What Nebraska must find as it overhauls defense

If nothing else, Nebraska has to find a defensive identity and do so quickly under Matt Rhule. After finishing as one of the Big Ten’s worst defenses last season, the Cornhuskers are going with a full overhaul under Rhule and new DC Tony White.

To On3’s JD PicKell, it’s going to take more than that though. In a recent episode of ‘The Hard Count’, PicKell said improvement on that end for Nebraska is going to come down to having the right, productive players out on the field who also have the instincts to compete in the style that White is wanting to play.

“We can break it down as much as we want. We can give you the broad strokes of what it’s supposed to do,” PicKell said. “But, at the end of the day, the 3-3-5 defense is built on personnel, built on instinctual football.”

“You’ve got to have, one, sure tacklers. When you get there, you can’t miss that tackle. It goes without saying for any defense,” continued PicKell. “The other part of this? You’ve got to have good instincts. Because speed is only effective if it’s going to the right place. If we go chasing after the fake jet sweep but we get there really quickly? That’s great that we got to the fake quickly. But the quarterback just pulled it and went around to the outside. We’ve got to still be fundamentally sound.”

Nebraska allowed the fourth most points per game in the Big Ten last season at 27.4. That was good for just 77th in the nation as well. The ‘Huskers also allowed the third most yards per game in the conference with 414.4 and the fourth most overall with 4,973.

That’s why White’s success will be key to what Nebraska does this season. At Syracuse over the past two seasons, White’s defenses finished 65th in 2021 and 41st in 2022. In total, the Orange allowed 24.7 points per game. His run in those two years ended with him earning recognition as a Broyles Award finalist last season.

At the end of the day, defensive efficiency for the Cornhuskers is going to come down to the players on the field. Still, if they can put the puzzle pieces in the right spots, PicKell believes this approach could end up very beneficial to their team this season.

“Like anything, it still comes down to the Jimmys and the Joes,” said PicKell. “But I think that this scheme, I think what Tony White is bringing to Nebraska with this 3-3-5 approach? I like it. I like it a lot.”