September 29, 2022 | DaddyHoosier | iufb.net
Watching Nebraska they remind me a lot of Indiana in terms of scheme, both offensively and defensively. Their Offensive Coordinator is Mark Whipple who came over in the offseason from Pitt, which boasted one of the best offenses in FBS in 2021. Of course it doesn’t hurt when your quarterback (Kenny Pickett) finishes third in the Heisman Voting.
Whipple’s Offense is described as Pro Style. It is a pass first offense that utilizes tempo, although Interim Head Coach Mickey Joseph indicated last week that the Huskers may slow it down a bit Saturday. Others say that Whipple does a good job of catering his offense to the personnel he has rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach. He is also good at creating mismatches. This seems to be a recurring theme across all offenses today but Whipple will challenge the Hoosier Defense both horizontally and vertically. He likes to take shots.
In the first two series against Oklahoma Nebraska used 11 personnel (1 running back and 1 tight end) but he used the TE (Travis Vokolek, #83) in different ways, including formation wrinkles. Vokolek lined up in in the traditional way (three-point stance on the line of scrimmage), as an h-back, and as a wide receiver (10 personnel look). Out of the 10 look the Huskers showed bunch and ran a WR screen which 83 blocked quite effectively. A few plays later Vokolek was lined up as a WR (trips but not bunch). This time the TE/WR ran a hitch which allowed the outside receiver to hit the post behind him for a TD. Vokolek looked very good as a run-blocker. He used his 6’7″ frame to collapse the defender on a couple plays I saw. On the above-mentioned screen play he blocked the guy literally 25 yards down field. And as I mentioned he ran a nice complementary route to set up the TD.
Defensively Nebraska changed to a 4-3 this year. But their base look is Nickel (5 defensive backs) so it’s very similar to what Indiana does, they just don’t (to my knowledge) have the designated Husky guy to be the hybrid. From what I saw they played a lot of man to man coverage.
Tackling has been an issue as has just getting lined up. Nebraska fired Defensive Coordinator Erik Chinander and Bill Busch took over on September 18th. Busch and his staff have said they are scaling back the defense and simplifying the play-calling system so that the players can think less and play more. The front seven assignments are more different than one might imagine when switching from 3-4 to 4-3 so that may have a lot to do with Nebraska’s early struggles on that side of the ball. Some are wondering if the Huskers have the personnel suited to run a 4-3 scheme.
This could potentially be a higher scoring game. Will the Hoosier Defense be able to get some stops? Will Walt Bell’s Offense eliminate mistakes and keep pace with the Huskers? This one should be fun!
Watching Nebraska they remind me a lot of Indiana in terms of scheme, both offensively and defensively. Their Offensive Coordinator is Mark Whipple who came over in the offseason from Pitt, which boasted one of the best offenses in FBS in 2021. Of course it doesn’t hurt when your quarterback (Kenny Pickett) finishes third in the Heisman Voting.
Whipple’s Offense is described as Pro Style. It is a pass first offense that utilizes tempo, although Interim Head Coach Mickey Joseph indicated last week that the Huskers may slow it down a bit Saturday. Others say that Whipple does a good job of catering his offense to the personnel he has rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach. He is also good at creating mismatches. This seems to be a recurring theme across all offenses today but Whipple will challenge the Hoosier Defense both horizontally and vertically. He likes to take shots.
In the first two series against Oklahoma Nebraska used 11 personnel (1 running back and 1 tight end) but he used the TE (Travis Vokolek, #83) in different ways, including formation wrinkles. Vokolek lined up in in the traditional way (three-point stance on the line of scrimmage), as an h-back, and as a wide receiver (10 personnel look). Out of the 10 look the Huskers showed bunch and ran a WR screen which 83 blocked quite effectively. A few plays later Vokolek was lined up as a WR (trips but not bunch). This time the TE/WR ran a hitch which allowed the outside receiver to hit the post behind him for a TD. Vokolek looked very good as a run-blocker. He used his 6’7″ frame to collapse the defender on a couple plays I saw. On the above-mentioned screen play he blocked the guy literally 25 yards down field. And as I mentioned he ran a nice complementary route to set up the TD.
Defensively Nebraska changed to a 4-3 this year. But their base look is Nickel (5 defensive backs) so it’s very similar to what Indiana does, they just don’t (to my knowledge) have the designated Husky guy to be the hybrid. From what I saw they played a lot of man to man coverage.
Tackling has been an issue as has just getting lined up. Nebraska fired Defensive Coordinator Erik Chinander and Bill Busch took over on September 18th. Busch and his staff have said they are scaling back the defense and simplifying the play-calling system so that the players can think less and play more. The front seven assignments are more different than one might imagine when switching from 3-4 to 4-3 so that may have a lot to do with Nebraska’s early struggles on that side of the ball. Some are wondering if the Huskers have the personnel suited to run a 4-3 scheme.
This could potentially be a higher scoring game. Will the Hoosier Defense be able to get some stops? Will Walt Bell’s Offense eliminate mistakes and keep pace with the Huskers? This one should be fun!
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