BG's defense

[money3189]

I see quite a few people worried about the defense after watching the bowl game vs Georgia Southern. We just finished our gifts, going to the inlaws later. Just wanted to share a few thoughts

I can understand people questioning the hire of Ward. So I am not focusing my thoughts about Ward himself but more on the style of defense that HCDB wants. Im a defensive guy my self. In my opinion it might be better to get away from the high risk high reward defense we had with Shaf. If the offense is going to be like we think it is under HCDB then we need a steady defense that will not give up big play TD's. We need a defense who will make you earn your points methodically and not get beat deep, bring pressure here and there but not rely on it every down. We need a defense who will get timely turnovers and stops when we need them. Previously we would give up 10 to 15 yards on deep out routes because we are zone blitzing and playing a soft cover 3 behind it which every offense in the country knows how to shread. We would get burned on bubble and jailbreak screens because of our agressive attack style. Dont get me wrong, I loved Shafer's scheme and actually took alot of his stuff and used it with my team. Im a pressure base defensive guy too. Its great when you have the personnel on the field to do it. I just dont think that style of defense is a good match with the new offense. If we score like we think we can, teams will feel like they have to be agressive on offense to keep up. Tampa 2 is good against teams who are playing from behind, it limits big plays. So it will be hard for teams to take shots down the field. This is when turnovers happen. I always felt we had our best athletes on defense. Im looking foward to seeing the better athletes on offense now. We havent been consistenly good on that side of the ball. Being a defensive guy I cringe when I see high scoring games but offensives are too diverse these days to stop everything. If we win more games with this concept than Im all for it but if we are losing I will be pissed, lol I still believe defense wins you games. We will see, thoughts?

 

[Toga]

I would like the 85 Bears defense.

 

[money3189]

I would like the 85 Bears defense.

lol would love that. We will just have to recruit some future NFL hall of famers for that to work.

 

[sdhall01]

Yes, Ward was the DC there and he is going to be the DC here, but I am not worried about it. That game was a crap shoot and everybody that made BG BG is gone. The player's hearts probably weren't in it knowing that they were playing for a man that was going to be leaving after the game. Time will tell, but I am definitely not worried about this.

 

[007]

I see quite a few people worried about the defense after watching the bowl game vs Georgia Southern. We just finished our gifts, going to the inlaws later. Just wanted to share a few thoughts

I can understand people questioning the hire of Ward. So I am not focusing my thoughts about Ward himself but more on the style of defense that HCDB wants. Im a defensive guy my self. In my opinion it might be better to get away from the high risk high reward defense we had with Shaf. If the offense is going to be like we think it is under HCDB then we need a steady defense that will not give up big play TD's. We need a defense who will make you earn your points methodically and not get beat deep, bring pressure here and there but not rely on it every down. We need a defense who will get timely turnovers and stops when we need them. Previously we would give up 10 to 15 yards on deep out routes because we are zone blitzing and playing a soft cover 3 behind it which every offense in the country knows how to shread. We would get burned on bubble and jailbreak screens because of our agressive attack style. Dont get me wrong, I loved Shafer's scheme and actually took alot of his stuff and used it with my team. Im a pressure base defensive guy too. Its great when you have the personnel on the field to do it. I just dont think that style of defense is a good match with the new offense. If we score like we think we can, teams will feel like they have to be agressive on offense to keep up. Tampa 2 is good against teams who are playing from behind, it limits big plays. So it will be hard for teams to take shots down the field. This is when turnovers happen. I always felt we had our best athletes on defense. Im looking foward to seeing the better athletes on offense now. We havent been consistenly good on that side of the ball. Being a defensive guy I cringe when I see high scoring games but offensives are too diverse these days to stop everything. If we win more games with this concept than Im all for it but if we are losing I will be pissed, lol I still believe defense wins you games. We will see, thoughts?

Good post, money. I've had the opportunity to coach on both sides of the ball (only HS level). My preference has always been to have an attacking, blitz heavy D. But, after watching even mediocre QBs set career/school records against us game after game (exaggerated for emphasis) I am OK with going with 4-3 Tampa cover 2 as a base. SS blitz packages were very, very good schematically, but when you are sending 2-3 extra guys and still not getting to the QB, you see the kinds of results we have seen the past 2 years. Most people here tended to blame the secondary for that (and Reed), but, as you know, it went way deeper than that.

As for Ward, I did a little research and watched some of his press conferences and came away impressed with his demeanor, his intelligence, and the quality of his answers when asked about schemes, Xs & Os stuff. He is going to win the PC. Without going into boring details, he teaches his D as a "questions and answers" concept. The O presents "questions" (by formations, personnel tendencies), and the D, as a whole, adjusts to that with an "answer."

As for where the "talent" will be used, there is absolutely no question that Babers is going to put the most "explosive" and fastest athletes on O. I am ALL in on that. He has done that everywhere he has been as HC. I'm guessing that we will see a number of interesting position changes coming.

 

[money3189]

Good post, money. I've had the opportunity to coach on both sides of the ball (only HS level). My preference has always been to have an attacking, blitz heavy D. But, after watching even mediocre QBs set career/school records against us game after game (exaggerated for emphasis) I am OK with going with 4-3 Tampa cover 2 as a base. SS blitz packages were very, very good schematically, but when you are sending 2-3 extra guys and still not getting to the QB, you see the kinds of results we have seen the past 2 years. Most people here tended to blame the secondary for that (and Reed), but, as you know, it went way deeper than that.

As for Ward, I did a little research and watched some of his press conferences and came away impressed with his demeanor, his intelligence, and the quality of his answers when asked about schemes, Xs & Os stuff. He is going to win the PC. Without going into boring details, he teaches his D as a "questions and answers" concept. The O presents "questions" (by formations, personnel tendencies), and the D, as a whole, adjusts to that with an "answer."

As for where the "talent" will be used, there is absolutely no question that Babers is going to put the most "explosive" and fastest athletes on O. I am ALL in on that. He has done that everywhere he has been as HC. I'm guessing that we will see a number of interesting position changes coming.

Picked up on those same things about Ward. Seems very sharp and quietly confident (like Babers). The question and answer concepts, I did not know about that. thanks for sharing that.

 

[NoXcuse99]

I have to be somewhat concerned with Ward and with the cover 2. The MAC features a lot of pro style offense, and pocket passing QBs. The ACC is going to throw a lot of offenses at him like Clemson, and Louisville, for example, that will be much more multiple, and feature some elements of a pro style, but some elements of the spread, and QBs who can and will run the ball (Ward and BGSU seemed to have no answer for the running QBs of GA Southern). I also worry about getting a consistant pass rush in the ACC with what appears to be more of a focus on a traditional four man rush. At the end of the day Babers has to win games and how he does it is up to him.

 

[007]

Picked up on those same things about Ward. Seems very sharp and quietly confident (like Babers). The question and answer concepts, I did not know about that. thanks for sharing that.

You're welcome. I've heard him use that phrase several times. He also believes that his D has an "answer" for "whatever" the O happens to throw at them. The D is taught to react as a total unit to what they are presented with. Every player is supposed to understand what it is the offense is trying to exploit in any given formation/grouping, and then what each individual player needs to do to stop it. As you know, that is going to take time to fully develop. This will be pretty similar to the concepts P used. I'm guessing that we will see lots of bend but don't break stuff the first year. Especially until we can get CBs that can press aggressively at the LOS.

 

[PASyrFan]

I just hope that our fan base has thick enough skin to endure our first 5-6 games. Our offense will not nearly resemble the BG offense that everyone is watching on you tube. DB has already so much as guaranteed that it won't happen overnight. We will actually look worse than our 2015 team out of the gates. What we need to look for is steady progression game by game. I really like the hire & I'm excited to see this offense in the future. Just prepare for it to be ugly early on.

 

[sdhall01]

I just hope that our fan base has thick enough skin to endure our first 5-6 games. Our offense will not nearly resemble the BG offense that everyone is watching on you tube. DB has already so much as guaranteed that it won't happen overnight. We will actually look worse than our 2015 team out of the gates. What we need to look for is steady progression game by game. I really like the hire & I'm excited to see this offense in the future. Just prepare for it to be ugly early on.

My attitude is that Babers gets at least 4 years to do whatever it is that he needs to do. This fanbase CANNOT afford to be impatient with a non-continuity hire coming off the worst stretch since G-Rob.

 

[orange79]

I just hope that our fan base has thick enough skin to endure our first 5-6 games.

Good luck with that. Sigh...

 

[djorange1989]

Ward improved the BG D from year to year and as season 2 went on. The bowl game is not of concern to me. You can't tell me the remaining staff could game plan with one foot out the door. Then it rained like crazy which was great for Ga Southern and their triple option.

 

[TheCusian]

Great post, Money.

I also think the numbers won't be as good as we've seen in the past. By going fast it means more possessions all the way around. Opposing offenses will have more chances and will be forced to be more aggressive. Watching a lot of B12 games - you see it all the time.

 

[bnoro]

I have to be somewhat concerned with Ward and with the cover 2. The MAC features a lot of pro style offense, and pocket passing QBs. The ACC is going to throw a lot of offenses at him like Clemson, and Louisville, for example, that will be much more multiple, and feature some elements of a pro style, but some elements of the spread, and QBs who can and will run the ball (Ward and BGSU seemed to have no answer for the running QBs of GA Southern). I also worry about getting a consistant pass rush in the ACC with what appears to be more of a focus on a traditional four man rush. At the end of the day Babers has to win games and how he does it is up to him.

Did you only watch the GA Southern game? I watched 3 or 4 BGSU games this year (far before I knew we were getting Dino) and then the MAC championship and the defense was fine in those games. People are massively overreacting about this.

 

[anomander]

Did you only watch the GA Southern game? I watched 3 or 4 BGSU games this year (far before I knew we were getting Dino) and then the MAC championship and the defense was fine in those games. People are massively overreacting about this.

Seriously. Massive overreaction .

 

[bnoro]

Also, people can't judge a BGSU defense (or Baylor/Tulsa/et al) traditionally because they're going to be on the field far more than any other defense, so yardage will be inflated strictly because of the offensive style they play. Scoring defense will be the best metric to judge moving forward.

For example, BGSU was 62nd in the country this year allowing 26.7 points per game, while Syracuse's defense was 92nd in the country, giving up 31 points per game.

 

[rrlbees]

My attitude is that Babers gets at least 4 years to do whatever it is that he needs to do. This fanbase CANNOT afford to be impatient with a non-continuity hire coming off the worst stretch since G-Rob.

4 years? This is the fourth straight coach someone has said that. There is no need to wait 4 years to show success. I expect a bowl game next year as a minimum. If not it's a failure.

 

[bnoro]

4 years? This is the fourth straight coach someone has said that. There is no need to wait 4 years to show success. I expect a bowl game next year as a minimum. If not it's a failure.

Exactly. Dino has come in and been successful at two programs and had winning seasons in each year as a coach. I believe he should be able to use the talent we have to get us at least to 6-6 next year.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I just hope that our fan base has thick enough skin to endure our first 5-6 games. Our offense will not nearly resemble the BG offense that everyone is watching on you tube. DB has already so much as guaranteed that it won't happen overnight. We will actually look worse than our 2015 team out of the gates. What we need to look for is steady progression game by game. I really like the hire & I'm excited to see this offense in the future. Just prepare for it to be ugly early on.

The thing is... we're coming from an offense that didn't work very well. I'm confident that we're going to perform a lot better, even if we're not full Babers for a while.

 

[TheCusian]

The thing is... we're coming from an offense that didn't work very well. I'm confident that we're going to perform a lot better, even if we're not full Babers for a while.

Dungey will have a semi-year of playing experience and two camps (with really high reps) worth of work. He should be that much better.

 

[CIL]

Well, I happen to know of one player's father that hates it...:noidea:

 

[Alsacs]

Babers is going to get patience from everyone in the fanbase except those that thought SS deserved a lifetime contract.

We can go 3-9 next year and its fine. I won't like it but I will accept it. The heat on Dino shouldn't start till mid-way thru year 4 unless it just is awful. However, I don't think it will ever get there and DB will have us upwards by year 2-3.

 

[sdhall01]

4 years? This is the fourth straight coach someone has said that. There is no need to wait 4 years to show success. I expect a bowl game next year as a minimum. If not it's a failure.

You're joking, right? Did you forget to type "/s"? They said it with HCSS because he was a continuity hire, and NOBODY said it about HCDM because everybody understoon that Gerg was a dumpster fire. Why is that such a hard concept for people to understand? HCDB is going to have to entirely rebuild this team. HCSS inherited a team that he was a part of and already ran half the field. The two are inherently different.

 

[rrlbees]

You're joking, right? Did you forget to type "/s"? They said it with HCSS because he was a continuity hire, and NOBODY said it about HCDM because everybody understoon that Gerg was a dumpster fire. Why is that such a hard concept for people to understand? HCDB is going to have to entirely rebuild this team. HCSS inherited a team that he was a part of and already ran half the field. The two are inherently different.

I stand by what I said.

 

[sdhall01]

I stand by what I said.

Well, I hope we go to a bowl game next year, but I hope you're prepared for disappointment. Even Dino Babers thinks it will take 2 years to implement his system.