I do not believe the players are to blame for giving up 700 yds. There is talent, there is speed, there is effort. The defensive coordinator does not put the players in position to make plays. His defensive reminds me of the defense M Dubose ran when he was here, that defense was a great contributor to the firing of the head coach.

I thought out defense looked slow.

We are very thin in the defensive backfield right now. That and 100 plays is a perfect storm.

If they run another play with one more set of stacked receivers out wide with a third player split inside and we only put two DB's over there (3 > 2 for math purists), and you refuse to adjust...........well, that's just not good coaching. They seriously ran that wide stacked screen play like 3 times in a row, picking up 10-15 yards every time. They probably ran that like 10 times in the game.

I actually have a friend who is an Ole Miss die hard who said we are lucky to get MacIntyre..........I guess I will withhold judgment and allow the recruiting process and his scheme to build, but that was painful to watch.

On the other hand, I'm sure UCF's fans are saying the same about their DC.............

TM

(10-18-2020 04:59 AM)Tigermemphis Wrote:  If they run another play with one more set of stacked receivers...

That was frustrating to watch from the stands...would like to understand our DC's thoughts on how he was trying to stop that. Made no sense to me

(10-18-2020 04:59 AM)Tigermemphis Wrote:  If they run another play with one more set of stacked receivers out wide with a third player split inside and we only put two DB's over there (3 > 2 for math purists), and you refuse to adjust...........well, that's just not good coaching. They seriously ran that wide stacked screen play like 3 times in a row, picking up 10-15 yards every time. They probably ran that like 10 times in the game.

I actually have a friend who is an Ole Miss die hard who said we are lucky to get MacIntyre..........I guess I will withhold judgment and allow the recruiting process and his scheme to build, but that was painful to watch.

On the other hand, I'm sure UCF's fans are saying the same about their DC.............

TM

Our defense against that play reminded me of the UConn basketball game where Niels Giffey kept hitting wide open corner 3's and we made no defensive adjustments.

(10-18-2020 03:03 AM)memtigbb Wrote:  I thought out defense looked slow.

Agreed... the speed difference was massive

I think we do lack talent and speed on defense, especially the secondary. You can clearly see it with your eyes during the UCF game and the SMU game. The d-line and linebackers seem ok, but the DB's are not good. Also some of the overall defense problems is that 3 man front we use. I noticed we went to much more 4 man front in the second half. Goodson had a good game and I almost had a heart attack when the TV crew said he was going to be penalized for making that sack after his helmet came off. This is all JMO, I'm no freaking expert.

1) we have played 3 of the top 10 offenses in the country in our first three games
2) 2 of the top 3 offenses in the country in our first three games
3) when teams like us and UCF run 90+ offensive plays, the typical game has 70 or so plays, that is a increase of 25 to 30% more plays with the same defensive players who are simply gassed.

Things get much easier moving forward - things will normalize.

(10-18-2020 10:27 AM)griffin Wrote:  1) we have played 3 of the top 10 offenses in the country in our first three games
2) 2 of the top 3 offenses in the country in our first three games
3) when teams like us and UCF run 90+ offensive plays, the typical game has 70 or so plays, that is a increase of 25 to 30% more plays with the same defensive players who are simply gassed.

Things get much easier moving forward - things will normalize.

Good point...

My only problem is with a certain safety who could have blown up one of those triple split wide-right pass plays. He was in support half way between the line and the wide-outs. As soon as Gabrial threw the ball, he should have been on a B-line to the sideline horizontally, but instead he ran straight to the nearest pair of guys locked up in a block, allowing the receiver to escape toward the outside where there was no support, and plenty of yards for the taking, and he is too slow to catch any position player from behind. I believe that one resulted in an 85 yard touchdown. It's like he hasn't been taught leverage, or he has, and just doesn't understand it, or doesn't listen.

He did have a nice fumble recovery, though. Probably was a major factor in winning the game.

(10-18-2020 10:27 AM)griffin Wrote:  1) we have played 3 of the top 10 offenses in the country
2) 2 of the top 3 offenses in the country

Chicken or egg argument applies though.

For instance, I saw on the scroll that Gabriel's 2 TDs of 85+ was only the 3rd time in the last __ years. Heck, it seemed like SMU did that to us 2 weeks ago.

Where is Sanchez Blake? Has he played this season? He can help our defense immediately.

(10-18-2020 12:07 PM)Herff Tiger Wrote:  

(10-18-2020 10:27 AM)griffin Wrote:  1) we have played 3 of the top 10 offenses in the country
2) 2 of the top 3 offenses in the country

Chicken or egg argument applies though.

For instance, I saw on the scroll that Gabriel's 2 TDs of 85+ was only the 3rd time in the last __ years. Heck, it seemed like SMU did that to us 2 weeks ago.

Exactly...

Are they a top 10 offense because of our defense.

But I agree that our defense seems to not know their roles. Many mental mistakes out there.

(10-18-2020 12:45 PM)micman Wrote:  Where is Sanchez Blake? Has he played this season? He can help our defense immediately.

I think he played against Arkansas state. Not sure tho.

The question is whether its lack of talent, good coaching, or simply the luck of the draw in facing some prolific offenses early on. Three answers:

1) The defense has talent - but seems a bit slow in the secondary. But to put this in perspective, how many Defensive Coordinators have these guys been through during their careers? I'm going with the "Whole Bunch" answer.

2) The coaching has not been bad: it takes time to assimilate into different Defensive schemes and strategies. So I'm gonna go with the that for now. Its an adjustment thing.

3) The offenses we have faced have been really, really good as opposed to fair to middling.

4) Bonus Factor: The entire year has been impacted by the ups and downs - the chaos, of the Covid.

Final answer: We have some talent albeit the secondary seems lost, that has to catch up with the coaching - or vice versa. all of which is occurring while being impacted by Covid AND by playing early against some of the better college quarterbacks in the country.

JMHO but Griffin nailed it earlier in this thread.

All the Best to Everyone!

Tulsa should have shown the Memphis's DC the way. Tulsa played a 3-3-5 and played to never let their receivers get behind them in order to prevent big plays.

(10-18-2020 10:27 AM)griffin Wrote:  1) we have played 3 of the top 10 offenses in the country in our first three games
2) 2 of the top 3 offenses in the country in our first three games
3) when teams like us and UCF run 90+ offensive plays, the typical game has 70 or so plays, that is a increase of 25 to 30% more plays with the same defensive players who are simply gassed.

Things get much easier moving forward - things will normalize.

Excellent points and I would also add that we are without multiple starters right now - more so than most other teams, as far as I can tell. No reason to be disappointed in the defense right now. And they made some big stops along the way.

Another problem is the inability of our DB’s to shed their blocker and make a play. Are we young in the secondary and just not physically developed?

(10-18-2020 02:07 AM)Keeper Wrote:  I do not believe the players are to blame for giving up 700 yds. There is talent, there is speed, there is effort. The defensive coordinator does not put the players in position to make plays. His defensive reminds me of the defense M Dubose ran when he was here, that defense was a great contributor to the firing of the head coach.

People People People.

We are on our 3rd DC in 3 years and did NOT have spring practice.

Anyone who thought we were not going to struggle in defense this year is more delusional than Joe Biden.