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L

LDopaPDX

Active member
Our defense is averaging 537 yards given up against DI opponents this year. I think we can all agree that this performance is completely unacceptable. What we are doing isn't working, and our philosophy requires a wholesale change if we are going to have a shot at the playoffs or a conference title.

I'd recommend tearing up the defensive playbook tomorrow morning and start from scratch. Let's move to a system that is better built to stop the run. Maybe we move to a 3-4 as a 50 front, with both outside linebackers playing on the line of scrimmage... and then we can use a lot of MLB blitzing when deemed necessary. Continuing to muddle along with these deep LBs and playing 3,4, or 5 guys within 5 yards of the ball and never having more than 6 in the box is just causing us to bleed to death every time out.

This is actually an ideal time to make a dramatic switch. Our next 3 games are against teams that aren't very good on offense. Next up is Weber, who has averaged a whopping 6 points per game over their last 4. After that is the offensive juggernaut of this group, North Dakota, who averages 23 points per game over their last 4. Following that is Southern Utah, who has averaged only 18 points against all DI opponents.

If we make a change, we still have time to learn on the fly. If some mistakes get made, we're not making them against teams who can really exploit them. This way, by the time we get to Montana at the end of October, we're fully on top of our new run-stop scheme.

I have a great fear that we'll stay the course, look halfway decent against the next 3 opponents who have already proven they aren't good on offense, and then regress right back into the team that can't stop anyone committed to running the football as soon as they pop up again on the sked. :twocents:
 
GoldenEagle said:
Have our MLBs blitzed yet this year?
Click to expand...

Not with any success. We've almost completely abandoned blitzing, which I think is a large part of our problem. I remember Delaware chewing up the turf with their running game in the NC, but we put a stop to it with an almost constant blitzing in the second half. I have no idea why we didn't try that against Sam Houston State.
 
LDopaPDX said:
GoldenEagle said:
Have our MLBs blitzed yet this year?
Click to expand...

Not with any success. We've almost completely abandoned blitzing, which I think is a large part of our problem. I remember Delaware chewing up the turf with their running game in the NC, but we put a stop to it with an almost constant blitzing in the second half. I have no idea why we didn't try that against Sam Houston State.
Click to expand...

I watched parts of the SHSU game again today and noticed how we lacked aggression from a defensive scheme standpoint. Not referencing players, we have a bunch of great athletes and none afraid to mix it up. But we did not attack Tim Flanders and certainly didn't attack Bell. I don't think Bell ever got hit near the line of scrimmage on option plays. We let him turn the corner and only played the pitch back. Bell was able to pick up yardage and slide. "KALM" in another thread mentioned how in last year's NC, NDSU pounded Bell on every option play. Lets turn some linebackers, corners and safeties loose on some stunts. I bet Allen Brown would love to have a stunt scheme that allows him to light somebody up.
 
LDopaPDX said:
I'd recommend tearing up the defensive playbook tomorrow morning and start from scratch. Let's move to a system that is better built to stop the run. Maybe we move to a 3-4 as a 50 front, with both outside linebackers playing on the line of scrimmage... and then we can use a lot of MLB blitzing when deemed necessary. Continuing to muddle along with these deep LBs and playing 3,4, or 5 guys within 5 yards of the ball and never having more than 6 in the box is just causing us to bleed to death every time out.
Click to expand...
I have only seen the game from the stands and not been able to watch a replay but from what I saw I don't think it is our schemes as much as the players just getting pushed around. Some of our more seasoned guys were not a factor.
On offense Adams had very little time to look for an open receiver, he was pressured relentlessness, when the line started to get gassed later in the game the holding and chop blocks started but by then Sam was clearly in control of the game.
 
clawman said:
LDopaPDX said:
I'd recommend tearing up the defensive playbook tomorrow morning and start from scratch. Let's move to a system that is better built to stop the run. Maybe we move to a 3-4 as a 50 front, with both outside linebackers playing on the line of scrimmage... and then we can use a lot of MLB blitzing when deemed necessary. Continuing to muddle along with these deep LBs and playing 3,4, or 5 guys within 5 yards of the ball and never having more than 6 in the box is just causing us to bleed to death every time out.
Click to expand...
I have only seen the game from the stands and not been able to watch a replay but from what I saw I don't think it is our schemes as much as the players just getting pushed around. Some of our more seasoned guys were not a factor.
On offense Adams had very little time to look for an open receiver, he was pressured relentlessness, when the line started to get gassed later in the game the holding and chop blocks started but by then Sam was clearly in control of the game.
Click to expand...

Just to say it again, replays showed every single one of those chop block calls was a bad call. They were all well executed cut blocks, and the blocker played the defender from the front. I can't say it changed the outcome, but that officiating crew simply didn't know what constituted a chop.
 
LDopaPDX said:
clawman said:
LDopaPDX said:
I'd recommend tearing up the defensive playbook tomorrow morning and start from scratch. Let's move to a system that is better built to stop the run. Maybe we move to a 3-4 as a 50 front, with both outside linebackers playing on the line of scrimmage... and then we can use a lot of MLB blitzing when deemed necessary. Continuing to muddle along with these deep LBs and playing 3,4, or 5 guys within 5 yards of the ball and never having more than 6 in the box is just causing us to bleed to death every time out.
Click to expand...
I have only seen the game from the stands and not been able to watch a replay but from what I saw I don't think it is our schemes as much as the players just getting pushed around. Some of our more seasoned guys were not a factor.
On offense Adams had very little time to look for an open receiver, he was pressured relentlessness, when the line started to get gassed later in the game the holding and chop blocks started but by then Sam was clearly in control of the game.
Click to expand...

Just to say it again, replays showed every single one of those chop block calls was a bad call. They were all well executed cut blocks, and the blocker played the defender from the front. I can't say it changed the outcome, but that officiating crew simply didn't know what constituted a chop.
Click to expand...
Coach Baldwin said during the radio show tonight he felt all of those calls were legit.
 
I think Cory Mitchell summed it up best when he said "We left a lot of plays on the field". It had the feel of a game we neither wanted nor needed to play. Sure, 3-1 would be nice right now, but look at our remaining schedule. The Griz are already in a hole. We don't play NAU. We get the Cats at home, and have ISU and North Dakota on the road. What we needed most from this game was to leave healthy. If we're at full strength, we CAN run the table. If coach had made Vernon run more, blitzed more, or sent Clark/Mitchell/Kupp on Kaufman-style out routes, we might have won but would've risked injuries that could cost us a season. Just my 2 cents.
 
It sounds good in theory and I'm not saying you're wrong, but to me that's kind of a cop out. I have hard time believing that our team went down there not really caring so much if we won. This game was huge for seeding implications, plus we lost at home to them last year. With all the talk about revenge and having two weeks to prepare for them, we sure didn't play well, IMO.
 
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