuing the ball at the proper angle. It seriously nullifies his speed. I believe you said that is a coaching issue (more like a damn malfunction if you ask me). While scheme has nothing to do with that, the flexibility within the scheme allows for it to a degree. Koi is too fast to bench. So what can be done to exploit his talent? That is the question.

I finally got to see highlights of the Georgia at Bama game. Let me tell you, Kirby Smart realizes he has to modify the Mint-because I saw variations to it-including putting 5 guys at the Line of Scrimmage. I am seeing it a bit with Lanning. But I haven't had the time to really get into it. But my study has led me to the conclusion the install is flexible enough to throw teams off because they wouldn't be able scout tendencies as much.

Again, this game is far more complex that we hacks have time or expertise to judge. This year more than ever, I have been humbled because I have discovered Lanning and his staff ARE on this and think about our concerns far more than we grasp. I think Duck Nation is convulsing over the dramatic difference in performance than we expected. And I am being kind when I say that (that I will actually address because I am starting to get annoyed with our fellow fans).