Riley sheds light on Huskers' defensive woes

The Nebraska Cornhuskers are struggling mightily on defense in 2015. 

To be specific they have been very poor at defending the pass, having given up 1518 yards through the air this season, an average of 379 yards per game which is dead last in the NCAA. Mike Riley is getting asked a lot of about this and had this to offer up Monday about the potential source of the problem:

“One thing that disappointed me – that we’ve really got to work with our players, really work with them – is that when things are going south a little bit, don’t lose your minds on what you’re doing just on the base calls,” he said. “All of the sudden, people are trying to compensate for other things and not doing quite their job and there’s no trust that develops with what’s going on.

“It basically, and I won’t say this went all the way that way, but it looks like it’s falling apart. I watch the film and go ‘what are we doing here?’ We’ve got to coach to a point where the confidence, no matter what’s going on, will play within the principles of what we’re doing.”

This Saturday against Illinois, Riley's squad will face another tough test when they face off against Wes Lunt. If they give up their season averages in the first game of Big Ten play, they make not make it out of Champaign with a win.