LibertyVolance
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In August, we were treated to all sorts of gleeful messages of the 2 freshman DLinemen pancaking one OLineman or another, literally tossing them aside. Some speculated that M Jackson and another OL, who were injured, made the fatal mistake of extending their arms and were hurt by these massive human specimens. 
Now I think those speculations were more of an indictment of how weak our OLinemen are than any reality of the athleticism of our current DLine.
Then, too, many of you remember the praise being heaped on the overall Team 119 Defense and how dominant it would be. Supposedly our depth at DB was so talented and good that nobody could throw on us. :cray: We are ranked 13th of 14 conference teams in pass defense giving up over 248 yrd per game and have given up 7 passing TDs in 4 games. Finally, we are 12th of the 14 conference teams in overall Defense.
Although these kinds of exaggerated hopes are not peculiar to us alone, I feel certain that it is just this kind of premature speculations that lead to meltdowns among the fan base.
In no way I'm suggesting the players have failed. Our 2 young true freshmen linemen are just learning to get off blocks and a long way yet from making individual tackles, muchless sacking a QB.
Rather than excuse the losses or place blame on coaches or players for the 2 losses, I am just pointing out that DEFENSE is more of a problem than anything else at this point. Tackling has been a severe weakness in every game. How telling is it that we have a freshman QB turned WR to make one of the few classic arms around upper legs wrap-up driving tackles on a kickoff return last week? The regular position defense should be shown that footage as a reminder of what a textbook tackle looks like. I see them bump, dive at feet, and reach all too often. That's not tackling. The fundamentals are too important to overlook.
Yes, we need to throw the ball downfield. Of course. Yes, we need to attack and not milk a lead. Lots of old coaches are guilty of that. Remember us rallying to beat Spurrier''s Gamecocks last year? Think they were upset that night?
But we need to recognize that just as we don't have perfect coaches, we aren't perfect fans either. Far from it. Everybody wants to rant after a loss, especially Sat. nights and Sundays. It's just part of the ritual I reckon. But after that, you need to reprogram yourself. Get ready for the next game weekend. Stop talking about firing coaches when you know that's not happening anytime soon regardless of what happens.
Live in the Now. Talk about Arkansas and their weak secondary and how we have to exploit that weakness this week with our air game. Let me remind you. Enjoy this season while you can. We are 4 weeks in, and it's going to be a long wait til the fall of 16.
Now I think those speculations were more of an indictment of how weak our OLinemen are than any reality of the athleticism of our current DLine.Then, too, many of you remember the praise being heaped on the overall Team 119 Defense and how dominant it would be. Supposedly our depth at DB was so talented and good that nobody could throw on us. :cray: We are ranked 13th of 14 conference teams in pass defense giving up over 248 yrd per game and have given up 7 passing TDs in 4 games. Finally, we are 12th of the 14 conference teams in overall Defense.
Although these kinds of exaggerated hopes are not peculiar to us alone, I feel certain that it is just this kind of premature speculations that lead to meltdowns among the fan base.
In no way I'm suggesting the players have failed. Our 2 young true freshmen linemen are just learning to get off blocks and a long way yet from making individual tackles, muchless sacking a QB.
Rather than excuse the losses or place blame on coaches or players for the 2 losses, I am just pointing out that DEFENSE is more of a problem than anything else at this point. Tackling has been a severe weakness in every game. How telling is it that we have a freshman QB turned WR to make one of the few classic arms around upper legs wrap-up driving tackles on a kickoff return last week? The regular position defense should be shown that footage as a reminder of what a textbook tackle looks like. I see them bump, dive at feet, and reach all too often. That's not tackling. The fundamentals are too important to overlook.
Yes, we need to throw the ball downfield. Of course. Yes, we need to attack and not milk a lead. Lots of old coaches are guilty of that. Remember us rallying to beat Spurrier''s Gamecocks last year? Think they were upset that night?
But we need to recognize that just as we don't have perfect coaches, we aren't perfect fans either. Far from it. Everybody wants to rant after a loss, especially Sat. nights and Sundays. It's just part of the ritual I reckon. But after that, you need to reprogram yourself. Get ready for the next game weekend. Stop talking about firing coaches when you know that's not happening anytime soon regardless of what happens.
Live in the Now. Talk about Arkansas and their weak secondary and how we have to exploit that weakness this week with our air game. Let me remind you. Enjoy this season while you can. We are 4 weeks in, and it's going to be a long wait til the fall of 16.
