2009 TSUN News (football only discussion)

[brutus2002]

Well Taurian is gonna get some PT this fall. IMO the kid is ready to blow up. Our offense is the last thing Michigan has to worry about...defense will be amazing.

 

[NFBuck]

Well Taurian is gonna get some PT this fall. IMO the kid is ready to blow up. Our offense is the last thing Michigan has to worry about...defense will be amazing.

A lot of people felt the same way last year. He needs to show it in the games. And I want to see more from our CBs and DL besides good practice showings before I'm ready to label the defense "amazing". Lets try to avoid the hyperbole we bash scUM fans for.

 

[Oh8ch]

Lets try to avoid the hyperbole we bash scUM fans for.

Michigan played in the Hyper Bole?

 

[martinss01]

Michigan played in the Hyper Bole?

yeah, its the only one your eligible for after going 3-9.

 

[brutus2002]

NFBuck you need to remember we return about everyone on the DL. Remember when our LB'ers were struggling...yep thats because the DL was struggling. The DL can make average linebackers look pretty good luckily for us we have very good linebackers. Yes this defense will be amazing.

 

[3074326]

NFBuck you need to remember we return about everyone on the DL. Remember when our LB'ers were struggling...yep thats because the DL was struggling. The DL can make average linebackers look pretty good luckily for us we have very good linebackers. Yes this defense will be amazing.

So far, what has this defensive line proven? They've struggled. I'm not willing to call this defensive line unit that struggled against teams like OU amazing until they prove it.

This defense has great potential, but amazing is a word that should be used after we see something truly special IMO.

 

[Folanator]

So far, what has this defensive line proven? They've struggled. I'm not willing to call this defensive line unit that struggled against teams like OU amazing until they prove it.

This defense has great potential, but amazing is a word that should be used after we see something truly special IMO.

Exactly. The entire Meatchicken O line is back. They were suspect last year. I am not sure that time is going to make them great. Not sure why we assume that our D line is going to be different.

It's a given that we have more relative talent on the outside when compared to UM. But the interior is not proven...yet.

 

[OregonBuckeye]

So far, what has this defensive line proven? They've struggled. I'm not willing to call this defensive line unit that struggled against teams like OU amazing until they prove it.

What about one that kicked Texas' ass? I remember NFBuck saying he wished we had UT's OL after the Red River game. Well, our DL did an incredible job against them. Sure, we brought a lot of heat with the LB's which helped but the DL itself was making plays consistently.

The DL did enough to earn the optimism it's getting.

I suggest listening to the Bucknuts Radio Hour. You can tell in Taver Johnson's voice that he thinks this is a special DL.

 

[3074326]

What about one that kicked Texas' ass? I remember NFBuck saying he wished we had UT's OL after the Red River game. Well, our DL did an incredible job against them. Sure, we brought a lot of heat with the LB's which helped but the DL itself was making plays consistently.

The DL did enough to earn the optimism it's getting.

I suggest listening to the Bucknuts Radio Hour. You can tell in Taver Johnson's voice that he thinks this is a special DL.

I don't have a problem with being optimistic.. I'm optimistic myself.. but amazing? We haven't even seen them play yet this year. This defensive line hasn't been good enough to warrant the tag of amazing, and it hasn't been consistent enough either.

I'm definitely optimistic. Just not being a homer about it.

 

[OregonBuckeye]

I don't have a problem with being optimistic.. I'm optimistic myself.. but amazing? We haven't even seen them play yet this year. This defensive line hasn't been good enough to warrant the tag of amazing, and it hasn't been consistent enough either.

I'm definitely optimistic. Just not being a homer about it.

Ah, I see what you're saying. Yeah, I agree it's premature to call them amazing. Didn't know that's what you were hung up on.

 

[xcrunner]

What about one that kicked Texas' ass? I remember NFBuck saying he wished we had UT's OL after the Red River game. Well, our DL did an incredible job against them. Sure, we brought a lot of heat with the LB's which helped but the DL itself was making plays consistently.

The DL did enough to earn the optimism it's getting.

I suggest listening to the Bucknuts Radio Hour. You can tell in Taver Johnson's voice that he thinks this is a special DL.

I wouldn't say that the DL "kicked Texas' ass" (having stud LB's and DB's helps the line out a whole lot), and it is also worth noting that we do lose Abdallah, possibly our best D-lineman last year and definitely our best on the inside (the part that I'm worried about the most).

That being said, it is definitely worth being optimistic about, although I too think already calling it "amazing" is too much. I do think we will have GREAT strength at the end positions, both with our starters and depth. We actually have pretty amazing depth there, maybe some of the best we've had in a long time. But will our DLine hold it's own against USC? We shall see, and God I hope they do!

 

[OregonBuckeye]

I wouldn't say that the DL "kicked Texas' ass" (having stud LB's and DB's helps the line out a whole lot), and it is also worth noting that we do lose Abdallah, possibly our best D-lineman last year and definitely our best on the inside (the part that I'm worried about the most).

Well, they certainly played a very good game. Abdallah is a tough loss. Never imagined I'd say that but he played lights out last year. Getting a healthy Denlinger and Garret Goebel into the mix should help though.

Didn't mean to get this thread off-topic.

 

[NFBuck]

NFBuck you need to remember we return about everyone on the DL. Remember when our LB'ers were struggling...yep thats because the DL was struggling. The DL can make average linebackers look pretty good luckily for us we have very good linebackers. Yes this defense will be amazing.

That's true, and the DL took great strides as the season went on culminating with a terrific game against Texas, but I'm not ready to anoint them as anything special just yet. Also, I know we tend to reload, but losing JL and MF is big. The potential is there, but until I see what they do against serious competition (USC), I'm not ready to call anything "amazing". The DL has the potential to be the best we've seen since 2002. They were very good against Texas, held their own, but weren't a disruptive force that it will take to qualify as amazing. The CBs are a potential question mark too. Chimdi really struggled against Texas and will need to step up not just his game, but be a leader. Amos and Torrence are unproven commodities and Howard is young and reports out of spring practice is that that still shows. Again, these guys have tremendous potential, but I need to see it proven on the field, not just glowing practice reports. This defense has a ton of that "P" word, but is very unproven. To come out and say they will be "amazing" is simply the same hyperbole we call scUM fans on. I know we have a better track record, and you can call me pessimistic if you must, but I need to see it. With the exception of Texas, our "outstanding" defenses have struggled against top competition the past three seasons, and we lose a good bit of the defense that stood up against Texas. I think they'll be very good, but I'll wait to call them "amazing". The 2002 defense was "amazing", the 2005 defense was very close to "amazing", this one has to show a lot to reach that level.

What about one that kicked Texas' ass? I remember NFBuck saying he wished we had UT's OL after the Red River game. Well, our DL did an incredible job against them. Sure, we brought a lot of heat with the LB's which helped but the DL itself was making plays consistently.

The DL did enough to earn the optimism it's getting.

I suggest listening to the Bucknuts Radio Hour. You can tell in Taver Johnson's voice that he thinks this is a special DL.

I did say that, and if we had Texas' OL last year, we would have been much better off. I love what our DL did against them, but I need to see more from them, especially with us replacing our best LBers and a shutdown corner from that defense.

back on topic...FUCK m*ch*g*n. :)

 

[brutus2002]

Well we were holding Texas to 27 POINTS UNDER THEIR AVERAGE till 20 seconds were left in the game...held PSU to 13 and PSU should have scored 28 ON THE TROJANS. I would qualify both the Texas and PSU defensive performances amazing. Sorry man but they played great in both those games. I mean the vaunted Okie defense gave up 45 to Texas.

 

[NFBuck]

Well we were holding Texas to 27 POINTS UNDER THEIR AVERAGE till 20 seconds were left in the game...held PSU to 13 and PSU should have scored 28 ON THE TROJANS. I would qualify both the Texas and PSU defensive performances amazing. Sorry man but they played great in both those games. I mean the vaunted Okie defense gave up 45 to Texas.

Again, I'm not saying they don't have the potential to be very good this year. But, the CB position is a question mark and we lost our two best LBers. The DL had some very good games, including Texas, but they contained them. For me to qualify them as "amazing", they need to be disruptive as the 2002 line was. Maybe these guys will be just that, but I'm taking a wait and see approach. They were too up and down last year. Even scUM moved the ball on them at times in the 2nd half. I have no problem with optimism, but to call the defense amazing when we lost players the calibre that we did and with so much unproven talent qualifies as hyperbole to me. You're entitled to your opinion, just giving you mine. I think most would agree with me.