Sure Memphis gave up a lot of yardage to UCLA & at times UCLA made it look easy. But our Tigers did stop UCLA on 10 of 17 possessions. Think about that....our Tigers stopped arguably the #1 or #2 QB in the country on 10 of 17 possessions.

Yes, I think think the defense is much improved with noticeably improved team speed.

And, a team that had scored touchdowns on its' last 12 straight offensive possessions, coming into the game.

(09-18-2017 10:14 AM)Atlanta Wrote:  Sure Memphis gave up a lot of yardage to UCLA & at times UCLA made it look easy. But our Tigers did stop UCLA on 10 of 17 possessions. Think about that....our Tigers stopped arguably the #1 or #2 QB in the country on 10 of 17 possessions.

Yes, I think think the defense is much improved with noticeably improved team speed.

I am not sure about better overall at this point. However, I think the defense has the potential to be much better as the year progresses. The defense is clearly much faster and seems to be much better about swarming the ball and tackling. The defense lived off of big plays and turnovers against UCLA. There will be many games we do not get those and just have to stop drives. The D without stepped up every time we needed a big play Saturday!

I credit the staff for some adjustments. Looked like we disguised some blitzes in the 2nd half and made Rosen uncomfortable.

(09-18-2017 10:14 AM)Atlanta Wrote:  Sure Memphis gave up a lot of yardage to UCLA & at times UCLA made it look easy. But our Tigers did stop UCLA on 10 of 17 possessions. Think about that....our Tigers stopped arguably the #1 or #2 QB in the country on 10 of 17 possessions.

Yes, I think think the defense is much improved with noticeably improved team speed.

We have had a lot of freshman talent show up on defense this year. We have really done a good job of recruiting and evaluating talent on that side of the ball.

The sheer number of talented kids we're rotating in and out on defense surely kept us fresh against UCLA.

I was impressed at how well we stopped the run around the ends. Most of their yardage on the ground was right behind that 6 foot 8 left tackle.

Consider that with about 10 minutes left in the 4th...UCLA never scored again. Memphis defense is an opportunistic defense

Austin Hall man...

Pick Six sure helped a ton....

Rosen has a 170 QB rating and leads all college QBs in yards and TDs. We'll have other issues to contend with but I suspect we won't see one of him again.

Our defense is better. Just need to work on the consistency. Which comes with experience.

Our press coverage looked better for sure. Some bonafide athletes in the secondary this year.

(09-18-2017 10:47 AM)TIGERCITY Wrote:  Rosen has a 170 QB rating and leads all college QBs in yards and TDs. We'll have other issues to contend with but I suspect we won't see one of him again.

I'd rather play rosen every week than NAVY.

They gave up 45 points. It took six TD passes from Riley Ferguson to win the game. I just struggle calling that a good or even an improved defense. It's now been 7 out of 8 games dating back to last season of giving up 40 plus points to teams with a winning record.

Yes, the defense made two big interceptions and held UCLA at the end. But IMO, they did enough to give the offense a chance to win the game. Had it not been for the two interceptions and those end up being TDs, Memphis gives up 60 points and doesn't give the offense a chance.

I still think there is a ceiling on this team with that defense. If the offense doesn't score 40 against a good team, there's a good chance we'll lose. I think that puts us around 8-4 again.

(09-18-2017 11:45 AM)TiminMem23 Wrote:  They gave up 45 points. It took six TD passes from Riley Ferguson to win the game. I just struggle calling that a good or even an improved defense. It's now been 7 out of 8 games dating back to last season of giving up 40 plus points to teams with a winning record.

Yes, the defense made two big interceptions and held UCLA at the end. But IMO, they did enough to give the offense a chance to win the game. Had it not been for the two interceptions and those end up being TDs, Memphis gives up 60 points and doesn't give the offense a chance.

I still think there is a ceiling on this team with that defense. If the offense doesn't score 40 against a good team, there's a good chance we'll lose. I think that puts us around 8-4 again.

Remember we did stop them 10 out of 17 times. TOs are part of a good defense. Sure we have a long way to go but I saw much improvement with talent to improve a great deal more. I can imagine there were several coaches watching the game & kicking themselves for not getting Carter after what they saw from our Fr. DB.

(09-18-2017 12:02 PM)Atlanta Wrote:  

(09-18-2017 11:45 AM)TiminMem23 Wrote:  They gave up 45 points. It took six TD passes from Riley Ferguson to win the game. I just struggle calling that a good or even an improved defense. It's now been 7 out of 8 games dating back to last season of giving up 40 plus points to teams with a winning record.

Yes, the defense made two big interceptions and held UCLA at the end. But IMO, they did enough to give the offense a chance to win the game. Had it not been for the two interceptions and those end up being TDs, Memphis gives up 60 points and doesn't give the offense a chance.

I still think there is a ceiling on this team with that defense. If the offense doesn't score 40 against a good team, there's a good chance we'll lose. I think that puts us around 8-4 again.

Remember we did stop them 10 out of 17 times. TOs are part of a good defense. Sure we have a long way to go but I saw much improvement with talent to improve a great deal more. I can imagine there were several coaches watching the game & kicking themselves for not getting Carter after what they saw from our Fr. DB.

I hear you on the 10 out of 17 possessions. But I'm most concerned about giving up 40 plus points to practically every good team we play. Puts a TON of pressure on the offense. If they have a bad game, we're in trouble.

The defense played well against teams who finished the season last year with a losing record. That's not a concern. The concern is against teams who finished with a winning record. It appears this season will be more of the same. For instance, I'm guessing we'll have to score 40 or more against UCF. That's a scary proposition.

(09-18-2017 11:45 AM)TiminMem23 Wrote:  They gave up 45 points. It took six TD passes from Riley Ferguson to win the game. I just struggle calling that a good or even an improved defense. It's now been 7 out of 8 games dating back to last season of giving up 40 plus points to teams with a winning record.

Yes, the defense made two big interceptions and held UCLA at the end. But IMO, they did enough to give the offense a chance to win the game. Had it not been for the two interceptions and those end up being TDs, Memphis gives up 60 points and doesn't give the offense a chance.

I still think there is a ceiling on this team with that defense. If the offense doesn't score 40 against a good team, there's a good chance we'll lose. I think that puts us around 8-4 again.

You also have to account for how short our drives were. We had a lot of 3 and outs and a lot of very quick scoring drives. UCLA had the ball a lot.

Quote:I still think there is a ceiling on this team with that defense.

You don't think that a defense with an entirely new defensive backfield, many of whom were playing their first D1 game (ULM doesn't count) have any room for improvement? That seems a bit weird.

(09-18-2017 12:13 PM)TiminMem23 Wrote:  

(09-18-2017 12:02 PM)Atlanta Wrote:  

(09-18-2017 11:45 AM)TiminMem23 Wrote:  They gave up 45 points. It took six TD passes from Riley Ferguson to win the game. I just struggle calling that a good or even an improved defense. It's now been 7 out of 8 games dating back to last season of giving up 40 plus points to teams with a winning record.

Yes, the defense made two big interceptions and held UCLA at the end. But IMO, they did enough to give the offense a chance to win the game. Had it not been for the two interceptions and those end up being TDs, Memphis gives up 60 points and doesn't give the offense a chance.

I still think there is a ceiling on this team with that defense. If the offense doesn't score 40 against a good team, there's a good chance we'll lose. I think that puts us around 8-4 again.

Remember we did stop them 10 out of 17 times. TOs are part of a good defense. Sure we have a long way to go but I saw much improvement with talent to improve a great deal more. I can imagine there were several coaches watching the game & kicking themselves for not getting Carter after what they saw from our Fr. DB.

I hear you on the 10 out of 17 possessions. But I'm most concerned about giving up 40 plus points to practically every good team we play. Puts a TON of pressure on the offense. If they have a bad game, we're in trouble.

The defense played well against teams who finished the season last year with a losing record. That's not a concern. The concern is against teams who finished with a winning record. It appears this season will be more of the same. For instance, I'm guessing we'll have to score 40 or more against UCF. That's a scary proposition.

We will have a better offense than all of our remaining opponents. Why is it scary?

(09-18-2017 12:20 PM)Stammers Wrote:  

(09-18-2017 12:13 PM)TiminMem23 Wrote:  

(09-18-2017 12:02 PM)Atlanta Wrote:  

(09-18-2017 11:45 AM)TiminMem23 Wrote:  They gave up 45 points. It took six TD passes from Riley Ferguson to win the game. I just struggle calling that a good or even an improved defense. It's now been 7 out of 8 games dating back to last season of giving up 40 plus points to teams with a winning record.

Yes, the defense made two big interceptions and held UCLA at the end. But IMO, they did enough to give the offense a chance to win the game. Had it not been for the two interceptions and those end up being TDs, Memphis gives up 60 points and doesn't give the offense a chance.

I still think there is a ceiling on this team with that defense. If the offense doesn't score 40 against a good team, there's a good chance we'll lose. I think that puts us around 8-4 again.

Remember we did stop them 10 out of 17 times. TOs are part of a good defense. Sure we have a long way to go but I saw much improvement with talent to improve a great deal more. I can imagine there were several coaches watching the game & kicking themselves for not getting Carter after what they saw from our Fr. DB.

I hear you on the 10 out of 17 possessions. But I'm most concerned about giving up 40 plus points to practically every good team we play. Puts a TON of pressure on the offense. If they have a bad game, we're in trouble.

The defense played well against teams who finished the season last year with a losing record. That's not a concern. The concern is against teams who finished with a winning record. It appears this season will be more of the same. For instance, I'm guessing we'll have to score 40 or more against UCF. That's a scary proposition.

We will have a better offense than all of our remaining opponents. Why is it scary?

No matter how good your offense is, it's hard to score 40 points against good teams week in and week out. I think back to last year against Tulsa, Navy and South Florida. Offense didn't play bad in those games. Scored 28, 30 and 42, respectively and lost all three of those games, by a ton.

(09-18-2017 12:18 PM)Stammers Wrote:  

(09-18-2017 11:45 AM)TiminMem23 Wrote:  They gave up 45 points. It took six TD passes from Riley Ferguson to win the game. I just struggle calling that a good or even an improved defense. It's now been 7 out of 8 games dating back to last season of giving up 40 plus points to teams with a winning record.

Yes, the defense made two big interceptions and held UCLA at the end. But IMO, they did enough to give the offense a chance to win the game. Had it not been for the two interceptions and those end up being TDs, Memphis gives up 60 points and doesn't give the offense a chance.

I still think there is a ceiling on this team with that defense. If the offense doesn't score 40 against a good team, there's a good chance we'll lose. I think that puts us around 8-4 again.

You also have to account for how short our drives were. We had a lot of 3 and outs and a lot of very quick scoring drives. UCLA had the ball a lot.

Quote:I still think there is a ceiling on this team with that defense.

You don't think that a defense with an entirely new defensive backfield, many of whom were playing their first D1 game (ULM doesn't count) have any room for improvement? That seems a bit weird.

I concede that point. I agree that our style of offense leads to more possessions for the other team and more time on the field for our defense. That contributes to more points given up.

I didn't say the defense can't improve. But if we continue to give up 40 points to teams with winning records, I think there is absolutely a ceiling of 8-9 wins. Of course, most of us will be more than happy with 8-9 wins. I just don't see us having a "magical" year and winning 10-11 games. Unless the D improves. I hope they do. It's entirely possible.