DEPTH CHART ANALYSIS: Week 5
by BracketCat on Oct 5, 2010 12:00 PM CDT
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PrintBarring a total shock, such as Sammuel Lamur lining up as the starting quarterback Thursday night, or an unexpected injury, this probably will be the last DEPTH CHART ANALYSIS of the season.
Coach seems to know who he wants to line up and where. If we don't pull some kind of rabbit out of our collective hat in two days, it ain't happening.
Behind the jump you shall find a breakdown of the designated starters for the Nebraska game — not that this little piece of paper really means anything, mind you.
Quarterbacks
I think this has been covered to death in the week since the UCF near-disaster. The outcome of that game made it pretty clear that Carson Coffman's our man and Bill Snyder's gonna stand by him.
The long-rumored Sammy Lamur Wildcat package might finally make an appearance this week, however. Or not.
Running Backs, Fullbacks and Tight Ends
The only really interesting thing that happened here last week, besides a team actually figuring out how to stop Daniel Thomas (sort of), was Andre McDonald starting in place of Travis Tannahill — something I predicted eventually would happen more than a month ago, I might point out.
McDonald acquitted himself well, catching his first two career passes at crucial times in the final, game-winning drive. What remains to be seen is whether his starting status and playing time were part of a situational advantage or a permanent change in rank. This week's depth chart still lists Tannahill as a starter, for what it's worth.
Wide Receivers
Aubrey Quarles caught his first significant touchdown pass in almost two years and Tramaine Thompson showed signs of an imminent breakout (and a quintessentially freshman inability to read his blocks), while the only Chris Harper sighting was a dramatically failed option run.
Brodrick Smith had an average game by his standards, but he'll be a big part of whether we can upset Nebraska.
Offensive Line
Everyone knows the O-line played like crap against UCF. They know it, you know it, I know it. So let's move past it and figure out how they can get back to playing the dominating form of football they displayed against Nebraska last season.
Manase Foketi appears to be settling in and Saturday's poor showing aside, there's little to worry about with the center and guard positions.
More concerning is the situation at right tackle, where Zach Hanson has failed to ward off Clyde Aufner's increasing presence. Don't be surprised to see Aufner finally reclaim his starting spot this week.
Defensive Line
Not too much to say here. The rotation is set and we've been blessedly free of injuries so far. With any luck, Brandon Harold will have the club off his hand for the Nebraska game.
Meanwhile, Antonio Felder and Kadero Terrell showed some nice flashes against the Knights, and Raphael Guidry continued to put distance between him and Ray Kibble.
Linebackers
As predicted, Jarell Childs regained his starting spot opposite the team's leading tackler, Alex Hrebec, but Blake Slaughter probably did much, much more than Childs to deserve that spot against Nebraska by leading the team in tackles against UCF.
This will be an ongoing trouble spot, though, judging by the difficulty our linebackers had in containing Jeffrey Godfrey and UCF's running game.
Defensive Backs
Another week, another mess in the secondary. The word is that Tysyn Hartman, Emmanuel Lamur and Ty Zimmerman all will share time at the two safety spots, proving my point that Hartman's play has slipped this season.
Meanwhile, Troy Butler followed up his minimal snaps against Iowa State by not even seeing the field against UCF, as far as I can tell. I don't know if it's due to injury or off-field issues, but I'd sure like to have him back against Taylor Martinez and Niles Paul.
David Garrett, Stephen Harrison and Terrance Sweeney are doing an admirable job in his absence, however.
Special Teams
Josh Cherry came up big for us in a game in which we simply could not afford any missed kicks, while Ryan Doerr had another typically solid game of dictating field position. Anthony Cantele continues to boot kickoffs fairly deep and our kick coverage seems to be improving.
However, we're no closer to breaking a punt than we were against UCLA, although William Powell is bound to take a kickoff to the house any day now. And I'm not sure we're ever going to block a kick or a punt this season.
But I'm hoping that if we do, it comes Thursday, because we might need some extra points against that Husker defense.
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T. Hartman
With the fact that he’s slipped some this year, combined with the lack of speed from our LBs, why not move Hartman (who is 6-3 and around 210 pounds) an LB? He could fly to the ball like the guys we USED to have in our linebacker corps. I mean, Troy Butler only weighs 197, and he’s seen significant time, so I don’t think size is really an issue. I think Zimmerman or Lamur could also play a hybrid LB position, as Zim goes around 205 pounds and Lamur is 215, I believe. I think we’ve got some good young talent at safety that could plug in for whichever two of these three we swapped down to outside LB. Dold could play one safety position, and whichever one of the three wasn’t being used at OLB could play the other safety position. That would IMMEDIATELY upgrade our defensive team speed.
Not a bad idea, but isn't that what the 4-2-5 was supposed to do to begin with?
I think this will be quite a showdown between Hrebec and Childs/Slaughter and Martinez and whoever the RB is at the time. I give the advantage to NU in this, but if KSU can get Martinez off his game, I think the veteran Hrebec could give him fits.
But getting Hartman or another safety on Martinez at all times might not be a bad idea. They’re faster and there are more of them.
Here’s hoping Cosh has the D ready to punch NU in the mouth. Bend-but-don’t-break defense won’t work against NU.
I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom. - Gen. George S. Patton
4-2-5?
I’ve never understood why, if the D is supposedly using the 4-2-5 so much, the official depth chart still lists 3 LBs. Anyways, I think that the more speed we get on the field (especially speed coming from 205-215 pound guys), the better off we’d be. If that means moving one or two of our big safeties down to LB, then so be it. It’s our only real shot at being a truly top-tier defense this year.
by K. Scott Bailey on Oct 5, 2010 6:31 PM CDT up reply actions
I think we will see new wrinkles
Remember when the old guy said he was “too old” to be a fan of bend-don’t-break. He added that the team needed to find a way to get after the other team and get their offense off the field. He implied change was coming. He doesn’t generally make comments like that if he doesn’t think there is a way to get it done. I’m not smart enough to know what the changes will be; but just as I believe we’ve seen a vanilla offense in the first 4 games, I think we saw a vanilla defense. Just a feeling.
oh hail the Purple and White
I'm not as sure
I keep hearing talk that we’ve been “vanilla” on BOTH sides of the ball in these first 4 games. I find that hard to believe, however, since 3 of the 4 were nailbiters. I doubt very seriously whether Coach would have kept things “vanilla” during such close contests. No, I think our offense has been “vanilla” because we have a QB whose heart is (much) bigger than his talent-level, and a defense who struggles to get off the field. I hope you optimists are right, though, as it would be great to get a win on Thursday!
by K. Scott Bailey on Oct 5, 2010 9:56 PM CDT up reply actions
We have not seen the entire offense.
Even I can come up with schemes with our personnel we have not seen and I am just sitting on the couch. So you know Snyder has in plenty of options going on in his mind.
It goes both ways
I agree, this is a nice way to talk ourselves into a victory. I personally think we have been so vanilla because Snyder thinks that BEING VANILLA gives us the best chance at victory. It’s also worth noting the Cornhol… er, Cornhuskers have been crying the same vanilla excuse for SDSU and their running defense.
Not to mention, UCLA was never regarded as an automatic win, so why would we only play it ‘vanilla’ unless that is what we thought made our offense work best?
That being said, my brother-in-law is a student assistant for the football program, and he said Bill HATES the huskers, you are not even allowed to wear red in the facilities, regardless of if it is related to Nebraska, so it could be he has been calling this whole season with the intent of not showing anything to Nebraska, even if that might have cost us a game. Unlikely, considering HCBS loves racking up wins wherever he can find them, but I guess still a possibility.
by ChrisP Wildcat on Oct 6, 2010 2:11 PM CDT up reply actions
Because the depth chart lies.
Troy Butler isn’t even a safety, much less a linebacker. He’s a cornerback. He also has barely played in two games, yet he’s still listed as the starter. I can’t figure it out, so I gave up trying.
Maybe the depth chart generation software can’t be upgraded with a 4-2-5 patch. Who knows?
Unfortunately
I can see the depth chart finally changing at QB after this weeks game, don’t think Coffman will last the whole game injury or ineffectiveness
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I am way past even considering
the notion that Coffman would get benched. As with ANY player on ANY team, the possibility of injury is always there. He was largely “ineffective” passing the ball for 3 quarters against UCF with the team down 2 scores at home – the change would have happened by now if ineffectiveness during one game (which is what the NU game tomorrow is) could swing Snyder’s fancy to one of the backups.
You are free to hold your opinion, I just don’t see much backing up any claim that Coffman is within any one game’s (however poor) reach of the #2 QB… Consider me 100% in the Coffman-or-bust camp for 2010.
'Fact. Bears eat beets. Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.' --Jim Halpert
A minor point
We were never down “2 scores” against UCF. The biggest leads they held were 7-0 and 10-3. They had just gone up 13-10 when Coffman led us on The Drive of 2010.
by K. Scott Bailey on Oct 6, 2010 10:10 AM CDT up reply actions
You are right, sir!
7-0 and 10-3 must have just felt like two scores…
'Fact. Bears eat beets. Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.' --Jim Halpert
Oh, for sure!
It felt like we were being dominated (and, really, we WERE being dominated), so I can see how you would make that mistake! :)
by K. Scott Bailey on Oct 6, 2010 11:11 AM CDT up reply actions
Not saying it will
just thinking that if Coffman sucks vs Nebraska and we do get down by 2 scores, then MAYBE we see a different qb. I doubt it happens but maybe
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Not sure
If his play is PUTRID (say, a couple of picks inside the red zone or something), maybe we see a new QB for a portion of this game. But, as much as I’d like to see DT line up at QB in the Wildcat, with Powell and/or Harper beside him (or Harper at QB in the formation, with DT and Powell beside him), I don’t see it happening.
by K. Scott Bailey on Oct 6, 2010 6:01 PM CDT up reply actions
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