SWC75
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Doug Marrone’s background was in offense. Scott Shafer’s is in defense. Moving top tight end prospect Ron Thompson to defensive end was entirely in character. When he got here former running backs Derrell Smith and Doug Hogue were turned into linebackers- all-conference linebackers. They were key members of the 2010 defense that allowed us to win conference road games by scores of 13-9, 19-14 and 13-10 as well as a 31-7 win keyed by forced turnovers. That got us to the Pinstripe Bowl and helped set up where we are now, including the improved offense. That defense had four senior tackles manning the middle, alternating with each other. That’s not only experience but it‘s size and strength, which tend to improve each year in a college conditioning program. Each tackle was about 300 pounds. Nobody could run on us and blockers were tied up so the ends and linebackers could make plays.
We also had Chandler Jones making plays from his defensive end position, as he is now for the New England Patriots. Behind them were Smith and Hogue and behind them were two excellent defensive backs, Max Suter and Mike Holmes, both of them great instinctive football players.
The next year all the tackles were bone. Jones was back but was hurt halfway through the season and never played again. He then jumped early to the pros. Smith and Hogue were gone, replaced by a group of quick but small and inexperienced linebackers. Behind them Suter and Holmes were gone. The offense continued to sputter but the defense could no longer keep them in games until we could find a way to win them. That we finished 5-7 was something of a minor miracle but the fact that it needed with 5 straight losses put the entire program in a very bad funk.
LINEMEN
Last year the defense began a comeback. The young tackles who were in the 270 pound range and getting pushed around by 300+ offensive linemen in 2001 were beginning to grow up. Jay Bromley, the best of them, is now up to 6-4, 290 pounds. And he has plenty of big friends. Eric Crume is 6-0, 325. Zian Jones is 6-4 315. Ryan Sloan is 6-2, 330. And here comes former Iowa Hawkeye John Raymon 6-5 319. And we could have had more: Davon Walls was 6-5 310 but elected to join end Markus Pierce-Brewster in burglarizing an apartment and getting thrown off the team. But the big loss was Wayne Williams, the biggest guy of all at 6-5 335. He was our #1 rated recruit. One poster on our board said he was one of a couple of near 300 pounders trying to block Williams in a high school game and they couldn’t handle him at all. But grades pancaked Williams, who will spend a year in prep school. Hopefully he’ll be part of the picture next season. But even without Williams and Walls, we’ve got some big boys up front again. Nobody is going to run on us this year, at least not up the middle. And the ends and linebackers should have room to roam.
Pierce-Brewster had been a highly-rated junior college transfer who was expected to become a star defensive end to replace Chandler Jones. His first year was somewhat disappointing but we still had high hopes for him when he decided breaking the law was more important than a possible NFL career. Since we also lost the other defensive end, Brandon Sharpe, this created a considerable vacuum in a very important unit of the team. The defensive ends are the “edge rushers” who put pressure on the backfield. Without that, we have to blitz linebackers and defensive backs to get pressure on the backfield, which can leave us vulnerable to passes and break-away runs. So Ron Thompson, the big tight end prospect was shifted over to be a defensive end. The good news is that he was considered a big prospect on that side of the ball as well.
We are not bereft at the position. Robert Welch made some plays as a reserve last year and people have been impressed with him in practice. But they are raving about Isaiah Johnson, a big kid, 6-5 291, huge for a DE- Welch is 6-3 259, Thompson 6-4, 256) with quickness for his size. There’s also Micah Robinson, also pretty big at 6-4 273. Isaiah Johnson….Micah Robinson…. Don’t their names sound like defensive ends?
I don’t think we have any lack of talent at defensive end, just proven experience. I think maybe we will be just fine at this position. I’m also thinking about all those times in my summary of the schedule that I said a team had lost a lot of guys at a position and were therefore questionable. Those teams might also be “just fine”, too.
LINEBACKERS
Our young, fast linebackers have grown up as well. Middle man Marquis Spruill will be starting for the fourth year, (he started on the outside), is 6-1 224, (up from 216). Strong-side man Cameron Lynch is 5-11 234, (up from 223) and even weakside linebacker Dyshawn Davis is up to 6-2, 220, (from 212). That’s still not huge but JUCO import Luke Arciniega weighs in at 6-2, 253. The size we have up front may make it less important for the linebackers to have bulk. Their speed enables them to make plays all over the field. Spruill was special enough to start as freshman. Lynch has always shown the ability to be in the right place at the right time and Davis produced the biggest hit people around here have ever seen in 2011, crushing a Rutgers running back and producing a fumble R’shard Anderson returned for a score. It’s on You-tube and is the sort of thing Orange fans never get tired of seeing. But the best-looking linebacker in the spring game was another Junior College transfer, Josh Kirkland. He’s small at 6-2 202 but covered the whole field and hit like a 250-pounder. Lewellyn Coker, (6-1 227) also has a reputation as a hard-hitter. Freshman Marqez Hodge has impressed enough in fall practice to suggest we’ll be seeing plenty of him out there, too. We are blessed at this position. I doubt we’ll see a team with a better line-backing crew all season.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
We have been collecting athletic, talented recruits for the defensive backfield for the last several years and it will pay off this year. Our back-ups may prove to be even better than the starters. Cornerbacks Keon Lyn and Ri’Shard Anderson have started for a couple of years. They have good size, (6-2 and 6-1 and decent speed to go with plenty of experience. Jerami Wilkes is not very big at free safety, (5-9, 189), but he’s another returning starter. The one loss was a big one: strong safety Shamarko Thomas, who is now a Pittsburgh Steeler, (and probably will be for some time to come: his combination of speed and hard-hitting is perfect for the Steel Curtain). He’s being replaced by Durell Eskridge, who has size at 6-3, 202. The coaches have been impressed with him for a couple of years and now he has his chance. We also have Ritchie Desir at that position. He’s less heralded but plays with abandon and brought some life back to our punt returns late last year. But the names people are really talking about are the other back-ups: Brandon Reddish and Julian Whigham at corner and Wayne Morgan at free safety. They are all fast and talented and will probably be upgrades over the more experienced guys ahead of them when they get their chance.
Last year the offense became a force again after many dormant years. I think this year the defense becomes a force again after a couple of years where they weren’t. If we can get them going together, watch out!
DEFENSIVE STATS:
YEAR 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Rush 116.7 (28) 135.8 (42) 170.2 (73) 171.9 (85) 138.1 (42)
Pass 106.2 (18) 100.1 (14) 108.7 (28) 303.8 (117) 222.1 (62)
Total 301.2 (14) 311.9 (18) 359.2 (46) 475.7 (113) 360.3 (47)
Scoring 22.1 (36) 19.3 (23) 20.3 (26) 33.8 (98) 25.0 (57)
Turnovers-7 (97) -6 (87) +15 (7) +2 (49) +7 (20)
YEAR 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Rush 186.6 (86) 187.3 (97) 185.1 (110) 207.8 (108) 189.4 (101)
Pass 240.1 (90) 185.4 (21) 214.2 (76) 260.9 (102) 225.1 (83)
Total 426.8 (100) 372.7 (57) 399.3 (107) 468.7 (111) 414.5 (101)
Scoring 28.6 (76) 26.8 (67) 24.6 (72) 34.8 (104) 32.7 (101)
Turnovers+2 (51) -4 (82) +11 (7) -6 (96) -1 (67)
YEAR 2009 2010 2011 2012
Rush 101.80 (13) 136.2 (41) 128.2 (32) 144.7 (43)
Pass 235.2 (85) 165.3 (7) 258.3 (98) 234.2 (62)
Total 337.0 (37) 301.5 (7) 386.4 (64) 378.9 (48)
Scoring 27.9 (81) 19.3 (17) 28.5 (73) 24.8 (46)
Turnovers-6 (97) -4 (75) +2 (42) -2 (69)
The rush defense wasn’t as good, but it wasn’t really that good in 2010, which surprises me. What was really good in 2010 was the pass defense. And that’s what fell off in 2011. It got slightly better last year. I think both units will be much improved this year.
Winning Plays:
2011
1st down run 115-107
1st down pass 73-90 (Combined on first down: 188-197)
2nd down run 51-53
2nd down pass 72-73 (Combined on second down 123-126)
3rd down run 34-25
3rd down pass 67-45 (Combined on third down 101-70)
4th down run 3-6
4th down pass 1-1 (Combined on fourth down 4-7)
Total for opposition plays from scrimmage: 416-400
2012
1st down rushes…136-119
1st down passes… 60-90 (Combined on first down: 196-209)
2nd down runs …. 59-94
2nd down passes… 66-69 (Combined on second down 125-163)
3rd down runs…… 33-29
3rd down passes…. 66-40 (Combined on third down 99-69)
4th down runs…… 4-1
4th down passes…. 2-1 (Combined on fourth down 6-2)
Total for opposition plays from scrimmage: 426-443.
By this measure, the defense actually back-tracked a bit last year, which surprises me. We did well on first down rushes but not on second down rushes. We were worse on first down passes. We were about the same on third down and did better on fourth down. Neither was a strong defensive team. I still think we will have one this year.
We also had Chandler Jones making plays from his defensive end position, as he is now for the New England Patriots. Behind them were Smith and Hogue and behind them were two excellent defensive backs, Max Suter and Mike Holmes, both of them great instinctive football players.
The next year all the tackles were bone. Jones was back but was hurt halfway through the season and never played again. He then jumped early to the pros. Smith and Hogue were gone, replaced by a group of quick but small and inexperienced linebackers. Behind them Suter and Holmes were gone. The offense continued to sputter but the defense could no longer keep them in games until we could find a way to win them. That we finished 5-7 was something of a minor miracle but the fact that it needed with 5 straight losses put the entire program in a very bad funk.
LINEMEN
Last year the defense began a comeback. The young tackles who were in the 270 pound range and getting pushed around by 300+ offensive linemen in 2001 were beginning to grow up. Jay Bromley, the best of them, is now up to 6-4, 290 pounds. And he has plenty of big friends. Eric Crume is 6-0, 325. Zian Jones is 6-4 315. Ryan Sloan is 6-2, 330. And here comes former Iowa Hawkeye John Raymon 6-5 319. And we could have had more: Davon Walls was 6-5 310 but elected to join end Markus Pierce-Brewster in burglarizing an apartment and getting thrown off the team. But the big loss was Wayne Williams, the biggest guy of all at 6-5 335. He was our #1 rated recruit. One poster on our board said he was one of a couple of near 300 pounders trying to block Williams in a high school game and they couldn’t handle him at all. But grades pancaked Williams, who will spend a year in prep school. Hopefully he’ll be part of the picture next season. But even without Williams and Walls, we’ve got some big boys up front again. Nobody is going to run on us this year, at least not up the middle. And the ends and linebackers should have room to roam.
Pierce-Brewster had been a highly-rated junior college transfer who was expected to become a star defensive end to replace Chandler Jones. His first year was somewhat disappointing but we still had high hopes for him when he decided breaking the law was more important than a possible NFL career. Since we also lost the other defensive end, Brandon Sharpe, this created a considerable vacuum in a very important unit of the team. The defensive ends are the “edge rushers” who put pressure on the backfield. Without that, we have to blitz linebackers and defensive backs to get pressure on the backfield, which can leave us vulnerable to passes and break-away runs. So Ron Thompson, the big tight end prospect was shifted over to be a defensive end. The good news is that he was considered a big prospect on that side of the ball as well.
We are not bereft at the position. Robert Welch made some plays as a reserve last year and people have been impressed with him in practice. But they are raving about Isaiah Johnson, a big kid, 6-5 291, huge for a DE- Welch is 6-3 259, Thompson 6-4, 256) with quickness for his size. There’s also Micah Robinson, also pretty big at 6-4 273. Isaiah Johnson….Micah Robinson…. Don’t their names sound like defensive ends?
I don’t think we have any lack of talent at defensive end, just proven experience. I think maybe we will be just fine at this position. I’m also thinking about all those times in my summary of the schedule that I said a team had lost a lot of guys at a position and were therefore questionable. Those teams might also be “just fine”, too.
LINEBACKERS
Our young, fast linebackers have grown up as well. Middle man Marquis Spruill will be starting for the fourth year, (he started on the outside), is 6-1 224, (up from 216). Strong-side man Cameron Lynch is 5-11 234, (up from 223) and even weakside linebacker Dyshawn Davis is up to 6-2, 220, (from 212). That’s still not huge but JUCO import Luke Arciniega weighs in at 6-2, 253. The size we have up front may make it less important for the linebackers to have bulk. Their speed enables them to make plays all over the field. Spruill was special enough to start as freshman. Lynch has always shown the ability to be in the right place at the right time and Davis produced the biggest hit people around here have ever seen in 2011, crushing a Rutgers running back and producing a fumble R’shard Anderson returned for a score. It’s on You-tube and is the sort of thing Orange fans never get tired of seeing. But the best-looking linebacker in the spring game was another Junior College transfer, Josh Kirkland. He’s small at 6-2 202 but covered the whole field and hit like a 250-pounder. Lewellyn Coker, (6-1 227) also has a reputation as a hard-hitter. Freshman Marqez Hodge has impressed enough in fall practice to suggest we’ll be seeing plenty of him out there, too. We are blessed at this position. I doubt we’ll see a team with a better line-backing crew all season.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
We have been collecting athletic, talented recruits for the defensive backfield for the last several years and it will pay off this year. Our back-ups may prove to be even better than the starters. Cornerbacks Keon Lyn and Ri’Shard Anderson have started for a couple of years. They have good size, (6-2 and 6-1 and decent speed to go with plenty of experience. Jerami Wilkes is not very big at free safety, (5-9, 189), but he’s another returning starter. The one loss was a big one: strong safety Shamarko Thomas, who is now a Pittsburgh Steeler, (and probably will be for some time to come: his combination of speed and hard-hitting is perfect for the Steel Curtain). He’s being replaced by Durell Eskridge, who has size at 6-3, 202. The coaches have been impressed with him for a couple of years and now he has his chance. We also have Ritchie Desir at that position. He’s less heralded but plays with abandon and brought some life back to our punt returns late last year. But the names people are really talking about are the other back-ups: Brandon Reddish and Julian Whigham at corner and Wayne Morgan at free safety. They are all fast and talented and will probably be upgrades over the more experienced guys ahead of them when they get their chance.
Last year the offense became a force again after many dormant years. I think this year the defense becomes a force again after a couple of years where they weren’t. If we can get them going together, watch out!
DEFENSIVE STATS:
YEAR 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Rush 116.7 (28) 135.8 (42) 170.2 (73) 171.9 (85) 138.1 (42)
Pass 106.2 (18) 100.1 (14) 108.7 (28) 303.8 (117) 222.1 (62)
Total 301.2 (14) 311.9 (18) 359.2 (46) 475.7 (113) 360.3 (47)
Scoring 22.1 (36) 19.3 (23) 20.3 (26) 33.8 (98) 25.0 (57)
Turnovers-7 (97) -6 (87) +15 (7) +2 (49) +7 (20)
YEAR 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Rush 186.6 (86) 187.3 (97) 185.1 (110) 207.8 (108) 189.4 (101)
Pass 240.1 (90) 185.4 (21) 214.2 (76) 260.9 (102) 225.1 (83)
Total 426.8 (100) 372.7 (57) 399.3 (107) 468.7 (111) 414.5 (101)
Scoring 28.6 (76) 26.8 (67) 24.6 (72) 34.8 (104) 32.7 (101)
Turnovers+2 (51) -4 (82) +11 (7) -6 (96) -1 (67)
YEAR 2009 2010 2011 2012
Rush 101.80 (13) 136.2 (41) 128.2 (32) 144.7 (43)
Pass 235.2 (85) 165.3 (7) 258.3 (98) 234.2 (62)
Total 337.0 (37) 301.5 (7) 386.4 (64) 378.9 (48)
Scoring 27.9 (81) 19.3 (17) 28.5 (73) 24.8 (46)
Turnovers-6 (97) -4 (75) +2 (42) -2 (69)
The rush defense wasn’t as good, but it wasn’t really that good in 2010, which surprises me. What was really good in 2010 was the pass defense. And that’s what fell off in 2011. It got slightly better last year. I think both units will be much improved this year.
Winning Plays:
2011
1st down run 115-107
1st down pass 73-90 (Combined on first down: 188-197)
2nd down run 51-53
2nd down pass 72-73 (Combined on second down 123-126)
3rd down run 34-25
3rd down pass 67-45 (Combined on third down 101-70)
4th down run 3-6
4th down pass 1-1 (Combined on fourth down 4-7)
Total for opposition plays from scrimmage: 416-400
2012
1st down rushes…136-119
1st down passes… 60-90 (Combined on first down: 196-209)
2nd down runs …. 59-94
2nd down passes… 66-69 (Combined on second down 125-163)
3rd down runs…… 33-29
3rd down passes…. 66-40 (Combined on third down 99-69)
4th down runs…… 4-1
4th down passes…. 2-1 (Combined on fourth down 6-2)
Total for opposition plays from scrimmage: 426-443.
By this measure, the defense actually back-tracked a bit last year, which surprises me. We did well on first down rushes but not on second down rushes. We were worse on first down passes. We were about the same on third down and did better on fourth down. Neither was a strong defensive team. I still think we will have one this year.