Senior running back Jake Sharp cuts outside and prepares to stiff arm a Nebraska cornerback in a game Nov. 8, 2008. Nebraska's defense, led by senior defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, is one of the best in the Big 12 this season.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Kansas’ offense has struggled the last four games.
The Jayhawks have committed turnovers. They haven’t rushed for more than 81 yards in a game and they haven’t consistently capitalized on drives with touchdowns.
The road sure doesn’t get any easier at this point, either.
In three days Kansas plays host to Nebraska — a school with a rich tradition of hard-nosed, tough-to-score-on defenses. And for the first time in recent years, Nebraska’s current unit is living up to defenses of the past.
“Defensively,” coach Mark Mangino said, “they are outstanding.”
The Cornhuskers sit atop the Big 12 in nearly every major defensive category this season. They rank first in scoring defense, second in pass defense, third in total defense and fourth in rushing defense.
They’ve surrendered more than 20 points once this season and that was to Texas Tech’s potent offense.
And Nebraska has only tightened the straps on opposing offenses the last three games, allowing just 7.3 points per games.
In that same three-game stretch, Kansas’ offense has averaged just 12.3 points per game and a handful of those scores were set up by a turnover from the defense.
The Jayhawks, then, certainly understand the uphill slope that awaits the offense on Saturday.
“They are big, strong and athletic,” Mangino said. “If they get into a rhythm, they can really halt the run game, so you really cannot allow that to happen. But it does quite a bit.”
Kansas’ players and coaches spent much of Tuesday’s press conference acknowledging the impressive numbers put up by Nebraska’s defense.
When asked for the root of the Cornhuskers’ success, the Jayhawks didn’t hesitate with their answers: Nebraska’s lockdown defense starts with its ultra-talented defensive line.
And without a doubt Nebraska’s line is anchored by Ndamukong Suh, a 6-foot-4, 300-pound senior who passed up millions of NFL dollars to remain at Nebraska.
“He’s a pretty relentless player,” senior running back Jake Sharp said.
Last season against Kansas, Suh noticeably dominated the line of scrimmage. He recorded 12 tackles, made four stops for losses and dropped senior quarterback Todd Reesing for 2.5 sacks.
“He’s pretty disruptive in most games,” offensive coordinator Ed Warriner said. “He is a great effort guy along with a great talent. He makes effort plays and then he makes plays just off of his talent.”
Suh, who many pegged as a preseason All-American, has continued that disruptive play this season.
He has 53 tackles, five sacks, eight pass break ups and he has blocked three kicks. Suh is simply a handful for any offensive line.
With Suh lining up almost solely across from opposing teams’ right guards, the responsibility for containing him could fall onto the shoulders of freshman right guard Trevor Marrongelli, who made his first career start for Kansas on Saturday.
“If you don’t have an awareness of him and if you don’t have a couple guys surrounding him,” Warriner said, “you can be in trouble.”
Warriner was also quick to note that there is little a lineman can do in order to prepare for a player of Suh’s caliber.
“We don’t have one of those guys just walking around right now that we can throw against them,” Warriner said.
Nebraska’s defense also poses another possibly large road block.
Kansas has struggled mightily to run the ball during the last four games and that trend continued in a 17-10 loss to Kansas State on Saturday.
If the Jayhawks are going to crack the Cornhuskers’ stingy defense — if Kansas is going to defeat a Nebraska team that held Oklahoma to three points last weekend — they must be able to run the ball.
Warriner said that Nebraska plays almost solely man coverage, meaning the responsibility of stopping the run rests with the defensive line and the linebackers.
“That’s the idea of it,” Warriner said. “If you’re going to play man coverage, those guys in the secondary aren’t really looking to help come up and stop the run. They have to stop the run with those guys up front.”
— Edited by Tim Burgess
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