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Nebraska’s defense has struggled throughout the 2017 season, ranking 81st nationally in rushing defense and 71st against the pass.
On Tuesday at his weekly press conference, Nebraska defensive coordinator Bob Diaco said his defense still has room to grow and that he needs at least a full year to get his defense where he wants.
The first-year Nebraska defensive coordinator made the switch from the 4-3 defense to the 3-4 when he arrived in Lincoln.
“It is a year-long process and as I said, it is a years process to get the defense built back to being great. We see moments of greatness. And we’ve seen moments of poor play. Even with that, you go in and you’re thinking, OK, you want the game to end and just try to figure out a way defensively that (the opponent) can have one less point than we have. And that’s been very, very hard to do.”
Nebraska’s defense ranks 73rd nationally in average yards allowed (400.3) and 91st in points allowed (30.1) in Diaco’s first year in charge of the unit.
Last year under former DC Mark Banker, who was fired in January, the Huskers went from 64th in total defense in 2015 to 30th in 2016. Banker lost his job due to miserable performances late in the 2016 season when they allowed 62 points to Ohio State, 40 to Iowa and 38 to Tennessee in the bowl game.