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Is our defense this good?

Eagledawg

Active member
I went back and looked at a old post that I posted back in 2014. It was the week of playing the Huskies and the Tacoma news tribune posted a preview article about the game and they posted some stats about Eastern. VA at QB and all the yards the offense put up in 2013 and the upset of Oregon state. Then I was shocked to see Easterns defense was ranked 104th in the FCS giving up 457 yds. a game. I never realized Easterns defense consistently gave up that many yards. I even asked on this forum "Is Easterns defense really this bad?"
Through most of the Balwdwin era the defense was way behind the offence. Remember the last minute of the Towsen and Youngstown state games?
I thought the 2018 defense was decent but it was mostly because that team was so oveloaded with seniors (27).

I looked up eack year since 2013 for total defense national ranking and yards per game to see how this years defense stacks up.
Rank YPG

2013 #104 457
2014 95 441
2015 117 476
2016 88 416
2017 115 464
2018 68 392
2019 104 445
2020* 65 382 *spring season
2021 47 351

As you can see through 7 games this is statistically the best season (so far) in recent years.
I always feel everything begins at the line of scrimmage. Seems the last few years the d line has been undedsize and we are now starting to some decent size again with some of these younger players.
Just wondering if they can hold up against the ground and pound running style that the Bison like to play (rember last springs playoff game in Fargo?).

So how about it, is this defense the best in recent years? Is this defense good enough to go all the way?
 
Great stuff Eagledawg and good question. Don't know a lot bout how things work in this game although been around it forever. But seems when we are running it successfully we may have extended drives allowing defense to rest a little more. Our offense is so quick strike sometimes our D is called on for action without much of a break and bound to get pooped as game progresses. So, maybe how good our D is somehow related to time on field, solid run effort and of course depth at defense?
 
Eagledawg said:
I went back and looked at a old post that I posted back in 2014. It was the week of playing the Huskies and the Tacoma news tribune posted a preview article about the game and they posted some stats about Eastern. VA at QB and all the yards the offense put up in 2013 and the upset of Oregon state. Then I was shocked to see Easterns defense was ranked 104th in the FCS giving up 457 yds. a game. I never realized Easterns defense consistently gave up that many yards. I even asked on this forum "Is Easterns defense really this bad?"
Through most of the Balwdwin era the defense was way behind the offence. Remember the last minute of the Towsen and Youngstown state games?
I thought the 2018 defense was decent but it was mostly because that team was so oveloaded with seniors (27).

I looked up eack year since 2013 for total defense national ranking and yards per game to see how this years defense stacks up.
Rank YPG

2013 #104 457
2014 95 441
2015 117 476
2016 88 416
2017 115 464
2018 68 392
2019 104 445
2020* 65 382 *spring season
2021 47 351

As you can see through 7 games this is statistically the best season (so far) in recent years.
I always feel everything begins at the line of scrimmage. Seems the last few years the d line has been undedsize and we are now starting to some decent size again with some of these younger players.
Just wondering if they can hold up against the ground and pound running style that the Bison like to play (rember last springs playoff game in Fargo?).

So how about it, is this defense the best in recent years? Is this defense good enough to go all the way?

Good data. Thanks for digging this up. This just validates further what we are seeing on the field. I'm OK with focusing on the game in front of the Eagles this week and after watching most of the UC Davis @ Weber game, it is safe to say that this defense has more than enough talent to handle the Weber team regardless of who QB's it. Appreciate the question about a team like NDSU but there is a lot of season left. Will say that the rest of the DL not named Johnson or Jerome is improving every week, so barring serious injury; this team will be ready for any and all challenges down the road. Think the rest of the defense is also improving, I'm just a bit myopic when it comes to DL play as it sets the tone for so much of what else happens.

I still think the offense is the best defense. No run offense can keep pace if the Eastern offense continues to execute IMO. On field leadership counts for a great deal and the Eag's have "it" this season. :)

https://herosports.com/fcs-football-ndsu-defense-ewu-offense-bzbz/
 
Why is it we are perennially bad on defense? Is it personnel, equal # of scholarships on both sides of the ball? or scheme? I don't see it as lack of effort, we have had some real studs on D.
Our DC's have been very experienced, Jeff Smedding is now run game DC @ Auburn. Sure we may not always agree with certain formations but to be below average for entire seasons is another matter.
And likewise we are perennially good on O. It would be interesting to look at same ranking of our offenses.
 
Couple of things: 1. Defense has been rotating more this year than in years past due to some good depth at the defensive line positions. 2. We have a couple of sustained drives during the game that are not 1 minute quick hits. This enables our defense to get a rest. 3. The play of our linebackers and the ferocity of of the play seems to be a lot more amped up this year. We are doing a much better job of gang tackling. 4. We have been getting pressure on the QB all year for the most part. With all this said, the respite that we are giving our D line by being able to sub and not see a lot of fall of in pressure up front has been key to our success.
 
EAG2017 said:
Couple of things: 1. Defense has been rotating more this year than in years past due to some good depth at the defensive line positions. 2. We have a couple of sustained drives during the game that are not 1 minute quick hits. This enables our defense to get a rest. 3. The play of our linebackers and the ferocity of of the play seems to be a lot more amped up this year. We are doing a much better job of gang tackling. 4. We have been getting pressure on the QB all year for the most part. With all this said, the respite that we are giving our D line by being able to sub and not see a lot of fall of in pressure up front has been key to our success.


Good list. If I could add one more, it would be "Trust". On good defense's players play their responsibilities and trust their teammates are doing the same. Eastern is definitely doing a far better job of that this season than in years past.

Also believe there is more trust because they've reduced the number of line stunts and just allowed our DL athlete's to own their space, kept the LB's off the line of scrimmage to flow to plays instead of getting gobbled up by the OL and used the athleticism of our very good safeties in situationally aware blitzes and coverage's. Maybe the coaches just decided to trust the players to do what they recruited them to do.

axegrind-450x253.jpg
 
I don’t think the D is “consistently bad.” Most years our offenses are so good and so quick to score that the defense just spends tons and tons of time on the field. The stats bear that out. When your defense is on the field all the time they’re going to give up yards. The years that we seem to be better on defense seem to coincide with those where our rushing offense is also good. This year the main difference seems to be in Senior Leadership and number of returning starters.
 
eaglesfootball said:
I don’t think the D is “consistently bad.” Most years our offenses are so good and so quick to score that the defense just spends tons and tons of time on the field. The stats bear that out. When your defense is on the field all the time they’re going to give up yards. The years that we seem to be better on defense seem to coincide with those where our rushing offense is also good. This year the main difference seems to be in Senior Leadership and number of returning starters.

Agreed! I also notice confidence and power enthusiasm. A good balanced Defense can limit its time on the field with the quality of its own play. Great Defensive play stops opponent progress and produces turnovers. Every three 'n out saves energy as do interceptions and fumbles recovered, precluding additional unnecessary penalties, besides limiting donated yards, also preserves the energy that is used playing downs over. All effective energy is both physical and mental. Maximum effective Eagle Defense early on establishes a winning pace and reserves energy for later quarters. Every opponent score precluded by The Eagle Defense, is one less score The Offence will need to create a team win. Further, the best and most scoring opportunities The Eagle Offense gets, are courtesy of The Eagle Defense. In fairness, when The Defense runs back an interception for a TD, it may "suffer" a bit from continued time on the field?
Go Eags!
 
Questions about the D will be answered tomorrow. We know Weber is poor on offense. While Weber would’ve exceeded the single score they managed against Montana State by simply catching easy passes, we know this is an offense that is struggling. If we’re legit on D, it should show up against a struggling offense. If they score frequently and rattle off long drives, we’ll know it’s still a weakness.
 

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