RojoBreakdown: Blackshirts selling out against run
As Mitch Leidner, he of the 57.9 completion percentage entering the game, was carving up the Huskers to the tune of a 16-for-17, 156-yard first half Saturday, it was impossible not to wonder what had gone so horribly wrong with the Nebraska secondary. The group was expected to be one of the team's strengths this season, and individually the talent still looked great on paper.
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But after seven games, the results are impossible to ignore. Though Nebraska slowed Leidner in the second half, he still finished with 301 yards, a career high. That marked the fourth time this season that an opponent notched their season high in passing yards against the Huskers (BYU, Southern Miss and Wisconsin are the others), and NU is giving up a nation-worst 341.7 yards per game.
A quick glance at the numbers says one thing in bold, loud print - the Huskers simply can't defend the pass. But closer examination reveals there might be more to it than poor performance.
Opponents have attempted 310 passing attempts against Nebraska (44.3 per game), the highest total in the country. Obviously if a team is facing a plethora of passes, it's going to give up more yards. Looking deeper, the Huskers are actually in the middle of the pack nationally in opponent completion percentage (57.4 percent, 52nd) and passer rating (130.7, 74th). Neither of those numbers is particularly promising, but they're not disastrous either.
So what's the issue here? Minnesota coach Jerry Kill brought up an interesting point Saturday morning during his weekly appearance on the Sports Huddle show on WCCO radio in Minneapolis. Kill said the Huskers made it clear they were going to sell out to stop the run, so the Gophers took to the air.
"They commit to the run," Kill said. "They're going to make you throw the ball. I thought we had a good plan. We said, 'OK, if they're going to put all those people up front, we're going to run it at them. And if we can't control the line of scrimmage we're going to throw it.' And we've got enough confidence in Mitch to do it.
"We used the bubble screen as a run and the tight end screen as a run, and then we took a few shots. Sometimes you watch those short throws, like in the NFL, they're almost like runs. When you're going downhill against somebody who's as big and strong as you and you can't move them, you have to have a plan on the offensive side if something doesn't work one way or another."
Defensive tackles Maliek Collins and Vincent Valentine are stout in the middle (as is Greg McMullen when he moves in from end) and defensive coordinator Mark Banker is sending extra help inside to stuff the run. That left Leidner with numbers on the edge, where he routinely threw quick swing passes to KJ Maye, who had 94 yards on 11 catches with a long of just 18.
This strategy has helped the Huskers put up some very stingy numbers against the run. They are ceding just 91 yards per game (seventh-best in the country) and 3.2 yards per carry (20th). Only three opponents have surpassed the 100-yard barrier as a team, and the Huskers have allowed just 20 runs of 10 or more yards, the 10th-lowest mark in the nation:
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