Blackshirt Front 7 versus Georgia Offensive Line/Backs
I witnessed Aaron Murray nearly pull off the upset against the Crimson Tide back on December 1st and then switched the channel to watch my beloved huskers get the snot knocked out of them in the B1G Ten Championship game against Wisconsin. The bulldogs looked to pull off the perfect storm against Alabama while the cornhusker defense looked as confused as your typical McDonald’s worker. Enough though about that fateful December day that still haunts me, lets take a look at the match-up that will decide if Nebraska can even compete with the dawgs.
Georgia features a phenomenal quarterback in Junior Aaron Murray and a pair of talented freshman tailbacks in Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall. These three backs will create big plays if the blackshirt defense has mental breakdowns like the B1G Ten Championship game. The dawgs’ offensive line though is fairly young and composed of three juniors, one sophomore, and one freshman. Their talent on the offensive line is not lacking but the experience and chemistry of the big boys up front will be key if the bulldogs want to rout the cornhuskers.
Georgia’s pro-style offense will look similar to other B1G offenses such as Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Iowa, but the dawgs feature way more athletic players than the huskers’ conference foes. The loss of Baker Steinkuhler on the blackshirt defensive line puts a hamper of Pelini’s 2-gap control defense. Honestly, Pelini has done a great job this year in tricking opposing teams to pass on the very talented husker secondary, because the blackshirt front seven lacks talent and experience to compete for titles. The old 5-2 defense is a thing of the past but football is cyclical in strategy, the raves of the “3-4” defense gets all the hype but if you look closely it is merely a 5-2 with hybrid ends playing the linebackers. You will see Pelini throwing a combination of 4-3, 3-4, 5-2, and other different fronts to confuse the young Georgia offensive line. The absence of Steinkuhler means that it is defensive tackle Chase Rome’s time to step up and become the next great blackshirt defensive line man. Rome has the talent but needs to be a team player and look at the big picture of Pelini’ defensive scheme.
Sadly, besides Rome the only defensive tackles that show future promise are both redshirting (Curry and Valentine). Cameron Meredith is one of my favorite players since the time he arrived in Lincoln and is a great defensive end, though the lack of depth at DT has moved him into the interior. Don’t fault Meredith for being a team player and moving for the good of the defense, he is undersized for DT but he plays how Pelini wants things done and he wants Nebraska football to succeed. Eric Martin and Meredith must be the leaders for their last game as cornhuskers and show the nation that Nebraska football is back but for now for are second fiddle in the national picture. The three senior linebackers in Compton, Whaley, and Fisher need to make the pre-snap adjustments so the blackshirts can be correctly aligned to counter the lack of athleticism on defense. Without proper pre-snap adjustments expect Georgia to have the same success Wisconsin did back on December 1st.
That being said, Aaron Murray is no push-over and will put the bulldawgs in proper position pre-snap. If the huskers want to challenge the Georgia offense they will need to confuse the young offensive lineman because Murray will make the proper reads. Expect Pelini to unveil some new tricks in different fronts and blitz at times he usually wouldn’t. In the end the advantage goes to the Georgia offensive line and backfield unless the huskers can prove otherwise on January 1st.
