2012 Defense Discussion

[Taosman]

We thought we would have a pass rush which would make life easier for the back seven but injuries have hurt there too! It has a causal effect on the whole defense. No pass rush puts tremendous pressure on solid tackling and pursuit angles. Everything breaks down and you get big plays.
As a whole the defense performance has been tremendously hurt by injuries to the D line. A healthy D line will instantly make this defense much better.
We don't need to shut teams out. Just slow them down!

 

[cincibuck]

The size of all the linebackers- whippets where we used to have rottweilers- concerns me. Two questions come to mind 1) is this part of Meyer's philosophy - hard to believe since this is still "Tressel's team" ? 2) Is Shazier a pro Safety?

 

[Bill Lucas]

I watched the Indiana game last night. The defense was solid in the first half except for one play. Indiana had 6 punts and 150 yards of offense in the first half and half of that yardage came on one play.

The second half was an entirely different story.

 

[HorseshoeFetish]

Is Shazier a pro Safety?

I've been wondering about that as well. Dude would be a missile. If we had depth at LB I wouldn't mind seeing him as one at the college level. Don't ya just miss the Assassin?


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN7brBdh-G0"]A Tribute to Jack Tatum - YouTube[/ame]

 

[akronbuck]

The size of all the linebackers- whippets where we used to have rottweilers- concerns me. Two questions come to mind 1) is this part of Meyer's philosophy - hard to believe since this is still "Tressel's team" ? 2) Is Shazier a pro Safety?

we need some more Ninga Studs but, I prefer females

 

[VBSJ]

The size of all the linebackers- whippets where we used to have rottweilers- concerns me. Two questions come to mind 1) is this part of Meyer's philosophy - hard to believe since this is still "Tressel's team" ?

I don't think or doubt that's his philosophy, because if you look at his Florida linebackers like Brandon Spikes and co., they were all big (but fast).

Also, the linebackers he (or his staff) are currently recruiting aren't all smaller.

 

[OSUK]

Their problems mystify me. When you look at those D linemen individually, they are very impressive players who are capable of controlling the LOS. They look like Tarzan, but produce like Jane - especially in terms of pressuring the QB without blitz packages. If someone wants to line up in the I and run between the tackles (like MSU), they look great. Against the spread running game, they are terrible.

The secondary is similar to the line - Roby and Barnett are really good players. Howard is a big play guy. Johnson and Bryant are alternatingly really good and really bad. They do a great job of coverage and knocking the ball out of receivers' hands, but then they will have a play where a guy is running wide open and they are reacting slow and taking bad angles.

The LB situation I do understand. They were thin to begin with then Grant just can't get it, then Sabino goes down, and now we have Z Boren leading us in tackles. So, this is definitely the weakest link. Could the line and secondary be trying to play their role AND cover for what is not being done behind and in front of them?

I'm just not sure where the breakdown is. I have to assume they are being coached well, but I wonder whether the scheme is making them less aggressive. Too complicated? Yet it seems that they are playing pretty basic. If it's not that, you get into quasi-metaphysical concepts like leadership, attitude, spirit, confidence, etc.

All I know is that we won Sat night - and I felt nauseous.

 

[Bill Lucas]

Does it appear to others that there is no stunting/twists going on in the pass rush? Every rush seems to be a bull rush to me and I'd think that it's easier to block someone who is simply trying to overpower you than someone that is trying to out think and overpower you. To me this is a scheme issue. Of course, three step drops don't help.

Please be kind as I am not a football defensive coach but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night. :)

 

[Taosman]

I watched the Indiana game last night. The defense was solid in the first half except for one play. Indiana had 6 punts and 150 yards of offense in the first half and half of that yardage came on one play.

The second half was an entirely different story.

There was let down in the third quarter after Brax TD run. Guys started to relax and think Indiana would just roll over. Not this Indiana team with that coach. After Brax threw the end zone interception they got confidence and scored right away. New game.

 

[Coqui]

Does it appear to others that there is no stunting/twists going on in the pass rush? Every rush seems to be a bull rush to me and I'd think that it's easier to block someone who is simply trying to overpower you than someone that is trying to out think and overpower you. To me this is a scheme issue. Of course, three step drops don't help.

Please be kind as I am not a football defensive coach but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night. :)

You're right. I've heard numerous people talk about the lack of stunts/twists

 

[fanaticbuckeye]

What good is a stunt/twist with a 3 step drop? If that's what is killing us, would the best case be to penetrate certain lanes and put your hands up to deflect passes? At the same time, shouldn't the cb's press? But that has been questioned to death at this point.

How many times have our CB's been burnt in man coverage? I know there have been a couple of times in the secondary, but was it a man situation or miscommunication in a zone? I know the LB's struggle in coverage and I heard/read that the coaches preferred zone coverage because of the deficiencies. I guess my thought is, if we are getting burnt now, why not get uber aggressive and try to create mayhem? We may sti get burnt, but we may increase turnovers in the process. This just seems like a great chance to get creative through aggression; especially knowing our offense can keep up in a track meet.

 

[Bill Lucas]

What good is a stunt/twist with a 3 step drop?

Maybe once in a while someone would have a clean shot at the quarterback without dealing with a blocker first. Martinez sure got rattled from the hits he took as he threw the ball. Pressures, hurries and knockdowns are very important IMO.

 

[OSUK]

D linemen are given gap responsibilities, and when you are playing a spread team, it's safer to stay in your gap than to stunt/twist and get out of your gaps because you create big running lanes - and focusing on gap responsibilities takes away from your aggressiveness. You can be aggressive, and create those lanes, but you had better have LB's and safeties that can close them fast.

I'm up for anything in terms of changes. The only thing I won't tolerate is going to the 3-3-5. All that defense means is that you have resigned yourself that you can't stop anyone. :)

 

[fanaticbuckeye]

Maybe once in a while someone would have a clean shot at the quarterback without dealing with a blocker first. Martinez sure got rattled from the hits he took as he threw the ball. Pressures, hurries and knockdowns are very important IMO.

I get that and I'm with you; my question was more towards the Indiana/Miami gameplan of hiking the ball and throwing it like a hot potato. I guess it could change the passing lanes too. So that would be a positive. Twists and stunts could open up running lanes (Shoelaces) if its picked up properly. With as strong of a push as Hank and Simon get, you'd think that stunts could be very effective.

 

[LitlBuck]

To be honest, I think I would be sleeping better at night about our defense if Carlos Hyde had not had an illegal procedure penalty called on him with about 5 minutes left in the game on a 1st and 10 and the score was 52-34. I think we would have gotten a first down at probably would have milked the clock down to around 2 minutes at least and the final score would have probably ended 52-34 and there would not be a lot about our defense. Maybe I'm being too simplistic but that's just my opinion