our defense will improve this year
Our defense was destroyed today at Indiana.. Howeva, unlike last year, we seem to not blow assignment as much and we seem to be physically capable. We had corners relatively close to all of their receivers (which is actually improvement over last year coverages)
I may be wrong (and would love intrepretation) but it seemed that the number one reason Indiana kept making every 3rd down was that our corners made no aggressive plays on the ball. It seemed like our corners were not being aggressive and were unsure. In other words, they look like 2-3 freshman corners playing their first big game.
The learning curve for this should be really high and it seemed like they were smart enough with the coverages and athletic enough for the most part...thoughts?
October 2nd, 2010 at 9:49 PM ^
I'll neg myself for that!!!
October 2nd, 2010 at 10:47 PM ^
Rodgers and Floyd are NOT FRESHMAN!
October 2nd, 2010 at 10:58 PM ^
We had 2-3 freshman playing in addition to floyd and rodgers. Floyd actually looked reasonably good
October 2nd, 2010 at 9:53 PM ^
A double post from clicking submit once, I guess I fail at life
October 2nd, 2010 at 9:52 PM ^
October 2nd, 2010 at 10:01 PM ^
If our D is going to suck, at least our O has the ability to outscore anyone this year.
October 2nd, 2010 at 9:53 PM ^
yes and no. We just are not that deep on defense at all. We are decent against the run but terrible against strong passing attacks. Its tough to say what will happen. MSU next week will be tough.
October 2nd, 2010 at 9:56 PM ^
I do like your optimism. I am curious what someone like Magnus or one of the D coaches out there would say.
I do see some athleticism out there and the guys did seem to flow to the ball after the catch well. The trouble was Chappel played a pretty smart game and executed well much of the game. I am very curious to see if IU actually turns out to be a decent team or not. Simply put I am not sure how much it was a function of IU running a good gameplan versus our D just not being able to handle the 'pistol' and the pressure it seems to apply to the flats. Would love to hear more thoughts.....
October 2nd, 2010 at 9:59 PM ^
much of the plan in this game was to play SUPER safe in the passing game and make sure they didn't burn us on demoralizing long passes. And it worked. We'll improve simply by the nature of the opponent.
October 2nd, 2010 at 10:01 PM ^
Obviously I hope that our secondary picks it up, but I don't know if we have the athletes there to "make plays on the ball" in the scheme that we're using. Our guys just seem to be one step (at best) slow in getting to the receiver. Avery's one PBU against BGSU was so exciting, and I wish our guys were getting an arm in more often. I'm watching the Florida-Alabama game and they have great athletes in the secondary who contest passes. I'm not sure if we have the athletes in our secondary right now.
October 2nd, 2010 at 10:07 PM ^
that our D seems to make our opponents work for yardage. The more snaps opposing offenses take, the greater chance of a turnover. As long as the O continues to score in 2 or fewer plays and we make other teams drive for 15 plays or so, we should have a great turnover margin.
October 2nd, 2010 at 10:08 PM ^
Our offense certainly didn't help the defense out. It seems like we either scored really fast or went three and out. It seemed like the offense slowed the tempo down in the second half, maybe to give the D some more rest?
October 2nd, 2010 at 10:14 PM ^
An all out passing attack is tough to defend against. The rest of our schedule we will see I-formations. The schemes will be much more simple.
Gerg will have the D ready.
October 2nd, 2010 at 10:31 PM ^
So...you're saying that we'll do better against a team that can run and pass, rather than just pass?
October 2nd, 2010 at 10:19 PM ^
We are simply not good enough to outscore everyone. I know I will get slaughtered for questioning the 3-3-5 but short of switching to a 4-2-5 for example, we at least need to do some actual blitzing, not just fake it every snap. We could make up for some of our deficiencies with some timely turnovers a la the mediocre Saints defense circa last year. Gerg has no fucking clue what he is doing. When does punishing Will Campbell for being a fatty get old? He could at least look imposing standing next to Martin and you never know occupy a blocker or two every once in a while.
October 2nd, 2010 at 10:20 PM ^
The defense is a work in progress and has a long way to go.
October 2nd, 2010 at 10:21 PM ^
They're already ranked in the 90s in defense in Division I. Denard didn't have his usual smile on his face near the end of the game - he was visibly upset at the piss poor play of the defense. The D is gonna hold this team back.
October 2nd, 2010 at 11:29 PM ^
he was visibly upset at the piss poor play of the defense.
I lack confidence that you have the evidence to back up this assertion.
October 2nd, 2010 at 10:23 PM ^
I don't know. The teams we have coming up, I just think they're drooling over how they're going to attack our secondary.
I hate putting Denard in this position where he's going to have to put up 500-something yards just for us to stay close with teams.
The D actually had a few nice plays. A couple sacks and an interception. But they were on the field for, what, 41 minutes? God, that can't happen again.
In the third quarter, we had Indiana inside their own 10 and facing a 3rd and 15. Then they go out and throw a 20 yard completion with ease. That's the kind of crap that happened all the time last year and I hate seeing it continue.
Last year after the Indiana game, I felt so sick to my stomach that I wanted the season to end that day. This year, I don't feel as bad because we have a few more offensive weapons with experience. But defense wise? I'm paranoid because other than Illinois and Purdue, the rest of our opponents are much better than the 5 we have already faced.
October 2nd, 2010 at 10:34 PM ^
Actually, Purdue and Illinois are the teams I am most worried about because their offensive philosophy is to spread you out and make you play in space. That kind of O will really exploit our young D.
The rest of the teams are going to come right at you, which gives us a better chance.
October 2nd, 2010 at 11:22 PM ^
Actually Purdue and Illinois seem the two easiest games we have left because their defenses. They have no chance of stopping Denard and the games will look more like the one we just watched today. Against our defense any team can score and score at will it looks like.
October 3rd, 2010 at 2:09 AM ^
After watching Penn State the past few weeks, I definitely think we have a great chance at winning that game as well.
October 2nd, 2010 at 10:44 PM ^
If it's obvious to us spectators that the DBs aren't playing aggressive, I think they will improve with coaching/experience.
October 2nd, 2010 at 10:51 PM ^
we dont have coaching. robinson is a terrible coach. i dont understand why we hired this guy. if he was any good he would have done better than 1 - 10 at 'cuse. put me as their head coach and i can win one game. it is time for a new d coordinator.
October 3rd, 2010 at 12:02 AM ^
or suggest they be fired...please let me know. I have 400 some points i will happily neg you with. D in 2010 = O in 2009 ...some talent but no depth or experience.
If we suck on D next year I will happily hop on the "Fire Coach X" bandwagon.
That is all
October 3rd, 2010 at 12:38 AM ^
Do what you will with your points, but there's a big difference between the D and O. While I'm not a schematic guru, our offense seems very complicated, whereas the defense is not so much rocket science. The O took time to learn a difficult beast and is now blossoming. The D (and I'm not advocating that the DC gets fired (although I do question the hire and the first DC hire))...is doing the best it can do with the scheme we're running.
Our front 3 is battling against 5/6 opponents and holding their own (and then some). Our secondary didn't seem to miss much today, but they're playing 10-15 yards off the line. I don't think Charles Woodson could stop a bunch of 5 yard routes if he's 15 yards off the line.
I just don't think our D is being given a chance to makes the stops that a more aggressive scheme might allow. The kids are playing their butts off, but you can't expect great pass coverage if we don't play tighter coverage. The coaches (and those who hired them) bear as much (or maybe more) responsibility as the players.
October 2nd, 2010 at 10:53 PM ^
You say that the DBs aren't playing aggressively as if that's their choice. I think that if the coaching staff wanted them to play aggressively, they'd be yelling and screaming for them to play tighter. I don't agree with the decision at all, but the scheme calls for very soft, prevent-style D.
October 2nd, 2010 at 10:47 PM ^
enough of excuses. i dont expect our D to be one of the best. but there is no reason that it should not break the top 50 barrier. an NFL coach can not coach college. it has been proven time and time again. if we had even sub par defense this year, with the way our offense is playing, we would be competing for a national title. i think we go 7-5 this year.
October 2nd, 2010 at 10:47 PM ^
couple quick questions, does any one else not like this 3-3-5 scheme? I am also wondering if Gerg runs a true 3-3-5 stack or some other variation? I have a feeling RR wanted the 3-3-5 and is making Gerg run it. The 4-2-5 would be a better fit for big ten. i also have a feeling Gerg doesnt recruit and that might explain the bleak talent on that side of the ball. Im just praying they get better quick..if not sparty might roll.
Hail!!
October 2nd, 2010 at 11:20 PM ^
((Dons the maize & blue googles)) We've got lot's of youth & inexperience that have a steep learning curve. So let's start climbing.