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What's Wrong With the 2013 Defense?

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What's Wrong With the 2013 Defense?

  • Talent / Players

    Votes: 29 11.8%

  • Scheme / Coaching

    Votes: 127 51.8%

  • Both are substandard

    Votes: 71 29.0%

  • Neither - B1G offenses are unstoppable

    Votes: 10 4.1%

  • I don't care - just fire Fickell!

    Votes: 8 3.3%
  • Total voters
    245
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Scheme/coaching. I think our players look hesitant out there because after more than 1.5 yrs in this system they still aren't sure about responsibilites. To me that speaks of a coaching and/or scheme issue. I think if the players feel comfortable with the system, they will be able to have some fire and aggression instead of sitting back afraid of making mistakes. I bet this poll will get more than a few responses there LJB, thanks for kicking off the discussion.
 
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Both are substandard got my vote although I have to think it's the scheme/coaching more than the talent against teams like Iowa and Northwestern. No WAY either of those teams can come close to the talent level of Ohio State.
 
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I feel like we have a ton of talent, and recruiting has been amazing. The players are still off, which tells me it has to be they aren't getting coached up well enough in practice. Throw in the defensive play calling that seems off, and I've got to put it to coaching. Let's hope that changes, and the new DBs/LBs we bring in are being coached up well.

Note: This does not apply to the D-Line. They are young, talented and have been coached up yet. Vrabel has been doing his job, and I hope he spends a long time with this staff.
The LBs I feel are getting better, and I'm not ready to throw in the towel there, but the DBs are really struggling. They look confused and struggle eliminating soft spots and making sure everyone is covered. I do not want to throw Combs to the wolves, because he is bringing in INCREDIBLE talent and once these kids are in the system for a year or two they have the talent to run the defense that we are asking them to run.
 
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I cast the first vote (and possible the last) for Talent/Players, so I think it needs an explanation. First off, this vote should not imply a belief that Fickell/Withers are at the level of our offensive coaches. But it seems to me that what is lacking in this defense is a couple of players down the middle (safety and MLB) that can recognize what the opposing offense is trying to do to and adjust the defensive call.

Yesterday is a case in point. I don't mind the fact that Iowa took the opening kickoff and drove the length of the field for a TD. Iowa sprung 3 TE sets on the defense- a look that they had not used much before. There are lots of times this type of thing happens to good defenses. I also don't mind the last long TD to the TE. Even DB's on really good defenses blow a coverage and give up a long score.

Its the 10 points between these two scores that has me concerned. And I think this is because there is no one on the field that can make the adjustments on the fly.
 
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I am going to vote talent. Not that the kids aren't talented but that they aren't playing up to their potential. We all saw last season how incredibly better the defense was when Boren was moved to LB. I still say outside of Shazier our LB's just aren't that good. It hurts to say that but its the truth. We complain about soft zone coverage but, honestly, which LB's do you trust to man up on a RB or TE right now? The talent dictates the scheme. I tend to trust the coaching staff because I can't imagine Urban would have anybody on staff who didn't know what they are doing.
 
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TampaBuckeyes said:
Note: This does not apply to the D-Line. They are young, talented and have been coached up yet. Vrabel has been doing his job, and I hope he spends a long time with this staff.
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Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more and it's why I voted for the scheme option. When a QB takes a three step drop and receivers are given 10-15 free yards to run in any direction without being contested it's like strapping 50lb ankle weights on our D-line. Watching previous games you can see how many times our D-line almost got there. Someone on the staff needs to say "we need to give them just one more step". Make a QB at least have to go to his second read for crying out loud. I won't bother with the whole 3 man line thing, but if I see Bosa ever taking on the center and two guards by himself again it will be too soon.
 
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For me, everything points to the coaching and scheme. I don't know if the issue is one person, or too many hands trying to control the system, but something isn't right. We have a ton of talent, and they appear to have good attitudes, so it comes down to the coaching.
 
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Linebacker is still a big issue. Thank god for Shazier because the other guys aren't there, yet. Perry is slowly getting better. Grant may be out of position at linebacker. Grant has trouble turning and covering. Teams are exposing our linebackers every week. It's ugly.
The secondary issues are more expected with Bryant missing and Roby struggling.
Reeves is getting picked on.
Brown is getting picked on.
Where is the pressure up front?
 
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Taosman said:
Linebacker is still a big issue. Thank god for Shazier because the other guys aren't there, yet. Perry is slowly getting better. Grant may be out of position at linebacker. Grant has trouble turning and covering. Teams are exposing our linebackers every week. It's ugly.
The secondary issues are more expected with Bryant missing and Roby struggling.
Reeves is getting picked on.
Brown is getting picked on.
Where is the pressure up front?
Click to expand...

We're seeing more pressure up front, but with the 'backs playing 10 yards off, the QB always has someone to unload on quickly. If we play tighter coverage, the defense will be able to get to the QB. Doesn't really apply to Wisconsin, but it seemed like the D-Line has been fixed in the last few weeks.
 
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