Come Saturday, there's a pretty fair chance that Carl Pelini will start two freshmen and a sophomore at linebacker.

His secondary is coming off a season in which it ranked 82nd in the nation in pass efficiency defense. And the defensive tackle in charge of keeping Ndamukong Suh free from double teams has exactly two career tackles.

Yeah, it's fair to say there are a few questions about the Husker D, which gave up four touchdowns a game in the Pelini brothers' opening act.

Yet the older, more tranquil sibling says this about his defense's prospects for 2009:

“I think we have the horses, I think we have the depth,” Carl said. “I think we're at the cusp of being really good. Again, we're not there yet ... But we're close.”

The quote won't wind up on any opponent's grease board. But Carl Pelini, who considers confidence one of his more consistent traits, will clearly be disappointed if his men in red don't force a few more punts this fall.

The No. 1 reason: continuity.

“If you really look at it,” Carl said, “this is the fourth time (spring 2008, fall 2008, spring '09, fall '09) we've started at the beginning and worked our way through the entire installation. Each time the guys have grasped it more quickly.

“I just hope — knock on wood — but I think the execution should be at a higher level.”

He anticipates improvement because of what he sees, or doesn't see, on the practice field.

“Breakdowns were an issue (last season),” he said. “You've got 10 guys on the same page and one guy not. When you're playing team defense, you can't have that. Those seem to be going away.

“More and more, we're seeing 11 guys on the same page. You're not perfect, because they've got great athletes, too. A receiver might make a great catch. But you're not seeing people run wide open. You're not seeing a running back break through a gaping hole because someone went the wrong way.”

Carl thinks every position will be better than it was last fall. He credits the coaching staff's time spent hashing out ideas.

The first year together, coaches had “great discussions,” Carl said, asking each other: What's your philosophy on covering this route? How would you defend that formation?

All steps toward constructing the NU defensive philosophy.

In year two, if a coach raises a concern in a meeting, it's common to hear another coach say he has already discussed it with his players. The heavy lifting is out of the way, now it's a matter of arranging furniture.

Now assistants can spend more time studying specific opponents' keys, zeroing in on minor mistakes.

“It just seemed last year ... there were just times when we were trying to figure out how to handle certain things,” Carl said. “Now it's a matter of really honing in on techniques within the scheme.”

Contact the writer:

679-9899, dirk.chatelain@owh.com

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