(11-11-2021 06:37 AM)steve4840 Wrote: (11-10-2021 06:34 PM)Jerry Weaver Wrote: We can criticize our lack of run game, debate play calling decisions, etc... ad nauseum.
My opinion:
Our lines may not be what they have been but are adequate.
Our run game is not effective but the Creighton scheme actually does not promote running the ball, he instead substitutes the short pass and except for 4th and short situations it does work for the most part.
The 800 pound gorilla in the room is our inability to tackle, particularly from the linebacker position. Our Mike linebacker is better suited to play the Will position, which the 4-2-5 does not use. Our Sam Linebacker probably should be playing with Karmi Mackey at Wayne State, he simply does not have the tackling ability required to play his position in the MAC. When EVERYONE in the stadium knows Ohio is running the ball and killing clock, yet they still get a first down, we have a huge problem. Those long passes that Ohio completed were against zone coverage but our safeties were cheating up to stop the run and our corners were left on an island. Frankly I'm also wondering how much the preponderance of injury in our defensive backfield is due to our over-reliance on them to tackle running backs, yet our linebackers have been un-dinged up now for two consecutive seasons.
I spent the entire evening envious that Ohio had Bryce Houston playing the Mike linebacker position. That dude was all over the field and when he got to our ball carriers, he meant business. That kind of tackling is infectious to the entire team.
Yes I want more Crosby, Harris, POC type Defensive ends and would love to have a Darius Jackson running the ball but this EMU team was MAC West championship quality with Rachwal, Beck and Beltran playing linebacker. Coach recruits on a position budget, he simply needs to increase that budget in the LB position.
Feel free to disagree.
Very well put Jerry I've never thought that perhaps our secondary gives up longer plays is due to possibly cheating up to help in the run game. I don't want to call college players out by name and I won't but the linebackers we have lack in both size and talent. Just watch this next week how easily they get washed out from a lineman reaching the second level. When they cannot fill a hole or shed a block, running backs are able to get large chunk plays. My God what will Lew Nichols do to these linebackers when we play Central.
Maybe it was just me but CC's press conference after the game seemed like he was very pissed. I'm hoping he is re-evaluating the 4-2-5 scheme. It worked when we had thumpers like Beltram, not 5'8 guys who have a lot of assist tackles and little solo.
We have a VERY good passing offense but having this 'bend don't break' defense puts way too much pressure on the O. Again, I don't expect a 'shut-out' style of defense but anyone watching would tell you that our opponents get whatever they want when they want it. Its embarrassing.
I rewatched some of the Ohio game last night. I made it through the first half. I focused on what our defense was doing, particularly the D-line and LB's on run plays. Based on the way they set at the beginning of plays, it seems that beyond "bend, don't break", the Eagles' run defense appears to be focused primarily on making the stop at the D-line (the 4) with the LB's (the 2) set to clean up anything the line doesn't stop.
When you look at where the LB's line up, they are set four to six yards back from the line of scrimmage. When the ball snaps, they generally stand in that position for the first couple seconds of the play, waiting to see what is developing. If it's a run play, they hold there to see if the line makes the stop. If a runner makes it past the D-line, the LB's THEN start to move to the runner to make the tackle.
At that point, the runner has already gained 3-4 yards and is able to fall forward for another 2 to 3. There is another wrinkle here, though. If an O-lineman, TE, or a second back moves downfield to make a block, they know right where the LB's are going to be (standing and watching the play develop) and are able to throw very solid downfield blocks that take the LB's out of the play. That is where it then falls to the DB's and Safeties to make a tackle, now a good 10-12 yards (or more) down the field.
I'm not a college coach and don't have their level of knowledge, but was part of a youth football team Defense coaching squad for six years (on a team, by the way, that had Alex, Theo Day (who was recruited as a QB at MSU and has now transferred out of there) and Aidan Hutchinson (yes...that Aidan Hutchinson)).
With our LB's (Will, Mike, and Sam), we taught them first to always be in motion once the ball snaps, even if it's just shuffling your feet and shadowing the direction of the ball, while you make a read and start to move toward your gap. Make your read, then move to the running back if he's coming through your assigned gap...don't wait for him to come to you. If he's not coming to your gap, make a move to support the LB who does have gap responsibility (be the second man in), watching for a change in direction toward your gap/downfield zone so you're prepped to cover. The key concepts being: stay in motion, and move to the ball/carrier.
When you contrast the Eagles' LB's with Ohio's LB's, who effectively stopped the Eagles' run-game, the Ohio LB's were lining up about 2 yards from the line of scrimmage, and when they read run, immediately moved to fill their gap. They regularly made their tackles, often holding the Eagles' RB to two or three yards (or a TFL).
I guess my conclusion is (at least for the Ohio game), it's not so much an issue of the Eagles LB's being undersized or unable to play the position as it is a scheme issue that forces more passive run coverage by our LB's and seems to put too much focus on our D-line to make the stop.
Again, these are all my observations...I'm sure an experienced coach might point out flaws in my observations, but this is what I saw happening in the Ohio game.