Regarding Our Terrible Defense

#1
DL916

DL916

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#1
So I was sitting here thinking about how well we played against NCST. Especially in the secondary with 4 INTs. Sure we gave up some big plays but we played pretty well. Then it hit me....Brian Randolph.

Since he got hurt our secondary has looked worse than I could ever imagine. My question to you VN is: was it that big of an impact?

If we have him in the lineup do we go from Career High Secondary to respectable secondary?
 
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#6
#6
While I think losing him has been huge, I don't think that's the main reason why the defense is playing so bad. Most of the big plays have been against the guys up front. In that NCSU game they were able to actually get pressure on the QB. I don't know if they're still trying to do that as much. It seems like it was much more aggressive play calling in that game and that it has been toned way down since then.
 
#8
#8
i'm sure it would help, but randolph played the vast majority of the florida game and florida put up big numbers.

there are 2 things you have to have in a 3-4.

1. a noseguard.

2. linebackers.

tennessee has d-tackles who hold their own, but aren't spectacular. but, they aren't the problem.

the tennessee linebackers are ssssssssssslllllllllllllllllooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwww.

in a 3-4 scheme, they have to stop the run, they have to be able to be there in pass coverage, and they have to put pressure on the qb.

the secondary can't tackle, so when the linebackers get exposed in the run game, the problems in the secondary show up.

in the passing game, how many jerseys of opposing qb's have gotten dirty?
 
#9
#9
davethevol said:
While I think losing him has been huge, I don't think that's the main reason why the defense is playing so bad. Most of the big plays have been against the guys up front. In that NCSU game they were able to actually get pressure on the QB. I don't know if they're still trying to do that as much. It seems like it was much more aggressive play calling in that game and that it has been toned way down since then.
Click to expand...

Hard to get pressure on a guy when the QBs first read is wide open and he doesn't have to hold the ball at all.

Our secondary is the worst I've ever seen and they're by far the slowest I've seen.
 
#10
#10
Losing Randolph was certainly a blow and has contributed to the terrible performance of the defense. But as bad as the secondary has played, the lineman and linebackers have been worse. The number of missed tackles is absurd, and the failure to seal off the edges killed us in the Florida game. The lack of a pass rush is pathetic. I am a big believer in a good pass rush, just look at what those two defensive ends for South Carolina are able to do. It is my opinion that the biggest need of this defense is improving the play of the front seven.
 
#11
#11
Yeah I agree^
We can't have small safeties tryin to stunt big TEs , or tackle monster backs, our LBs gotta get to the ball faster.
 
#12
#12
The EDGES! In my life I have never seen so many teams get to the edges while our DL, LB, or secondary is guilty of crashing into the heap, allowing them to run untouched to the EZ. Nobody to even get a finger on the runner.
I don't claim do understand defensive scheme well, but this really looks worse than high school Ds at time. Even in the NCSU game I remember thinking "how did that RB run untouched for a 3-4 yd TD? Has anyone seen a UT D be so porous?
And to think of all the derision against 3rd and Chavis. How ironic.
 
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#14
#14
We have been getting better pressure than earlier in the season. We had two sacks on SC, and even one on McCarron. Still not steller, but better than the ... ZERO...we had on the gators.
 
#15
#15
I thought Maggitt had his best game against NC st. It was also I believe the game he got injured and he has been playing with that injury ever since. He was getting a lot of pressure on Glennon and I thought he was the defensive player of the game. We don't have a lot of talent like Maggitt on defense and the fact that he is playing injured I think bolsters that claim. Still, with that said and with the loss of Randolph, I think the real reason we are "gawd-awful" on defense is mostly because our defensive coaches are presently outclassed and by extension that falls on the head coach - and as CDD should say, both they and he know that.
 
#16
#16
Overall, the B. Randolph 'hypothesis' is actually pretty telling where this team stands. We're still pretty fragile; the depth isn't very deep.

Taking it a step further, if we do lose a few of our key guys on offense this year, where will that leave us next season? A key challenge for any program is being able to keep your roster continuously fed on both sides of the ball.

This going to be a long rebuild ... and the rest of the respectable teams in the SEC already have a fairly significant jump on us.
 
#18
#18
ChattaTNVol said:
I thought Maggitt had his best game against NC st. It was also I believe the game he got injured and he has been playing with that injury ever since. He was getting a lot of pressure on Glennon and I thought he was the defensive player of the game. We don't have a lot of talent like Maggitt on defense and the fact that he is playing injured I think bolsters that claim. Still, with that said and with the loss of Randolph, I think the real reason we are "gawd-awful" on defense is mostly because our defensive coaches are presently outclassed and by extension that falls on the head coach - and as CDD should say, both they and he know that.
Click to expand...

So we don't have the talent and speed right now and it's only the coaches fault?? Not blaming players but think about how the coaches schemes and play calling would look if the players they have had the speed/talent to produce what they are trying to do as coaches. Not sure if this has come out right and my apologies but think about it from a different angle.

I know many responses are going to be "well he should recruit better" and to that I'm going to give an advanced "thanks capt obvious :good!:" :blink: It takes time to rebuild a whole team.
 
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#19
#19
The the remaining offenses on the schedule aren't even close to the ones we have played so far and thank goodness for that.
 
#20
#20
I see you are thinking about excuses for Dooley.... yes Randolph was a big loss. But I dont think that is the sole reason for our defense to suck this bad..... may be NC state was like the CAL... first game of the year... and just wasnt ready....
 
#21
#21
Oskie Volum said:
So we don't have the talent and speed right now and it's only the coaches fault?? Not blaming players but think about how the coaches schemes and play calling would look if the players they had had the speed/talent to produce what they are trying to do as coaches. Not sure if this has come out right and my apologies but think about it from a different angle.

I know many responses are going to be "well he should recruit better" and to that I'm going to give an advanced "thanks capt obvious :good!:" :blink: It takes time to rebuild a whole team.
Click to expand...

I think recruiting obviously effects performance and of course performance can and does effect recruiting. You mentioned schemes and play calling. My contention is that you scheme and play call with what you have in order to give the guys you have the best chance for success. You do not try to scheme and play call like you have Bama's defensive roster until you have something a lot closer than what we have right now, unless of course you think the fanbase is not going to notice, much less care, that you have reportedly the worse defense fielded by the university since 1893. It's the old square peg round hole syndrome.
 
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#22
#22
Our D is a "water through , sketti stop"

If Kensucky runs the ball the way they have been, we better hope Sunscetchy can talk em into givin up!
 
#23
#23
DL916 said:
5-3 with the 18th best offense in the nation.
Click to expand...

That's your SEC-ACC disparity, though. The SEC is so much better than everybody else that we can destroy a team like that while being maybe the 7th or 8th best team in the conference.

Tennessee, in relation to the rest of the country, is probably a pretty good team. But in the SEC, it looks like we suck. It's that simple. For me at least.
 
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#24
#24
DL916 said:
So I was sitting here thinking about how well we played against NCST. Especially in the secondary with 4 INTs. Sure we gave up some big plays but we played pretty well. Then it hit me....Brian Randolph.

Since he got hurt our secondary has looked worse than I could ever imagine. My question to you VN is: was it that big of an impact?

If we have him in the lineup do we go from Career High Secondary to respectable secondary?
Click to expand...
Switching to a 3-4 from a 4-3 requires big mobile lineman with their hands on the ground, and athletic linebackers who can blitz, cover and tackle. Corners have to be able to be good cover guys in one on one because of the aggressive deception type defense- we have none of the above. Our d line is much better, but Dooley should have known that we don't have the roster to run this defense.
 
#25
#25
utfan72408 said:
That's your SEC-ACC disparity, though. The SEC is so much better than everybody else that we can destroy a team like that while being maybe the 7th or 8th best team in the conference.

Tennessee, in relation to the rest of the country, is probably a pretty good team. But in the SEC, it looks like we suck. It's that simple. For me at least.
Click to expand...

That's about right. Living in Austin, I hear a lot about the other UT. They're 6-2 and ranked but at a neutral site I think TN would win pretty handily.
 
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