Monday Column: Go Beyond Raw Numbers to Measure Blackshirts' Improvement

Grixby, better linebacker play help Nebraska's defense while Oklahoma and Texas struggle

Good morning from the center of the universe, where, suddenly, Nebraska's struggles don't look so bad.

It's like every good college football team entered the "Cheers" bar at once.

You know, where troubles are all the same?

Oklahoma dies on a mountain vine. Texas finally just implodes, instead of merely flirting with the idea. West Virginia's offense plays about as careless as an offense can. Clemson misses four field goals. Rutgers gets exposed. And Florida hands another one to Auburn.

The nation's No. 3 team will now be California. Swallow that, and swallow this: Kentucky will now enter the top ten. Kentucky. I'm not sure UK could hold Nebraska to under 56 points. Not sure Nebraska could hold UK to under 56, for that matter.

(Football polls...just love them. Don't you?)

So does that mean the NU critics - including this one - will go any easier on the Huskers after a so-so win over a poor Iowa State team?

Not really. A little, but only because they earned it.

Here's we learned from Nebraska's 35-17 win at Memorial Stadium Saturday:

Coz had Iowa State pegged. Burn Defensive Coordinator Kevin Cosgrove at the stake if you want, but he had his team prepared. Especially against the run, where Iowa State quarterback Bret Meyer had little success on draw plays, and none at all on the option.

"We had a couple difference things we did game plan wise, and it worked out good," linebacker Bo Ruud said. "Coz did a really good job. He had this team down pretty good; he had a feel what they were going to do.

Using more zone than man coverage, Nebraska's defenders were consistently in position to make plays on everything but those slant patterns, which eventually turned into two interceptions and led to 14 points anyway. You're not going to beat anyone with 30 slant patterns; sooner or later, a guy like Cortney Grixby's going to break on one and make a play, which he did.

You may not want to hear this, but the Huskers played a pro-style defense Saturday. One of them, at least. Soft corners. Protective zone. Everything in front. Some Cover 2, which negates the deep throw if you don't have a good tight end. 

It was nice to see Cosgrove not take one of his linebackers out on every play by constantly utilizing the "over" and "under" 4-3 alignments. It worked last year because linebacker Stewart Bradley was terrific on run support; other than Oklahoma State, when he was hurt, Bradley consistently held his own, functioning almost as a fifth defensive lineman. Few tight ends could take him.

Bradley has no counterpart in this year's defense. In fact, it could be argued that none of Nebraska's linebackers, aside from maybe Phillip Dillard, are classic run-stoppers. Corey McKeon, by his own admission, is a blitzer. Ruud excels more in pass coverage. Steve Octavien and backup Lance Brandenburgh can make a lot of plays, but they do it with hustle and backside pursuit.

Against the Cyclones, the linebackers didn't seem so caught up in traffic. It was certainly the best they've played all year.

One other thing: The total yardage - 415 - is not that important.

Only four yards per play. That's important.

Against Ball State, Nebraska relinquished 7.7 yards per play. Against USC, it was 6.7 yards.

Kansas State gave 4.4 yards per play in a 41-21 win over Texas Saturday. South Florida gave up 5.1 yards per play in its 21-13 win over West Virginia Friday. Both were supposedly great defensive performances that Husker fans only wished the Blackshirts might turn in.

Of course, Iowa State is neither UT or WVU. But four yards a play? You'd better take it.

And four turnovers. Take that and hide.

The Blackshirts played with aggression and emotion. They played, as they say, "downhill." The defensive line attacked. The linebackers attacked. The secondary played safe most of the game, but took chances at the right time.

That said, Nebraska's getting thin on its defensive front. Really, really thin. Defensive tackle Ty Steinkuhler obviously isn't 100 percent, nose tackle Nda Suh and defensive end Zach Potter are a little banged up, and Clayton Sievers could be out. By the end of this year, defensive tackle Kevin Dixon is going to be worn out. So is tackle Shukree Barfield. You think that the transition from junior college football to Big 12 Conference football is easy on those big dudes? By, November, I assure you: Those two will be dragging. The whole front four might be.

If Nebraska had a five-game defensive MVP, it's probably Cortney Grixby. Grixby is not one of the nation's best cornerbacks. He's not the team's best cornerback. But in two games - at Wake Forest and vs. Iowa State - Grixby played excellent in key moments.

It was Bowman, not Grixby, who shadowed Blythe most of the day. Bowman won his share and lost his share, but he was beginning to wear down in the third quarter. That's when Grixby, almost a foot shorter than Blythe, made the game's biggest play, reading that slant pattern and deflecting the ball into Ruud's hands. On both of his interceptions, he jumper higher than I'm sure Meyer expected he would.

"We just wanted to come out and play loose," Grxiby said. "Come out and have fun. Just play. No pressure, just come out and make plays."

As a third cornerback, Grixby is in good position to do just that.

Bill Callahan doesn't trust his running game. If he does, he has a funny way of showing it. Nothing against the Cyclones, but if the Huskers' offensive line could body up better and block the running plays Callahan calls, there would be no need for tricky stuff. Nebraska ran three magic plays. One - Marlon Lucky's halfback pass - went for a touchdown. The two others - a reverse to Terrence Nunn and a weird double pass with quarterbacks Sam Keller and Joe Ganz - were drive killers.

"We were trying to separate and get into a run-oriented attack, and we just didn't quite get there," Callahan said.

In the five keys, we talked about the difficulty of executing stretch running plays and long counters.

Those problems continued, although Lucky busted one for a 41-yard touchdown at the start of the third quarter. Callahan varied the formation and blocking schemes of his toss play, which picked a crucial first down on NU's first touchdown drive. On one toss, receiver Maurice Purify sealed the short-side edge with a down block. On another, Callahan used three receivers to create a scrum that Lucky ran around to the wide side. It was out of this formation that Callahan called the halfback pass.

Still - the Huskers' offensive line looks average on running plays and Lucky acts uncertain on stretch calls, mostly because there's no hole to run through. Callahan said he'd kick himself for not telling Keller to throw the ball away at the end of the first half, but he really ought to for calling a toss to Quentin Castille on third-and-short late in the fourth quarter. Come on, coach. Use a fullback drive. Your boys have the meat to push the opponent one yard, don't they?

Don't they?

The Big 12 North officially got more interesting. Kansas State isn't 20 points better than Texas on most days, but the Wildcats are fast. Especially on defense. Will Ron Prince's boys eventually get burned by their aggression and willful abandon? Yes. But KSU, unlike Nebraska, makes its mistakes at 100 miles per hour, and in the process beats up guys like Colt McCoy something awful.

In reality, the Wildcats possess a somewhat conservative offense. Quarterback Josh Freeman has a package of things he does well, and Kansas State, wisely, didn't stray from it on Saturday. In Jordy Nelson, James Johnson and Leon Patton, the Wildcats have some playmakers (just as many, if not one more, than Nebraska's offense).

Texas, meanwhile, looked slow and unable to adapt to KSU's ever-shifting blitz and stunt scheme. Is the spread offense, or any version of it, really the right fit for this team without Vince Young?

Oklahoma has the right offense, and the right defense. The Sooners just lose focus. Head Coach Bob Stoops already has shouldered the blame for that collapse and he deserves it. Watching the game later, it's pretty clear how Colorado pulled off a 27-24 upset: OU let up. The defense simply presumed CU would blow its chances. And the offense went into a shell. How can Malcolm Kelly, maybe the best college football receiver, not even get a pass thrown to him? Shouldn't somebody explain that?

See, in the NFL, crap like that doesn't happen, because an owner isn't paying the best receiver $7 million to run around on the grass and not get a pass thrown his way. And a coach knows it.

As for Colorado? The Buffs will give every Big 12 foe a fight because of that defense. And now that running back Hugh Charles seems healthy, CU Head Coach Dan Hawkins looks committed to running the ball. There isn't any fooling around - Colorado's going to chew clock, and Hawkins is calling play-action stuff for his quarterback son, Cody, off of the running game. The Buffs aren't cute. And, in Boulder, they'll be a tough, tough out.

The jury's still out on Kansas and Missouri. Most of what needs to be known about both teams will be known by next Sunday morning. It'll probably take that long for the Tigers-Huskers game to be completely over.

 

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