1. One mini-excuse at the outset: we looked like a team playing on short rest against a team with an extra day of rest. We just did't move with energy and dynamism.
2. None of that excuses giving up 300 plus yards in a half--a half, ha!--against an offense ranked number 76 in the country coming into the game. Ridiculous. And never in your own stadium. The worst halftime defense I've seen in Sanford since 1999 against Auburn.
3. Kirby said the D wasn't bad in the first hslf. I love Kirby--two natties will do that--but don't serve me a pile of sh!t with a fork and pretend it's a meal. Just stop.
4. Why is the D so bad? @AgrayDAWG pointed out, correctly, that everyone knows our tendencies. And the reason that's obvious is that most of the passing plays they made were easy throws, plays where guys were schemed open with no difficulty. When we pass guys on to our LBs in underneath zone, it's a free first down.
5. Beyond being predictable, we are passive as hell. Our LBs are routinely further off the line than most teams we play, and everything is a read/react to keep the play in front of you, which is a great way of avoiding big plays but a terrible way of getting the team off the field. We have become so afraid of big plays that we have become meek and timid. Like a 24/7 prevent D where guys are more concerned about doing something wrong than doing something right. We are the hunted. We can't make the recruiting argument with the D; this is a unit where we are getting far less than the talent should dictate.
6. Our offense is not great at reading the room. When we are struggling on D, we need the O to keep the ball. That means when we have the ball deep in our territory, we have to call the game to make first downs, eschewing longer throws that while great when successful, are low percentage and more likely to result in a punt. There's nothing worse for us than having the other team drive down the field, and then we turn around and do a 3 and out. If we have second and 5 in our territory, call a couple of plays for easy underneath throws. Keep the ball. And for the love of God, do not throw it to number 11 on third down when keeping the ball is critical early in the game.
7. This team is resilient; it's also unfocused and lacks discipline. It's Week 12; this is who we are. Not a natty team (Lord I hope I'm wrong). Before next season, we need to reevaluate what we're doing in several areas. It's not an indictment of our head coach, it's just the nature of this game where things get stale, and it's time for an infusion of new ideas on the staff.
2. None of that excuses giving up 300 plus yards in a half--a half, ha!--against an offense ranked number 76 in the country coming into the game. Ridiculous. And never in your own stadium. The worst halftime defense I've seen in Sanford since 1999 against Auburn.
3. Kirby said the D wasn't bad in the first hslf. I love Kirby--two natties will do that--but don't serve me a pile of sh!t with a fork and pretend it's a meal. Just stop.
4. Why is the D so bad? @AgrayDAWG pointed out, correctly, that everyone knows our tendencies. And the reason that's obvious is that most of the passing plays they made were easy throws, plays where guys were schemed open with no difficulty. When we pass guys on to our LBs in underneath zone, it's a free first down.
5. Beyond being predictable, we are passive as hell. Our LBs are routinely further off the line than most teams we play, and everything is a read/react to keep the play in front of you, which is a great way of avoiding big plays but a terrible way of getting the team off the field. We have become so afraid of big plays that we have become meek and timid. Like a 24/7 prevent D where guys are more concerned about doing something wrong than doing something right. We are the hunted. We can't make the recruiting argument with the D; this is a unit where we are getting far less than the talent should dictate.
6. Our offense is not great at reading the room. When we are struggling on D, we need the O to keep the ball. That means when we have the ball deep in our territory, we have to call the game to make first downs, eschewing longer throws that while great when successful, are low percentage and more likely to result in a punt. There's nothing worse for us than having the other team drive down the field, and then we turn around and do a 3 and out. If we have second and 5 in our territory, call a couple of plays for easy underneath throws. Keep the ball. And for the love of God, do not throw it to number 11 on third down when keeping the ball is critical early in the game.
7. This team is resilient; it's also unfocused and lacks discipline. It's Week 12; this is who we are. Not a natty team (Lord I hope I'm wrong). Before next season, we need to reevaluate what we're doing in several areas. It's not an indictment of our head coach, it's just the nature of this game where things get stale, and it's time for an infusion of new ideas on the staff.
