our love of Doug

[SmilinBob]

Was the paper correct and Jones did not have 1 tackle in the USF game? I expect that kind of production from Marinovich but Jones?

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Was the paper correct and Jones did not have 1 tackle in the USF game? I expect that kind of production from Marinovich but Jones?

3 tackles, and 1 assist.

 

[SmilinBob]

3 tackles, and 1 assist.

Thanks, I looked and I must have missed his name as I thought he was involved in a couple at least.

 

[Faegan]

I'm a huge fan of Doug, and think he has the program pointed in the right direction. That doesn't necessarily mean it is MOVING FORWARD. My criticism would be if we wanted to line up and pound the rock and wear our opponents down, we could have kept Coach P or hired someone for a lot less. Running the ball for the first five plays from the LOS is in my mind totally unacceptable. Attacking the perimeter of Lousiville's D (option? What?) was totally unacceptable. Coach is going to be in for a long offseason if we don't get to a bowl. To KCSU's initial post, I'll still be FIRMLY in the pro-Doug camp, but there is room for criticism this season.

 

[kingottoiii]

that's college football. outside of factories, that's how it's gonna be (unless you just suck every game)

i think your wishes for the defense are unrealistic

There are a lot of schools with consistent D. I am not expecting a dominate D ala VT. But a consistent one. Cincy, RU, and Louisville have all been consistent this year. Last time I checked none of those are FB factories.

 

[jkm54]

There are a lot of schools with consistent D. I am not expecting a dominate D ala VT. But a consistent one. Cincy, RU, and Louisville have all been consistent this year. Last time I checked none of those are FB factories.

I'm not a huge x's and o's guy, but isn't this going to be the nature of Shafer's defense until experienced corners are developed? With the safeties being used a lot to cover the run, the corners seem to be left in one-on-one pretty regularly. Since we have such youth at the corner position (and to me it seems like "project-youth," not guys that should be starting in their first two years), we've been prone to giving up the big plays . Please correct me if I'm wrong because it's very possible. It just seems that Shafer is living or dying with the man-to-man coverage by young corners, which hasn't really worked out this year. It's not to say these guys won't develop as they seem to be solid athletes; they just need some more seasoning to develop technique. I look forward to seeing what Shafer's defense would look like with seasoned corners.

 

[SmilinBob]

The defense is young especially at lb and you can see those guys falling for fakes time and time again. The corners play off wr's and give them space and if the lb's are in, it's wide open. Not nearly enough pressure on passes to help the young corners. Not enough bulk or penetration to stop power running or running spreads. They have done a nice job with pocket (non athletic) passers and passing spreads. My question is will these players do better as they gain more experience or would they play better in another type of defensive system?

 

[Upstate]

The defense is young especially at lb and you can see those guys falling for fakes time and time again. The corners play off wr's and give them space and if the lb's are in, it's wide open. Not nearly enough pressure on passes to help the young corners. Not enough bulk or penetration to stop power running or running spreads. They have done a nice job with pocket (non athletic) passers and passing spreads. My question is will these players do better as they gain more experience or would they play better in another type of defensive system?

We've been playing off the WRs all season. Seems like anything within 10-15 yards we'll give every time.

 

[jkm54]

The defense is young especially at lb and you can see those guys falling for fakes time and time again. The corners play off wr's and give them space and if the lb's are in, it's wide open. Not nearly enough pressure on passes to help the young corners. Not enough bulk or penetration to stop power running or running spreads. They have done a nice job with pocket (non athletic) passers and passing spreads. My question is will these players do better as they gain more experience or would they play better in another type of defensive system?

It's a good question and one that I've been wondering all year. The system seems to leave such little margin for error for the CB's that I think the CB's are so nervous about allowing the long ball so they play so far off the wr's as you pointed out. That's why these QB's and offenses, for the most part, are having such a field day against us game after game, no matter how bad, statistically, their offense is prior to playing us. I would say though that instead of confusing these kids with multiple systems, I'd rather them go through a season with it, and experience the bumps that we're going through now as long as they have the talent to perform in the future, which is a complete coin flip I guess.

 

[kingottoiii]

I'm not a huge x's and o's guy, but isn't this going to be the nature of Shafer's defense until experienced corners are developed? With the safeties being used a lot to cover the run, the corners seem to be left in one-on-one pretty regularly. Since we have such youth at the corner position (and to me it seems like "project-youth," not guys that should be starting in their first two years), we've been prone to giving up the big plays . Please correct me if I'm wrong because it's very possible. It just seems that Shafer is living or dying with the man-to-man coverage by young corners, which hasn't really worked out this year. It's not to say these guys won't develop as they seem to be solid athletes; they just need some more seasoning to develop technique. I look forward to seeing what Shafer's defense would look like with seasoned corners.

If we were getting beat one on one I would agree with you. But we are having complete break downs in coverage. Guys wide open. That is inexcusable. We have a 5th year SR, 3 JRs, and a Soph playing out there. They aren't that young. Also that doesn't explain how poor we are vs the certain systems. Or why we had a lot of stinkers last year with a SR laden D. Then you have all the 3rd and longs that we give up. If we sit in a zone and rush 3, it isn't the players fault IMO. These long drives are killers. The D needs to do a better job getting off the field. That was the case last year as well. If it were just this year, I would chalk it up to the youth. But this happened last year as well, yet people ignored it.

 

[SmilinBob]

If we were getting beat one on one I would agree with you. But we are having complete break downs in coverage. Guys wide open. That is inexcusable. We have a 5th year SR, 3 JRs, and a Soph playing out there. They aren't that young. Also that doesn't explain how poor we are vs the certain systems. Or why we had a lot of stinkers last year with a SR laden D. Then you have all the 3rd and longs that we give up. If we sit in a zone and rush 3, it isn't the players fault IMO. These long drives are killers. The D needs to do a better job getting off the field. That was the case last year as well. If it were just this year, I would chalk it up to the youth. But this happened last year as well, yet people ignored it.

What have the linebackers done to help with coverage? SU isn't always playing 5 db's and I haven't seen the lb's do a hell of a lot to help in coverage.

 

[jkm54]

If we were getting beat one on one I would agree with you. But we are having complete break downs in coverage. Guys wide open. That is inexcusable. We have a 5th year SR, 3 JRs, and a Soph playing out there. They aren't that young. Also that doesn't explain how poor we are vs the certain systems. Or why we had a lot of stinkers last year with a SR laden D. Then you have all the 3rd and longs that we give up. If we sit in a zone and rush 3, it isn't the players fault IMO. These long drives are killers. The D needs to do a better job getting off the field. That was the case last year as well. If it were just this year, I would chalk it up to the youth. But this happened last year as well, yet people ignored it.

Thanks for your thoughts. I've been watching the games and trying to figure it out all year. The cushion we give receivers is insane, which is one of the reasons for the 3rd and longs, although you're right, generally there is safety help there (albeit seemingly insufficient safety help). I was focused mostly on the corners, and, while I hear he is an absolutely great kid, I think unfortunately, Kevyn Scott is what he is, and we're going to have these issues whenever he is on the field, which would include last year. When I was looking at youth at the CB position, I was looking at Lyn and Anderson (and I guess I'm considering Anderson young because he had the injury issues). But like I said, I'm not an x's and o's guys so I was just wondering what other people thought.