wednesday, September 24, 2003
sports
the university daily kansan
5B
Colorado coach to rethink defense
By Will Shanley Colorado Daily University of Colorado
BOULDER, Colo. — During Colorado's media day on Aug. 6, head coach Gary Barnett had this to say about his 2003 team: "Defensively we should be very good. Our strength is our speed and the defensive line."
His inaccurate statement was not intentional. The Colorado head coach had simply overestimated his team's talent, but it proved Barnett's predictions were about as fine-tuned as his defense.
This year's defense is clearly not one of the best in the Barnett era — something the coach had gushed about during the hot summer months. Rather, the defense is one of the most porous in Colorado history, with injuries along the front line and inexperience in the secondary the glaring culprits.
The numbers speak clearly:
The Buffaloa ranked 103rd nationally in scoring defense (35.8 points per game), 115th in
pass defense (328 yards per game)
and 109th in total defense (460.5
yards per game).
"We've got to change some things on defense," Barnett said. "I don't want to say what, how and who until I talk with the players, but some of those changes have to do with fundamentals. We have to be a better tackling team. We might look at some different people and personnel."
If the season ended today, it would be the most yards per game allowed by a Buffalo defense since the 1980 season when the team yielded 464.4 yards per contest and finished with a 1-10 record.
Luckily for the Buffaloes, there are eight more regular season games to go. Most importantly, still on the Buffs' table is the team's biggest prize: A third straight Big 12 Conference North title and an opportunity for a BCS bowl.
Next up is a bye week. Barnett and his boys will use that time to heal, both physically and mentally, before an arduous Big 12
schedule
co m-
mences at
Baylor
Oct. 4.
Still injured were
quarterback Joel Klatt, running back Bobby Purify, Erik Greenberg, guard Karl Alias, guard Marwan Hage and safety Brian Iwhu.
Still, the Colorado coaching staff will look for answers and possible adjustments for the defense, including evaluating players, schemes and alignments.
Barnett said his team had 21 missed tackles in the 47-7 thrashing by Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla. Many of those occurred late in the second half when the Seminoles had a commanding lead.
players.
As a result, Barnett said the team might be forced to play more zone defense to help ease the pressure on senior cornerback Phil Jackson and redshirt freshman Sammy Joseph. Both were thoroughly exploited by Chris Rix
and the Seminoles wide receivers.
Oregon, Virginia Tech and Texas Christian all use the same scheme as Colorado, which relies on stringent cornerback play to guide the defenses, Barnett said.
The Buffaloos, however, were forced to drop into zone coverage against the Seminoles, using two- and three-deep zones after the Buffaloos were burned several times by P.K. Sam and Craphonso Thorpe, both of whom had career-high days.
"It was a matter of us not working our zones and us not executing," Barnett said. "We put it on the coaches. They came out and played four receivers and forced us into zone."
Barnett said the team had not worked on enough zone coverage during practice to be as effective as it needed to be.
The Buffalooes started the season thinking they were going to be a pressure defense, Barnett said.
"We've got burned doing it and we need to rethink that," he said.
Conditioning mends Huskers' offensive line
By Michael Bruntz Daily Nebraskan University of Nebraska
LINCOLN, Neb. — The transformation of Nebraska's offensive line reads like a poorly written script found only on late-night infirmials.
Last year, the offensive line couldn't move defenders and had difficulty scoring points in the midst of a 7-7 campaign.
After a summer of being worked to death by new strength coach Brian Bailey, the offensive line has been blowing opposing defenses off the line and is a large reason Nebraska sits 3-0 and ranks in the top 15 in the country.
"Even during practice, I remember times at the end of last season when I'd be struggling to get through practice because I'd get so tired," guard Jake Andersen said.
Through the first three games of the season, Nebraska has subbed little on the offensive line, shuffling a total of seven players.
Fitness and stamina have been large reasons why the Huskers' offensive line has worn down opponents and catapulted Nebraska to No. 3 in the country in rushing offense, with 293 yards per game.
Center Josh Sewell has been an iron man on the line, having been on the field for every Nebraska offensive snap.
Offensive line coach Barney
Cotton said he was happy with
Sewell's durability.
"Josh h a s played very well these first
three games. He's been very steady, and has been able to be a four-quarter guy for us," said Cotton, also Nebraska's offensive coordinator.
Running up rushing totals has also enabled Nebraska to better control the clock.
Time of possession was a big statistic in Nebraska's 7-7 campaign last season.
In the five games the Huskers won the time of possession battle they also won the game. Through three games this year, Nebraska has held the ball an average of 38:16 per game.
The straight-ahead style of running Nebraska patented in the mid-'90s seems to be making a comeback, too.
One catalyst in the revival was the addition of Cotton to the coaching staff.
Cotton, who was a three-time letter winner for the Huskers, brings a blue-collar attitude to the field and is a hands-on teacher.
It's not uncommon to see Cotton in a three-point stance or demonstrating a blocking technique.
Sewell said Cotton let the line know if they messed up in practice.
Tech loses despite offensive explosion
By David Wiechmann University Daily Texas Tech University
LUBBOCK, Texas — Mistakes. That's what the Texas Tech Red Raiders said caused the 49-21 loss to North Carolina State on Saturday despite quarterback B.J. Symons' schoolrecord 586 yards through the air. The slip-ups the Raiders had in the loss were uncharacteristic of their team and unusual by any means.
"I've never seen a game like that in my life," wide receiver Carlos Francis said. "It happened. I've experienced it. I've actually seen something like that happen, and so it's over. It sucks. It sucks big time."
Francis was baffled by the 681 yards of total offense the Red Raiders produced and how the team managed to lose the game.
Head coach Mike Leach said his team was dropping passes, picking up balls it should not have and committing far too many penalties. The penalties played a part in Texas Tech not scoring when approaching N.C. State's end zone Texas Tech was inside the Wolfpack's 25-yard line four times in the first half and N.C. State escaped unscathed and with zero points on the scoreboard for the Red Raiders. Texas Tech was penalized 11 times for 106 yards in the game.
Francis said he does not want
to see a similar performance happen, and he said he would like to
turn things around and get back to the old days of putting 50 points on the board.
"We just got to put the ball in the end zone," he said.
Center Toby Cecil agreed that it was hard to see the offense move the ball so well and come up empty-handed.
Texas Tech was not doing anything out of the ordinary as far as play calling or scheming, yet the Red Raiders still could not put the ball in the end zone for a score — something that surprised Francis.
"On the drive we scored on, we didn't do anything spectacular," he said. "We did our basic plays — we just made simple plays. That's all you do."
"That's a horrible feeling with our offense being able to move the ball and score points. We take pride in that," he said. "And when we're moving the ball and not getting any points that's really frustrating, and that's not something we want to happen."
What it all boils down to, however, is points. And Symons said no matter what the defense does, it still has to cross the goal line in order to win.
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