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Why Our Defense Will Be Better in 2010

by snoscythe · 6/5/2010

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snoscythe
Because we could very well be upgrading the weakest link on the field (ILB)....with a true freshman:



http://deepshadesofblue.com/zac-to-create-a-stout-byu-defense/



If we can get some lateral speed in the middle of the field, our secondary will be able to focus on their real responsibility for the first time in the Bronco-era instead of cheating to help the middle, and the D-Line can sell out more to get pressure. Here's hoping this kid can revolutionize what Bronco/Jaime can do.
Y
YBrit
I agree. With even more talent coming in at most positions we'll free up play-makers thus having more pics/better coverage, thus having more LB presense, thus having more QB pressure, thus having more rushing stops. Domino effect of skill, speed, and talent, finally reaching TCU
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jonnylingo
Those are some high expectations to put on a freshman but I think he is up to it. He is skilled and intelligent. It will be a little bit of a rough start but the further along in the season it goes the better he will be.



Our whole defense evolves around the middle linebackers. Not only will our secondary benefit, so will the defensive ends. They will be free to pass rush instead of plugging holes.
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Mars


Totally agree. I think Stout will be awesome.



Keoshian may take some time. Who else will be playing? An RM?

It's been too long since spring camp ended. My brain is rusty... even though I created a whole thread just to look at real quick for questions like this.....
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BigCougsFan
YBrit wrote:
I agree. With even more talent coming in at most positions we'll free up play-makers thus having more pics/better coverage, thus having more LB presense, thus having more QB pressure, thus having more rushing stops. Domino effect of skill, speed, and talent, finally reaching TCU


Thus we keel'em, thus we walk to our cars happy, thus we hear more weirdos who are happy, and THUS we sleep well at night.
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CougarPeasant
As worried as I am about the defensive secondary and all, I am even more worried about who's going to be the starting QB. We ought to run a poll or two or ten on who would make the best QB this season now that Hall has left. All this talk about conference realignments is getitng old. Sno, got any thoughts on the issue? How about you Mars? you two are never at a loss for words on these matters?!!! kitic, don't be shy, I am sure you have a thing or two to say.



;)



Seriously, good topic sno, I was tiring of the conference/qb issues and I do want to know what the rookies can add on D this season. Stout will be a welcomed addition. Gurney has a good story on TBS regarding the incoming freshmen and the impact they may or may not have. I don't have the cite handy, but it seems like there are some real studs coming in who can contribute as true freshmen with the needs BYU has on defense.
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Lawboy
I think the LB corp we had in 2006 was awesome across the board, and that group actually made our secondary better, which was an average group. If this group can be even close to that, with the returning secondary guys we have, I think our D can be special. Like 1996 and 2006. It sounds as if this will be a really speedy group, so if they can learn to play with he right technique, they will be great. As I see it, the key is going to be the D-line, which will seemingly be the most inexperienced. If those guys can do play, we will be good because we will be solid across the board. And this will take pressure off the QB to have to score 30+ every week to win it.
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gmj81
One thing is for sure, while the defense this year may be inexperienced at some key positions, specifically LB, we may well have the fastest defense BYU has ever fielded before this year which gets me very excited about where this team could be headed in the coming years.



No one needs to worry about inexperience at DL. Its one of the easies positions for a true freshman to break in and get playing time or even start. And Coach Kaufusi has proven to do a phenomenal job of getting these young kids ready. Evidence for this includes Jorgensen, Fuga, Dulan, Tonga, Manumaleuna, etc. Disregarding that fact we still have three very experienced players returning in So'oto, Putnam and Fuga and a fourth that might still be a little out of shape but could still be good enough to log significant minutes for us this year in Manumaleuna. Bryson has been playing like a stud and the incoming freshmen (Rowley, Fabuluje, Tuiloma) who will arrive in August will push everyone for time.



And obviously the secondary may be the best it's ever been this year with the depth and talent we are loaded with, the only real question being who will start at FS. But whoever that ends up being just has to worry about his assignments and nothing else because the rest of the secondary will be so experienced and quick.



The only real concern for any Cougar fan should be with the LB corps. We return some experience in Pendleton and Ogletree and even some in Atkinson. But we also will have a young and athletic talent infusion in the form of Van Noy, Stout, Leung-Wai, Jorgensen, Beck, Tautu, etc. and some surprising play from some of the existing roster guys like Frazier.



Bottom line, I anticipate there will be some kinks to work out. But I am not too worried about how either the offense or defense will fare this year. They will certainly be good enough to beat everybody we should beat and could be talented enough to beat even the likes of UW, FSU, TCU, and Yewtah. I think we'll see alot more defensive play like we did in the OU game last year though... Tough, fast and on the ball before the offense even has a chance to make a game-breaking play.
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Mars


Okay, I looked up Stout's competition at MLB (none of which really played in Spring camp... those guys were Tom Steele and Shane Hunter):



Brandon Ogletree

Aveni Leung-Wai

Malosi Teo

Austen Jorgensen

Collin Keoshian



Furthermore, one Uona Kaveinga joins the MLB competition next year (along with Tyler Beck, and Austin Heder the next year). Will both Stout and Kaveinga be playing at the same time (alongside Pendleton and Van Noy)? DAMN that's a tough LB core (especially considering the depth with Fua, Kautai, Tautu, Owens, Bills, Sorensen, Ho Ching, Alisa, Pritchard, Hadley, and Richardson)!
M
Mars
gmj81 wrote:
No one needs to worry about inexperience at DL. Its one of the easies positions for a true freshman to break in and get playing time or even start. And Coach Kaufusi has proven to do a phenomenal job of getting these young kids ready. Evidence for this includes Jorgensen, Fuga, Dulan, Tonga, Manumaleuna, etc. Disregarding that fact we still have three very experienced players returning in So'oto, Putnam and Fuga and a fourth that might still be a little out of shape but could still be good enough to log significant minutes for us this year in Manumaleuna. Bryson has been playing like a stud and the incoming freshmen (Rowley, Fabuluje, Tuiloma) who will arrive in August will push everyone for time. And obviously the secondary may be the best it's ever been this year with the depth and talent we are loaded with...

This.



On the defense, I don't see a single weak position. I like our guy at all 11 spots (no fears for Buckner/Bradley/Galeai/Aguire/Eason/Thomas/Uale starting alonside Rich/Logan).

Same with the offense (if our center snaps well, like in the "spring game"). I'm imagining Kariya at FB, but Brown could be good too.
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snoscythe
Mars wrote:
No one needs to worry about inexperience at DL. Its one of the easies positions for a true freshman to break in and get playing time or even start. And Coach Kaufusi has proven to do a phenomenal job of getting these young kids ready. Evidence for this includes Jorgensen, Fuga, Dulan, Tonga, Manumaleuna, etc. Disregarding that fact we still have three very experienced players returning in So'oto, Putnam and Fuga and a fourth that might still be a little out of shape but could still be good enough to log significant minutes for us this year in Manumaleuna. Bryson has been playing like a stud and the incoming freshmen (Rowley, Fabuluje, Tuiloma) who will arrive in August will push everyone for time. And obviously the secondary may be the best it's ever been this year with the depth and talent we are loaded with...

This.



On the defense, I don't see a single weak position. I like our guy at all 11 spots.

Same with the offense (if our center snaps well, like in the "spring game"). I'm imagining Kariya at FB, but Brown could be good too.


The only question mark I see on defense is who will be the on field leader? Under Bronco, the guy with the green light to make defensive audibles has always been a FS or an ILB. Guys like Scotty Johnson, Matt Bauman, etc. Talent-wise, this may be the quickest, hardest hitting group to be on the field together, but I just don't know who's going to be the brains of the operation.
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gmj81
Mars wrote:


Okay, I looked up Stout's competition at MLB (none of which really played in Spring camp... those guys were Tom Steele and Shane Hunter):



Brandon Ogletree

Aveni Leung-Wai

Malosi Teo

Austen Jorgensen

Collin Keoshian



Furthermore, one Uona Kaveinga joins the MLB competition next year (along with Tyler Beck, and Austin Heder the next year). Will both Stout and Kaveinga be playing at the same time (alongside Pendleton and Van Noy)? DAMN that's a tough LB core (especially considering the depth with Fua, Kautai, Tautu, Owens, Bills, Sorensen, Ho Ching, Alisa, Pritchard, Hadley, and Richardson)!


Kavienga won't be back until 2012 as he decided to go on a mission.
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gmj81
snoscythe wrote:
gmj81 wrote:
No one needs to worry about inexperience at DL. Its one of the easies positions for a true freshman to break in and get playing time or even start. And Coach Kaufusi has proven to do a phenomenal job of getting these young kids ready. Evidence for this includes Jorgensen, Fuga, Dulan, Tonga, Manumaleuna, etc. Disregarding that fact we still have three very experienced players returning in So'oto, Putnam and Fuga and a fourth that might still be a little out of shape but could still be good enough to log significant minutes for us this year in Manumaleuna. Bryson has been playing like a stud and the incoming freshmen (Rowley, Fabuluje, Tuiloma) who will arrive in August will push everyone for time. And obviously the secondary may be the best it's ever been this year with the depth and talent we are loaded with...

This.



On the defense, I don't see a single weak position. I like our guy at all 11 spots.

Same with the offense (if our center snaps well, like in the "spring game"). I'm imagining Kariya at FB, but Brown could be good too.


The only question mark I see on defense is who will be the on field leader? Under Bronco, the guy with the green light to make defensive audibles has always been a FS or an ILB. Guys like Scotty Johnson, Matt Bauman, etc. Talent-wise, this may be the quickest, hardest hitting group to be on the field together, but I just don't know who's going to be the brains of the operation.


I really don't see why Rich at SS couldn't be that leader. I think it's always just been the FS because that's where one of the smartest players has always been (Gooch, Fowler, Johnson). But Rich is extremely smart and he and reads the game so well. Ogletree could be another option. From all reports, it seems his teammates love his ferocity and nastiness and while he may not be the biggest or fastest guy, he is so instinctive that it just seems like he is, kinda like Cameron Jensen. He's blowing up the play before the offense even knows what's called.
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Mars
snoscythe wrote:
The only question mark I see on defense is who will be the on field leader? Under Bronco, the guy with the green light to make defensive audibles has always been a FS or an ILB. Guys like Scotty Johnson, Matt Bauman, etc. Talent-wise, this may be the quickest, hardest hitting group to be on the field together, but I just don't know who's going to be the brains of the operation.

Great point. The more experienced, vocal defensive leaders seem to be Rich at DB and Pendleton at LB. But going by position, the new Johnson/Bauman in spring camp were Thomas/Ogletree. I'm not sure how that will work out, but the last two seasons I tended to think that Scotty Johnson was the most important defensive player on the team.
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Mars
gmj81 wrote:
Kavienga won't be back until 2012 as he decided to go on a mission.

Did he? Has he left yet, or does he have a departure date? Because if he leaves after this season, he won't be back until 2013.
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CougarPeasant
Here's the article: http://byu.scout.com/2/974625.html





There are 4 players in this group who should the field this season. Stout, Rowley, Apo, and Tuiloma. I think Rowley might play on D to start and Tuiloma could be the next start at NT as a freshman. Add Van Noy and that's 3 incoming freshman who can fill in the gaps the team suffered from graduation. (Not to forget Quezada of course.)



When it comes to leadership, I think Rich will emerge as the field general. The backfield is talented enough and for some reason, i always felt it was the LB corp that was covering for our weak corners, who'd a thunk it would be the other way around at BYU. Yet, there is serious depth in the LB, along with new comers that if the group gels quickly, could be a very special group.



I think with Ogletree and Pendleton, there is enough leadership there that the team will be in good hands up front.



Will Bronco show that it's the system and not the players that is productive or that his recruiting pipeline really has reached "reload" rather than rebuild status?!!!



Lastly, I am very intrigued by Keoshian. He might be a real surprise and find the field sooner than expected.
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Mars
CougarPeasant wrote:
http://byu.scout.com/2/974625.html



There are 4 players in this group who should the field this season. Stout, Rowley, Apo, and Tuiloma.

Who do you think our starting fullback will be? Because Algernon Brown has to be better than Mendenhall.
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CougarPeasant
Mars wrote:
http://byu.scout.com/2/974625.html



There are 4 players in this group who should the field this season. Stout, Rowley, Apo, and Tuiloma.

Who do you think our starting fullback will be? Because Algernon Brown has to be better than Mendenhall.


The OP is about BYU's defense, but since you asked, I really think with the loss of Unga, that Bronco will want at least one upper classman in the backfield at all times, especially should Heaps emerge as the starting QB. In light of that, I see Diluigi and Kariya filling that role. Kariya might well get more reps as a full back to start, especially if Moore and/or Quezada step up and earn playing time as tail backs. Mendenhall will get time to play during the USU game and possibly the CSU and Wyoming games (but only if they are home games).



Brown should find the field eventually and will emerge as the rightful heir to Tonga. I just don't see Bronco putting all freshmen in the backfield with Heaps, Quezada/Moore, and then Brown.



Back to leadership on D, Pendleton played safety before, so he should be able to fill a leadership role even on the outside LB spot. Leaders will emerge on D, there is enough returning experience for that.



This is why I like college football over pro ball, each season brings new challenges as players come and go on a regular basis, which means its really about recruiting and coaching and it lets us armchair coaches pontificate more about what should or shouldn't happen with the team.
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Mars
CougarPeasant wrote:
I really think with the loss of Unga, that Bronco will want at least one upper classman in the backfield at all times, especially should Heaps emerge as the starting QB. In light of that, I see Diluigi and Kariya filling that role. Kariya might well get more reps as a full back to start, especially if Moore and/or Quezada step up and earn playing time as tail backs.

I also see Kariya as BYU's starting FB. I don't think DiLuigi has the frame for that position though. I still see J.J. as our #1 running back, ahead of Quezada. Moore, to me, looks like a likely red-shirt, despite his talent.
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SpiffCoug
I think w/ Unga not coming back, JJ will see more time at RB than he was at the Meikle-esque H-back position. I also think we might go to more four and five WR sets since we have more experience at WR than we do at RB.
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