Does ND have a Big10 defense? If so, I will take our chances
We keep hearing about Denard getting hit hard by Big 10 defenses, I am pretty sure ND would qualify for as an upper half Big10 defense on talent alone. That dline was pretty active and they had some big players with 4 star ranking. Teo could start for any team in the conference. The rest of the LBs and secondary were highly ranked coming out of high school. It remains to be seen what Diaco can do with the unit for the rest of the year, but that group looked better than it has under Charlie. That may sound strange to say when it gave up 500 years, but I think that unit simply got Denarded.
September 13th, 2010 at 11:11 AM ^
But it's a bit too early to see if Purdue's offense is at all legit.
The big difference may be size on the interior D-line. So far, people like Molk have manhandled the poor bastards in front of them, but teams like Wisconsin, Iowa, and Ohio State have a little more there. That makes those middle runs a little more dangerous and difficult.
I would say their back 7 are more or less middle Big Ten quality though.
September 13th, 2010 at 11:13 AM ^
Yep, that's what Denard at LIGHT SPEED will do to ya.
Seriously though, this is an interesting question. Time will tell, but ND's defense seems above average for sure. The front seven was fairly solid all day.
September 13th, 2010 at 11:37 AM ^
500 Light Years!
Denard can most accurately be measured that way.
September 13th, 2010 at 11:31 AM ^
they just have a weak secondary like we do.
September 13th, 2010 at 11:32 AM ^
According to Lou Holtz, their defense looked great!
September 13th, 2010 at 11:44 AM ^
I think the more relevant question to be asked is as follows. " Is Notre Dame a Big Ten offense?" I think that they are easily Big ten caliber on either side of the ball. If this were to hold true, then i will take our defense into most games.( OSU scares me from a defensive scheme point.) the caveat being that with experience the players wil get better in the secondary. I was never scared of the 3-3-5 scheme having an inability to work. However, I am surprised at how well they apply pressure on the passing game, and absolutely crush running games. For a guy that is supposed to be an offense only genius. RR's insistence on implementing the 3-3-5 seems to be pretty genius. This makes since to me, if you want to know how to stop an offense, as a guy that runs an offense specializing on making individual players make mistakes. Maybe RR wanted the 3-3-5, because its the defense he hates to play against the most.
September 13th, 2010 at 11:48 AM ^
But I believe that several of the defenses we face in the Big Ten will be very close to the same that UConn and Notre Dame threw at us. Their advantage will be that they will have a lot more game film to review, and they will be able to see what other teams have used.
But it will be so hard for them to match up Denard's speed at practice.
Additionally, I think Denard will get better at reading defenses as the season progresses.
Assuming that Denard remains healthy throughout the season - defensive coordinators will need plenty of Pepcid.
Go Blue
September 13th, 2010 at 12:38 PM ^
Whether it's upper half Big Ten or not, is questionable.
Ohio State, it's not.