Hey, i'm not saying that our current defense isn't good. It is.
But it is not at a championship level.
Can anyone disagree with that statement?
We've got good players out there...but they can be beaten. Especially on the road.
Yes, I watched The Game. I saw a defense that played their hearts out. I saw a stadium that was absolutely rocking, and our D rising to the occasion. I saw Michigan getting rattled.
Do you guys expect this to happen EVERY GAME next year???????
I don't want a good defense that can play great at times (which is what we'll have next year without ginn). I want a GREAT defense, like the '96 and '02 units. What happened in '02? We won the national championship. What happened in '96? We would've won the national championship if not for John Cooper.
I like our defensive line. But they are far from dominant. How many times, during the course of the year, were we able to get to the quarterback with just a 4 man rush? It was few and far in between. Will they improve? Of course. But it is silly to expect incredible improvement in just one year. If anybody thinks that this line can be as good as the '02 line, they are crazy.
Youboty is very good. But he can be beaten. Whoever steps up to replace Fox, they will hopefully be pretty good. But they will get beaten also.
What were you guys watching this year? Marshall rolled up yards on us. We couldn't stop Northwestern at all. Wisconsin scored TDs in the red zone. Iowa totally dominated us. Michigan St. rolled up something like well over 400 yds I believe. Purdue obliterated us for a half, then stormed down the field for the winning TD. Our D played its best game of the year against Michigan, and they still gave up 21 pts.
Next year, we will have a good defense that can be beat. With Ginn, we have a championship defense. On offense, even with Ginn, we won't have a championship offense.
Everyone's problem is that they are looking at the michigan game and assuming that every game next year will play out in the exact same way. Troy Smith will not be on fire every game. Our D will not be playing with ridiculous intensity every game. The Horseshoe will not be rocking every game. Teams will not be kicking to Ginn every game.
Next year, we have the opportunity to rely on a championship defense. Our D will NOT rock next year without ginn. Look, I love all of those guys to death and they are all good players. But without Teddy, it will be a slightly better version of this year's. Do you guys want that? Do you expect to run the table with that defense?
Ginn doesn't have to score any TDs on defense. I don't really care if this causes him to lose the Heisman, and I don't think he'll care, either.
If teams want to line up and run against us, we'll just put 8 in the box. We won't need that safety to help out on Ginn. We'll stuff the run.
If teams want to spread it out and pass against us, again, we'll just double up on their 2nd and 3rd best receivers. With Ginn totally shutting down their top guy, they will be forced to rely on their 4th and 5th options. This won't get them far.
Without ginn, we are in trouble. If a strong team wants to grind out first downs against us, they'll be able to do it. If a team with talented WRs and a hot QB wants to pass againt us, they'll be able to do it, despite how good Youboty and the rest of the secondary might be. Without ginn on D, if the other QB is hot and troy is having a bad day (and considering that we probably won't have a running game and all the pressure will be on troy to produce...the odds of him being cold once in a while are pretty high)....WE WILL LOSE. GOODBYE, NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.
With ginn on D, our defense will consistently dominate. Our offense won't have to do much to win. And if, for whatever reason, we are struggling....put Ginn at WR!!!! He can handle going both ways for a quarter or two.
There is a difference between a good defense and a GREAT defense. Ted Ginn Junior is that difference. Shut-down corners are rare. VERY, VERY RARE. We need to take advantage of the one we've got. He will still get plenty of touches on offense, believe me.
Mili, I didn't mean to say Unless. I meant to say, Even. As in, even if we put solid guys in the secondary they will still get eaten up occasionally if the D-line doesn't dominate.