GT Defense

[MonroeJacket]

Jordan Dominek is coming into his own as well. Really was manhandling some big old Offensive Tackles and putting a hurt on Mr. Howell last night. I agree Griffin is a warrior and it was good to see Clayton finally show up some last night.

Go Jackets!

I don’t think Clayton played last night. Was in shorts.

 

[Lee]

Honestly, our defense has been good all season.

We did get bullied a little bit in the NIU game on like 2 drives, but the issue in that game was our offense not sustaining drives and scoring points.

22, 17, 14, and 22 points is very solid in today’s game.

Biggest thing I notice is the DL size and effectiveness is allowing the back 7/8 to fly around. LB play has been a big upgrade from last season as well. Charlie Thomas has a lot to do with that.

Hope we keep it rolling next week!

 

[TechBurn]

Charlie is a stud!!!
I'm still concerned about getting consistent pressure on the QB,,, Seems when we blitzed, it was really effective in getting to him,,,, Otherwise, he seemed to have too much time,,,

 

[InsideLB]

I'd love someone who knows defense to help explain the improvement from game 1 to game 4. Is it the 3-3-5? Or Biggers?

I thought Brooks showed out. One third and short he stuffed single-handedly.....got great push into the backfield while flowing down the line to stonewall the RB.

He got some shots on Howell including the fumble that Knight scooped.

Kennard was effective speed rushing. DL just balled out, as did the LBs. Also the secondary....a lot of those sacks were coverage sacks. Just a great team D effort.

UNC only rushed for 63 yds!

 

[UpperNorth]

Juanyeh and Tariq have filled the alleys this season, made a lot of plays in the run game around the LOS, especially juanyeh. I was concerned Howell would keep them and our other safeties in check and our D would struggle to stop the run without their support. Credit to our DL and LBs, they balled out and stopped the run on their own. Secondary wasn’t perfect, but when the D gets home on 8 sacks you did a lot right. What a well played game by the entire D.

 

[MountainBuzzMan]

A big thumbs up to our defense and the coaches. A job well done these last two games

 

[Jerry the Jacket]

Yeah, that was #11 which I thought was Clayton but in actuality was Harris. Good to see him show up a bit as well.

Go Jackets!

 

[danny daniel]

Okay. Call me shocked. But whatever Thacker has done with the 3-3-5 or whatever, give us more. I didn't know if our bad performance was related to Jimmies&Joes or Xs&Os, but we have not been good for a long, long time. Now...I don't know. But it sure feels like we might be good on D.

I'd love someone who knows defense to help explain the improvement from game 1 to game 4. Is it the 3-3-5? Or Biggers?

I'm not a football analytics nerd, but I'd have to believe that our performance in last night's game was seriously good (given the comparison of UNC's previous offensive output.

I think the changes to the defense have freed up the LBs to better play up to their potential (such as Charlie Thomas more in space and more free to use his natural ability). We are playing way more young talent on the line resulting in wearing down the other team and creating competition to improve the older players. The D coaching has drastically improved in not shooting ourselves in the foot with late play calls (not getting lined up before the snap) and substituting late to get penalties. In the 3-3-5 we have lost a big body and picked up a faster more skilled defender. We are across the positions on D playing way more physical. I see improvement in coverage as well as pressure on the passer. It has helped that the 0 has improved resulting in less time on the field and better field position for the D..

 

[forensicbuzz]

Let's see how we react to the next HUNH defense we face. That has been trouble for us in the past, especially against an experienced QB.

 

[roedeo]

Defense team measurables beginning to emerge.

33% into the regular season, GT is ranked 5th in ACC, based on yards allowed per game. There are many other ways the data can be sliced & diced (example points per game).

Compare to the anemic 2020 season (OK data for all 10 games & pandemic play), GT ranked 13th out of 14th in ACC.

And in case anyone asks, GT team defense ranks 37th in all FBS in 2021 and ranked 110th in 2020 (per Sports Reference).

So there you go. An unfinished work in progress. Next week everything could go sideways, or maybe it continues trending in the right direction.

Hope springs eternal. Go Jackets - THWg!

 

[TruckStick]

2 good teams, 2 mediocre teams so far on our schedule. Hopefully we can hold that average up all year but the defense has passed the eye test for the past two games.

 

[LibertyTurns]

I feel the same way! All of the sudden, our guys are flying around hitting people, pestering the QB, getting off of blocks, stripping and ripping the ball, and finishing the tackles (QB run early in the game notwithstanding).

Biggers looks the part - he's big and nasty! Our LBs look fast and aggressive! It great to see an aggressive and effective defense on the field again.

How many plays did Biggers have last night? Ivey, Brooks and Griffin I thought played well, Kennard had a good game, but frankly I didn’t remember seeing Biggers a lot.

 

[Jacket05]

How many plays did Biggers have last night? Ivey, Brooks and Griffin I thought played well, Kennard had a good game, but frankly I didn’t remember seeing Biggers a lot.

I noticed him a few times get some push and then recognize a screen/quick pass and step back to locate where the ball was going. I thought that is pretty good instincts for a true freshman DL.

In one of those plays he pursued the receiver across the field and took a good angle (for a big man) to be in position to make a tackle but another player made the tackle just before he got there. Even though it won't show on the stat sheet I thought it was a fantastic play that not only showed his power at the beginning but also his speed and effort that is not usually seen from a 350 lbs DT.

 

[Ibeeballin]

Okay. Call me shocked. But whatever Thacker has done with the 3-3-5 or whatever, give us more. I didn't know if our bad performance was related to Jimmies&Joes or Xs&Os, but we have not been good for a long, long time. Now...I don't know. But it sure feels like we might be good on D.

I'd love someone who knows defense to help explain the improvement from game 1 to game 4. Is it the 3-3-5? Or Biggers?

I'm not a football analytics nerd, but I'd have to believe that our performance in last night's game was seriously good (given the comparison of UNC's previous offensive output.

Defense really hasn’t been an issue all yr. This is the 1st game an opp went 300 total yds. That’s really good in the times we are in.

 

[Ibeeballin]

It looks like we are now taking advantage of the speed not size of our guys.Why this wasn't seen before I don't know.
The Def now seems to be built of effort, substitution of fresh bodies. hustle to the ball, pressure and flexibility in play calls that causes literal havoc for the Offense.I swear with those all dark unis last night i thought I was looking at tcu or vaTech flying around.
What a revelation.

We ran 335 in 2019 just didn’t have the personnel to be effective

 

[AugustaSwarm]

Biggers made quite a few plays. It's not always plays where he made the sack or the tackle. He occupied space and didn't lose ground - often times he collapsed the middle of the line and created plays for the linebackers. Other times he occupied multiple blockers while clogging the running lanes.

And I don't mean to gloss over the play of others - the entire defensive front played well. Biggers just stood out to me because of the style of play. It's been a very long time since I've seen a big ugly nose tackle playing for the good guys.

 

[MountainBuzzMan]

Biggers made quite a few plays. It's not always plays where he made the sack or the tackle. He occupied space and didn't lose ground - often times he collapsed the middle of the line and created plays for the linebackers. Other times he occupied multiple blockers while clogging the running lanes.

And I don't mean to gloss over the play of others - the entire defensive front played well. Biggers just stood out to me because of the style of play. It's been a very long time since I've seen a big ugly nose tackle playing for the good guys.

Is he really a freshman DT as well?

 

[UgaBlows]

Biggers made quite a few plays. It's not always plays where he made the sack or the tackle. He occupied space and didn't lose ground - often times he collapsed the middle of the line and created plays for the linebackers. Other times he occupied multiple blockers while clogging the running lanes.

And I don't mean to gloss over the play of others - the entire defensive front played well. Biggers just stood out to me because of the style of play. It's been a very long time since I've seen a big ugly nose tackle playing for the good guys.

My God if he’s doing that as a true freshman just imagine the Beast-man that he will become after a couple of years of experience and conditioning

 

[roedeo]

My God if he’s doing that as a true freshman just imagine the Beast-man that he will become after a couple of years of experience and conditioning

And, he’s only 17.
His 18th Birthday is coming up - Oct 4th. Be sure to send him best wishes!

 

[MidtownJacket]

It also appears to my eye that the move to the 3-3-5 has eliminated our LB tendency to get washed in the traffic and be taken out of plays. Our guys found better gap control and it made a big difference to have them firing from different spots in the pressure game.