The way Nebraska’s defense can see improvement during the 2020 season is really quite simple. Inside linebackers coach Barrett Ruud made it sound pretty simplistic while meeting with the media on Tuesday.

Ruud says that the best way for Nebraska’s defense, and his linebackers, to get better this fall is to begin tackling better. And while that may seem like an easy task, anyone who has watched the first few weeks of the college football season knows this year is a little bit different in that regard.

With so much time off between the end of 2019 season and the start of the 2020 season, blocking and tackling has not been practiced much. The B1G did give its teams nearly a month in full pads before scheduling a game, so that should help.

Ruud said the better the linebackers understand where the help is coming from, the better their leverage and technique will be, according to Sam McKewon of the Omaha World-Herald.

Stopping opponents has been an issue for Nebraska during Scott Frost’s first two seasons with the program. Last season, the Huskers ranked 11th in scoring defense and 10th in total defense in the B1G. The year before, they ranked 12th in the B1G in both categories.

Nebraska’s defense must get significantly better in a hurry if it wants to win this fall. The Huskers will play five teams — Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota — that won 10 games or more a year ago. There’s very little room for error this season, especially defensively.

The Huskers open the year on Oct. 24 against Ohio State on the road.