Nebraska Cornhuskers: Is the Peso Defense an Answer To the Spread?

During the past week, the Nebraska coaching staff has unveiled the new "base" defense that the Huskers will be running during the 2010 football season.

The name of that base defense will be known as the Peso .

Before we get into a long and hurried currency exchange inquisition, this defense is nothing more than what Nebraska ran as its base defense just last year.

In a number of my posts and comments, I have illustrated that Nebraska ran about 85 percent of its defensive snaps last year out of a "dime" package.  That shouldn't be news to any Husker fans, and it was the basis of our strangling defense when playing against Oklahoma, Arizona, and Texas just last year.

Thus, we now have a name to put toward that defense.

Peso .

With the huge influence of spread offenses and the inability to defend them, the long question has already been asked: How do you stop a spread offense?

Spread offense passing gurus Steve Spurrier and Mike Leach have been recognized in Sports Illustrated , on ESPN, and in many other venues. 

True geniuses like Norm Chow, Mouse Davis, and June Jones get little to no credit in how these offenses actually evolved.

With credit aside, the real question in college football during the past five or six years has been: How do you actually defend against a team that is willing to go four or five wide and attack you?  

Not to mention a team with a gaggle of solid recruits and athleticism—like Florida, Texas, and Oklahoma?

The real first answer may have just came out of Lincoln, Neb., and the plodding 4-3 defense that most people associate the Huskers with during the 1994-2007 seasons.

The mighty Huskers could not stop anybody with any type of spread offense when executed with good to great athletes in those years. 

In 2008, that somewhat changed—and in 2009, it definitely changed.

Is this the first true answer to the spread offenses that Nebraska will see in 2010? 

I'm here to say that this is the first staff willing to put on board that it is going to attack "spread" offenses from the defensive side of the ball.

This covering and "attacking"-type style went pretty well in conference play against "spread" teams like Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and Texas.  A single mishap against Texas Tech should not be discouraging for most Husker fans—but an item the staff can concentrate on to get better.

Thus, the Peso . 

We'll call it some funky, geeky, and maybe even under-the-border-type name.  No problem.

A lot of teams have done worse. 

The real question is: Did the Husker staff members actually stick their necks out in somewhat proclaiming that they have an answer to the "spread" offenses? 

Especially the pass-happy Big 12?

Is Peso the answer for the first real attempt at being a spread-killer? At least an attempt at vocalizing that it is a defense orchestrated to stop these type of offenses?

Yes, the Husker coaches never said as much, but it very much looks like it is.

Peso:  The Spread-Killer.