Got to figure out run D | Syracusefan.com

Got to figure out run D

TheCusian

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Lots of talk about about how horrible our run D was against Pitt. And it was.

But if there’s good news, it’s this:

I wasn't going to drop back and throw the ball against that front four," Narduzzi said, "the fearsome foursome over there.

It’s similar to what happened with FSU and Clemson. They couldn’t handle our DL. We’re rushing 4 and getting home. A lot. We’re tied with Clemson and Miami at the top in sacks in the ACC. Robinson and Coleman are #2 and #3 in the ACC. This helps our secondary out a ton.

If teams are scared to pass, we’re forcing teams to be more 1 dimensional to an extent. Our 3rd down D is very good (#3 nationally). We have to stop the run somehow. It’s imperative (and obvious). But still.
 
Babers said stop the ball and grab their dag gum legs to do it if you have to. Too many times it looked like a bunch of 10 year olds trying to stop an 18 year old and if that is the case, tackle the legs and stop with the shoulder slaps.
 
Its dificult with undersized linebackers, a hurt safety, and no cordy. People have to step up.

Haven’t seen a ton of bear either. Hows Ruff vs the run?
 
Richards! I mean, amazingly we don't need rushers right now. We need big, fast LB's who play downhill on the run. This guy is an assassin. Why not get him in the LB rotation ... give him some reps on run downs. We're already giving up huge yardage and game-changing chunk plays - so what's the risk?
 
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The coaches see these kids day in and day out in practice, I'd have to guess they are struggling in practice to do the things needed to, at the very least, give the starters a blow. Shy got hurt so that took him out right away. Those cut back runs have always been successful or else Pitt/BC wouldn't be doing them for the past 2000 years.
 
I still think as a mike in this defense would easy to play. Teams are gonna run the ball right at us till we stop it. First and second down put Richards or shy in there give them a and b gap responsibility depending on flow to strong or weak side. Third down go with the other three. Start backers at six as they come forward adjust to run play and crush line. Be mean about it enjoy the contact as this is what football is all about. We get a run oriented kid and then we get a pass capable guy in there and we rotate. I know usually mike calls everything but that can be fixed.
 
I still think as a mike in this defense would easy to play. Teams are gonna run the ball right at us till we stop it. First and second down put Richards or shy in there give them a and b gap responsibility depending on flow to strong or weak side. Third down go with the other three. Start backers at six as they come forward adjust to run play and crush line. Be mean about it enjoy the contact as this is what football is all about. We get a run oriented kid and then we get a pass capable guy in there and we rotate. I know usually mike calls everything but that can be fixed.
Oh and we are fresh at end of game lol
 
Stay tuned.

I expect it, especially given the teams we play the rest of the way (either have running style offenses, or poor QB play that should force them to run).

You've got to be an absolute moron to not hand the ball off as much as possible against this team given we've given up 558 yards rushing the last 2 weeks.
 
I expect it, especially given the teams we play the rest of the way (either have running style offenses, or poor QB play that should force them to run).

You've got to be an absolute moron to not hand the ball off as much as possible against this team given we've given up 558 yards rushing the last 2 weeks.

UNC's QBs have struggled throwing the ball. But I know at least the backup has some wheels. We're going to get RPO'd to death, minus the P and the O.
 
I don't know if anyone keeps track of YAC for ball carriers, (Yards After Contact), but Ollison and Hall must have set some kind of record. What makes it worse is that Ollison was obviously banged-up and running on fumes in the 4th Qtr., and he still consistently gashed us.
A lot of criticism has been aimed at our LBs, but it seemed to me that the Pitt ball carriers had little difficulty making it to the second level, often with a full head of steam. As good as our DL has been pressuring opposing QBs, I think they need to work on stuffing the run. Our DL are not undersized, but they didn't react well to the Clemson and Pitt blocking schemes (in particular, the same play Pitt repeatedly ran off left tackle).
 
Sports fans... I don't think it's likely we get better against the run.

I think it's more likely that the offense performs better and our opponent's have to choose keeping the clock running while they play catch up running the ball.
 
What good is a killer pass rush if the other team decides to run the ball exclusively as a result and you cannot stop the run ? Maybe you stack the box and have your DE's play inside to jam the lanes instead of trying to beat the tackles to the outside and getting taken out of the play.
 
It's hard to fix a problem that exists because you're being physically overwhelmed. I think we may just need to sell out more against the run based teams, put our secondary on an island and hope we get home if it's a pass, at least until we get beat over the top. I'm sure what's worse, seeing a big play go for a td or watching our D get the crap beat out of them while the other team busts consistent 5, 10, and 15 yard runs. At least the big play gets them off the field so they can rest.
 
It gets a lot harder against a team with a solid experienced QB. Pitt should have been much easier as we knew their O is primarily run based and Narduzzi even said at half time they were going to pound the rock at us. Defending the RPO ultimately requires superior safety play. A good QB can take advantage of a safety peeking into the back field to anticipate the run and/or playing up. See Q3 of WMU.
 
I don't know if anyone keeps track of YAC for ball carriers, (Yards After Contact), but Ollison and Hall must have set some kind of record. What makes it worse is that Ollison was obviously banged-up and running on fumes in the 4th Qtr., and he still consistently gashed us.
A lot of criticism has been aimed at our LBs, but it seemed to me that the Pitt ball carriers had little difficulty making it to the second level, often with a full head of steam. As good as our DL has been pressuring opposing QBs, I think they need to work on stuffing the run. Our DL are not undersized, but they didn't react well to the Clemson and Pitt blocking schemes (in particular, the same play Pitt repeatedly ran off left tackle).
Defensive linemen’s job is to eat up blocks and open gaps for linebackers to make tackles. Sure, there are times lineman blow up their counterparts and get in the backfield but that’s not their main responsibility. I agree our tackles can be better but it’s almost exclusively a linebacker issue.
 
That run defense is bad is a weakness that everyone on our schedule will try to exploit. BC should scare the crap out of us, IMO.

But - it’s not that it’s the best weakness to attack. It’s that it’s becoming increasingly hard to attack us through the air since our DE’s like to eat opposing QB’s and our secondary is picking off passses at a nice clip. This is exactly why we run the style of D we do.

It’s an issue and we need to solve it. But it’s predictable. And Dino is a good coach. It might not get solved - but it’s not a blind spot.

Will be interesting few weeks.
 
we barely lost the last two games with a crappy run defense, so if we can somehow find a way to improve it from crappy to just not so good, we will be in fine shape. how the hell we do that, I have no idea. Wouldn't hurt to be efficient on offense and get a few big leads, make teams have to throw eventually.
 
we barely lost the last two games with a crappy run defense, so if we can somehow find a way to improve it from crappy to just not so good, we will be in fine shape. how the hell we do that, I have no idea. Wouldn't hurt to be efficient on offense and get a few big leads, make teams have to throw eventually.

That's exactly what we did Saturday, jumping out to an early 14-0 lead.

Then we gave up a 70+ yard TD run. Then fumbled it on the ensuing possession and gave them a defensive score. Lead erased -- and instead of forcing them OUT of a run based attack that slowed the game down and ate clock to shorten the game, we allowed them to hang around and play that way for the entire game.
 
we barely lost the last two games with a crappy run defense, so if we can somehow find a way to improve it from crappy to just not so good, we will be in fine shape. how the hell we do that, I have no idea. Wouldn't hurt to be efficient on offense and get a few big leads, make teams have to throw eventually.

This is 100% why we play the type of D we do. We assume that we’re up or will be soon and they’ll be passing against us within time to run.

The big wins we’ve had, we got the lead and kept it. I always get fidgety when we’re down after 1 Q.
 
Lots of talk about about how horrible our run D was against Pitt. And it was.

But if there’s good news, it’s this:



It’s similar to what happened with FSU and Clemson. They couldn’t handle our DL. We’re rushing 4 and getting home. A lot. We’re tied with Clemson and Miami at the top in sacks in the ACC. Robinson and Coleman are #2 and #3 in the ACC. This helps our secondary out a ton.

If teams are scared to pass, we’re forcing teams to be more 1 dimensional to an extent. Our 3rd down D is very good (#3 nationally). We have to stop the run somehow. It’s imperative (and obvious). But still.

The good news other than BC not many teams will have the run game that Clemson and Pitt had. Plus now that we know it is our weak spot I expect it to be addressed during the bye week. I don't know how, but something must be done.

As bad as the rush defense has been I still think if our QB has played the way he has through his first 3 years they would be 6-0. I think that's just as important of an issue to address. Nobody thought we would win with defense. If our defense was average, which I think it is, they should be able to have a good amount of success. If he is banged up (which i think he must be) these 2 weeks could go a long way in helping him heal up.
 
In retrospect it was pretty telling when our pre-season depth chart showed a nickel as our base defense. Really disappointed that the coaching staff has not built any depth at LB. Brought in a bunch of kids with measurables in terms of length and 40 times and thought a year or two in the S&C program to add 15 - 20 pounds of muscle was all they needed. Babers gushed over Fagan when he signed and the kid is still listed at 210 lbs and hasn't seen the field. Trotter is a similar story. Not sure where it will come from but if Bennett and Franklin wore down last year due to lack of depth I can't imagine how much Whitner, Armstrong and Guthrie will be dragging come November.
 
the schedule plays out much better this yr. better time for the bye followed by 2 home games.

imagine we were OK.. much better talent, lost to a top 20 team in the final secs. get outplayed at home by army. give up 450-500 yds to baylor/ISU/Texas, army runs for almost 350. the only diff is they one the army game and we lost the pitt game giving up under 250. It happens all over.. MSU is lucky to not be 1-4, neb winless, NW lucky to be 1-4, FSU the team we dominated should have beaten Miami but lost to UL. OK st is 4-2, Auburn is 4-2 lucky is not 3-3

teams are all over the place. other than ALA everyone is luck to not have a loss to someone they are probably better than.
 

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