Change I am happiest about on Defense...

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EE_Gopher

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They haven't given up a single play of 30 yards or more.

The last two years were terrible.
 

This is even more impressive considering we had 0 combined starts between the safeties going into UNLV. Kudos to Claeys.
 

Curseislifted33 said:
This is even more impressive considering we had 0 combined starts between the safeties going into UNLV. Kudos to Claeys.
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Yeah, I was sure by this point we would have seen a complete botch up for a deep TD pass by now. I'm pleasantly surprised, and just more evidence of the quality those guys are producing thus far, Wells in particular.
 

Love the improvement in the defense. If we can start seeing some big plays out of the linebackers, I think I could dare use the term "good" to describe the unit as a whole. That is a huge improvmenet over recent years. I hope this continues into conference play. Forcing turnovers is huge. It appears this group is capable of doing this and that too is a big improvement.
 

The screen pass in the South Dakota game was always the defensive low point for me.

screen pass.jpg
 



And besides the secondary give a lot of credit to the D-line. It makes a huge difference when the pass has to come out a second or two (or ten :)) earlier this year than last year. The receivers can't get behind the safeties, the corners are closer to their receivers, etc.
 

Schnauzer said:
Love the improvement in the defense. If we can start seeing some big plays out of the linebackers, I think I could dare use the term "good" to describe the unit as a whole. That is a huge improvmenet over recent years. I hope this continues into conference play. Forcing turnovers is huge. It appears this group is capable of doing this and that too is a big improvement.
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I agree. Not going to harp on previous coaching staffs, but Kill and Claeys seem to direct a fair number of good athletes to the defensive side of the ball and it shows. Moving Vereen to safety was a very astute move. He appears to be one of those guys who can flourish with the game in front of him.

There were some fits and starts on defense Saturday, but the defense stepped up big time on WMU's last possession. I was shuddering in fear from what has happened in the past few decades in that same situation, when an opponent used to seemingly always succeed on a low-probability drive for a win. Claeys is all about the pressure up front and forcing the opponents offense. We may be burned at times, but it sure beats sitting back and letting teams dictate the action. Things may change with tougher competition (and we need to shore up inside against the run), but I'm liking what I've seen to this point.

That said, anyone who thinks Carder is a pro prospect needs to re-think things. I was expecting more after all the ballyhoo leading up to last week's game.
 

Monty519 said:
Yep, that was absolutely unbelievable to watch...the whole game really, but that was just unreal.
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Yeah, and when Warren sliced them up so badly on the ground just running these unimaginative plays, I was truly disgusted. We haven't been known for defense in a long, long time. Hopefully, we can establish ourselves as a solid defensive unit.
 



50PoundHead said:
That said, anyone who thinks Carder is a pro prospect needs to re-think things. I was expecting more after all the ballyhoo leading up to last week's game.
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Or, our defense is way better than we think...
 

highwayman said:
Or, our defense is way better than we think...
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Our defense was solid, no doubt. But Carder missed on some throws that, as a pro prospect, I was a tad shocked he missed on. But I guess if we rattled his cage a little and that caused him to be skittish, then more power to us.
 

Our pass D has clearly improved exponentially, that is the secondary combined with a potent pass rush. The only "glaring" issue that most have noticed is our Run D the last few games. It has struggled, and I do not understand why Beal is not getting solid time in the middle. Rallis does not meet and or shed blockers in the middle. Also his backside D against the run on Saturday was rough. I do understand that Rallis has better range at MLB. Seeing as we are playing yet another Pass-first team, he will probably not see much time. But against big ten teams who pound the ball, I'd like to see him in there.
 

I think my favorite "change" is that there is no change at all. In coaches that is. Same coordinators, coaches and philosophies for back to back years helps!
 



Have we even allowed a passing TD in regulation yet? I'm trying to remember all the WMU TDs, but can't quite remember them all.. Even then, I find that I can't remember the last passing TD against us as a good stat as well.
 

Formo said:
Have we even allowed a passing TD in regulation yet? I'm trying to remember all the WMU TDs, but can't quite remember them all.. Even then, I find that I can't remember the last passing TD against us as a good stat as well.
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We allowed our first regulation passing TD late against WMU
 

Yeah, their last TD was a pass, and even that one was a pretty quality play by Carder and Wilson. Troy was right there, just that itty step behind to knock it away. Considering how many walk in pass play TDs we have seen over the past couple seasons, it has been a huge welcome change to see virtually every pass being contested in some way at least.
 

I stand corrected.. But even then, I'm impressed with our pass defense.
 

Regarding Carder. That guy was completely beat up during the game. I watched on TV, and you could tell he was struggling physically. We knocked him down a bunch, and it showed when he would hobble around. All the pressure we put on him may be why he didnt look like a pro prospect.
 

DLguy said:
Regarding Carder. That guy was completely beat up during the game. I watched on TV, and you could tell he was struggling physically. We knocked him down a bunch, and it showed when he would hobble around. All the pressure we put on him may be why he didnt look like a pro prospect.
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That could be, but I wasn't impressed with his mechanics or ability to throw different types of balls at all. Granted, Claeys loves to dial up the pressure (it seems to be his #1 priority), but I didn't think Carder's footwork was good at all. He banged up his leg, which limited his mobility and contributed to his problem, but I just didn't see him as a pro prospect (at least a highly-ranked pro prospect).
 

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