Husker defense needs to at least contain Miller

This week’s football game in Columbus Ohio, between No. 21 Nebraska and No. 12 Ohio State, features a pretty simple task for the Nebraska defense – slow down Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller.

Trying to so and actually performing the task have been two different matters. Miller has accounted for 1,510 net yards of offense (933 passing, 477 rushing), good for 72.2 percent of the team’s total.

Miller, who is a sophomore, caused Nebraska’s defense a lot of headaches last season in rushing for 91 yards on 10 carries in the Huskers’ 34-27 come-from-behind win in Lincoln. Nebraska rallied from a 27-6 mid third quarter deficit spearheaded by linebacker LaVonte David’s forced and recovered fumble that the Huskers turned into a touchdown. One series later, Miller left the game with an ankle sprain giving way to the statue-esque Joe Bauserman.

What makes Miller even more dangerous is that he now has a head coach (Urban Meyer) that knows how to develop quarterbacks. Look no further than his development of Alex Smith at Utah and Tim Tebow at Florida. Meyer is operating Miller much the same way as he did Smith and Tebow – out of the shotgun, this giving him the freedom to read the defense and pick a hole.

With that running style, Nebraska has to play a “gap sound” defense because Miller will feast on defenses that overpursue. You have to concede that Miller will get his yards. The key is limiting him to 5-10 yard gains as opposed to say 40 or more.

While it could be said of any game, third down success will be vital because if you give Miller too many extra sets of downs it will be a long day.

The biggest dilemma that Husker head coach Bo Pelini faces is do you play more man-to-man defense instead of zone. Pelini prefers the latter but neither is foolproof against running quarterbacks because in man-to-man defense, linebackers and defensive backs will have their backs turned at the line of scrimmage whereas in zone they are facing the line of scrimmage. Since the Buckeyes have not had huge success passing, perhaps you commit an extra safety toward the line of scrimmage.

The No. 1 area where Nebraska must unequivocally executed Saturday is tackling because it was a “lack of” tackling that caused the Huskers to give up 653 yards of total offense, including 344 yards rushing in a 36-30 loss at UCLA. Many of those yards were due to lousy tackling or no poor tackling on the part of Nebraska defenders that were in position to make a play. If the Huskers are to have any defensive success Saturday, secure tackling is mandatory because a football team that does not tackle is like a basketball team that gives up easy transitions baskets.

Of course the Husker offense can indirectly help on this matter as well by protecting the football and controlling the time of possession because Miller can’t hurt you if he is on the sideline. Nebraska’s up-tempo offensive strategy runs somewhat counter to this goal, but has been effective in putting points on the board. If Nebraska is able to get a running game established and can put some long drives together, the Huskers can keep Miller on the sidelines and unable to do damage.