1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - Can the Defense Lead the Huskers to Victories in 2025?: August 7th, 11:25am

Episode Date: August 7, 2025

Can the Defense Lead the Huskers to Victories in 2025?Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Welcome back one-on-one Thursday. Appreciate you hanging out. There's so much good stuff. Pretty good stuff going on around the station and in the community. Again, the dress-to-impress event Saturday. and we have passes. So if you want to just go to the event, you know,

again, comedy, you got a lot of comedy, you know, puppy petting zoo, trivia, comedy. It's a variety show. And, you know, dance, a little dance club at the end of the you want to be a part. We have passes. If you want them, let me know. Reach out. Reach out.

Reach out. Hizelbush is this. Carter, 6,5, though. I don't think Nebraska's ever had a guy that high jump, 7 foot, run 11-0-3, 100-meter dash, and shot put 50-plus feet. He's a certified freak. Nebraska has always had freaks.

The question is, can you line up at tight-end and help them beat Michigan? Like, that requires somebody's got to get them to a ball. That person who gets to the ball has to be protected. There has to be distractions. and better be a running game that you can play action off of to clear some space for the 6 foot 5 freak

to get athletic in the middle of the field. And it's the Big 10 conference. And every one of the Big 10 teams has a in all Big 10 caliber safety sitting back there waiting to pick off 6 foot 5 freaks as they run vertical routes and seam rams. Linebackers that like the body up and forearm them to the ribs

as he tries to get off the line of scrimmage. It's not easy. It's not easy to do. They've had freaks of tied in. Absolutely. Maybe not this one, but hey, show me where it shows up in the Big Ten. That's the answer.

That is the answer. Where it shows up in the Big Ten. And it's in play. Derek and Carr, how you doing, bro? Appreciate you shouting that. So do you believe our defense can matrici, the knowledge needed in the first three games enough to be able to stop an unknown Michigan offense in game four.

I'm not as worried about the offense as Hogo will have them ready. Great show. Unless it's a bach that if you think the defense can manifest a win over Michigan in week in game four. Yeah, I mean, the defense is obviously, there's a lot of hype around the offense this season because of Holgerson and all the and all the reasons that are there, Dylan Ryola. But don't forget, the defense did lead this team each of the last two years. A lot of change going on there, but do they have the potential to maybe live up to what was there

previously? Yes, they do. And it's going to look different. We kind of mentioned that. And that's kind of been a big talking point in this camp. Without Nash and Thai, you don't have the big space eaters up front that can play, you know, especially in Thai's category at all Big 10 level. but you've got some guys coming off the edge. They feel like they maybe have a little bit more athleticism out there. You mentioned the rover position. It looks like, you know, right now maybe Hardsog plays that. That's a completely different type of defensive back than Isaac than, you know, Gifford.

So it's going to look different, but the defense, I think, can continue to be the strength of this team. And if they can step up and meet to the level that they've played in the last two years and then the offense steps up, then we talk about the special teams, obviously, nowhere to go but up. And you were a few plays last year away from winning, you know, nine games. So there's a lot of potential in this team. Do I think there's going to be, I mean, I would put it this way, I guess, is that I don't, I think that the offense feels like it's ahead of the defense

and feels like it's, you know, kind of going to be the strength of the team this year. But I don't think it's so overwhelming that there's going to be certain games, the defense is definitely going to have to lead and the offenses might struggle a little bit. So, Bach, here's the question for you. Who do you trust more, the offensive line or defensive line? I would say the offensive line, I think just because we know some more of those pieces coming back, but it's not by a big margin. I think those are the two big question marks that you have on this team, to be quite honest.

And that's not the best place we're talking about Big Ten football for your biggest questions to be up there. Now, questions free season don't necessarily have to mean questions on the team midseason or toward the end of the season. So, I mean, they can definitely get it done. But, you know, I think, and to that defensive line, I feel like there's enough guys that we've seen flashes of. But I kind of want to turn another question around on you. Because like I said, I would probably lean toward offensive line. We've heard the defensive line, Mariley Van Popple now say that they're going to go after the Nebraska

sack record. We've heard the offensive line. And Rocco Spindler say, we're going to win the, we're going to try to win the Joe Moore. we're going to try to be the best offensive line in the country. Of course, we're dealing at Big Ten Media Days saying we're going to go for a national championship. We heard Jacori Barney saying that he wants to lead the nation in punt returns. When you hear all that, does that make you feel like, okay, maybe this is like a

speak it into existence type of situation? Is it setting your goals high, aim small, miss ball type of situation? Or there's always the camp that say I'd rather let the paths do the talking than anything else. What is your opinion about the real? high goals and expectations from basically every part of this football team. Well, accountability matters. And a thing that is said out loud creates accountability.

That if I tell you we're going to be the best radio station in the state, then you can hold me to that. You can hold me to that. Now, it doesn't mean that I'm not working to be the best station in the state if I don't say it. Some will say that I can work in confidence. work in silence and then just show up one day and be the best, right? The numbers in production will say that. And then other people will determine what best is.

But we have to do the work, the actual work behind the scenes and having a plan, whether I say it or not, doesn't dictate whether, do I know what I'm doing? I can say I know what I'm doing. Do I know what I'm doing? Is there production that says this can happen? If this says in full that you trust Holgerson more because you know more. We have four weeks of work in an offseason of knowing who he is and what he's bringing

to the table. And it's been that much longer with the players actually talking about what they're learning, right? Because players can't wait to tell you, hey, I feel pretty good. Like, I feel good. We feel knowledgeable. What is the sack number? What's the Husker all-time sack number?

Can you find that out for me? I could try, I believe, and I could be wrong, but I think characters, junior season when they got 50 sacks, would be the team record, but I could double check. I'm not for sure on that. That is, that is a number. And again, at the same time, I also don't know what the leaders in the Big Ten conference had a year ago,

right? Because that would literally tell you a part of how this is going to play out. It's no different than saying, than Dillon saying the ceiling for this Nebraska football team is the national title. Well, that's a statement of truth. It's the statement of truth. That's the ceiling.

Now, is that the reality? Is that there's also a basement to that, right? So you have to have all of those conversations. I would fully expect that he's putting in championship level work. He's putting in championship work. In order to say that, Dylan feels the way he feels of, and Popple feels the way he feels because he sees something in practice. Now, is he experienced and knowledge about it?

like what it's going to take to get the 50, 50 plus sacks for the Huskers? I'm not sure. Now, to be fair, he did, you know, you kind of throw it all encompassing. He was talking about the career sack records that they're like kind of inviginally going after. Maybe less so as a team, that would imply, right? Well, what's the number going after? What's the career sack record? The career sack record, I believe, is that 29 and a half for Treve Alberts.

So, Van Pappel has how many currently is then the, Like, you have to ask the next question. That's how you break down this stuff. Hey, what's the next question? What is his current number headed into this year? And is it possible if you tell, if the statement is you're going to get 10 sacks for the next three years, right? That, that's a statement out loud. That's a statement out loud because I don't think they had 10 sacks by anybody last year.

Right? Right. So you're going to change the standard, right? You're going to raise the roof. The ceiling, in fact, becomes a different ceiling. Yeah, I don't disagree. Dave from Reno says Nebraska will be successful if the defensive line plays well, which is why I ask the question, the matter of trust, in which line you believe in the most.

And it's just at this moment, right? Because familiarity breeds trust, you know some of the names and players. And then in some cases, you don't. You know, old dad, 34, we see you. It says, of course, you let the passage to talk about what are they supposed to say? I hope we're the bottom three of the big, big 10. Yeah, what are they, I mean, you put microphones in front of them, and they're not always all polished and all prepared to have the microphone in front of them.

but what would you what would i want to say as a coach yeah we're striving to be the best we're working to be the best and then you can take it a step further you can tell me what you're doing in your work right but you also don't want to share your hand like you don't want to flash your hand then listen we got some we got we're in the lab like we're cooking up some stuff like we've got some different uh some different pressures we're putting in uh we're putting in uh we We've got some different players who are doing different things. We don't know. And we're not supposed to.

We're not supposed to. Because if that run, we don't have anybody returning who has 10 sacks. That's the number that you would say to me. And then on the other side, this will be the question for when we come back. Bach, who do you trust more? The receiving group, the receiver's room,

or the defensive back room? We'll get that answer for Bach. Text line. Let me know. So who do you have more trusted? And it's just a matter of trust. It's not saying one is great and one is not. It is a matter of who you trust to produce this year.

We'll get those answers when we come back. Watch live on Facebook, YouTube, or Twitch. You're listening to One-on-One with DP on 937, The Ticket, and the Ticketfm.com.