Besides dominance, what are you looking for or expecting tonight?

[hokiehead]

All of them. They were absolute trash.

Yes. Really bad.

And we weren't getting much pressure rushing four.

That's two glaring weaknesses that I think will compound each other.

For those who have a deeper understanding of the technical aspects of the game, are there scheme adjustments that can mitigate LB weakness?

 

[Da Lama]

On straight ahead running plays Bentley was solid. On anything side to side we had big issues

Don't want to be that guy, but I can't say I told you so enough. NDSU did a great job of exploiting them. How a group of LBs can be so mystified by pre-snap motion, post snap play action/misdirection is beyond me. More than half their mistakes would've been non-issues if they had just read their keys and trusted what they had been taught. Oh wait...

 

[BuffWarHog]

Yes. Really bad.

And we weren't getting much pressure rushing four.

That's two glaring weaknesses that I think will compound each other.

For those who have a deeper understanding of the technical aspects of the game, are there scheme adjustments that can mitigate LB weakness?

6-0-5

 

[Darth Snow]

Don't want to be that guy, but I can't say I told you so enough. NDSU did a great job of exploiting them. How a group of LBs can be so mystified by pre-snap motion, post snap play action/misdirection is beyond me. More than half their mistakes would've been non-issues if they had just read their keys and trusted what they had been taught. Oh wait...

Hey man I've been a co pilot on the linebackers will ruin us train. Don't need to I told ya so me

 

[Da Lama]

Yes. Really bad.

And we weren't getting much pressure rushing four.

That's two glaring weaknesses that I think will compound each other.

For those who have a deeper understanding of the technical aspects of the game, are there scheme adjustments that can mitigate LB weakness?

1) Helow needs to keep working with them, primarily in the film room. They need massive coaching on how to make reads.
2) Woods needs to finally figure it out. He has zero desire to get downhill and get in the mix near the LOS and he gets a bit lost dropping into coverage. He still has that Safety perspective where he was able watch it all unfold in front of him from 12-15 yards deep. He's late on his drops and lost in what he's seeing coming at him, e.g. the early busted coverage when the RB snuck out of the backfield uncovered.
3) Rotate LBs throughout the CU game and stick with one pairing. Green needs a shot at starting next to Bentley. I think he's the answer.

All this said, playing a pass heavy team will help a lot. Our LBs are better built for pass first, run second.

 

[Bread]

I also was not impressed at all by our pass rush that was supposed to be vaunted from all the hype.

 

[BuffWarHog]

I also was not impressed at all by our pass rush that was supposed to be vaunted from all the hype.

What I will say, is that the pass rush vastly improved in the second half, which isn’t something I’ve seen (any sort of adjustment in the second half) from this team in a long time.

But also, WTAF was that last Hail Mary play - letting them catch that??! The HMFC is Deion Sanders.

 

[cnbuff410]

I also was not impressed at all by our pass rush that was supposed to be vaunted from all the hype.

They created more pressure than last year for sure. NDSU QB running and all these well designed fast rob pass made it less effective than we thought.

 

[Corey Trevorson]

Don't want to be that guy, but I can't say I told you so enough. NDSU did a great job of exploiting them. How a group of LBs can be so mystified by pre-snap motion, post snap play action/misdirection is beyond me. More than half their mistakes would've been non-issues if they had just read their keys and trusted what they had been taught. Oh wait...

You're ignoring what Livingston was calling. Using NDSU's 2nd half TD as an example NDSU ran the RB on a swing to the short side & a TE/WR to the wide side on an out route, this took Woods out of the middle to cover his man & took Craig out of the play defending the out route...this vacated the middle of the field entirely for an easy QB run.

 

[Alfred91]

To answer the OP, I just wanted a W. I hated that we scheduled these guys and it better never happen again.

I wished we had looked better, but our defense improved over the course of the game, our offensive line has improved, and we have Travis Hunter.

 

[Da Lama]

You're ignoring what Livingston was calling. Using NDSU's 2nd half TD as an example NDSU ran the RB on a swing to the short side & a TE/WR to the wide side on an out route, this took Woods out of the middle to cover his man & took Craig out of the play defending the out route...this vacated the middle of the field entirely for an easy QB run.

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I'm not questioning that play at all. Chalk it up as a coverage sack that wasn't. Receivers were locked down and the DL lost contain. Everyone downfield had their backs turned. Flukey. There are other examples of what I'm concerned about outside that play. I've said it in a couple other posts this morning that the LB starters should be Bentley and Green. These stats sort of support that.

 

[BuffUp]

I'm not questioning that play at all. Chalk it up as a coverage sack that wasn't. Receivers were locked down and the DL lost contain. Everyone downfield had their backs turned. Flukey. There are other examples of what I'm concerned about outside that play. I've said it in a couple other posts this morning that the LB starters should be Bentley and Green. These stats sort of support that.

There are teams on our schedule that make hay with that exact play. scary

 

[Corey Trevorson]

I'm not questioning that play at all. Chalk it up as a coverage sack that wasn't. Receivers were locked down and the DL lost contain. Everyone downfield had their backs turned. Flukey. There are other examples of what I'm concerned about outside that play. I've said it in a couple other posts this morning that the LB starters should be Bentley and Green. These stats sort of support that.

I agree with the conclusion, I called that one play out specifically but that was a pretty common cause in the 1st half