Good Article on Nebraska’s 3-3-5 Defense

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"It’s possible — even likely — that seven of NU’s 11 defenders will weigh 225 pounds or less against standard 11 personnel of one running back, one tight end and three receivers."
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"In NU’s opener at Minnesota, it’s possible — even likely — the Gophers will have seven men weighing at least 275 on the field at once. What then?"
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It will be a very, very interesting matchup.
 


RememberMurray said:
"It’s possible — even likely — that seven of NU’s 11 defenders will weigh 225 pounds or less against standard 11 personnel of one running back, one tight end and three receivers."
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"In NU’s opener at Minnesota, it’s possible — even likely — the Gophers will have seven men weighing at least 275 on the field at once. What then?"
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It will be a very, very interesting matchup.
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Nebraska, on defense, looks to be betting on confusion and disruption of opponents’ OL blocking schemes. What they show you pre-snap will not be what they run at the snap. Lots of blitzes from all over. Puts a premium on quick, decisive action by opposing offense. We will get caught flat-footed on some plays, no doubt. But we’ll also catch them with out of position, gap unsound, their shoelaces tied together, too. The mentally stronger team, the one with fewer turnovers, probably takes this match up.
 



Gophergrandpa said:
Nebraska, on defense, looks to be betting on confusion and disruption of opponents’ OL blocking schemes. What they show you pre-snap will not be what they run at the snap. Lots of blitzes from all over. Puts a premium on quick, decisive action by opposing offense. We will get caught flat-footed on some plays, no doubt. But we’ll also catch them with out of position, gap unsound, their shoelaces tied together, too. The mentally stronger team, the one with fewer turnovers, probably takes this match up.
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It could indeed go that way.

Then again, maybe we'll run right at them. Pancake them. Give them the road grader treatment. Push their undersized asses all over the field.

It will be interesting to see how the Gopher offensive game plan looks.
 

From a different thread:

"Asked for his opinion of Minnesota coach PJ Fleck and his team – NU’s first opponent Aug. 31 – Rhule offered high praise.

“They play football the way Nebraska did for many years,” Rhule said. “The way we want to play it. They run the football. They don’t turn the ball over – they win the turnover battle. They’re 50% on third down. On defense, they don’t give up big plays – they stop the run – and they’re one of the best third down defenses. They end up winning time of possession, they make it a physical battle and they win the game in the fourth quarter.

“That’s the recipe to win. I respect that.”
 

metrolax said:
I vote for asking our huge O-line to just plow through them until they stop us.
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A TE who is an excellent blocker and who can catch is extra valuable against this defense. We might see two TEs in a heavy set sealing the edge on DL and LBs. This will actually be a real chess match as well as a physical struggle.
 





Gophergrandpa said:
Nebraska, on defense, looks to be betting on confusion and disruption of opponents’ OL blocking schemes. What they show you pre-snap will not be what they run at the snap. Lots of blitzes from all over. Puts a premium on quick, decisive action by opposing offense. We will get caught flat-footed on some plays, no doubt. But we’ll also catch them with out of position, gap unsound, their shoelaces tied together, too. The mentally stronger team, the one with fewer turnovers, probably takes this match up.
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If the first NU LB/DB doesn't touch a Minnesota RB until 5 yards downfield, who's confused?
 

On offense, Minnesota's o-line is large and powerful.

On defense, Nebraska (according to the article) is quick, agile, fast and unpredictable.

If you are Minnesota's offensive play-caller, do you opt to have your bigger, stronger offensive linemen...

A) Backpedaling in pass protection, trying to locate and engage with quick, aggressive defenders who are coming from unpredictable angles

....or....

B) Charging/surging forward, relentlessly, in front of our quick, agile running backs?

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The best answer seems almost too obvious. The problem, of course, is that if it's obvious to us, then it's obvious to Nebraska as well.

On the other hand, does the Nebraska defense have the personnel to stop a powerful run-first attack even if they know in advance that it's coming?
 

Need I remind you that Iowa State runs the same 3-3-5. They shut down Iowa last year winning 10-7. Obviously, they have used this defense for several years. And I would hope our offense is better than Iowa’s. But never the less, I expect a low scoring game and final result could come down to the kicking game. Gophers won’t win if they are constantly behind the chain.
 



Jack jones said:
Need I remind you that Iowa State runs the same 3-3-5. They shut down Iowa last year winning 10-7. Obviously, they have used this defense for several years. And I would hope our offense is better than Iowa’s. But never the less, I expect a low scoring game and final result could come down to the kicking game. Gophers won’t win if they are constantly behind the chain.
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Your comparison is valid if Iowa's offense is fairly comparable to Minnesota's offense. Let's explore that...

Nationally, last season, Minnesota was 65th in total offense, Iowa was 130th. 130th is second to last.

Minnesota was 3rd in time of possession. Iowa was 105th.

Minnesota was 3rd in third down conversion rate (52.1%). Iowa was 129th.

Minnesota was 56th in red zone offense. Iowa was 85th.

Minnesota was 46th in first downs. Iowa was 127th.

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Both Minnesota and Iowa employed a run-first offense. Minnesota's offense was clearly — and substantially — better.
 

Syracuse ran the same D in last year's Pinstripe Bowl. The Gophers got 215 yards total offense. Only 77 rushing. 14 first downs, lost time of posession by over 8 minutes.
Syracuse D Coordinator didn't coach in bowl, but he's now at Nebraska.
Better have a better plan.
 

USAF said:
Syracuse ran the same D in last year's Pinstripe Bowl. The Gophers got 215 yards total offense. Only 77 rushing. 14 first downs, lost time of posession by over 8 minutes.
Syracuse D Coordinator didn't coach in bowl, but he's now at Nebraska.
Better have a better plan.
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Are you concerned that Minnesota's staff won't have an effective plan?
 

USAF said:
Syracuse ran the same D in last year's Pinstripe Bowl. The Gophers got 215 yards total offense. Only 77 rushing. 14 first downs, lost time of posession by over 8 minutes.
Syracuse D Coordinator didn't coach in bowl, but he's now at Nebraska.
Better have a better plan.
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Field conditions had a lot to do with that.
 

MonikerSchmoniker45 said:
Field conditions had a lot to do with that.
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Yes, I'd agree. But even more importantly, look at the scoring, quarter by quarter.

End of first qtr.: Minnesota 0, Syracuse 0.

End of first half: Minnesota 14, Syracuse 7.

End of third qtr.: Minnesota 28, Syracuse 13.

End of game: Minnesota 28, Syracuse 20.

As far as "a better plan" is concerned, this plan seemed pretty effective to my eyes.
 

RememberMurray said:
Your comparison is valid if Iowa's offense is fairly comparable to Minnesota's offense. Let's explore that...
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Besides what you brought up, I'd add in the fact that it was a rivalry game. You never know how those are going to go. Even when bad, Auburn occasionally competes with Alabama in the Iron Bowl, MSU occasionally competes with Michigan, etc. In those games, little brother can sometimes outpunch his weight and do stuff they normally don't.
 

1st game of the season - so a big question is how well does Nebraska have its system down?

with a defense based on movement and misdirection, if someone blows an assignment and is out of position, it gives the offense an opportunity for a big play.

now, to be fair, the Gophers have had issues in the past with smaller teams that used a lot of stunts and twists on the D-line. and the Gophers will have 3 new starters in the O-Line.

so it is an interesting game from a tactical standpoint. Kaliakmanis is going to have to be smart, run when necessary, and use Spann-Ford as a security blanket.
 

You don’t think someone hasn’t already thought of “we’ll run right over them, they’re so small”? If it was that easy, no one would run that defense.

Don’t get tricked into looking at weights of the guys on the field for normal downs and distances. 30 front defensive schemes are usually quite good against the run. Not the least of which is because they create so much headache and confusion for offensive blockers in knowing who they’re supposed to block in a play’s scheme.

In short yardage, that goes away. But then that’s why they have jumbo packages for those specific situations.


We’re going to beat them through the air. I like that! Looking forward to it!
 

MonikerSchmoniker45 said:
Field conditions had a lot to do with that.
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Syracuse, playing on the same field, had 477 yards of offense against our 215 yards of offense. I believe Syracuse’s 3-3-5 defense had a lot to do with that huge difference. We won the game not because our offense figured out the 3-3-5, but because Redding had a 72 yard kickoff return, setting up a very short field for the O, and because Bryson had a 70-yard Pick6 interception. Our offense needs to play much better against the 3-3-5 when we face Nebraska. We don’t get many Pick6s or long KO returns …
 

This game is not a gimme, if we play our game, we'll be fine. I'm sure Fleck and staff are well of the 3-3-5. Perhaps it is to our advantage that the Syracuse also used a 3-3-5 and have had more time to look at what went right as well as wrong in that game.
 

#2Gopher said:
This game is not a gimme, if we play our game, we'll be fine. I'm sure Fleck and staff are well of the 3-3-5. Perhaps it is to our advantage that the Syracuse also used a 3-3-5 and have had more time to look at what went right as well as wrong in that game.
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Not ideal for first time OC’s going against that defense which they don’t see a lot and their DC has run that defense for many years
 

Gophergrandpa said:
Syracuse, playing on the same field, had 477 yards of offense against our 215 yards of offense. I believe Syracuse’s 3-3-5 defense had a lot to do with that huge difference. We won the game not because our offense figured out the 3-3-5, but because Redding had a 72 yard kickoff return, setting up a very short field for the O, and because Bryson had a 70-yard Pick6 interception. Our offense needs to play much better against the 3-3-5 when we face Nebraska. We don’t get many Pick6s or long KO returns …
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I would add that Athan seemed to start strong against the 3-3-5 of Syracuse. He was 7-for-9 for 80 yards with a couple of nice drives before he was hurt. Then Tanner entered and we went run heavy again. Tanner threw 7 total passes in two and a half quarters. No Ibrahim in the 2nd half, either.
 

Some of us Gopher Hole folk fear the storied 3-3-5 defense, which is obviously and justifiably quite legendary, living in the annals of truly great football defenses.

And then... some of us (the smartass types) are more sanguine.
 


tjgopher said:
I would add that Athan seemed to start strong against the 3-3-5 of Syracuse. He was 7-for-9 for 80 yards with a couple of nice drives before he was hurt. Then Tanner entered and we went run heavy again. Tanner threw 7 total passes in two and a half quarters. No Ibrahim in the 2nd half, either.
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The game situation/score dictated a conservative approach. Minnesota never trailed.
 


USAF said:
I'm suggesting the last time MN faced this defense whatever plan they had wasn't effective.
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I'm suggesting an 8-point win indicates a certain level of effectiveness.

The goal is to win. And we did, in fact, win. For me, that's the starting point when judging effectiveness of an offensive game plan.

The offense was called according to the game situation/score. Minnesota led for pretty much the entire game.
 

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