GT Defense

alagold

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Joe Lee Dunn used to run the 3-3-5 back in the day and would create havoc. I like it. I wanted PJ to hire someone like him way back.
Joe Lee Dunn--in high school it was just Joe--I played with him at Columbus High--a heckaver player at 5-8, 147 lb--went to UT-Chatt as DB, Wingback. PR,
 

85Escape

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So slightly more exotic than the Al Groh defense, which I think was a kind of standard pro style 3-4 (?)
I thought that the complaint on Groh was the his defense was too hard to teach in the time allowed in the college environment or something like that? I know our players looked to be playing slower when he was DC.
 

slugboy

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I thought that the complaint on Groh was the his defense was too hard to teach in the time allowed in the college environment or something like that? I know our players looked to be playing slower when he was DC.
That was some of it. The first year or so worked OK though. He also didn’t get to pick any of his assistants, so he was teaching the players and the coaches.
He also needed a 3 man DL that could occupy a 5-6 man line, especially a NT that could hold 2+ blocks so that the LBs could fly through gaps. I’m not saying that’s how our line plays now, but they’re much closer to what we needed to make Groh’s 3-4 work
He recruited one helluva DE/LB player in Attachou, though
 

Northeast Stinger

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I thought that the complaint on Groh was the his defense was too hard to teach in the time allowed in the college environment or something like that? I know our players looked to be playing slower when he was DC.
Yeah, I had forgotten that but looked like a pretty vanilla 3-4 to me. Slugboy’s answer above clears it up I think.
 

goldfella

Georgia Tech Fan
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68
IM79 and slugboy hit the nail on the head. Groh ran a 2-gap scheme, where the DL needs to be able to control their assigned OL and the gaps on either side/ command double teams, thus freeing the linebackers to make plays. The hard part is that we probably had issues recruiting the D-linemen to run that scheme. Woody ran a one-gap scheme (which is typically used in the 4-3), where the D-linemen would attack a single gap and relied on the speed of "undersized" linemen, not just linebackers, to create havoc, which was really well aligned with what we had at the time. He had a lot of success at App using that scheme, even against major P5 programs with superior size and talent. I think we would have had a lot of success with the flexbone offense and Woody's defense if the players were given more time (and more familiarity) with the system and he was able to be more aggressive with his play calling. Efficient ball control offense + aggressive ball-hawking defense would have been a thing of beauty.
 

goldfella

Georgia Tech Fan
Messages
68
IM79 and slugboy hit the nail on the head. Groh ran a 2-gap scheme, where the DL needs to be able to control their assigned OL and the gaps on either side/ command double teams, thus freeing the linebackers to make plays. The hard part is that we probably had issues recruiting the D-linemen to run that scheme. Woody ran a one-gap scheme (which is typically used in the 4-3), where the D-linemen would attack a single gap and relied on the speed of "undersized" linemen, not just linebackers, to create havoc, which was really well aligned with what we had at the time. He had a lot of success at App using that scheme, even against major P5 programs with superior size and talent. I think we would have had a lot of success with the flexbone offense and Woody's defense if the players were given more time (and more familiarity) with the system and he was able to be more aggressive with his play calling. Efficient ball control offense + aggressive ball-hawking defense would have been a thing of beauty.
Dang... I'm going to need to watch Army vs. Wisconsin now
 

goldfella

Georgia Tech Fan
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68
The only thing I’m worried about in the 3-3-5 is teams that like to put in two tight ends and mash you, like ND and Uga. But I’m liking the results of the last 3 games fo sho
That's fair, but I assume we have a big boi/where's the beef package we can put in for those situations either in our base 4-2-5 or a more traditional 3-4 look with Biggers at NT and a couple of our other DTs or big base Ends/SDEs on the line.

We do also have the advantage of having some abnormally large safeties, so I'm not overly concerned.
 

MidtownJacket

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Have heard the players talk now a few times about referring to themselves as “the dark side”

Wonder if and when we will see a black watch throwback. This might be a good game for it.
 

Fatmike91

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SW Florida
The only thing I’m worried about in the 3-3-5 is teams that like to put in two tight ends and mash you, like ND and Uga. But I’m liking the results of the last 3 games fo sho

Let's have that problem this weekend. Pitt doesn't typically use 2 TE formation which is a run heavy formation. Pitt hasn't proven they can run the ball at all. I think I'd sign up for Pitt going run heavy vs. gun slinging.

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