What is wrong with the D?

[Eagledawg]

Was looking at the Tacoma News Tribune Husky football blog where they had a preview of each opponent for the upcoming season and they had a nice rundown on the Eagles.
http://blog.thenewstribune.com/uwsports/2014/05/05/uw-2014-schedule-previews-eastern-washington/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But what caught me by surprise was the statistical rundown. I knew all the big offensing numbers but the defensive numbers and where they rank nationaly, WOW. Here's an excerpt.

2013 STATISTICAL RANKS:
104th in Total Defense (457.7);
115th in Passing Defense (277.1);
74th in Rushing Defense (180.7)
More stats here: http://stats.ncaa.org/team/index/11520?org_id=207.0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

11th in the Big Sky in total defense giving up 6yds per play and 457yds per game(Sports Network).

You know the old saying "you win with defense", well those don't look like the kind of numbers that a preseason #1 would have. Are those the kind of numbers that the defense has given up the last couple of years? I know we had a rash of injuries in the secondary last year and had some freshman linebackers with a lot of playing time but I didn't know the defense ranked 115th. I think we only have 5 starters back from last years defense but we have a lot of players who gained experience last year.

Looking back if we didn't have a high powered offence we could have been it trouble a number of times, here are a few that come to mind and remember I live on the west side and only attended the S. Utah game.
SHSU
2nd half of the Montana game
Portland State
Jacksonville State we were on the ropes until their QB was hurt.
Towson, having to dig out of the first half hole.

The Oregon St. game I thought they played good fundamental defense with good tackling and not giving up the Big play.

So what do you think, do we have the right players and coaches to improve the defense to the level of a champion defense?

 

[DefendtheRed]

IS THE DEFENSE REALLY THIS BAD?

Yes. I'm not sure if those numbers are accurate, but improvement is needed.

 

[Ryan31088]

Whenever you have an offense that moves as fast as ours, our defense will spend more time on the field. Yes the D can improve (especially the run D), but the numbers are somewhat inflated because of how good our offense was.

 

[LDopaPDX]

The defense is always the elephant in the room at EWU. It didn't always used to be this way. But the Beau Baldwin era has seen season after season of championship calibre offenses and middle-of-the-road defenses. The only year the defense kept pace was 2010, and wouldn't you know that year ended with a national championship.

 

[LDopaPDX]

IS THE DEFENSE REALLY THIS BAD?

Yes. I'm not sure if those numbers are accurate, but improvement is needed.

One of the big issues, often noted, is that our defense looks disorganized to start games. Opening drives result in TDs more often than not against the Eagle D. Take the first quarter away, and the defense is pretty good. A lot of people blame the Towson loss on the last drive, but really, Eastern gave up 3 straight TDs to start that game and it would have been four had their QB not fumbled a snap. Championship teams don't stat games that badly....

 

[eaglesfootball]

IS THE DEFENSE REALLY THIS BAD?

Yes. I'm not sure if those numbers are accurate, but improvement is needed.

more specifically 1st and 4th qtr D.

 

[eaglesfootball]

IS THE DEFENSE REALLY THIS BAD?

Yes. I'm not sure if those numbers are accurate, but improvement is needed.

One of the big issues, often noted, is that our defense looks disorganized to start games. Opening drives result in TDs more often than not against the Eagle D. Take the first quarter away, and the defense is pretty good. A lot of people blame the Towson loss on the last drive, but really, Eastern gave up 3 straight TDs to start that game and it would have been four had their QB not fumbled a snap. Championship teams don't stat games that badly....

this

 

[clawman1]

I think the numbers are accurate as I've seen them a number of times. I think part of the cause is Grahams philosophy to play soft and keep everything in front of you so a team does not get quick scores. (except the last drive vs Towson).
It does seem peculiar that teams walk on us the first drive or two. It almost seems like we did not prepare a game plan. I know that is not true but wonder how it happens seemingly on a regular basis.
I have lots of confidence in our players and coaches to get it done, but a shut down defense would sure be fun to watch.

 

[GoldenEagle]

No it isn't bad. I am confident the EAGS have the athletes to play better defense. My opinion is there is too much sit back and read and react and not enough attack of the opponents weaknesses. How many times did we blitz (from anywhere) last year. The one thing I noticed this spring was that this team has a lot of speed and lateral sideline-to-sideline speed. I would sure like to see some aggressive schemes this year. Why not, the offense will be able to counter any big plays given up by an aggressive defense. Just my opinion.

 

[sammamisheag]

Last two years.....hard to nitpick based on the run EWU has had.....

 

[LDopaPDX]

Last two years.....hard to nitpick based on the run EWU has had.....

That's a mighty half-full glass. Yet another way to look at that same situation would be to say there's two less trophies in our cabinet because the defense couldn't match the performance of the offense. That's a problem. A high class problem, no doubt, but still something to strive toward.

 

[eaglesfootball]

Last two years.....hard to nitpick based on the run EWU has had.....

That's a mighty half-full glass. Yet another way to look at that same situation would be to say there's two less trophies in our cabinet because the defense couldn't match the performance of the offense. That's a problem. A high class problem, no doubt, but still something to strive toward.

+1

 

[kalm]

We definitely need to improve but, but we played one of the toughest schedules in FCS last year against some very solid FBS and FCS offenses. You have to remember that teams from the MEAC, NEC, etc for the most part aren't playing against the caliber of offensive athlete we see almost weekly.

 

[tomq04]

our defense is the definitive difference between us and the bison.

Watching their games was like watching a hurricane pound on whatever offense was on the field, they never let up. Whoever had the ball had 3 bison swarming them, it was unbelievable.

You can of course argue our offense was leaps and bounds better (maybe), but without a "solid" defense it's hard to get past the semi's.

In lighter news, our D was pretty tough the last half of the season, particularly after the Idaho State game "disaster" fortunately the only thing worse than our D that game, was theirs.

 

[EWURanger]

our defense is the definitive difference between us and the bison.

Watching their games was like watching a hurricane pound on whatever offense was on the field, they never let up. Whoever had the ball had 3 bison swarming them, it was unbelievable.

You can of course argue our offense was leaps and bounds better (maybe), but without a "solid" defense it's hard to get past the semi's.

In lighter news, our D was pretty tough the last half of the season, particularly after the Idaho State game "disaster" fortunately the only thing worse than our D that game, was theirs.

NDSU's defense has been quite a bit better than ours the past few years, but offensively we are light-years ahead of them. Just really contrasting styles of play, to be honest. We want to score a ton of points, their offense is more ground and pound which tends to keep their defense relatively fresh.

Agree with the comments above...our offense often scores in just a few plays and our D winds up spending a lot of time on the field. I think that's where depth comes in, and what hurt us a little last year in some of those games that we got lit up but still maybe won. I am thinking we'll have better depth in the secondary this year, but the bigger concern is the D-Line, IMO. I just don't see a ton of depth there after the #1's. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[DefendtheRed]

our defense is the definitive difference between us and the bison.

Watching their games was like watching a hurricane pound on whatever offense was on the field, they never let up. Whoever had the ball had 3 bison swarming them, it was unbelievable.

You can of course argue our offense was leaps and bounds better (maybe), but without a "solid" defense it's hard to get past the semi's.

In lighter news, our D was pretty tough the last half of the season, particularly after the Idaho State game "disaster" fortunately the only thing worse than our D that game, was theirs.

NDSU's defense has been quite a bit better than ours the past few years, but offensively we are light-years ahead of them. Just really contrasting styles of play, to be honest. We want to score a ton of points, their offense is more ground and pound which tends to keep their defense relatively fresh.

Agree with the comments above...our offense often scores in just a few plays and our D winds up spending a lot of time on the field. I think that's where depth comes in, and what hurt us a little last year in some of those games that we got lit up but still maybe won. I am thinking we'll have better depth in the secondary this year, but the bigger concern is the D-Line, IMO. I just don't see a ton of depth there after the #1's. Hope I'm wrong.

Being on the field a lot is no doubt a contributing factor to our defensive woes but my counter to that is if you want to get off the field make more stops and get more takeaways. Maybe I'm missing something.

 

[Rjones61]

I think everyone is very interested in the defense this year. I think we improve, but that could just be my red tinted glasses. I'm very excited to have Hamlin back.

 

[luckyintheorder]

It is be easy to say, it is OK that the defense plays statistically mediocre if that was the talent level... that, however; is not the case. Dopa's observations mirror my own. Believe Graham may have enough young, super athletic players that will be the difference in overcoming what I will term non-scheme. Having key Seniors on and off the field like Hamlin and McDonald can help make the necessary adjustments on the fly that aren't being made in the coaching box.

For those mired in the belief our defense is "good enough": Why run a bend and finally break defense to start every game when you have an offense that can score from anywhere on the field, on any play and "break" the opposing defensive will at any time? Isn't it time to scheme for some risk that stops opposing drives or creates more big plays? (see Coach Baldwin quote below)

Prediction: The defensive backfield will surprise to the upside this season as so many saw playing time last year and seem hyper competitive. The incoming freshman already exhibit FCS level skills on video and should be a shot in the arm to the program for years to come.

 

[Eagledawg]

When I posted this topic it was because the numbers were way worse then the defense looked. The D looks athletic and has good speed. To be honest it reminds me of the Huskies when Jake Locker was their QB and Nick Holt was their Defensive coordinator with games at Notre Dame and at USC. One they won and one they lost but in both the Husky offense was brilliant but the defense was like a sieve. I thought the D had some decent athletes but they couldn't stop anybody. Sark fired Nick Holt brought in Justin Wilcox and they had a definite improvement. They were more aggressive and less reactionary, same players just a different scheme. I'm not saying somebody needs to be fired just tweak things bit.
Also I don't buy the notion about the defense being bad is because the offense scores too quick. When you give up an average of 6 yards per play, the offence scoring too quick is not the problem. If our offence scored 28 points a game instead of 38 what would our record be? You can't ask the offence to do more but If this team is really be a #1 ranked team then the defense has to improve.
The secondary being healthy will help and I think our linebackers are adequate but I'm not real sure about the line. Loosing Pulu would seem to be a big loss because he was a load but maybe more speed up front would be just as good. Giving up less than 400 yards per game would be a nice improvement.

 

[EagInTexas]

I'm new to the board so I apologize if this is a topic that has been discussed already. I asked in another thread, but am interested in knowing what everyone's thoughts are on what the problems are with our defense? Is it just youth? Personnel? Scheme? Attitude? Effort? Too many injuries, or all of the above? Secondly, what could the coaches be doing differently to improve, or is are there too many problems with the D to assume that any improvement can be made? We should win quite a few more games but come playoff time I don't see this team going that far with a defense that has been playing so poorly up until now.