How do we feel about our DC...go

[orange_in_VA]

Diggs is really really good. You can easily tell he's just a different level of athlete out there compared to the rest. Big and fast. That last series in OT where he was spying the QB and made those 2 tackles helped win the game.

Also, think Watson will be very good. He has the size and agility we need in the middle.

I agree about Watson. That kid is gonna be a beast.

 

[hoopsupstate]

Our defense looks better than most of the ACC teams I’m watching today.

 

[DomeHolmes]

The defense is a work in progress. They ran zone concepts that would allow the defense to see the field and pursuit and tackle. A running QB hurts you in man coverage. You have to pick your poison and go all in on your gameplan. Sometimes it works well. Sometimes it doesnt. Sometimes its a mixed bag of results and that was the case last night. They did some spying on the QB but I will have to re watch the game to see their strategy.

I think people are reacting to a few big plays. (Made by good players). We don’t expect people to stop Gadsden, but we expect to stop their AA guy, a projected 1st round pick by many.

Other than the one big run we held them to 3.5 per carry on the rest. Hardly getting gashed. Only 354 total yards on the road vs hot top 25 team.

Giving up only 345 per game. #60 nationally. With a high powered top 15 offense, that is a good combo. Weaker O from NC St and Cal coming up too!

Only the Ohio game was on the D. (4 games ago). GT was close on specials, Stanford was on the offense. UNLV close on specials again.
D playing good enough to win.

really my only concern is how we are using Diggs. To disruptive to be the spy/ LB dropping into coverage.

 

[Ernj]

Here is what I see regarding the DL. The OL gets straight contact on our DL and get stood up. Not always, sometimes they get penetration but mostly blocked.

I also have not seen the DL run any stunts. Pretty easy for the OL to take on our guys straight up when they don't have to worry about any stunts.

If you watch when SU OL struggles it's picking up opposing teams stunts.

 

[djcon57]

Here is what I see regarding the DL. The OL gets straight contact on our DL and get stood up. Not always, sometimes they get penetration but mostly blocked.

I also have not seen the DL run any stunts. Pretty easy for the OL to take on our guys straight up when they don't have to worry about any stunts.

If you watch when SU OL struggles it's picking up opposing teams stunts.

It’s almost like we’re running a 3 man mush rush, but I THINK its just 3 guys getting nowhere vs 5 O Lineman

 

[money3189]

I think people are reacting to a few big plays. (Made by good players). We don’t expect people to stop Gadsden, but we expect to stop their AA guy, a projected 1st round pick by many.

Other than the one big run we held them to 3.5 per carry on the rest. Hardly getting gashed. Only 354 total yards on the road vs hot top 25 team.

Giving up only 345 per game. #60 nationally. With a high powered top 15 offense, that is a good combo. Weaker O from NC St and Cal coming up too!

Only the Ohio game was on the D. (4 games ago). GT was close on specials, Stanford was on the offense. UNLV close on specials again.
D playing good enough to win.

really my only concern is how we are using Diggs. To disruptive to be the spy/ LB dropping into coverage.

good points

 

[David321]

The soft coverage drives me nuts.

 

[sufan59]

I feel overall satisfied so far. I felt we’ve been improving every week, but not where we can be. We made big stops against an elite offense with very fast playmakers last night.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I agree about Watson. That kid is gonna be a beast.

Upperclassmen need to help him with his pants, but yeah, he's just gonna keep getting better.

 

[0.2 YNdeeR]

We have C+ level corners. Safeties who mess up and no pressure from the DE

We either need to commit to send 5-6 or play soft zone.

it doesn't help every QB we see can run while ours cant.

Agree. But the zone allows the defense to read (a running QB) and react rather than get tied up in press coverage and lose him for big gains. You give up the 8-10 yard dink-and-dunk passes but keep the offense and QB in front of you.

 

[Idiocuse22&]

Broadcast mentioned why are they only rushing 3 numerous times...??? at the same time playing soft coverage...i mean tell me the strategy there?

Im not gonna lie...I was lit. Our defense is frustrating at times but I feel our Def strategy is a result of how good our Off is.
No need to take risks on Def just dont give up big plays, tighten up in the red zone and hope they make mistakes or hold em to FGs.
Just let our Off win.

Im all for it.

 

[Idiocuse22&]

it’s a schematic mess. He better land a bunch of 4 stars because the coaching. Is awful.

I dont think so. The strategy is dont give up big plays, tighten up in RZ, hope they make mistakes and hold them to FGs.
No need to risk on D when O is so good.
Our DC would have a different plan if our Off wasnt scoring.
Chess not checkers. Complimentary football.

 

[MamesJungro]

It’s not very pleasant to watch, but strangely effective? During the game I was pretty angry, but excluding the punt blocks they held a very good team to like 17 points. McDonald took himself out of play on the first long run - who know what happens if they don’t break that.

I’m personally not a fan but hard to argue with the results

 

[Cuse4Life]

First off, we all know that Elijah Robinson is an elite recruiter. He can recruit with the best of them. Thats where he made a name for himself. He’s learning how to be a coordinator. It’s going to be a work in progress.

2ndly - like others above have stated, he’s realizing how deficiencies across the board and trying to strictly limit big plays against us and keep everything in front.

3rd - agree with others that it very frustrating to watch at times but I really don’t think you blame the DC over missed tackles, lack of fill in the holes and lack of speed.

Let’s stay positive, we are 4-1 and haven’t played a complete game yet. Our offense is clearly the wagon for this squad, but we will need our defense to continue to grow.

 

[FrancoPizza]

Our defense is frustrating at times but I feel our Def strategy is a result of how good our Off is.

that’s an apologist take. He’s from a factory trying to run a factory defense without factory players. Shoved this Brian ward 4-2-5 down our throats. Players like McDonald now look like he ate too many Big Macs because they are thinking too much out there.

What did we pay him all this money for? Why not keep the 3-3-5 scheme or only mix in certain elements of your new scheme until you have the right pieces for it? Crazy I know.

 

[wfschrec]

I firmly believe the defensive dynamics change when Wax returns. I get the feeling the following facts are at play here:

1.). Wax is out and they felt Diggs was the best choice athletically and from a leadership perspective to replace him as McDonald doesn’t have his foot speed.

2.) Barnes is out forcing Bellamy into action and forcing position changes like moving Barron to a hybrid LB to make up for lack of speed at the position. Pretty sure I remember reading he was moved into more of a LB role in the D I could however be wrong.

3.) Pass rush depth outside of Diggs isn’t quite there yet.

I feel this nasty combination of factors has forced Elijah to use guys in ways they weren’t intended. Players have had to learn new roles or pressing guys not quite as ready or as athletic into roles.

Robinson is going to force teams to run more plays, hope for mistakes and make offenses work for it which as college players they are more prone to do.

I suspect when Wax is back then Diggs moves up front and I suspect we will see a better pass rush and hopefully a more aggressive set of defensive play calls. Hoping that is the case …

 

[AZOrange]

it’s a schematic mess. He better land a bunch of 4 stars because the coaching. Is awful.

I disagree. The scheme is fine. Execution and players maybe not as much. But containing the QB and having him dump underneath is absolutely what we should be doing

 

[shu 49]

that’s an apologist take. He’s from a factory trying to run a factory defense without factory players. Shoved this Brian ward 4-2-5 down our throats. Players like McDonald now look like he ate too many Big Macs because they are thinking too much out there.

What did we pay him all this money for? Why not keep the 3-3-5 scheme or only mix in certain elements of your new scheme until you have the right pieces for it? Crazy I know.

Have u been watching our defense cause half the time we are in 3-3. Why we are all bitching about no pressure and soft coverage. lol

 

[DomeHolmes]

I dont think so. The strategy is dont give up big plays, tighten up in RZ, hope they make mistakes and hold them to FGs.
No need to risk on D when O is so good.
Our DC would have a different plan if our Off wasnt scoring.
Chess not checkers. Complimentary football.

Exactly. Last night Cal completed just 11 passes and ran for only 73 yards. The whole game!! That should be worth 7 points/175 yards total offense. They got 38!!!

When Cal had the 28-10 lead, they had 2 yards rushing and 5 first downs.

That was BAD defensive coaching.

Agree with most that we are too Vanilla with 3 man rush, no stunts, no safety blitz, etc. But results are good.

 

[Dr. Bill]

Broadcast mentioned why are they only rushing 3 numerous times...??? at the same time playing soft coverage...i mean tell me the strategy there?

Coach Fran talked about it in his Presser1 What he said was their defensive plan was to "keep everything in front of them" They were afraid of getting beat deep over the top and if they played man, their QB was a good runner and they didn't want him taking off and picking up a lot of yards.

 

[kcsu]

Our DC is a work in progress. He has done a good job given the injuries and all of the new players. His job is to keep teams from scoring more points than us. So far he is doing very well. Take away special team issues, missed scoring chances by the O. Pick six by the O and judge his D based on what they have actually given up and he is doing well. He knows what he has. All of this BS about bringing pressure is just that. Bring pressure sounds good until you don't get there and get torched over the top or by a running QB.
The strength of our team is our Offense which can score points quickly and on pretty much anyone we play.
I expect that when we play a more stationary QB, we will see more pressure.
Our DC has a long way to go but so far so good. We are 4-1 with two top 20 wins and the loss to Stanford wasn't on him. One play yes but that one play shouldn't have mattered.

 

[Orange315]

Defense has been so much better when Diggs is in the middle. Opponents yards per carry must be way lower when he is there. I’d like to know what that stat actually is.

 

[Idiocuse22&]

Coach Fran talked about it in his Presser1 What he said was their defensive plan was to "keep everything in front of them" They were afraid of getting beat deep over the top and if they played man, their QB was a good runner and they didn't want him taking off and picking up a lot of yards.

Thanks for answering my question. I was pretty lit up then and I actually came up with what I thought there strategy was and I was pretty close. In the end there strategy worked.