Nebraska head coach Mike Riley reiterated Monday what he’s said all season: He’s happy with his program’s transition to a 3-4 defense this fall and he thinks defensive coordinator Bob Diaco and staff have done a good job installing and teaching it.
However, he also seemed to disagree with the tone of Diaco’s comments following Nebraska’s 31-24 overtime loss to Northwestern on Saturday, when the first-year coordinator said that it would be unreasonable to expect this particular defensive unit to be capable of shutting teams down after nine games.
More specifically, Diaco said he thought his players were improving and that there were signs of progress, but also that, “There's no reasonable reason, considering where the defensive program was (last season), to believe that they should be able to do everything that needs to be done in the game, to win the game.