SMU Snowflakes - The Defense
September 15th, 2018 at 8:37 PM ^
I sat there in my seat thinking, "SMU watched the Notre Dame tape....", because again there were times where the speed and the aggression were being turned right back at us. There will need to be an answer for teams that can and will make consistent use of that particular tendency soon.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:59 PM ^
Yes. I hope Don realizes that not all problems are solved with aggression. Some are better solved with patience.
September 15th, 2018 at 10:46 PM ^
I don't want the D to lose it's aggression. But aggressive doesn't mean undisciplined. There's no reason for backside DEs to crash so goddamn hard on things way on the other side without using your eyes to check for a reverse. If OL lets you go by, someone check for a screen. Aggressive and undisciplined are not mutually exclusive.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:44 PM ^
I'm very glad to have Coach Brown on the staff. His defenses have obviously been very good. My main concern with his approach is the reluctance to shift strategy. Seems like we're always in attack mode no matter down and distance. This fits with his "solve your problems with aggression" mantra. However, sometimes I think we'd be more effective laying off and playing zone to mix it up based on the facts on the ground. Hopefully he evolves on this front.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:47 PM ^
All I can say is Thank God Chase Winovich decided to come back for his senior year. He is playing at an extremely high level.
Thumbs up: Winovich, Bush, Kemp
Thumbs down: Mettelus, Hill, Watson
September 15th, 2018 at 9:01 PM ^
JM wasn’t perfect, but I don’t think he deserves a thumbs down.
September 15th, 2018 at 9:09 PM ^
I liked Mettelus, I’m usually critical of him but I think he did his job for the most part. If anything put Hawkins there.
September 16th, 2018 at 2:08 AM ^
SMU picked on Metellus until he got the pick six. In the second half, they picked on Kinnel. Safeties on slot receivers is not our strength. SMU worked to get safety mismatches. While that was effective for them, the QB dropped some dimes at times. Good coverage but the throw was right where it had to be. Finally, the long, multiple PI penalties drive in the 3Q seemed to wear down our D. We had over 10 min. advantage in time of possession, but by the time the 3Q was over, it was down to 2 or 3 mins. It was a hot, humid day and it took a toll on both defenses.
September 15th, 2018 at 9:13 PM ^
It’s somewhat clear a lot of the big ten is overrated by how terrible all the offenses were last year. Our d is good but it’s not tops in the country good, playing bad wide receivers and qbs made all of msu, Wisconsin, and us look better than we really were.
September 15th, 2018 at 9:13 PM ^
Hard to believe Hudson will be out for the first half next week.
He led with his shoulder. Not sure what he is supposed to do besides just get out of the ball carrier's way and hope he trips on himself before he gets to the endzone.
September 15th, 2018 at 9:21 PM ^
If your head making contact with their head is the first contact it’s going to get called. He turned his body but his head still hit first
September 15th, 2018 at 10:23 PM ^
As an official, I can assure you that your assumption is incorrect.
September 15th, 2018 at 10:47 PM ^
To me, just form tackle. Keep your head up, wrap up. Anytime you keep your arms in and lead with a shoulder you're asking for targeting. Just form tackle.
September 15th, 2018 at 9:20 PM ^
Not having Hudson against an edge happy running qb team for a half next week is going to be tough.
jordan Glasgow isn’t in the same realm of player
September 15th, 2018 at 9:23 PM ^
I don’t know if anyone has notice but we have not enough forced a fumble yet this year. In Harbaugh’s 4 years we rarely even force a fumble.
September 15th, 2018 at 9:29 PM ^
Yes, I noticed. Harbaugh’s teams are terrible at forcing fumbles, for whatever reason. We don’t get nearly enough takeaways period
September 15th, 2018 at 9:40 PM ^
Fuck that pick 6 we had today, hailgary wants a fumble. DO WHAT HAILGARY wants defense, you are failures by getting pick 6s and not forcing fumbles.
September 15th, 2018 at 10:27 PM ^
Terrible at forcing any turnovers period.
September 15th, 2018 at 11:17 PM ^
A lot of people overreacting...
That freshman QB for SMU is gonna be GOOD. Size, mobility and a super quick release. Some of his throws were great. Side arm dart around a lineman on one play stands out.
CBs are a concern but we've seen them play excellent before so they can turn it around.
I think there needs to be more creativity on some blitzes. There were 3 straight plays where bush moved to the same side of the line and blitzed. Usually showing it too soon as well.
September 15th, 2018 at 11:55 PM ^
I thought the same thing about Wimbush, but he proceeded to play like shit for two weeks after owning us.
September 16th, 2018 at 6:54 AM ^
Nobody will even know who that freshman qb at SMU is by years end.
September 16th, 2018 at 1:16 AM ^
SMU ran some good stuff today, caught us leaning a few times. Sonny is a shitty overall coach but his offenses always have some pretty good stuff in them.
Our secondary had some miscommunication issues, esp the long touchdown in the first half, just plain old blown assignment when two players took the same. We almost blew the same formation a couple times later on.
Weakness is really interior dline which isn't getting pressure much, a place we excelled last year.
SMU had one good drive, one badly blown coverage drive and one heavily aided by officials drive. They moved the ball a bit in between, so what, this is what modern football scores look like.
September 16th, 2018 at 9:37 AM ^
I kind of feel like, in a strange reversal, the offense was actually scoring too quickly to really let the defense rest and reset. Toss on the pile of questionable, drive-making penalties and the defense was just worn out.
September 16th, 2018 at 10:35 AM ^
Yesterday’s defensive performance was okay, not great. But I don’t know how much of a measuring stick that game was for the big games weeks later in the schedule. Team performance fluctuates from week to week and isn’t always a linear improvement—even for the best coaches. This defense does have the ability to dominate and if they aren’t going to show that every week then I’d prefer to see it against the likes of Penn State and OSU. In 2016 I felt like the team peaked too early. Hopefully this year’s team continues to improve and plays its best football in the second half of the season.