Defense Rankings (Out of 130 in FBS)

#26
#26
Those rankings are a surprise to me. There were times when I thought our defense did rather well

We need, big time, to get the Walter Nolens and the like out there.

Imagine a team with Heupel's offense and a good defense?
 
#27
#27
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#28
#28
Teams that run the type of offense TN runs always have average or less than average defenses.
 
#31
#31
Better stats that I thought we would have this year after cornbread left and his cronies jumped ship. If those dont improve next year then I'd begin to get into chicken little mode..
 
#32
#32
vol_in_ga said:
99th in Total Defense
59th in Rushing Defense
122nd in Passing Defense
117th First Down Defense
103rd 3rd Down Defense
120th in Red Zone Defense
52nd in Tackles for Loss
Tied for 67th** for Turnovers (a lot of ties here)

Numbers say it all. Knew this defense would give up some yards, but hoped they’d make up for it in turnovers and critical down defense. Hasn’t happened.

If you’re going to give up yards, you have to get off the field. Bend but don’t break. Create negative plays on 1st down and get off the field by creating and taking advantage of opportunities. Create turnovers to lessen the time on the field, which is a lot when you have the fastest offense in the country.

Not an argument for Pruitt, he had to go, but this team was top 25 in defense and terrible on offense. Now the teams great on offense and fun to watch, but terrible on defense, and haven’t found adequate replacements for the pieces that left in the portal. I actually like coach Banks and the aggression the defense sometimes plays with. Hope he can get this team to improve. I do have concerns though. Recruiting dropped off a bit from Pruitt. Seems not enough attention was paid to defensive needs/depth as well, while missing on plenty of guys we were in final top whatever’s for.

2022 will be pivotal for the defense. Have to address defensive back and linebacker deficiencies through the portal in the off season, and do so successfully. 2023 recruiting class needs to be a homerun. If Heupel has 3-4 years to make this a sec champ contender, defensive improvement this year and next is what has to happen for that to be possible.
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Lord have mercy...

HOW MANY TIMES DOES THIS NEED TO BE EXPLAINED..?
HOW MANY??????

WHY CAN'T SOME OF YOU UNDERSTAND THAT ALL SIDES OF THE BALL ARE CONNECTED????!!!

You can't just look at rankings and say "that's what they are"

Tell me how many offensive opportunities (possessions) did the opposing team have against us PER game in 2021 vs 2019.

2019 was when when had that supposed stout defense. Right? But they weren't at first were they??

GA state put 38 points on them?
What happened on offense midway through that season? What happened to our QBs and offensive TOP during our "win-streak " in 2019?

In 2019, our offense mid season began to keep the ball longer and score more often. The defense was on the field less and got playmakers back.

Look at UCFs defense 2019- 2020
Now look at the Vols 2021
Observe you rankings again.
Odd similarities you'll find.
You'll find MORE opposing team offensive possessions avg per game than most teams.

While our offense scores more points per game, they also either scores very quickly or did nothing with the ball very quickly = the defense playing MORE SNAPS than the average. More chances for the opposing team to score means MORE POINTS AND YARDAGE given up.
 
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#33
#33
LittleVol said:
Lord have mercy...

HOW MANY TIMES DOES THIS NEED TO BE EXPLAINED..?
HOW MANY??????

WHY CAN'T SOME OF YOU UNDERSTAND THAT ALL SIDES OF THE BALL ARE CONNECTED????!!!

You can't just look at rankings and say "that's what they are"

Tell me how many offensive opportunities (possessions) did the opposing team have against us PER game in 2021 vs 2019.

2019 was when when had that supposed stout defense. Right? But they weren't at first were they??

GA state put 38 points on them?
What happened on offense midway through that season? What happened to our QBs and offensive TOP during our "win-streak " in 2019?

In 2019, our offense mid season began to keep the ball longer and score more often. The defense was on the field less and got playmakers back.

Look at UCFs defense 2019- 2020
Now look at the Vols 2021
Observe you rankings again.
Odd similarities you'll find.
You'll find MORE opposing team offensive possessions avg per game than most teams.

While our offense scores more points per game, they also either scores very quickly or did nothing with the ball very quickly = the defense playing MORE SNAPS than the average. More chances for the opposing team to score means MORE POINTS AND YARDAGE given up.
Click to expand...
The bottom line is a bunch of numbers changed but the results didn't. CJH has a lot to prove
 
#34
#34
What gives me hope about our defense is the tackles for loss stat. Earlier in the year, we led the nation in that number. Our opponents, our health, and the number of offensive plays certainly played a role in those great numbers.
But those numbers don't just happen to be. It isn't luck. It is an awareness of your opponent's tendencies, alignment, etc and recognizing the play efficiently so that you can react instinctively and make the play. Scheme, preparation, and seeing those flashes where our defensive player reacted quickly, with instinct, is a great sign for us especially as our depth and natural talent improves.
 
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#37
#37
MontyPython said:
There are 3 types of lies in this world: Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics.

Just throw all those D stats out the window, as they're virtually meaningless in CJH's gameplan.

Why? Time of possession (TOP). Because our offense is so quick and efficient, we don't hold onto the ball very long at all. In fact we were ranked #130 out of 130 teams in TOP with an average of 24:24 per game.

This means opposing teams have the ball an average of 35:36 per game to run up offensive numbers. During the course of the entire season, our offense was on the field for 5 hours 18 minutes and 24 seconds, while our defense was on the field for 7 hours 41 minutes and 36 seconds.
Thus, it should be no surprise whatsoever that our defense STATISTICALLY speaking, appears to be a hot piece of flaming garbage.

Can our D get better? Absolutely. But we need more talent and numbers at LB and the secondary. Regardless, the numbers will always tell another story, whether we actually win, lose or draw.
Click to expand...
Save this post gentlemen. Let it sink into your brains.
 
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#38
#38
BigOrangeTrain said:
Hard to do when your fielding a team that wouldn’t start for 95% of the SEC.
Click to expand...

A lot of truth there. Also a lot of "woe is me" there.

We play turds with lesser or equal talent to us plenty.

3rd down defense sucked. Period. (Banks is fine. There is room to improve, however.)
 
#39
#39
MontyPython said:
There are 3 types of lies in this world: Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics.

Just throw all those D stats out the window, as they're virtually meaningless in CJH's gameplan.

Why? Time of possession (TOP). Because our offense is so quick and efficient, we don't hold onto the ball very long at all. In fact we were ranked #130 out of 130 teams in TOP with an average of 24:24 per game.

This means opposing teams have the ball an average of 35:36 per game to run up offensive numbers. During the course of the entire season, our offense was on the field for 5 hours 18 minutes and 24 seconds, while our defense was on the field for 7 hours 41 minutes and 36 seconds.
Thus, it should be no surprise whatsoever that our defense STATISTICALLY speaking, appears to be a hot piece of flaming garbage.

Can our D get better? Absolutely. But we need more talent and numbers at LB and the secondary. Regardless, the numbers will always tell another story, whether we actually win, lose or draw.
Click to expand...

Damn. This is an excellent post.
 
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#40
#40
Doberman said:
A lot of truth there. Also a lot of "woe is me" there.

We play turds with lesser or equal talent to us plenty.

3rd down defense sucked. Period. (Banks is fine. There is room to improve, however.)
Click to expand...

No Banks isn’t fine. He misses tackles, gets way too many penalties and gets torched in pass coverage. I think many of our deficiencies are because of a lack of pass rush. Until we get some good pass rush, I think we will continue to suffer on defense.
 
#41
#41
LittleVol said:
Lord have mercy...

HOW MANY TIMES DOES THIS NEED TO BE EXPLAINED..?
HOW MANY??????

WHY CAN'T SOME OF YOU UNDERSTAND THAT ALL SIDES OF THE BALL ARE CONNECTED????!!!

You can't just look at rankings and say "that's what they are"

Tell me how many offensive opportunities (possessions) did the opposing team have against us PER game in 2021 vs 2019.

2019 was when when had that supposed stout defense. Right? But they weren't at first were they??

GA state put 38 points on them?
What happened on offense midway through that season? What happened to our QBs and offensive TOP during our "win-streak " in 2019?

In 2019, our offense mid season began to keep the ball longer and score more often. The defense was on the field less and got playmakers back.

Look at UCFs defense 2019- 2020
Now look at the Vols 2021
Observe you rankings again.
Odd similarities you'll find.
You'll find MORE opposing team offensive possessions avg per game than most teams.

While our offense scores more points per game, they also either scores very quickly or did nothing with the ball very quickly = the defense playing MORE SNAPS than the average. More chances for the opposing team to score means MORE POINTS AND YARDAGE given up.
Click to expand...
We need new metrics... points per possession and yards per possession.

Points per game and yards per game are terrible tools for measuring the success of our defense, because our offense forces our defense onto the field more than anyone else in the country.
 
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#42
#42
BigOrangeTrain said:
No Banks isn’t fine. He misses tackles, gets way too many penalties and gets torched in pass coverage. I think many of our deficiencies are because of a lack of pass rush. Until we get some good pass rush, I think we will continue to suffer on defense.
Click to expand...

Tim, not Jeremy.
 
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#43
#43
volfan_28 said:
We need new metrics... points per possession and yards per possession.

Points per game and yards per game are terrible tools for measuring the success of our defense, because our offense forces our defense onto the field more than anyone else in the country.
Click to expand...

3rd down defense is the only stat that matters.
 
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#44
#44
RhodesVol said:
I agree with this analysis. Banks did his best job making chicken salad out of chicken s**t.

Let's look at what he had to work with at each level of the defense:

Secondary - Alontae and Theo were your only legitimate SEC players. They both had very good years, and should be thanked by UT fans as they exit. McCullough and Flowers are either (a) too slow to play at this level, or (b) not instinctive enough to be where they need to be. Either way, they are not capable of anchoring the back end of your defense. Warren Burrell has not shown me a ton, and the remainder of your defensive backfield were either freshmen who Banks inherited in the recruiting class or transfers.

Linebackers - WOOF! Jeremy Banks is improved, and I really like a ton of what he does as a player. However, he should not be your best LB in the SEC. Beasley and Solon Page are not SEC caliber players.

Defensive Line - I thought Garner did a great job with the DL this season. Matthew Butler played like a man possessed all year, and he seemingly played every defensive snap all year. There were games where he played 90 snaps at DT. That's impressive. I think Elijah Simmons could be a good player if he could stay healthy and improve his conditioning - the two issues likely impacting one another. Terry could be a solid player, and I thought that Blakely had a very servicable year. On the edge, Baron had issues staying healthy, but regardless, Byron Young seems to be our only real pass rush threat.


So, were the stats great? No, I get that they weren't, but you have essentially one unit that performed good - not great - and an absolute dearth of talent all over the defense. Let the man stock the cupboards, and then critique his cooking.
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We cannot have interior DLinemen playing that many snaps. I don’t care how much heart they have, they cannot generate push playing that many snaps.

In MCB, the Purdue OL simply parted our pass rush left and right while the QB picked us apart. Desperately need DLine depth - tackles as much as ends.
 
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#45
#45
Statistics like these are useless to me if strength of schedule isn’t included. Air Force with the 4th best defense? Cincy with the 10th best? Alabama put almost 500 yards on Cincinnati. Gimme a freaking break. Let those guys play our schedule then let’s see how they finish. Granted our defensive was terrible and couldn’t pressure a QB into a 100 acre pasture with a 50 ft wide gate.. But that’s beside the point.

Rankings like these are purely math excercises with little implication on what reality actually is. That’s my opinion at least.
 
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#46
#46
VAVol85 said:
We cannot have interior DLinemen playing that many snaps. I don’t care how much heart they have, they cannot generate push playing that many snaps.

In MCB, the Purdue OL simply parted our pass rush left and right while the QB picked us apart. Desperately need DLine depth - tackles as much as ends.
Click to expand...

Fully agree. I think the volume of snaps our defense played was on very clear display in their inability to muster physical play. They just looked tired as the season wore on. Depth has to improve.
 
#47
#47
hog88 said:
That doesn't have to be the case.
Click to expand...

No, but I can't think of any team with that type of offense that had a good defense? It seems that you have to sacrifice defense with a high tempo offense. The best defenses are the teams with offenses like Wisconsin, Georgia, Mich.
 
#48
#48
MontyPython said:
There are 3 types of lies in this world: Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics.

Just throw all those D stats out the window, as they're virtually meaningless in CJH's gameplan.

Why? Time of possession (TOP). Because our offense is so quick and efficient, we don't hold onto the ball very long at all. In fact we were ranked #130 out of 130 teams in TOP with an average of 24:24 per game.

This means opposing teams have the ball an average of 35:36 per game to run up offensive numbers. During the course of the entire season, our offense was on the field for 5 hours 18 minutes and 24 seconds, while our defense was on the field for 7 hours 41 minutes and 36 seconds.
Thus, it should be no surprise whatsoever that our defense STATISTICALLY speaking, appears to be a hot piece of flaming garbage.

Can our D get better? Absolutely. But we need more talent and numbers at LB and the secondary. Regardless, the numbers will always tell another story, whether we actually win, lose or draw.
Click to expand...

Excellent point. Defense on the field for two more hours is going to only go against your defensive stats, especially if the opponent is playing from behind. And due to style of play our D may never achieve stellar numbers. Question is where to they need to get to? I mean if the TOP between our O and the D was 1 hour, would that make a difference? I'm thinking a 1 hour TOP would be huge.....as the O gets it for that much more.
 
#49
#49
DiderotsGhost said:
Defensive yardage stats are meaningless in our system.. We have a much higher # of possessions than average, therefore our defense plays a much larger # of plays than average. Defensive efficiency is much more important than yardage rankings.

In defensive efficiency, ESPN has us ranked #44 out of 130, which is spectacular given the situation Tim Banks inherited. We had virtually no LBs, not enough DL (though we did a good job getting DL from the portal), and we were also a bit thin at secondary. There were obviously some weak points (3rd down defense in particular), but given what we started with, that's an amazing performance by the D.
Click to expand...
Pretty much it’s not the stats that are the issue as mich as some of the morons interpreting them. If you have an offense that’s scoring quickly and often, your defense will have pressure put on it. I’m not saying we were fantastic by any stretch of the imagination but people thinking Pruitt’s defense would’ve been better are delusional
 
#50
#50
LittleVol said:
Lord have mercy...

HOW MANY TIMES DOES THIS NEED TO BE EXPLAINED..?
HOW MANY??????

WHY CAN'T SOME OF YOU UNDERSTAND THAT ALL SIDES OF THE BALL ARE CONNECTED????!!!

You can't just look at rankings and say "that's what they are"

Tell me how many offensive opportunities (possessions) did the opposing team have against us PER game in 2021 vs 2019.

2019 was when when had that supposed stout defense. Right? But they weren't at first were they??

GA state put 38 points on them?
What happened on offense midway through that season? What happened to our QBs and offensive TOP during our "win-streak " in 2019?

In 2019, our offense mid season began to keep the ball longer and score more often. The defense was on the field less and got playmakers back.

Look at UCFs defense 2019- 2020
Now look at the Vols 2021
Observe you rankings again.
Odd similarities you'll find.
You'll find MORE opposing team offensive possessions avg per game than most teams.

While our offense scores more points per game, they also either scores very quickly or did nothing with the ball very quickly = the defense playing MORE SNAPS than the average. More chances for the opposing team to score means MORE POINTS AND YARDAGE given up.
Click to expand...

That is no excuse for our abysmal 3rd down and red zone defense.
 
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