Nebraska 2010

Bo Pelini is in his 3rd year as Head Coach. He was formerly the defensive coordinator at LSU.
Why is this offense in a good position heading into 2009? They return 9 starters.
Why is this offense in a bad position? They have a lot of work to do to improve upon their 2009 numbers. Passing was abysmal. And the rushing game had the lowest yards per carry since 2005 when they had the worst rushing offense in the Big 12.
Head coach Bo Pelini has an excellent reputation for developing the secondary. Also known as the Defensive Backs, the Secondary is comprised of two Safeties and two Cornerbacks and are primarily responsible for defending against the pass. When Pelini became head coach in 2008, he took over a team that ranked 75^th in the nation in passing efficiency defense in 2007. Two years later, Nebraska’s defense finished the 2009 season ranked 1^st in the nation in passing efficiency defense. This statistic takes into account everything the opposing team’s passing game is able to accomplish against a defense, including total yards, touchdowns, interceptions, attempts and completions. Many don’t pay attention to what it is comprised of, but if you want to memorize it:

Passing Efficiency = (8.4 x yards) + (330 x Touchdowns) + (200 x completions) – (100 x interceptions), all divided by the number of attempts.

This defense has as its primary goal preventing pass completions. It typically keeps only about 6 men in the Box (to stop the run) and drops the rest back into Coverage.
And even more importantly Nebraska had the #1 scoring defense in the nation. In the end the only thing that matters is how many points are scored, therefore a team that allows the fewest points is doing the best job on defense in the country.
The biggest concern for Nebraska’s defense this year is the absence of Ndamukong Suh who was the 2^nd overall pick in the NFL Draft in 2010 and currently plays for the Detroit Lions. But I think this defense will be just fine.