UL Lafayette: The defense is having major problems. New Mexico State wasn't doing anything offensively, but the ULL D couldn't slow down the running game. On the plus side, the offense hummed only stopped by turnovers and a few misfires as Jerry Babb had another great game. One of the running backs has to step up and be more of a factor.

Duh, :stupid:

Hmm wonder how long it took him to write that. :bang:

The name of the game is Defense and a good offense comes next. Unless that begins to happen we will not be winning very many games this year. I hate to think about going to sit in that Brown Stadium at ULM again this year and just get rolled and kicked over.

This is really pitful: Chester Johnson 319 yards , Lindon with only 235 yards.

man, Im not questioning you dedication or anything, but man, theres nothing wrong with the numbers that chester johnson or dwight lindon have rushing. All you have to do is look at the Yards per carry to notice they are running harder than ANYONE expected them to. We have one of the best rushing teams in the conference. We got johnson at 319 yards on 74 runs for a 4.3 yard per run average. Babb has 267 yards on 48 carries, a 5.6 YPC, and Lindon has 235 on 67 runs for a 3.5 yard per carry. The major thing I see looking at this information I see is 910 rushing yards on 231 carries for a 4 yard per carry average. there is not a thing dissapointing about how were running the ball. Our offense is awesome, hopefully though, some of these high school and JC defensive players see how well our offense is doing and want to come here to help create something really special.

Tuffguy

Tuffguy20 Wrote:man, Im not questioning you dedication or anything, but man, theres nothing wrong with the numbers that chester johnson or dwight lindon have rushing. All you have to do is look at the Yards per carry to notice they are running harder than ANYONE expected them to. We have one of the best rushing teams in the conference. We got johnson at 319 yards on 74 runs for a 4.3 yard per run average. Babb has 267 yards on 48 carries, a 5.6 YPC, and Lindon has 235 on 67 runs for a 3.5 yard per carry. The major thing I see looking at this information I see is 910 rushing yards on 231 carries for a 4 yard per carry average. there is not a thing dissapointing about how were running the ball. Our offense is awesome, hopefully though, some of these high school and JC defensive players see how well our offense is doing and want to come here to help create something really special.

Tuffguy

I totally agree with everything you said. I would add that I hope some high school and/or JC guys want to come help our defense also I am anxious to see how moving Joe Bradley from DE (backup) to DT (starting) works out this weekend.

Tuffguy20 Wrote:man, Im not questioning you dedication or anything, but man, theres nothing wrong with the numbers that chester johnson or dwight lindon have rushing. All you have to do is look at the Yards per carry to notice they are running harder than ANYONE expected them to. We have one of the best rushing teams in the conference. We got johnson at 319 yards on 74 runs for a 4.3 yard per run average. Babb has 267 yards on 48 carries, a 5.6 YPC, and Lindon has 235 on 67 runs for a 3.5 yard per carry. The major thing I see looking at this information I see is 910 rushing yards on 231 carries for a 4 yard per carry average. there is not a thing dissapointing about how were running the ball. Our offense is awesome, hopefully though, some of these high school and JC defensive players see how well our offense is doing and want to come here to help create something really special.

Tuffguy

I think the key here is yards per carry.

The line is opening holes. The backs are not breaking that 4 yard barrier, for the most part.

They are slow to the hole as well.

Look, they are decent backs. However, in the future, these types of backs will ride the bench if Coach Bustle has his way in recruiting.

Johnese at NWST
Moats at Tech
Sproles at Kansas State
Thomas at North Texas(exceptional Fr.)
Betterson at Troy
Payne at ULM

If any of the above backs were on our team this season, the only loss probably would have been Kansas State. That's how much of a difference it would make.

While I agree that our we need better running backs, the guys we have are working hard on what their doing. Not to mention the O-line which has looked very good. I dont believe that would change the season if you asked me, and the reason is, the problem on our team is not the offense. We just finished giving up 35 points to a team who had scored 3 points in 2 weeks, and they didnt even play a BCS team. Defense must improve if were going to go places, not any facet of the offense.

Tuffguy

I agree Tuffguy, the biggest improvement must come on the defensive side of the ball.
I may just get to see what Levier can do this weekend. Coach Christophel said this morning that Chester Johnson is banged up and would most likely NOT see any action against Idaho. He also stated it was time to give Abdule some carries.

Tuffguy20 Wrote:While I agree that our we need better running backs, the guys we have are working hard on what their doing. Not to mention the O-line which has looked very good. I dont believe that would change the season if you asked me, and the reason is, the problem on our team is not the offense. We just finished giving up 35 points to a team who had scored 3 points in 2 weeks, and they didnt even play a BCS team. Defense must improve if were going to go places, not any facet of the offense.

Tuffguy

While we loss to Tech and NMSU in the closing seconds, those games were actually lost in the 1st Quarter. Let me explain.

We've had a problem all year with moving the ball EARLY all year. Both of the above games started poorly for us. We have gotten 1 first down in the first 3 drives of each game. Both of those were via the pass. That's bad.

We cannot run the ball early at all. Had we put together drives earlier, the less the defense is on the field, the less the other team can score.

I agree with your observations on the defense. Just don't bring it up on the Delphi board. You will get jumped on like I did. The defensive tackles are outmanned. Maybe Bradley can help there. I have doubts. The linebackers are slow and small. We have better linebackers redshirting. It was my opinion early on to play them. I'm not having fun right now saying "I told you so" to certain people.

I've always thought that football and baseball have similar defensive strategies. You had better be strong up the middle. In baseball, that's the Catcher, pitcher, SS, center field. In football, it's the Tackles, Middle Linebacker, and the Free Safety.

With the injury to Smith, all we really have now is Spann. So, that means we will have to pressure people from the edges in. The defensive ends are good, but young. The OLB's? Don't go there. The corners are excellent, and C. C. Brown is awesome at SS.

We can't take the redshirts off now. It's too late. The LB situation is near crisis levels. I suugest moving Mack Fair back to MLB. I don't know why he was ever moved. The big thing would be to drop C.C. down to OLB and turn him lose. We need our playmakers on defense in a position to make plays. There is more than enough depth to cover him in the secondary.

"Look, they are decent backs. However, in the future, these types of backs will ride the bench if Coach Bustle has his way in recruiting.

Johnese at NWST
Moats at Tech
Sproles at Kansas State
Thomas at North Texas(exceptional Fr.)
Betterson at Troy
Payne at ULM

If any of the above backs were on our team this season, the only loss probably would have been Kansas State. That's how much of a difference it would make."


Some of these kids were Props. North Texas and Troy do not have selective admissions. Thomas is not a Fr. , he was a prop that was passed on by Texas A&M, Okla.St and others. Johnese was not eligible either during the signing period. this staff has shown it will not take many chances on props. The last Major prop risk was Delvin Williams.