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- Thread starter clawman1
- Start date
clawman said:
Are you serious? I'm going to keep it real.
Looked at big sky stats and no surprise, EWU dead last in Defense- yet again. This defense is horrendously bad. Possibly worst than last year and the worst I've ever witnessed in my life, up close.It's unwatchable and an embarrassment to D1 football. The defensive staff gets out coached every week and their approach to is obviously not working. After we get blown out again in the playoffs, we need to bring a DC in from outside, who knows how to fix it. This is not arena football- yet our defensives (last couple of years) seem to give up points as if it were. I'm not calling for anyones job, just the requirement of getting someone in here who know what they're doing on D.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not being negative- just tired of throwing up in my mouth every Saturday watching our defensive performance. I'm frustrated with this product that's being rolled out every week and being sold as "work a progress". I'm not buying it nor the snack oil they're trying to peddle! Way too many flaws in this defense. We're lost on that side of the ball and If we're honest with ourselves, we all knew once Northen Colorado got the onside kick-our defense was giving up a TD- I had no doubt and they did. The only mild surprise was how quick.
We have good players on D- this should not be happening, which tells me It's not the players- it's the system! Scrap this system and get a real proven DC in the off-season.
Just keeping it real!
Scrap the system? We missed 2 PATs and gave up 2 TDs on special teams. We were still up 2 scores on the road with 5 minutes to go. Sometimes I get the feeling that we would have to pitch 49-0 shutouts every week for people to be satisfied. All I know is that we have 3 more home games and that we could be ranked in the top 5 today. I wouldn't scrap anything right now.
air045 said:
The team has shown great resiliency in finding a way to win. That was the first time I can remember EWU having a game winning field goal. A great job coming back by the kicker after missing an extra point and having another I ne blocked. That being said, special teams need a lot of work.
A blocked kick
A punt return for a TD
A kickoff return for a TD
A botched onside kick recovery
In one game! That covers each of the special teams. Combine that with the number of penalties this team takes, and there is a lot of work to do.
Keeping it real, the NCAA site shows EWU 120th out of 123 in total defense. It is hard to call that anything but awful. Youth, injuries, sun-spots, whatever the reason, it would be great to see a fresh approach on defense.
http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fcs/current/team/22/p3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This team still needs to beat a couple of teams that are much better than Northern Colorado to have a sniff at the playoffs. Does a 4 loss team from the big sky get in?
air045 said:
I agree that our defense is not at a championship level or even average, but it is better then last year without a doubt to me. This defense actually makes stops and forces teams to punt every once in a while. And, unlike last year, this defense has progressively gotten better while last season we got worse as the year went on.
How quickly you for get the defense saving the game at the end against Cal Poly stopping the 2 point conversion. Don't get me wrong, we need to improve dramatically on defense to win another championship, but we are not nearly as bad off as you seem to think.
93bird said:
Stats don't lie, my friend. Stop drinking the mediocrity flavored kool aid
! I know my expectations are not higher than the average fan. Is the worst defense in Big sky ok with you? Just asking! LOook at Big sky numbers- it's embarrassing. I'm not saying we shouldn't support the team- because we should. But at least we need to real about the state of our defense and get our mouths off the glass. Being worst in the league is not acceptable- regardless on the brief windows of acceptable football or how much we love our team. Yep- scrap the system. Or next year- we'll be singing the same old tune. I think these discussions are fun and all part of game. But we have to be honest and stop letting our emotions for the coaches cloud our judgments.see link
http://www.bigskyconf.com/custompages/football/2014/stats/confonly.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
If you're ok with that fine. Me I'm not and want and hope we can do better. Or I guess I can carry a bottle of Pepto- to get me through the games during Defense. I love this team and coaches- BUT it's now gone on too long and it's time to be real!
hno:As for offense, taking great steps, but QB is staring down his receivers and not going through progressions consititanlty. Lucky we have all world receivers- but it's an issue I hope gets fixed as we progress.
MLEagle said:
To cast maybe a little doubt, last years team ranked 95th out of a 121 teams in total defense according to stats.ncaa.org as opposed to 120th out of 123 currently.
Stopping the 2 point conversions the last 2 weeks, were game savers, it's giving up the touchdowns that hurts.
Go Eags!
FreeBird said:
EXACTLY! GREAT POINT! Taking comfort in stopping two-point conversions, after giving up a ton of points, is like asking the executor to aim for the head, instead of the belly. In the end- you're still dead! :lol:
By year end, we have a good chance of being ranked the worst defense in the entire D1 (3rd worst now). I'm embarrassed at our defensive performance, thus far, and is the worst defense I've ever witnessed in my life at the D1 level. Just calling the kettle black and keeping it real.
I challenge anyone to look at our defensive roster and convince themselves our players are 3rd worst in the entire country. Come on- let's be real- it's our system and it's obvious.
At this point- EVERYTHING on defense needs to questioned, coaches, player management, rotations, philosophy- EVERYTHING and nothing should be sacred.
I hope something changes- GO Eags!
I feel like a lot of us are being a bit too picky with some of the teams play (myself included) and forget that a win is a win is a win and it wasn't so long ago that we were on the outside looking in for playoffs and Big Sky Championships. Games like yesterday happen where the stars are aligned for us to go down on the road. The two pats missed, two returns, the onside kick and the double coverage fluke td. Who wins in those situations all happening on the same game? The jaws of defeat were side open but we found a way. That is all that matters.
Love this team and excited for the future.
Yes We Can! I Believe!
Love this team and excited for the future.
Yes We Can! I Believe!
air045 said:
To be fair, SOS skews the stats quite a bit. We've played the #1 ranked rushing attack and overall #4 and #17 ranked total offenses in FCS plus Oregon. Even UNC is ranked in the top half of FCS in total offense (again - probably because of their schedule).
We're not good on defense for sure but in calling us the worst you're comparing our performance to Ivy League teams who only play themselves and a few PL schools, the Pioneer conference, the NEC, etc. The conference rankings are more damning but again, look at who UNC has played compared to us.
Numbers may not lie, but they can fib a little. :mrgreen:
Give the new coaching philosophy and system a chance. We're only 7 games in and we are still extremely young on D. :thumb:
kalm said:
No thanks- I'm not drinking the koolaid
! You ettmept to explain away being the thrid worst defense in the country doen't pass the sniff test - like no other team in country doen't have our same challenges. Nope- no Koolaid for me ! Put it into perspective- we give up, ON AVERAGE, over 500 yards a game. Think about that for a moment. That's bigger than just being young and new defense. It has a much bigger meaning.
FreeBird said:
Agreed. The defense was not the problem yesterday, special teams was. Our defense actually kept them in check in the second half, although you could probably make the argument that it might have had something to do with the fact that their offense had 2 fewer possessions because of the blown kickoff and punt return TD coverages. Special teams played a worse game than I can ever remember watching at EWU yesterday, no sugar-coating, it was bad. And yet we still found a way to win. That is the mark of a resilient team.
We all know our defense is going to give up a ton of yards, whether that's because of scheme, youth, injury, or whatever. But you cannot just say at face value that the D is "terrible", without acknowledging the fact that it is mostly Freshman and Sophomores out there on the field. It is what it is...we have to hope that the defense can continue to find a way to get some timely stops and turnovers. It's less about how many yards you're giving up, and more about playing good "situational" defense.
Some of these teams we are playing are running 90+ plays (or more)...we're going to give up yardage.
Can you imagine how opposing team's fans feel about their defense after they play EWU? We gained almost 700 yards of offense yesterday.
FreeBird said:
These are things I know from last year Washington, ISU, MSU and Illinois St either never punted or hardly punted. Sam Houston would have put up over 50 on us too if they wouldn't have dropped balls, missed wide open receivers or made a tone of mistakes. We would have been better off onside kicking every time we scored against these schools because at least we could have stolen some possessions.
This year we are making some stops and getting better as the season goes along. If we were to take a close look at the stats I guarantee it would favors this year's squad.
Obzerver said:Hello!! Didn't our "D" cause a fumble and recover around the 5 yard line when UNC was gonna score? That was big time at that point in the game.
good one :lol:
However, no way to explain away the worst stats in the country I would sum up our poor defense this way (keeping it real):
93bird said:
Interestingly, we seem to be showing less and less of our 4-2 base in games. There were a lot of 3 man fronts and 4-3 sets yesterday, and the dime package made a few appearances.
I would've said our D did quite well yesterday if you excluded the last two drives from the discussion. They looked out of sorts early, but played pretty well until late in the fourth quarter. The troubling thing was that they only needed to make one stop on the final two drives to seal the win, but they came apart at the seams. Northern Colorado threw 3 straight times at the same safety and converted a 4th and long, a long TD pass, and then another long TD pass.
I just went back 3 years and had a good chuckle. We always have at least 2 threads on how terrible our defense is, with the same people always coming up with reasons/excuses. These people always say "we are young... We will get better... It's still early... Of course Graham should still be the DC 
etc...". And look where we are. Again.
etc...". And look where we are. Again.
