Tag: Nebraska 3-3-5

Urban Meyer praises Nebraska’s defense

Nebraska may be 0-2, but a National Championship head coach has high praise for the Husker defense.

Nebraska may be 0-2, but a National Championship head coach has high praise for the Husker defense. Former Ohio State and Florida coach Urban Meyer sat down with Gerry Dinardo to break down the Cornhuskers 3-3-5 defense.

Meyer had positive things to say about the Cornhuskers and their new scheme.

“That Nebraska defense, they’re playing their hearts out. That’s the story. It’s a new scheme. It’s a well-coached defense, they tackle in space and they play really hard. New (defensive) coordinator Tony White has done a phenomenal job.”

When asked by Big Ten Network analyst Gerry DiNardo why a team would want to run the 3-3-5 defense, Meyer made three succinct points.

  1. The multiplicity of blitzes you can attack an offense with.
  2. It forces the offensive line into single blocks
  3. The ability to drop eight players into pass coverage.

You can watch the entire segment below.

Find a photo gallery of Nebraska’s first two games below.

Nebraska’s defensive coordinator has a plan for handing out The Blackshirts

Nebraska defensive coordinator Tony White met with the media on Friday afternoon.

Nebraska defensive coordinator Tony White met with the media on Friday afternoon. White touched on various subjects, including the future of the Blackshirts.

White joined the Cornhusker coaching staff after having the same role at Syracuse for the 2022-23 football season. White was in charge of teams that had back-to-back Top 30 defenses.

He’s known for running a 3-3-5 base defense. Head coach Matt Rhule used the same scheme when he was in charge of Baylor from 2017-2019.

When asked about The Blackshirts, he’s previously said,

“The most important thing I can do with that tradition is acknowledged it. I have to talk to people who have instilled, who have lived, who have done it the right way. I’ve heard many different ways they have done it, from bringing old guys back,  taking it away, waiting a couple of games, do it fall camp. I’ve heard a lot of different things already.” 

“I think it’s one of the best traditions in college football.” 

Former Husker talks reasons for transfering

A former Cornhusker is talking about his reasons for transferring.

A former Cornhusker is talking about his reasons for transferring. Noa Pola-Gates transferred to New Mexico after spending the previous four years in Lincoln.

Pola-Gates was one of the top players in the class of 2019. He was a 4-star recruit out of Williams Field High School in Gilbert, Arizona.

The safety was one of five 4-star prospects in the 2019 recruiting class. Other top players that season includes Wan’Dale Robinson, Nick Henrich, Bryce Benhart, and Ty Robinson.

Gates recently spoke to the Albuquerque Journal about his reasons for transferring. He told reporter Sean Reider that his transfers came about after a conversation with head coach Matt Rhule.

Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule told Pola-Gates in a post-spring exit interview to “go be great, go be a starter, go be a star player… somewhere else,” Pola-Gates remembered.

New Mexico was interested in the recruit after defensive coordinator Tony White made a call on Pola-Gates behalf. The Lobos and Huskers run the same version of the 3-3-5 defense.

“I’m gonna be completely honest: It’s identical,” he said when asked about the similarities between Nebraska and UNM’s base defenses. “It’s the exact same … Blitzes and everything. The only thing that’s different is the verbiage and terminologies they use.”

The prospect saw limited time in his Nebraska, recording only five career tackles in a Husker uniform. He initially entered the transfer portal in late April.

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