Syracuse's 3-3-5 Defense Video | Syracusefan.com

Syracuse's 3-3-5 Defense Video

Most of the beginning is history of Rocky Long. Start watching at the 11 min. mark. That's the part that would be valuable to people. He gives a few examples of different fronts and alignments they have. He also mentions how SU has different ways to give the same look to teams. For example, he showed how the bear look can be done in 3 different ways. The defense is not full proof but it causes a lot of havoc with with the speed and various ways to attack.
 
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money3189 said:
Most of the beggining is history of Rocky Long. The part that would be valuable to people is when he mentions how SU has different ways to give the same look to teams. For example, he showed how the bear look can be done in 3 different ways. The defense is not full proof but it causes a lot of havoc with with the speed and various ways to attack.
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I also found the section that shows how Coach White's version differs from the Iowa St. 3-3-5 quite interesting (about 17:58 into the video).
 
Coach Orange said:
I also found the section that shows how Coach White's version differs from the Iowa St. 3-3-5 quite interesting (about 17:58 into the video).
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Yes. Main difference with Iowa st's version is that they play a lot of 3 safety looks. It allows them to play 3 high. White doesnt play that as much. He does a lot more with his Rover. Wake Forest footage was a nice breakdown of how teams attack the defense.
 
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The defensive improvement should be overwhelmingly laid at his feet. But it must be said, the D got better at the same time we went away from tempo. I didn't believe in this effect, but I've come around on it a bit.

I still think there is room for tempo - just shouldn't be the default unless you have an offense that is so good that it's likely to get points on most drives. This is hard to do, especially now that the Baylor shine is off.
 
Outstanding historical summary, and breakdown of how Syracuse / Tony White applies the concepts.

Makes me excited for the season!

BTW -- I think we tackled better in the open field last year than we ever have. No exaggeration. Hats off to Coach White, the defensive coaches, and more importantly the players for the demonstrable improvement in that area.


And thanks to Coach Orange for posting this informative video!
 
TheCusian said:
The defensive improvement should be overwhelmingly laid at his feet. But it must be said, the D got better at the same time we went away from tempo. I didn't believe in this effect, but I've come around on it a bit.

I still think there is room for tempo - just shouldn't be the default unless you have an offense that is so good that it's likely to get points on most drives. This is hard to do, especially now that the Baylor shine is off.
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Tempo doesnt help a struggling defense but It wasn’t the reason why the defense fell apart. It was the players learning on the job. The fits were bad. You saw it in games like GTech Duke Liberty and Wake. Even in early games like UNC and Pitt you can see how the offense could have exposed more things that teams picked up on later in the season. Keep in mind Anae ran tempo at UVA. I think we are good here.
 
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money3189 said:
Tempo doesnt help struggling defense but It wasn’t the reason why the defense struggled. It was the players learning on the job. The fits were bad. You saw it in games like GTech Duke Liberty and Wake. Even in early games like UNC and Pitt you can see how the offense could have exposed more things that teams picked up on later in the season. Btw Anae ran tempo at UVA
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This is kind of off topic. I know turnovers are somewhat luck or chance or whatever but we need to find a way to get back to what we were getting previously in those areas. I don't understand why these went down so drastically. We had almost our entire defense back in 2021 from 2020 other than Iffy as Cisco and Trill only barely played in 2020, playing just 2 and 5 games respectively. They only got 1 pick each and didn't force any fumbles. The main reason must have been the QB's we faced in 2021 were a better group. Unfortunately we will face a strong group again in 2021. And Its not a Tony White thing as he started in 2020. Going from 24 turnovers forced to 7 is a big change. Are we dialing up less blitzes?

2019 13 interceptions, 12 fumble recoveries
2020 13 interceptions, 11 fumble recoveries
2021 4 interceptions, 3 fumble recoveries
 
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CbusCuse said:
This is kind of off topic. I know turnovers are somewhat luck or chance or whatever but we need to find a way to get back to what we were getting previously in those areas. I don't understand why these went down so drastically. We had almost our entire defense back in 2021 from 2020 other than Iffy as Cisco and Trill only barely played in 2020, playing just 2 and 5 games respectively. They only got 1 pick each and didn't force any fumbles. The main reason must have been the QB's we faced in 2021 were a better group. Unfortunately we will face a strong group again in 2021. And Its not a Tony White thing as he started in 2020. Going from 24 turnovers forces to 7 is a big change. Are we dialing up less blitzes?

2019 13 interceptions, 12 fumble recoveries
2020 13 interceptions, 11 fumble recoveries
2021 4 interceptions, 3 fumble recoveries
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One of my guesses is teams were probably more sloppier on offense because of the lack of time together during the covid off season. It also can be what you suggested, better ball security and decision making by veteran QB's. All teams practice turnovers and emphasize it. Some years will be better than others. They blitz a lot but its not really about the amount. Its blitzing with the opponents tendencies in mind and scheming against the opponents weak areas. Sometimes it comes down to players doing a better job of understanding and taking advantage of takeaway opportunities.
 
GeauxSU said:
Very informative. I enjoyed the little history lesson about Rocky Long (no wonder he had success with the defense at NM, his “rover” was Brian Urlacher!) thanks for sharing, hats off to Tony White Go Orange!!
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When we decided to run this scheme at the Hs level we took the play book from St Xavier in Cincinnati. Guess who their Rover was?
 
Next step for me in this defense’s evolution is better safety play. Hopefully Clark and Oliver are good enough to creat competition.
 
Dmcnabbrules said:
Next step for me in this defense’s evolution is better safety play. Hopefully Clark and Oliver are good enough to creat competition.
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Great point. Coverage from the Safeties was an Achilles heel and these guys were constantly targeted. The situation is compounded by the lack of pass rush push from the DL.
 
money3189 said:
? Cuse was 4th in the Acc in sacks. 8 sacks by Boscoe and 5 from Kingsley.
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Yeah I'm not too worried about getting pressure. To me the keys for us to be successful every year with this defense are

1. Having upperclass D-linemen starting, with solid depth behind them
2. Having a quality #1 CB
3. Having a game changer at the Rover like New Mexico did with Urlacher.

This scheme isn't super attractive for edge rushers/D-linemen but it can be for LBs/CBs/Safeties
 
money3189 said:
? Cuse was 4th in the Acc in sacks. 8 sacks by Boscoe and 5 from Kingsley.
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It was poorly worded on my part. Lack of push from interior DL when we were clearly dropping to coverage. To be clear, the major point was about safety coverage.
 
007 said:
It was poorly worded on my part. Lack of push from interior DL when we were clearly dropping to coverage. To be clear, the major point was about safety coverage.
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Oh ok so you want more pressure from the NT. Gotcha
 
syrBossHogg said:
Yeah I'm not too worried about getting pressure. To me the keys for us to be successful every year with this defense are

1. Having upperclass D-linemen starting, with solid depth behind them
2. Having a quality #1 CB
3. Having a game changer at the Rover like New Mexico did with Urlacher.

This scheme isn't super attractive for edge rushers/D-linemen but it can be for LBs/CBs/Safeties
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Agree. I do think we have two of the best corners in the Acc
 
Did anyone notice the nugget at 2:20 in the video where they are showing Tony White on UCLA?
 
money3189 said:
When we decided to run this scheme at the Hs level we took the play book from St Xavier in Cincinnati. Guess who their Rover was?
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I’ve been saying that for a while. Need an alpha there more than a huge nt
 
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