Defense

[GTThor]

About right here is where you should have stoppped.

No need to be upset. Sorry some of you took what I said personal. Not an attack on any of you. I can guarantee you that the DC set in his office and said or thought the same thing that was said here.
He might have even second guess coming here. He might have even thought that this was a step backwards talent wise.

But you guys are the smartest people on the planet. Please figure out what needs to be done for the team to win a National Championship.

This is GT, you can do that.......

 

[Gold1]

It’s been multiple organs bowl wins, multiple ACCCG, it’s been 5 seasons of 8 or more wins with what the recruiting services say is below average recruiting. It’s been the 4th most successful ACC team in that span. It’s been wins over powerhouse teams like UGA, FSU, and Clemson.......

Multiple orange bowl wins?

 

[tech_wreck47]

Multiple orange bowl wins?

My apologies, 2 appearances 1 win. Regardless a lot has been accomplished.

 

[iceeater1969]

My apologies, 2 appearances 1 win. Regardless a lot has been accomplished.

I often see the point that OUR OC coaching greatly contributed to the victory. In particular its is pointed that offensive coordination us what made the victories so defining.
And that is true in so many ways - the most amazing fact is drives in second half. This is especially true against teams and inexperienced DC.

Should not the OPPOSING coach be a tempering factor? In the 2014 coach s adjustments were not countered by the DB coach who was assigned as DC a few weeks before.

This year we have all the offensive pieces to be very good against lessor or inexperienced defenses. In Alcorn and usf we are right on track and us likely to continue against bowling green.


It's time for our offense to be dominant against the acc middle tier to bailout our young and hopefully maturing defense.

When we get to the talented teams w expierenced teams, I no longer believe we will have orange bowl 14 offensive display. If the o is shutdown , the young defense will be blown out. In those games if the defense can get take aways AND the o can fight out some drives we can win.
So far the O is on track. If it can stay on track and the defense play fast , this can be a very special season for the TEAM.

 

[AE 87]

Last year, App St had a game like this on D against ULM, but their D was strong for the season and were lights out in their bowl game.

In 2014, our D had a game like this against GS (apart from DJs fumble force).

Deciding the season on one game is foolish, imo.

 

[Fatmike91]

I’m surprised that nobody pointed out the impact of the player ejections and injuries. We were playing our 3rd string in some important spots.


Combine the new faces with being early in the season (and early in establishing a new system) and there some reasonable hope that things will get better.


/

 

[iceeater1969]

Last year, App St had a game like this on D against ULM, but their D was strong for the season and were lights out in their bowl game.

In 2014, our D had a game like this against GS (apart from DJs fumble force).

Deciding the season on one game is foolish, imo.

87, do u know if the App st defense generally only rushed 4 like we did at usf?

Also did they often have thier lb and safeties closer to the line than we were at usf? At end we seemed more aggressive but they had already scored several times.

I also wonder did they ever shift into and out of blitz line up.

So far the new d looks like the old d fir the back 7 (cb, s, lb).

 

[AE 87]

87, do u know if the App st defense generally only rushed 4 like we did at usf?

Also did they often have thier lb and safeties closer to the line than we were at usf? At end we seemed more aggressive but they had already scored several times.

I also wonder did they ever shift into and out of blitz line up.

So far the new d looks like the old d fir the back 7 (cb, s, lb).

I didn't watch that closely.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

I said it about Roof I’ll repeat it again. What our def backs are doing is not at all unusual. Watch any game and you will see similar looks, similar cushions, similar plays.

Some execute better than others. Some play off but break on the ball better than others when the ball is in the air. App State did it well last year. The results might not have been as good as you wanted last week but I’m pretty certain Woody didn’t forget how to coach in the offseason.

We have a very young secondary learning a brand new scheme. The secondary imo isn’t as impacted by the change as the front 7 but they have had to learn new stuff also.

Not only are we pretty young back there but we have a bunch of guys learning how to play with one another/ off one another for the first time.

Like AE87 said. Don’t judge off of one game, especially our first real test.

 

[AE 87]

...
Like AE87 said. ...

Keep it simple

 

[iceeater1969]

I didn't watch that closely.

Thanks

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

Keep it simple STUPID

FIFY

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

And who's fault is that ... coaching or recruiting or the boogey man ?
Maybe it's how we practice maybe it's because we have recruiting issue's with this offense ...
CTR was a LB for us ... I think he knew how to wrap-up ... remember the Black watch Defense.

In his day, Roof did not just "wrap up" the runners went backwards sometimes with a head snapping back. He hit people really hard as did Pat Swilling, Anderson, among others. The hitting was ferocious.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

The reason he was hired was for the simplicity of the scheme. He has had a spring practice, summer, and a pre season period to teach the scheme. If they can't learn it in 5-6 months, a GT man isn't going to ever learn it. These guys train year round.

Last time I will say it... NW is in over his head. He has always had better athletes than the other team. He will never have better athletes here. He has to be the better coach. Scheme, communication, work ethic, and game plan.

Don't you think that after just two games you might be jumping the gun just a tad? You may be right but we will see. Personally, I think we have more of a talent problem on defense than anything else which is why I cautioned people not to expect miracles just because we changed coaches and schemes. Maybe we do have the players but history seems to suggest that we have a definite talent deficiency that is more noticeable on defense than offense. The solution to our current woes is simple: recruit better players. Easy to say, hard to do, I know.

 

[takethepoints]

What I can't understand is why our D players often don't wrap up.

Back in the Dark Ages when I played one of the things I used to look forward too in every game was to get pass the first line of blockers and suddenly find myself face to face with an RB or QB. I would draw a bead on their chest - looking at their eyes or shoulders was a no-no - slow down slightly and hit them full in the body. If I was lucky, I could then pick them up slightly, wrap my arms around them, leave my feet, and crush their chest under my weight. Again, if I was lucky, I'd get a slight moan from them when they hit the ground.

I loved that. I lived for it. It's the dream of every D player to get a hit like that. And you don't get it by not wrapping up. Too often players these days try to hit O players hard enough to knock them off their feet. I can see that, but getting that perfect hit is so much better.

Ok, enough with the sadistic memories. Let's hope the guys start to do this more soon.

 

[danny daniel]

This week is big for the D. Some players look good in the weight room or in practice drills but in live action lack discipline or they cannot find the ball or get off blocks quick enough. It typically takes the coaches about 3 games to significantly sort these issues out. (We have a lot of new faces to sort out). We will know more about the D after Saturday against Pitt. Also Nate seems to want to play a lot of players early to evaluate game performance and while this may be a good approach long term it slows down short term performance. Therefore it will likely take more, maybe much more, than 3 games to solidify the D. I have hope.

 

[UgaBlows]

I’m just praying to the gods of GT football that we don’t have to hear this again......we are simplifying the defensive scheme so players can make simpler reads and react without overthinking etc, etc., I am 100% sure that has been said and done by each of the previous 3 Def Coordinators.

 

[GTJeff1975]

Multiple orange bowl wins?

He’s talking about the Pancreas Bowl & Spleen Bowl wins the ACC had in its early days

 

[Jmonty71]

I'll say this.... Under prior DC's, my frustration has always been the lack of effort that was shown on the field. We look lackadaisical at times. Under the new DC, people are flying around. At least, it looks like there is more effort.

Now... does that effort = results? Apparently, not yet. But, I think we will get there. The 3-4 requires some key parts. First, it requires a BIG space eating nose guard, as I call them. Someone that can fill the A and B gap, by just their presence. Next, 2 quick and hard hitting LBs. Yep, that would be Sam and Will.... Sam and Will have to be quick off that edge. The 2 Mike LBs just need to be able to cover that short route.

I think we have some of these tools, but not all of them. The secondary is young and we got shown that, last week.

This is a learning year. We will have some ups and downs.

 

[YJMD]

The problems with our D last game (and honestly in Alcorn who didn't have the horses to burn us) were not with the secondary scheme. You may not like a heavy reliance on zone and playing off the ball at the snap, but in terms of design fundamentals Woody knew where the sticks were and had guys in position to clean up screen passes, etc. That much is different from Roof, and Roof did a lot of quarters coverages. In any scheme, there's going to be openings for receivers. I would like to be more versatile, but overall I like what Woody is doing because it complements what the front 7 are supposed to be doing, and it gives us the opportunity to roll into different coverages to confuse the QB (cause of the INT we snagged), and a QB who is being taken out of rhythm is going to miss guys in front of their receivers in the zone to make picks or struggle to make accurate and on-time throws allowing the secondary to close and make a play on the ball or wrap-up.

Execution on the other hand...that was problematic. Mostly it was problematic in a few screens where people lost their leverage or took the wrong pursuit angles in clean-up. That part was much better in the Alcorn game, and this probably reflects heavily on the ejections and injury problems.

But the bigger problem was the front 7. The leverage problem (or wrong assignment) was amplified, leaving wide open lanes for QB to pick up yards on the ground, some big runs, and otherwise space to maneuver away from pressure. That part was a significant issue against Alcorn, and we were simply fortunate to athletically make up for it, and really they also did a poor job executing on their opportunities.

That problem of containment and pursuit angles is precisely why we got burned for 2 consecutive kickoffs (and really the first 1 was 1 missed tackle away from a TD too). Thankfully, it's not a talent problem, and having it exposed so egregiously may provide energy to fix it. But god help us if we don't. Knowing your assignment and sticking with it is the one requirement for Woody's defensive scheme to be decent. Adding athleticism to that makes it great. I know we've been hearing about aggression and I'm talking about control, but really the assignments themselves are aggressive, and the reads are minimal.