enthusiasm that said I also like that you did not tack on some number of wins this "improved defense" will manifest.  My concern is watching and looking for some measure of improvement  Especially in linenacker play and defensive line play, the defensive backfield play has got to improve as in (can't get any worse) and (please suprise me).

.  I find with young teams win totals are even more difficult to gauge than well established talented upperclassmen laden teams.  Especially young talented teams they will win some games they are not supposed to win and will as we have seen in the past lose some games they are not supposed to lose.  ( Florida v Michigan) I don't pretend my presumption is borne out of some deep thoughtful well documented analysis , it comes from over 40 years of watching the game.  That said  I'm still looking for overall improvement. Hopefully that will translate to an improved record on the field.

  In the here and now RR has hinted that the team is moving in the right direction as in bulding team chemestry, improving competition, strenght and conditioning,  the maturation of several key positions, a pleasant suprise at the safety posistion., and lastly continuity at the DC. Usually in the cold hard facts world these intangibles are overlooked and undervalued because we generally cannot measure them. But the coaches know and they communicate this from time to time.   

Thanks for this comparison. Ugh, is my first response of course.

While I agree that youth = variabilty of result, we really have no excuse against MSU this year. Purdue is within competitive range as well. (Too bad you didn't find the depth charts for IU and Illinios as well. While outside the Big Ten, ND's depth chart is probably unstable due to the new coaching staff, and better compared after their first game.)

the impact that having continuity on the defense with Coach Robinson being there two years in a row is going to have. The defensive philosophy has been established, and the team is building upon a foundation then simply just building. The leadership has solidified, experience has for the most part increased, and I think this will allow for more cohesiveness and better execution on the defensive side of the ball in '10 than in '09 despite the continued youth.

Very well done and IMO just another reason RR deserves until 2011. 

As for Jimi I prefer this pic as the B/W captures his intensity.

... i would rank MSU lower, because they might have some experience but they also went away from their strength by switching to the 3-4, and i also think the cream on white fender strat is the coolest guitar ever.

Thanks for this post.  

Time-of-Possession. No, it doesn't show up in stats, but keeping the defense on the field for an infernally long time gives a young defense more time to show everyone how young they really are. Also, more time for injuries and exposing that two-deep (and its inherent weaknesses) to the light of day more than the coaches would probably like. Therefore, our offense in 2010 has to hang on to the damn ball, (ple-e-e-e-e-ease stay healthy, Mr. Molk, please) which may be as important as the points. Otherwise, it is entirely possible that - despite our honest and best wishes otherwise - that CFN prediction might turn out to be more right than not.

too me from the data is how the four "great" defenses all have 9 or 10 upperclassmen starting, but the backups are mostly made up of underclassmen.  Talent plus experience is prefered for starters, but talent appears to trump experience for the backup positions.  It also shows that the "great" defensive teams are grooming the next generation of starters with experience for their future teams with a significant percentage of underclassmen.....

Makes alot of sense.  It looks like we are a couple of years away until we can get ourselves in the same position as these "great" defensive teams.

All we can do is Wait Until Tomorrow; right now there Ain't No Telling whether we're finally going to see real defensive progress or just more Castles Made of Sand. The Burning of the Midnight Lamp better be the mindset of the entire coaching staff to compensate for the youth and inexperience of the team, because if we have another losing season it will be Manic Depression around here, we'll see the Big House Burning Down, and people will be throwing themselves into Crosstown Traffic. If all that happens, then RR's One Rainy Wish will be to just get the hell out of town to start over somewhere else, even if David Brandon doesn't Fire him.

The four best defenses tend to have the longest tenured coaches.  Wisky the possible exception but Alvarez handed the reigns to Beilma after Beilma was an assistant for a couple of years.