I totally agree with _FAN's assessment. Our O-line got worked badly. Our 5(or 6) linemen couldn't defeat their front 4(sometimes 5) guys. Thus there was really nothing we could do. That kind of D-line play completely negates the power run game. It also kills any speed or misdirection run game because the guys behind them can stay home and then attack once the play is finally moving.
The defense was the real sad part. The exact opposite thing happened there. Their front 5 completely whipped our front 7...there's no over-stating it. On top of that, our safeties made bad reads and took bad angles and we all saw what happened.
The offensive struggles were not really the fault of the scheme. We couldn't stretch the D because the QB is crap. We couldn't power it because the line in crap. If you can't do either of those then you have nothing to build your offense on.
The defensive problems were a huge cluster-foooock of poor preparation, bad schemes and out-manned players.
The waters aren't calm, Bill.
I know it sounds ridiculous, but if anything on defense I think we overprepared. This is not uncommon, especially when you know you have deficiencies, which we do. I really think had we ran the same scheme we did the first 4 weeks, we probably hold NU to 28-35 points. Granted, its still bad, but it wouldn't have been the complete woodshed we saw last night. JMHO.
The thing I notices offensively is that so often NU would get penetration at the point of attack. When we would run power offense and pull offensive lineman, they would often have to back track 1 to 2 yards behind the LOS which completely defeats the purpose, especially against NU's speed. We ran a ton of cut back zone plays, but NU closed so quickly on the backside and the seam was so narrow DT couldn't find a crease. Then when he tried to cut between Olineman, NU would get off blocks and close. Plus we had some of the tightest offensive line splits I've seen from a Snyder team, but mainly on the cutback and power offense plays. I think we thought we could prevent penetration with these splits, but it also allows for fewer creases for DT to find in the defense.
I agree though, very few differences we could've created on offense with our personnel. The real cluster was the problems on defense. I know its powertardish, but many of those can be fixed, especially against the rest of our schedule. JMHO.
