Another Defense Thread

[FormerEag]

I'm a little puzzled by our defense. Purely by eye test, they look much much better. Better tackling, better angles, more physical, faster etc. However they still gave up big numbers the past two weeks. Why is that?

I math'd a little and came up something that might help explain it. In today's game, the average time of a scoring drive for our offense was 2:31. That seems pretty quick. That means the defense is going to get a lot of at bats, and naturally give up more yards. Does that jive with anyone else?

 

[Rjones61]

Our team stopped NDSU from scoring more than NDSU stopped EWU from scoring. NDSU just had more opportunities to go score.

 

[EWURanger]

I'm a little puzzled by our defense. Purely by eye test, they look much much better. Better tackling, better angles, more physical, faster etc. However they still gave up big numbers the past two weeks. Why is that?

I math'd a little and came up something that might help explain it. In today's game, the average time of a scoring drive for our offense was 2:31. That seems pretty quick. That means the defense is going to get a lot of at bats, and naturally give up more yards. Does that jive with anyone else?

I think this makes sense, and I think it has to do with how much we throw the ball downfield and score quickly. We're not running the ball a lot...which would shorten the game and allow the opposition fewer possessions.

I do feel like the defense is a lot better this year, but it's got to be tough to play in a defense where your offense scores so quickly.

 

[Atomic Eagle]

I didn't realize we scored that fast in this game. That would seem to explain a few things. Overall, I thought they played great and put us in a position to come from behind and even win the game. The most impressive unit and where I think we've seen the most improvement from is the defensive line. Coach Ena has done a really good job with that group.

 

[clawman1]

Our team stopped NDSU from scoring more than NDSU stopped EWU from scoring. NDSU just had more opportunities to go score.

I agree, said another way, we beat ourselves more than NDSU beat us. We will grow and learn from this loss.
If we win out this game will not have a severe effect on our playoff seeding. I'll start this one waaaay too early. We are not just trying to get into the playoffs we need a top 4 seed.

 

[GoldenEagle]

Will wait for the stats but it seemed like NDSU had a high 3rd down conversion percentage, and those 3rd down conversions were passes. The NDSU QB is not known for his passing but when it counted he was converting 3rd downs.

 

[GoldenEagle]

I think the defense has improved and will continue to improve over the season. Mitch Fettig is a baller and has impressed me more than any other person on our defense.

 

[Rjones61]

I think the defense has improved and will continue to improve over the season. Mitch Fettig is a baller and has impressed me more than any other person on our defense.

Calhoun came close for me.

 

[DefendtheRed]

Our team stopped NDSU from scoring more than NDSU stopped EWU from scoring. NDSU just had more opportunities to go score.

That's interesting. From a purely stats perspective it would be hard to note the improvement. But I'll give credit where credit is due because from the eye test I can tell a noticeable difference.

 

[FormerEag]

Will wait for the stats but it seemed like NDSU had a high 3rd down conversion percentage, and those 3rd down conversions were passes. The NDSU QB is not known for his passing but when it counted he was converting 3rd downs.

Yup. 70% (12/17)

 

[LDopaPDX]

The defense seems to be improved, but we've been one of the worst FCS defenses in the country for a while now, so even a less-than-mediocre defense is a substantial improvement.

Clearly, we need our defense to do better than giving up 500 yards in big games. Good defenses just don't give up that kind of yardage, regardless of opponent. Charleston Southern held NDSU to 24 points in the same building where we gave up 50. And for what it's worth, Boise State hasn't shown any problems shutting down Wazzu so far tonight.

I think we're seeing some improvement, but there's a long, long way to go.

 

[Hodor]

Good defenses just don't give up that kind of yardage, regardless of opponent.

NDSU has the best defense in the FCS and gave up 556 yards to us tonight but I agree with the rest of your post.

 

[Rjones61]

Good defenses just don't give up that kind of yardage, regardless of opponent.

NDSU has the best defense in the FCS and gave up 556 yards to us tonight but I agree with the rest of your post.

Rekt

 

[GoldenEagle]

Will wait for the stats but it seemed like NDSU had a high 3rd down conversion percentage, and those 3rd down conversions were passes. The NDSU QB is not known for his passing but when it counted he was converting 3rd downs.

Yup. 70% (12/17)

Wow, way to high. We made a mediocre passer look good at times.

 

[dudeitsaid]

Good defenses just don't give up that kind of yardage, regardless of opponent.

NDSU has the best defense in the FCS and gave up 556 yards to us tonight but I agree with the rest of your post.

Ha, you beat me to it!

Also, watching the WSU/Boise game. WSU's is having their issues, but yardage is not it. They have almost doubled up the Bronco's so far, about 500 yards to 390. At this rate, WSU will put more yards on BSU than they did on our defense.

Our offense scored more points than has been put on the Bison on their home turf in over 50 years, according to a poster from their fanbase. And they've only had over 40 twice since 2009. I would say they are historically one of the best defenses in the country, and can't imagine they are much worse now. They showed last year, they can put up points and yards. So, I don't think our D was terrible, but definitely had some weaknesses, especially guarding the pass.

What I love is actually seeing our defense create some stops. Seems like we couldn't get anyone off the field last year. This year, we are forcing some punts from some very talented teams. And I think we are playing the run a lot better. I'm not saying our D is amazing, but I think they are much improved. And I didn't see a huge drop off when the back-ups came in.

I thought the UNI passing game looked poor against the Griz. I think if our team plays the way it has the last two games, we win next week.

 

[kalm]

526 ypg
46 ppg
24/34 third down conversions against
1 turnover.................

I don't care how much better we look and who we've played, those are still just god awful numbers and will not win you championships.

MZ and Sommers being out hurt, and yes I'm still optimistic, but we have got to show a whole crap ton of improvement over the next two weeks and beyond if this train is gonna go somewhere.

 

[luckyintheorder]

Funny thread. Not one mention of the defensive play calls. Defense is VASTLY improved, playing with a lot of youngsters, great urgency and energy, sure tackling etc... Mistakes are still being made but far fewer and with less negative impact. An example of impact of play calling; we stopped NDSU when we manned up and made Stick throw into tight coverage and gave up long third downs when we dropped into soft coverage. Pretty simple.

For the record, WSU and NDSU held our DL on EVERY play to stop penetration and create holes. We need to bring LB's or Safeties in gaps to create more doubt in opposing OL's. Guessing this is a work in progress. Excited about Ebukam and Havili's ability to put pressure on opposing offense's. Need to get Saugen and the rest of the cast more involved. Tuili has been special too. It's coming together.

 

[LDopaPDX]

Good defenses just don't give up that kind of yardage, regardless of opponent.

NDSU has the best defense in the FCS and gave up 556 yards to us tonight but I agree with the rest of your post.

Fair enough, but NDSU giving up 500 is an anomaly reserved for only the best offenses. Eastern giving up 500 yards is a regular Saturday.

The average outing us needs to be no more than 28 points surrendered. That really isn't a huge hurdle to overcome. If our defense can just manage to be a middle-of-the-pack unit, we'll be winning a lot of games.

 

[dudeitsaid]

526 ypg
46 ppg
24/34 third down conversions against
1 turnover.................

I don't care how much better we look and who we've played, those are still just god awful numbers and will not win you championships.

MZ and Sommers being out hurt, and yes I'm still optimistic, but we have got to show a whole crap ton of improvement over the next two weeks and beyond if this train is gonna go somewhere.

I definitely see what you are saying, especially when looking at the stats. We played two strong offenses (NDSU was 27th in the FCS last year, much of that time with Stick as the QB). But we will see more in the BSC, and we need to do better on D to have a chance to win the NC. But our D made some good stops, and they appear to get more pressure off the line. I think they will prove they are better than the stats in these first two games would indicate.

Also, I firmly believe that we recovered a fumble on the goalline that may have really impacted this game. That was a solid heads up defensive play negated by the refs. Last year, it seemed our D made mediocre offenses look like world beaters.

I thought UNI looked pretty lackluster on offense against the Griz, and if their QB passes like he did Saturday, we won't need to cover any receivers. He was way off target. If UNI can be highly productive against us, then we have problems on defense. Heck, last year, we had seven defensive stops against them. If we have even a slight improvement, we should beat UNI handily.

 

[LDopaPDX]

526 ypg
46 ppg
24/34 third down conversions against
1 turnover.................

I don't care how much better we look and who we've played, those are still just god awful numbers and will not win you championships.

MZ and Sommers being out hurt, and yes I'm still optimistic, but we have got to show a whole crap ton of improvement over the next two weeks and beyond if this train is gonna go somewhere.

I definitely see what you are saying, especially when looking at the stats. We played two strong offenses (NDSU was 27th in the FCS last year, much of that time with Stick as the QB). But we will see more in the BSC, and we need to do better on D to have a chance to win the NC. But our D made some good stops, and they appear to get more pressure off the line. I think they will prove they are better than the stats in these first two games would indicate.

Also, I firmly believe that we recovered a fumble on the goalline that may have really impacted this game. That was a solid heads up defensive play negated by the refs. Last year, it seemed our D made mediocre offenses look like world beaters.

I thought UNI looked pretty lackluster on offense against the Griz, and if their QB passes like he did Saturday, we won't need to cover any receivers. He was way off target. If UNI can be highly productive against us, then we have problems on defense. Heck, last year, we had seven defensive stops against them. If we have even a slight improvement, we should beat UNI handily.

I'm with you in that we'll know a lot more with a few games. We can really only gauge ourselves against where the other Big Sky defenses are because they are seeing the same offenses we see. Unfortunately, we've been at the bottom or very close to it in every measurable defensive statistic in the conference for quite a while now.

I agree we are seeing improvement, but I still don't see a high caliber D as of yet. UNI will be an interesting test, because Montana really bottled them up despite playing in the UNIDome. We have to show ourselves to be comparable.