Why will this defense be any different next year?

Donate To GopherHole
That's what I don't understand, it seems like the one tackle the RB gets to miss is a diving CB going at the ankles.

Why is our CB a first and last line of defense on these running plays. That puzzles me.
 

Yes I was wrong. It is more than just tackling. We’re in the wrong positions.
 

Face The Facts said:
That's what I don't understand, it seems like the one tackle the RB gets to miss is a diving CB going at the ankles.

Why is our CB a first and last line of defense on these running plays. That puzzles me.
Click to expand...

When the other team can eliminate your front seven with their O-Line it puts your defense in a tough spot relying on corners and safeties to make the stops. On their second TD Huff totally ran himself out of the play and on two others he had a chance to make an open field tackle and whiffed.

If you watch this highlight video of the big plays you can see on the ones for Illinois that the middle of the field is wide open and our LBs are nowhere to be found. Illinois completely dominated our front 7 on defense all game which led to big play after big play. Some of the blame has to go to the coaching but the bottom line is at some point the players on the field have to win the one on one battles.
 

MNVCGUY said:
When the other team can eliminate your front seven with their O-Line it puts your defense in a tough spot relying on corners and safeties to make the stops. On their second TD Huff totally ran himself out of the play and on two others he had a chance to make an open field tackle and whiffed.

If you watch this highlight video of the big plays you can see on the ones for Illinois that the middle of the field is wide open and our LBs are nowhere to be found. Illinois completely dominated our front 7 on defense all game which led to big play after big play. Some of the blame has to go to the coaching but the bottom line is at some point the players on the field have to win the one on one battles.
Click to expand...

This. Just watch the line play on the first 2 Illini TDs. Every Gopher in the box gets thoroughly blocked, sometimes blown away. I'm not sure how you scheme to fix that.
 

I don’t think it can get much worse, but I agree. Maybe a new coordinator is the answer.

Think the offense will be really good next season, so I’m expecting a lot of 48-42 type games, which isn’t the recipe for success in the Big Ten.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


The defense was a utter disaster as we all saw. Fleck said that some of the back 7 are trying to be heroes by going to a spot where they think the runner will be instead of staying in their lane.
Also even though Illinois’ defense is terrible, look at their d linemen compared to the Gophers and it looks like their guys had 40 lbs more weight across the board. Our front four without Smith are too small.
 

Face The Facts said:
That's what I don't understand, it seems like the one tackle the RB gets to miss is a diving CB going at the ankles.

Why is our CB a first and last line of defense on these running plays. That puzzles me.
Click to expand...

I have seen this scenario too many times in big ten games as well: Martin, Cashman, or Barber are in the hole where the RB is headed, offensive lineman comes to second level and absolutely pancakes our linebacker and running back is off to the races. Barber is good sized and he is trying to get low but 320 lbs wins. We don’t have any d lineman that are requiring a double team and they are often mismatched on a single team. I think d line and safety are the two weakest position groups on the team.
Edge not sealed and two offensive linemen blowing up our linebackers on this first one plus the safeties both playing deep and still not making the tackle.
ae0121a7e4eabb34a2d45d9c20fefd40.jpg
 
Last edited:

WorkingMyTailOff said:
I have seen this scenario too many times in big ten games as well: Martin, Cashman, or Barber are in the hole where the RB is headed, offensive lineman comes to second level and absolutely pancakes our linebacker and running back is off to the races. Barber is good sized and he is trying to get low but 320 lbs wins. We don’t have any d lineman that are requiring a double team and they are often mismatched on a single team. I think d line and safety are the two weakest position groups on the team.
Edge not sealed and two offensive linemen blowing up our linebackers on this first one plus the safeties both playing deep and still not making the tackle.
ae0121a7e4eabb34a2d45d9c20fefd40.jpg
Click to expand...

The middle guy you circled isn't a linebacker, that's our left D Tackle getting blown back 4 yards one-on-one into LB territory...which can be an issue sometimes.
 

Panthadad2 said:
The middle guy you circled isn't a linebacker, that's our left D Tackle getting blown back 4 yards one-on-one into LB territory...which can be an issue sometimes.
Click to expand...

You are right.
 



Panthadad2 said:
The middle guy you circled isn't a linebacker, that's our left D Tackle getting blown back 4 yards one-on-one into LB territory...which can be an issue sometimes.
Click to expand...

Wow my bad. Did I see DeLattiboudere playing d tackle a bit yesterday?
 

MNVCGUY said:
What this defense is really missing right now is great play from the LB position which is one of our most experienced areas. Barber and Cashman were nowhere to be seen today.

D-Line has to get better at some point but that has been a tough spot for this defense for a long time. At some point we will hopefully get to the point where the D-Line can generate consistent pressure on the QB.

As for the future it is tough to say, but I would take a good long look at any of the redshirt guys over the remainder of the season to see if any of them can play and to start getting them some experience. Nothing to lose at this point as it really can't get any worse then what we saw out there today.
Click to expand...

Recency affect in play here. Yes they had an off game yesterday, but the LBs and those two have been around the ball all season making plays.
 

No, it wasn't the DT -- I'm talking about the first ILL TD run -- t was our left D End ... DeLattiboudere. I mean, you wanna talk getting blown out, to the other side of the field ... holy smokes.

That block also got in the way of Cashman ... though I don't know if he could've made the play, anyway. He got sucked so far up into the line, that when it bounced out, he was way too far out of position. And what was Barber doing? Seemed to be a whole lot of nothing. Is he hurt??


Now look at the TD throw to the TE. Focus on K Martin. He seems to have been given an impossible assignment: spy the QB *and* cover the TE. He starts following Bush out, then you can see his helmet look over at the TE and go "oh crap! there goes the TE!" right about the time that Bush is throwing to the uncovered TE for a TD.


Yes, some bad playing .... but also, just horrible scheming. Horrible. Horrible preparation.
 

I mean think about this: you had two pretty hapless teams, Nebraska and Illinois, and suddenly, they became world-beaters when they played us. Isn't it amazing how teams always manage to set records on offense against us? How they literally can do no wrong on offense, against us? How everything starts clicking, any play they call works?

That's not them ... that's US! That's us stinking the joint up.
 



Gophers_4life said:
No, it wasn't the DT -- I'm talking about the first ILL TD run -- t was our left D End ... DeLattiboudere. I mean, you wanna talk getting blown out, to the other side of the field ... holy smokes.

That block also got in the way of Cashman ... though I don't know if he could've made the play, anyway. He got sucked so far up into the line, that when it bounced out, he was way too far out of position. And what was Barber doing? Seemed to be a whole lot of nothing. Is he hurt??


Now look at the TD throw to the TE. Focus on K Martin. He seems to have been given an impossible assignment: spy the QB *and* cover the TE. He starts following Bush out, then you can see his helmet look over at the TE and go "oh crap! there goes the TE!" right about the time that Bush is throwing to the uncovered TE for a TD.


Yes, some bad playing .... but also, just horrible scheming. Horrible. Horrible preparation.
Click to expand...
I refer to the defensive guys lining up over the OTs as D Tackles in a 3-4. You refer to them as D Ends. We're on the same page though as to the results.
 

Panthadad2 said:
I refer to the defensive guys lining up over the OTs as D Tackles in a 3-4. You refer to them as D Ends. We're on the same page though as to the results.
Click to expand...

Look at the youtube video posted above and hit pause at 4 seconds in. Yes, Coughlin is in a 2-point stance, but other than that, this defensive alignment is 100% a 4-3 formation, though in this case it is a 4-2-5. They have Barber (the normal MLB) out on the slot, and they have K Martin (the normal OLB) way back by the safeties.

Neither LB does much of anything on the play, of course.

No other defender is even close to DLb at the left end. Barber is well off him, and back, over the slot receiver. He simply got *destroyed* by the right OT on the play. I mean like, lifted up and thrown back.
 

Gophers_4life said:
No, it wasn't the DT -- I'm talking about the first ILL TD run -- t was our left D End ... DeLattiboudere. I mean, you wanna talk getting blown out, to the other side of the field ... holy smokes.

That block also got in the way of Cashman ... though I don't know if he could've made the play, anyway. He got sucked so far up into the line, that when it bounced out, he was way too far out of position. And what was Barber doing? Seemed to be a whole lot of nothing. Is he hurt??


Now look at the TD throw to the TE. Focus on K Martin. He seems to have been given an impossible assignment: spy the QB *and* cover the TE. He starts following Bush out, then you can see his helmet look over at the TE and go "oh crap! there goes the TE!" right about the time that Bush is throwing to the uncovered TE for a TD.


Yes, some bad playing .... but also, just horrible scheming. Horrible. Horrible preparation.
Click to expand...

In regards to the TE play, the thing none of us can know for certain is if Martin was actually given the assignment you laid out or if he was given the assignment of covering the TE but instead had his eyes on the QB and lost sight of the TE. To me the second scenario seems more likely but have no way of knowing that for sure.

Bottom line is there are almost certainly some problems with the scheme itself and within that scheme there are a lot of issues with players executing and making plays. Coaches need to figure out what is broken and adjust the calls or personnel accordingly. That is one thing Claeys was very good at as a DC, to this point Smith does not seem to be in that same class.

Fleck has to decide if he believes Smith can get it done. If he does then he will hitch his wagon to him and hope things get better as they get their players in the system and they have more time to learn and grow. Or he has to go out and find someone else to run the D.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Fleck has to decide if he believes Smith can get it done. If he does then he will hitch his wagon to him and hope things get better as they get their players in the system and they have more time to learn and grow. Or he has to go out and find someone else to run the D.
Click to expand...

This sounds well and fine, on paper.

Here is the problem: as Pompous brought up in the other thread, Robb Smith already has a history of floundering defense that get worse as time goes on. Something he does, just does not work, with these kids. Maybe he runs too complex of a scheme, that is only appropriate at the NFL level, for guys who study film and schemes all day long. College guys need a certain level of simplicity to succeed, is my theory ...
 

So whatever happened to Malcom Robinson? As far as I can tell he hasn’t played all year.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I wish our problem was about tackling.

We have the strangest defense. We aren't aggressive yet we're always one, just one, broken tackle away from a HUGE gain. Big 10 RBs are going to break some tackles, we have way bigger problems than in ability to tackle.
Click to expand...

Yeah I could live with a few big plays if the defensive was playing aggressive but that’s not even close to the case.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Yeah I could live with a few big plays if the defensive was playing aggressive but that’s not even close to the case.
Click to expand...

+1

Usually the tradeoff is that if you are playing for a lot of three and outs and turnovers, you risk getting beat with the big one. Here, it is like we are sacrificing the yardage and turnovers to avoid getting beat by the big play, but then getting burned by big plays anyway.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I wish our problem was about tackling.

We have the strangest defense. We aren't aggressive yet we're always one, just one, broken tackle away from a HUGE gain. Big 10 RBs are going to break some tackles, we have way bigger problems than in ability to tackle.
Click to expand...
Part of our problem is tackling.
I agree with you in that I can’t figure out what they are trying to do.
Whatever it is, it isn’t working.
 


bleedsmaroonandgold said:
They should be better next year because they will have had a chance to become elite athletically, academically, socially, and spiritually, more of them will have had a chance to be newton of the week, and they will have more how.
Click to expand...

Awesome! While likely said w/ a bit of sarcasm, its true. If it weren't then no team would improve.
 

Gophers_4life said:
Look at the youtube video posted above and hit pause at 4 seconds in. Yes, Coughlin is in a 2-point stance, but other than that, this defensive alignment is 100% a 4-3 formation, though in this case it is a 4-2-5. They have Barber (the normal MLB) out on the slot, and they have K Martin (the normal OLB) way back by the safeties.

Neither LB does much of anything on the play, of course.

No other defender is even close to DLb at the left end. Barber is well off him, and back, over the slot receiver. He simply got *destroyed* by the right OT on the play. I mean like, lifted up and thrown back.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing the clip Gopher 4Life. I’m amazed Fleck let this go on for so long. A 4-2-5 with undersized D lineman and inexperienced to poor secondary. That’s shameful. Hopefully Man starts playing a normal/real defense soon. Can’t think of a worse defensive coordinator than Robb Smith. Just sick to see it on still shots of video. It’s no wonder the big plays are one after the next.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Gophers_4life said:
Look at the youtube video posted above and hit pause at 4 seconds in. Yes, Coughlin is in a 2-point stance, but other than that, this defensive alignment is 100% a 4-3 formation, though in this case it is a 4-2-5. They have Barber (the normal MLB) out on the slot, and they have K Martin (the normal OLB) way back by the safeties.

Neither LB does much of anything on the play, of course.

No other defender is even close to DLb at the left end. Barber is well off him, and back, over the slot receiver. He simply got *destroyed* by the right OT on the play. I mean like, lifted up and thrown back.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the Illini did a great job on offense spreading way out and exposing the Gophers front 7 on the 1st TD run. 4 wide receivers on that first TD run. Against a stronger front 7, the Illini could have gotten destroyed doing that.

On the 2nd long TD run, it was simply a matter of the Gopher front 7 getting beat physically. Illini had 2 RB in and 3 WR out. Gophers running a modified 4-2 with safety blitz (or 4-3 counting the safety) on the run side which should have worked on paper...but the DE, DT, and LB at the point-of-attack all get blocked easily and the blitzing safety seemed to give up on the play. The remaining safety bites on the fake and is out of position to make the tackle. To me, this one play summed up the day.
 
Last edited:

Like I said after the Nebraska game ... they just needed to do something different! Anything! Try it ! It can't be worse than what we have.

Switch to a real 3-4, with 3 big DL down and with Coughlin back as a linebacker. Or try aggressive blitzing on almost every play. Anything ... something. Give us a chance here! We can score points ... enough to win.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom