Cougarbib wrote:
The OP did compare the offense and defenses of Houston and BY and concluded that they were about the same quoting completion % and YPC type data. Then it asked what was missing. Answer: Turnovers was a huge difference.
Bend but don't break worked reasonably OK except it broke on the Hail Mary and it failed to create any turnovers. I am sure BY coaches and players will be better prepared for the hail Mary next time, but we will have to see if they can create turnovers VA a good passing offense. Oh. And bend but don't break did not get pressure on the QB to generate sacks. Finally, if bend but font created some turnovers and sacks, THill would have had great field position all night, scored with far fewer plays, and been replaced by his backup in Q4. The defense was not as good as it needed to be very the pass in those respects.
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Bib, did I offend you in some way? At the risk of sounding argumentative let me reiterate my point. Yes, BYU could have created more turnovers. Yes, BYU could have created more pressure/sacks. Yes, the defense broke on the Hail Mary (which I believe I pointed out in my original post). In my last post I conceded all of these things. I was not speaking to these issues. The OP asked what was missing in the pass defense and I responded that I think that the BBDB defense did exactly what it was supposed to, which is eliminate (or at least limit) big plays, make opposing offenses drive the whole field without mistakes in order to score, and once they get into the red zone limit scoring to field goals. This style of defense has proven to be effective over Bronco's years in holding teams to low scores so that our offense can outscore them (unless it is a Heaps or Nelson team, wink). As I said before, I do not love this defense, I wish we had the talent to get pressure, take the ball away, not allow big plays, stuff the run, and pitch shutouts; but I don't think we do, hence the bend-but-don't-break defense.
In the end I think we are saying the same thing. I have all the same issues with our defensive schemes that you do. I am simply attempting to opine (quite poorly apparently) that this performance was by design and not a result of ineffective execution. For example, you complain that there was not enough pressure on O'Korn, I complain that there was not enough pressure on O'Korn...but acknowledge that that must have been by design because they only rushed 3 a lot of the time. This scheme is stupid because it allows for a 12 yard completion and a first down, but smart because it avoids a 70 yard touchdown and they have to do it all the way down the field.
Lastly, I would like to point out that our defense limited them to 25 points and that it probably would have been even less without our own turnovers/offensive mistakes. Take those away, or even limit those, and our defensive game would have probably resulted in 0 sacks, 0 turnovers, 250-300 yards passing, 10 yards rushing, and 10-17 points. With our offensive production this year that will equal a win in 12 out of 12 games.
