Casey Thompson completely breaks down Northwestern defense ahead of matchup

Nebraska quarterback Casey Thompson was recently named the starter by head coach Scott Frost for their week 0 matchup versus Northwestern in Dublin, Ireland at Aviva Stadium. Thompson’s only been the starter for a couple of days but is already sounding like one after he broke down the Wildcats defense and gave a brief scouting report when he was asked by the media what he knew about them.

“Northwestern is a four-down front, also known as even, that’s their main front. Number 99 is I think their best defensive lineman he’s really good, has a really good motor. They have a couple transfers. They had one transfer from Stanford. The two interior d-lineman are transfers. Then they lost a safety Number 16. I think his name was Newsome, transferred to Notre Dame so they got a new starter back there at safety but they have some good players in the back end,” Thompson said.

“But they’re predominantly a four-down front, they play cover four and they rotate a little bit, they mix it up and they’ll go one high, they’ll go zone and man. They bring pressure occasionally. There’s certain situations they like to bring pressure.”

Thompson confused the name of safety Brandon Joseph, who did transfer to Notre Dame, with former Wildcat and first-round draft pick Greg Newsome, but his analysis was definitely impressive as he showed off his football IQ. Thompson also discussed what still needs to be studied between now and game day, and how the Cornhuskers have been preparing.

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“Still studying the red zone defense and I’m still studying certain situations and formations, but we have a pretty good idea and game plan so far. We used kind of this last week of training camp to prepare and put a good game plan together. So today’s Sunday and I feel very confident that we have a great game plan already going into Ireland before we get on the flight,” Thompson said.

Thompson’s preparation already is a great sign for Nebraska, as they’re looking to get over the hump this season with him at helm. He already has his eye out for Northwestern’s impact players, and hopefully, for Nebraska, Thompson himself can be one of those players in their opening matchup across the pond.

“But I would say 99, their defensive lineman, stands out on film, and then number eleven, he played corner last year the defensive back. I would probably say he has the best speed over there. I think he was a 10.6 100-meeter track guy so he has good speed on the outside. I think they have good talent and it’s a good defense and I’ll be excited to line up against them,” Thompson said.