Could this year's defense be legit?
- Thread starter JUKEBOX
- Start date
I am feeling good about the Defense,
I am hoping for a surprise on the Line,
If we see improvement on the line,
and the safeties hold tight,
this will be the best defense in 10 years,
Statistically the defense was horrible last year, I'm not sure why people keep saying they were a pleasant surprise. Yes there were some bright spots, but they played poorly for most of the season. Everyone expected the defense to be bad and they were maybe just slightly better than that.
87th in the NCAA in total defense (7th Big 12)
90th in opponents 3rd down conversion pct (8th)
T109th in opponents 4th down conversion pct (12th)
98th in opponents 1st downs (T6th)
T49th in interceptions* (8th)
64th in passing defense (6th)
81st in pass efficiency defense (9th)
44th in red zone defense (5th)*
93rd in rushing defense (10th)
T116th in sacks (12th)
76th in scoring defense (7th)
T106th in tackles for loss
30th in turnover margin (T4th)*
T49th in turnovers gained (T7th)*
*potential "pleasant surprises"
The only way last years defense was a pleasant surprise is if you expected them to be in the bottom 20% of every defensive catagory.
Don't misunderstand me, there were things I saw that I liked and SOME of the defenses issues were cause by the offense, but out of 120 FBS defenses last year's team just makes it into the top 90. Honestly we're a little better within the conference than I expected, though still clearly in the bottom half.
87th in the NCAA in total defense (7th Big 12)
90th in opponents 3rd down conversion pct (8th)
T109th in opponents 4th down conversion pct (12th)
98th in opponents 1st downs (T6th)
T49th in interceptions* (8th)
64th in passing defense (6th)
81st in pass efficiency defense (9th)
44th in red zone defense (5th)*
93rd in rushing defense (10th)
T116th in sacks (12th)
76th in scoring defense (7th)
T106th in tackles for loss
30th in turnover margin (T4th)*
T49th in turnovers gained (T7th)*
*potential "pleasant surprises"
The only way last years defense was a pleasant surprise is if you expected them to be in the bottom 20% of every defensive catagory.
Don't misunderstand me, there were things I saw that I liked and SOME of the defenses issues were cause by the offense, but out of 120 FBS defenses last year's team just makes it into the top 90. Honestly we're a little better within the conference than I expected, though still clearly in the bottom half.
Our defense has to make HUGE strides to even be average. It was awful last year. Defensive line couldn't have stopped the Girl Scouts.
Because there were too many young guys out there. Knott, Klein, Reeves, MT were all inexperienced.
Yep. The DL did absolutely nothing during the first 7 games (including 120 points surrendered to Utah and Oklahoma), and then finally got something going when Lattimer got the starts against Texas, Kansas and Nebraska.
We were an opportunistic defense at best last year. Will be nice to see if we can be more solid overall and still keep the aggressiveness we had. When we didn't get some timely plays on D last year we were pretty bad. Hopefully we can be solid this year and with some timely plays turn from not terrible to respectable or pretty good even. Long way to go.
I think the defense will be better this year, but I expect our stats to not improve much from past years with another brutal schedule coming up. If our offense can show more spark, the defense will be much better, otherwise I don't expect much more than avg of Big XII defenses.
I think our S position will surprise people though. D sims was huge in run support, but I think the other spot will upgrade in athleticism this year. When Benton is playing safety I fully expect that spot to be completely fine.
Seriously, whatever we did to land Wally, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. That guy is a wizard.
Just the difference in the way the defense *looks* between the last couple years and 07/08 blows my mind.
Just the difference in the way the defense *looks* between the last couple years and 07/08 blows my mind.
I believe the defense will have a good year. That might be average by the rest of the nations standards, but the players and depth are all in order for the 1st time since 2005.
Wally has shown he can coach up a fairly opportunistic D, and they haven't been bad in the redzone the last 2 years. If those trends continue and the yardage allowed shrinks, there could be a decent amount of games where only 20 points is needed to win.
Wally has shown he can coach up a fairly opportunistic D, and they haven't been bad in the redzone the last 2 years. If those trends continue and the yardage allowed shrinks, there could be a decent amount of games where only 20 points is needed to win.
This is the key. I think our D was good enough last year to win 7-8 games. The problem was that we could not keep them off the field against teams like Utah and Oklahoma. Not that we would have won THOSE games but the Mizzou game maybe, I mean they held a team to 14pts you should win that game.
Back on topic. I like our Defense this year if the statement above holds true. We must improve the pass rush, being ranked in the bottom 10 out of 119 or however many D1 schools will not cut it. I like the fact that we have some QUALITY depth on the DL to give the starters a break. I think we have a proven commodity at LB's and a few up-and-comers as well. I think we will miss Sims more than some think, at least to start. Benton is good but we need someone to step up in the secondary especially if we blitz more. If we blitz and get burnt I'm guessing it wont last long then we will be just like last year.
Overall our depth is better and only replace a few starters, secondary is my biggest concern (only because the DL has a TON of room for improvement and cant get a whole lot worse).
I think if you look at the last few games of the year with Lattimer in the starting lineup. the comparisons and ranking are much different. One player made a huge difference in getting pressure and disrupting the offense. I would say this was a major factor in peoples outlook on the potential of the defense.
My hope is we have a pass rush in B12 competition. My guess is that we will still struggle with it.
This defense isn't going to be at the level it was back in 2005, but it's going to be a better than it has been the last several years.
And the thing is, despite what a lot of the statistics say, short of having a credible pass rush, the defense wasn't that bad last year - they were just more often than not hung out to dry by an offense that would go 3 and out a few too many times. And when that happens a few too many times, you start getting tired and you start giving up statistics.
So yes, I do think the defense is going to be better, but it's not going to mean much if the offense can't keep them off the field for stretches (or, at least, puts 7 up on the board before putting them back on the field immediately)...
And the thing is, despite what a lot of the statistics say, short of having a credible pass rush, the defense wasn't that bad last year - they were just more often than not hung out to dry by an offense that would go 3 and out a few too many times. And when that happens a few too many times, you start getting tired and you start giving up statistics.
So yes, I do think the defense is going to be better, but it's not going to mean much if the offense can't keep them off the field for stretches (or, at least, puts 7 up on the board before putting them back on the field immediately)...
I personally don't think that they'll miss Sims at all. He flat out had a bad year in 2010 and wasn't nearly the player he was in 2009 until the last few games. I don't know if it was the credit card thing that screwed him up or what, but he was pretty much an empty suit out there the first half of the season. OC was a good Safety for them, but when he broke his thumb, he was out for awhile and then playing with a cast for awhile...he wasn't playing at his normal level. IMO Sandvig was a real weak link of the D and was not a capable starter. I have no doubt that Benton will be a better Safety than anyone ISU rolled out in 2010. My only concern is who plays SS when TB moves up in the nickel.
My major position questions are:
DT - Can Laing/McDonough hold up against the run and get into the backfield vs the pass?
DE - With Latt on one side, who steps up opposite him? Is Maggitt ready? Can Nelson get a little bigger?
FS - Still need to be sold on Washington, Givens, Watson, Brooks, Broomfield.
It all starts up front. A good defensive line means a good defense. If knott and kleins tackles a game numbers drop by half of what they were last year on average then we have a good defense. If our secondary tackles and "thrown to direction" drop next year then we will have a good defense. It all starts on the line and really I cant see it happening next year at all. CPR needs to start selling the defensive line position to recruits next fall.