Defense

[Obzerver]

19pts, just what the Dr. ordered!

 

[ewueagle2010]

I stand firm in my belief that the D continues to pass the eye test. Stats do not tell the story for that unit this season. Saturday alone, the offense turned the ball over twice, putting the D on their heels. The first pick was brutal and set UC Davis up in deep Eagle territory. The D stood strong and Davis ended up having the FG attempt blocked.

Additionally, the D was on the field again for over 36 minutes. On the road, against a motivated team with a fantastic player in Doss, I'd say the D did just fine. This unit continues to improve each week despite key injuries and quality opponents.

By the way, Texas Tech is now 4-1 with it's only loss a close one to Oklahoma State. NDSU is 5-0, UM is 4-2 with its only losses to EWU and Washington and Sac State and UC Davis are much improved middle of the pack Big Sky teams that both will knock off more teams. Oh, and we're now 3-1 on the road. Defense wins road games.

How can you believe this? We haven't had a defense that passes the eye test since 2010.

Well, because it's my opinion and most of it is fact. You choose to believe we suck and keep hanging around picking us to lose so you can come on and say you told us so.

 

[KHB_Eagle4Life]

I feel that our defense has improved tremendously; compared to previous years. If it wasn't for the defense vs. Montana State, I'm not sure we could have come out of that in the 2nd half. Keenan Williams' fumble recovery, and Victor Gamboa's interception came at key times!

Something that everyone also needs to remember-- our defense is ON THE FIELD a lot!!!! Not because they are not any good, but, because our offense doesn't allow them much of a break. Think about the UC-Davis game, our offense scored in 10 seconds and another time in 57 seconds (something like that). Our offense also, has had some large turnovers, too. I don't care how disclinplined you are, or how in shape you are, when you are on the field that much, you're going to be tired, and chances are teams will score. Just like clawman says, we have a team that plays hard the entire game, and is very physical that is wears the other team down by the 2nd half. It shows how much more in shape we are than opponents!

 

[clawman1]

I feel that our defense has improved tremendously; compared to previous years. If it wasn't for the defense vs. Montana State, I'm not sure we could have come out of that in the 2nd half. Keenan Williams' fumble recovery, and Victor Gamboa's interception came at key times!

Something that everyone also needs to remember-- our defense is ON THE FIELD a lot!!!! Not because they are not any good, but, because our offense doesn't allow them much of a break. Think about the UC-Davis game, our offense scored in 10 seconds and another time in 57 seconds (something like that). Our offense also, has had some large turnovers, too. I don't care how disclinplined you are, or how in shape you are, when you are on the field that much, you're going to be tired, and chances are teams will score. Just like clawman says, we have a team that plays hard the entire game, and is very physical that is wears the other team down by the 2nd half. It shows how much more in shape we are than opponents!

Time of possession was virtually identical in the MSU game

 

[ewueagle2010]

I feel that our defense has improved tremendously; compared to previous years. If it wasn't for the defense vs. Montana State, I'm not sure we could have come out of that in the 2nd half. Keenan Williams' fumble recovery, and Victor Gamboa's interception came at key times!

Something that everyone also needs to remember-- our defense is ON THE FIELD a lot!!!! Not because they are not any good, but, because our offense doesn't allow them much of a break. Think about the UC-Davis game, our offense scored in 10 seconds and another time in 57 seconds (something like that). Our offense also, has had some large turnovers, too. I don't care how disclinplined you are, or how in shape you are, when you are on the field that much, you're going to be tired, and chances are teams will score. Just like clawman says, we have a team that plays hard the entire game, and is very physical that is wears the other team down by the 2nd half. It shows how much more in shape we are than opponents!

Time of possession was virtually identical in the MSU game

And it was the best defensive result of the season....

 

[clawman1]

I feel that our defense has improved tremendously; compared to previous years. If it wasn't for the defense vs. Montana State, I'm not sure we could have come out of that in the 2nd half. Keenan Williams' fumble recovery, and Victor Gamboa's interception came at key times!

Something that everyone also needs to remember-- our defense is ON THE FIELD a lot!!!! Not because they are not any good, but, because our offense doesn't allow them much of a break. Think about the UC-Davis game, our offense scored in 10 seconds and another time in 57 seconds (something like that). Our offense also, has had some large turnovers, too. I don't care how disclinplined you are, or how in shape you are, when you are on the field that much, you're going to be tired, and chances are teams will score. Just like clawman says, we have a team that plays hard the entire game, and is very physical that is wears the other team down by the 2nd half. It shows how much more in shape we are than opponents!

Time of possession was virtually identical in the MSU game

And it was the best defensive result of the season....

Exactly. The d-backs did an awesome job of neutralizing their receivers and the backers and Dline did an outstanding job of containing Murray. With the exception of one 54 yd breakout they made him look average at best.
I'd look for a similar performance vs SUU

 

[EdubU10]

This D is the best we have had in many years. So I am excited about it. It appears to get better every game. The play calling I question on occasion. The Davis QB was good and yet we only rushed three several times and gave him way to much time to find that outstanding receiver, which resulted in big plays. I can't blame the players for those choices.

I don't think I could be persuaded to believe our D is better this year than last year. The stats don't seem to bear that out.

But I can reserve some judgment until after this weekend. If there was a team we should be able to make a lot of stops against, it's Montana State. If they chew us up like we've been seeing, that is a really bad sign. They don't offer much through the air, so we should be able to load up the box.

I'm with Dopa on this one. Yeah we played a tough schedule thus far and we're not going to be work beaters on Defense. My main concern is TURNOVERS. We're -9 so far this season and averaging less than 1 force turnover per game. That's....not good.

Make that -11 on the year. Say what you want, I got a lot of push back on the turnover margin but it doesn't bode well for us.

Ball security, penalties and a passive defense. Fix it.

 

[LDopaPDX]

This D is the best we have had in many years. So I am excited about it. It appears to get better every game. The play calling I question on occasion. The Davis QB was good and yet we only rushed three several times and gave him way to much time to find that outstanding receiver, which resulted in big plays. I can't blame the players for those choices.

I don't think I could be persuaded to believe our D is better this year than last year. The stats don't seem to bear that out.

But I can reserve some judgment until after this weekend. If there was a team we should be able to make a lot of stops against, it's Montana State. If they chew us up like we've been seeing, that is a really bad sign. They don't offer much through the air, so we should be able to load up the box.

I'm with Dopa on this one. Yeah we played a tough schedule thus far and we're not going to be work beaters on Defense. My main concern is TURNOVERS. We're -9 so far this season and averaging less than 1 force turnover per game. That's....not good.

Make that -11 on the year. Say what you want, I got a lot of push back on the turnover margin but it doesn't bode well for us.

Ball security, penalties and a passive defense. Fix it.

I think the turnovers are a function of Gage Gubrud being in a position where he has to carry the team offensively. With the exception of one breakout game for Custer, pretty much our entire offense starts and ends with QB play. If he has an off game, it doesn't matter. We still have to get him to sling it all over the field.

The hope this year was that we could show a little more variety on the offensive side, and it hasn't materialized. Gage can and should be the point man, but he shouldn't be required to be both our best passer and our best RB. There is no other running game to speak of (one big game for Custer aside), and the receivers really aren't getting it done down the field. That just piles more pressure on the QB; not only is he our passing and running game, but he's limited in where he can throw the ball because our receivers are only good on certain routes. Southern Utah basically gave us the deep ball and we couldn't get in position to make a play. They also utilized squatting corners a good bit and messed up our passing in the flats.

Defensive is still a greater concern for me. It seems like we've taken a step back from last year. The loss of Tiuli has been a major issue, because he was slated to be our lock-down guy in the middle. We haven't been able to find a replacement in his absence. The good news is he's certain for a medical redshirt if he wants it, so that'll be a big boost for next year.