In 2023 under Matt Rhule and his new staff, Nebraska switched to the 3-3 stack as their base defense. This was a drastic change from the previous 4-3 and 3-4 “traditional” looks Nebraska fans were used to seeing. Many fans spent last offseason learning more about the 3-3, how it will work, and what to expect under our then-new defensive coordinator Tony White. To make it simple and save time, the 3-3-5 base defense consists of three defensive linemen, three linebackers and five defensive backs. The six- man box as opposed to the seven man box in the more “traditional” defenses allows you to keep your base personnel on the field as opposed to bringing in an extra defensive back (nickel back) in a passing situation, and still allows you to walk an extra body up to cover the run if needed, all without changing personnel on the field. The “stack” look of the defense allows you to bring pressure from many different angles, fronts, stunts and more. This keeps the center and quarterback on their toes setting protections when pressure can come from any gap. Now that we have a season under our belt, we got to see not only how Nebraska’s defense works, but also how our coaches adjust their gameplans throughout the season. Let’s take a look at what might carry over into this 2024 season.
The constant throughout last season was almost exclusively staying in the 3-3-5 Base defensive personnel. Nebraska played in its base look of three down linemen, three linebackers, two corners, two safeties, and a Rover safety/linebacker hybrid on almost all snaps last season, I would estimate around 80% of them. Under the previous regime, Nebraska stayed in their base packages around 60-65% of the time by my count through previous game notes and charts found online. It is my strong belief that we are going to see this stay the same high percentage this season, as our base looks already gives us five DB’s on the field with the ability to walk up our Rover (safety/linebacker hybrid type) for run support or contain as needed. Nebraska really liked to have one high safety as well, pretty consistent throughout the season. White’s defenses rarely need to bring on a “nickel” back, but when they bring a sixth on, it is normally for a linebacker in obvious passing situations. I expect more of the same in terms of personnel, based upon our scheme not requiring many substitutions on that front with how flexible and versatile it is.
The front or box of our defense changed throughout the course of the year, however, and I am curious to see if that sticks into 2024. While our personnel stayed in the 3-3-5, occasionally throughout the first part of the season, we walked out Jack linebacker (Pass rusher type LB) up to the line of scrimmage to make a four-man front. Almost always on passing downs, we sent four at the quarterback, normally the Jack blitzing from an edge. This gives the look of the 4-2-5 shell, while keeping the 3-3 personnel. When Nebraska did bring one of the remaining backers on a blitz, they primarily seemed to target the “A” gap- right next to the center to bring pressure directly to the quarterback’s face. This look did so well, that White and company switched to this front/shell a big chunk of the second half of the season. To the untrained eye, it could have looked like we switched defenses completely in that last month, but we stayed in the same personnel, just a different front. I am very interested to see how that looks this upcoming season, as both were extremely effective at getting results. Although the record in the last half of the season was not what we wanted, that was not on the defense whatsoever, at least not to a majority of the fanbase and experts. I am unsure on whether this change was due to scouting on opponents, or if our defensive staff just really liked the look, but it was very effective throughout the year and I assume opponents are curious what to expect up front as well. I can tell you as a coach, if you are unaware, blocking schemes are very different from three men upfront in comparison to four, and not gameplanning for this can drastically destroy a game.
Another adjustment made throughout the season was the shift from a primarily zone team to more a man-to-man look. This transition came right around the time of the switch to give the 4-2-5 shell mentioned previously. Early in the season, we saw a bunch of Cover 3 or variations of it (3 deep in zone coverage, hook or flat zones underneath) with a bit of the occasional Cover 2 (two deep zones), and when they went man-to-man it was generally Cover 1, which Tony White is known to love. For those unaware, Cover 1 is a man-to-man concept, with a safety playing a deep zone over the top to “clean up messes” and can be run from any shell defensively. I was expecting a little more Cover 2 variation last season, but it became apparent early on this would be a defense built upon Cover 3 and Cover 1. As the season progressed and we saw more and more of the Jack backer on the line of scrimmage, we also saw a switch to more man-to-man looks under our Cover 1 look. A big reason I believe we made this switch to Cover 1 was because our corners in particular got much better at it as the season went on. We still saw lots of Cover 3, but it was much more balanced out than in the beginning of the season. Tony White also enjoys a Cover 0 coverage in big spots- Cover 0 is blitzing 6 players and all DB’s left are in lock-up man-to-man coverage with no help over the top. If our cornerback room shows depth and doesn’t get burnt in scrimmages and throughout the first few weeks, I do expect Nebraska to again mix up the Zone and Man coverages again to keep offenses and quarterbacks on their toes.
All in all, I do expect Nebraska’s defense to look similar, especially to start 2024. I am most curious to see if we keep sending a fourth man to the line, or go back to the base 3-3 stack look like what we saw at the start of the season. Tony White and his staff are full of fantastic coaches, so I have full faith in a strong defense this season that can terrorize the Big 10. What are your thoughts on what to expect in 2024 from the defensive scheme?
