Defense

Our defense is ranked #100 in the country out of 134 teams. Only SEC teams below us are Arky and Kentucky. Saturday they gave up 500 yards offense half of which were on the ground. Arky went 7 of 13 on 3rd downs all 7 of which were over 5 yards.

There needs to be improvement for sure, and quickly.
 
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Same song and dance every single week. Doom and gloom poster: "we didn't blow (insert team of the week here) out, we're going to get throttled next week".

Football doesn't work or play out the way yall seem to think it does.
 
Last 3 games have been against 3 of the best rushing teams in the SEC. UGA, MSU, & Ark are some of the upper tier rushing teams in the league. Ark in particular is 3rd in total offense in the SEC. Ark & MSU are top 3-8 scoring offenses in the SEC. Vandy is actually the only offense left on the schedule that's on par or better than the last 3 teams played. Bama is middle of the pack rushing and scoring.
Now put that into perspective by looking at opponents. Ark has been hanging 60 on nobody’s all year. Up until us ole miss was their only opponent. No one will look back in another 6 weeks and remember “how great Arkansas O was”. Bama has a better offense regardless of the numbers you cherry pick. You’ll find that out in about 6 days.
 
We are high risk, high reward defensively. We lead all P4 teams in sacks and are tied for 9th in turnovers. We have 3 defensive TDs on the season as well.

Yes we give up a lot of yards and yes it is frustrating we can't seem to get off the field on 3rd and long too often. But this isn't a bad defense. Hopefully we can get back McCoy which should help improve the secondary and hopefully the run game as well.
 
Ouch. We drop soft zone and give them the sticks for most of these or show blitz too early and give a slot a crossing route on a safety or lb. It’s like a kids game for OCs to play against Banks.

 
I wasn't happy with a lot of the defensive play, but it's worth noting that Arkansas is currently the number 6 offense in the country and that's accounting for their awful performance against ND as well. They are averaging 36.3 points per game to our 48.2. Their QB is a lot of that as well with 1,654 passing yards and 504 yards rushing. As I stated in another post, he's not the "best" but likely the most athletic QB we will face this season. Kid is a gamer. Obviously some things could've been better, notably keeping our foot on the gas with a double digit lead, but Arkansas was going to put up points regardless.

And quite honestly they shouldn't have put up anymore than 17 points in the game. We decided to go into soft coverage defense and "prevent offense" which allowed them to sneak back in.
When you take a look at their schedule these numbers become a lot less impressive. Ole Miss was really it. I’m it buying the ND hype per usual and Memphis is no where near undefeated playing in a real conference. Ark is a 4 win team this year IF they’re lucky. The next 6 weeks for them are as tough as anyone’s. No one is going to be looking back in 6 weeks talking about how great their O was. To many yards, to many points, period.
 
Jam Miller's availability after his concussion may make a huge difference in this game. The rest of their RBs have not be been very successful. Their next best RB is averaging a shade over 4.0 ypc and only 30 yards per game. Jam Miller made a huge impact for Bama the last 2 weeks.

If Bama can't run it successfully, we're gonna be able to pin our ears back on 3rd down and get in Simpson's face a lot.
 
Don’t we lead the country in sacks?
Probably but why would Bama try to throw it that much when our rush defense is absolutely putrid? Arkys dumb coach lost the game for them by putting their team in obvious passing situations in the second half by trying to throw the ball on first down. We will have to do something we have not done yet this year to win this game and that is consistently stop the running game. Offense hasn't looked up to par the last couple of weeks either against weaker competition. It will take the best effort we have on both sides to win this game.
 
Probably but why would Bama try to throw it that much when our rush defense is absolutely putrid? Arkys dumb coach lost the game for them by putting their team in obvious passing situations in the second half by trying to throw the ball on first down. We will have to do something we have not done yet this year to win this game and that is consistently stop the running game. Offense hasn't looked up to par the last couple of weeks either against weaker competition. It will take the best effort we have on both sides to win this game.

Probably because their RB is out and they haven’t been able to consistently run the ball
 
Ouch. We drop soft zone and give them the sticks for most of these or show blitz too early and give a slot a crossing route on a safety or lb. It’s like a kids game for OCs to play against Banks.


It's definitely been an issue, that is no lie. Particularly 3rd and long conversions are a big issue. But also, notice how many more attempts against us there are than most other teams. A lot of those are 4th down conversions, and are plays that teams typically would not attempt in a normal game. But because our offense is so good, opposing offenses are forced to go for it on 4th down far more often against us than they likely otherwise would.

Now certainly, allowing those conversions at a high rate is still an issue. We've got to get better on that front. But there is zero chance Arky is going for it on 4th and 1 on their own 34 yard line on the first drive of the game vs a team like Auburn.
 
Probably not but auburn isn’t lining up with 4 down linemen giving them multiple options of gaps with lbs 4 yards off the ball vs a 6’6 qb either.
Attached is a typical 3rd and 6. 3 wrs open. Safety 25 yards deep. Defenders in our zone as always ball watching while guarding grass and standing closer to each other than a wr.
I’m not kidding when I tell you I coach a men’s special Olympics flag team the last 3 years and my qb knows where to go with the ball here at the snap so wtf do we think D1 starting qbs and OCs are going to see.
Going for 4th title in a row in Murf on Saturday btw.
 

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Probably not but auburn isn’t lining up with 4 down linemen giving them multiple options of gaps

Pretty much every team in the country plays with 4 linemen from time to time

with lbs 4 yards off the ball vs a 6’6 qb either.

4-5 yards off the ball is where most LBs play

Attached is a typical 3rd and 6. 3 wrs open.

The dig is not open. There’s 2 open.

Safety 25 yards deep.

He’s at about 17 which is appropriate because the WR is pushing vertical in the seam

Defenders in our zone as always ball watching while guarding grass and standing closer to each other than a wr.
I’m not kidding when I tell you I coach a men’s special Olympics flag team the last 3 years and my qb knows where to go with the ball here at the snap so wtf do we think D1 starting qbs and OCs are going to see.
Going for 4th title in a row in Murf on Saturday btw.
 
Pretty much every team in the country plays with 4 linemen from time to time



4-5 yards off the ball is where most LBs play



The dig is not open. There’s 2 open.



He’s at about 17 which is appropriate because the WR is pushing vertical in the seam
-on 4th and 1 from the opponent 35? No, you stack the line and shoot every gap for a stop, not just hand it to them.
-again with lbs, not in that situation
-wr on left at the sticks is wide open. Wr on right at the sticks is wide open. Wr behind the lbs is open.
-safety is 25 yards from a mobile qb on 3rd and 6. Of the 4 WRs, only 1 isn’t open
 
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