Our Defense

Is going to be FANTASTIC this year! I know that everyone is getting lost (myself SUPER-included) in the "sexy stat" this year of who is going to start, but I just wanted to take a second and devote an entire thread to our Defense, which I capitalize on purpose... This is going to be one of our best defenses in my lifetime at least, if not ever. Some things that I am massively excited about.



- First and foremost - and I can't believe I am saying this - our defensive backs! We have probably the best 1-2-3 tandem on cornerbacks we have ever had with Bradley, Logan, and from what I have seen, Eason. That is a deep, good group and I applaud the coaches for addressing a former weakness and making it their strength. As a Jets fan :blush: , I know firsthand the importance of a good lockdown corner (Come on Revis, just sign already!) and I am very excited to see our CB's take a few steps closer to the LOS and contest people. I can't tell you how good it is to see batted balls and INTERCEPTIONS! We get those now! They aren't just something that we throw once in a while, anymore!



- Jordan Pendleton. If he can return to mid-season pre injury form last year, he will be a huge factor in run-stopping, and getting to the quarterback. With the DB's taking a good portion of the passing game, he will be a man among boys making highlight reel hits.



- Our linebacker depth is great, better than it has been in years, especially a guy Uona gets let in to the party. We are faster than anyone not named Morris or Kehl as a group. Coverages need to be nailed, but that should be rock solid by week 5, and on solid ground by UW.



- Our D-line is looking very good, with quite a few sacks coming out of practices and scrimmages. To get pressure on the qb in a 3-4 is a bonus, and if we should be so lucky to continue that, we could win every single game on our schedule. I just expect them to fill lanes, but they are doing so much more right now. If that is not situational, then we are going to see something special this year.



Our defense kept us in games last year, (OU, others) and they will actually be - I think - the reason that we win most of the games that we do win this year. And with continued success, we will just keep getting more and more talent, and better and better. What a great time to be a cougar!

I've formerly stated that I think the FSU game is winnable but a likely loss (TCU game in my opinion is the only guaranteed loss on the schedule). I've felt this way because of two reasons. 1.) I've thought that Bronco really wants revenge for last year's beatdown in LES at the hands of the Criminoles. He basically confirmed my suspicions today with comments he made concerning the FSU game last year. It is for this reason that I think the FSU game will be the "OU" game of 2010. And 2.) While I've never had any doubt about the ability of the offense this year (regardless of who's under center), I think I may have been one of the few that have thought that our defense would be possibly even more special than the offense. There have been lots of signs since camp began pointing to this being the case. I have absolutely no worries about the DL or secondary. And I think the LBs will be athletic enough to wreak some serious havoc on opposing offenses.

agreed. From what I have heard, our D line is considering a 6 man regular rotation. That is really deep for a defensive line, and would be awesome to keep rotating in fresh legs. I think that because of all this projected depth, we are going to be one of the strongest defenses through 4 quarters. That is some of our problem, we run out of steam defensively, and then let people back into games that have no business being in the games (CSU last year, UNM, others)

If I recall correctly, in 2006 (which was a great year for us defensively) we platooned even more than 6 guys on the d-line, and a lot of them were freshmen. We had great LBs backing them up that had more experience than ours do now, but I don't see any reason having that many talented bodies seeing time at d-line, isn't an advantage to us.

Anyone who concedes the TCU game is a fool. TCU has issues on D. Yes, their O is really good. But they replaced their best pass rusher, their best LB, a safety and BOTH corners. We conceed that TCU will just reload far too often without seeing what they have to replace. Just like the U, who is replacing all LBs, a safety and 2 Corners as well, plus their best pass rusher D-lineman. Seriously, we are raw at positions, but so are those guys. The main edge those teams have is returning QBs. But they are all winnable.

I just watched the replay of the 1991 (tie) and 1993 (win) games at SDSU and reread a report of the 1993 at USU (loss). Our offense was incredibly good in all three of those games, the difference was defense. Walsh had 619 passing yards in the game against USU and we lost! With even a legitimate defense on the field those games would never have been close. If our defense is as good at it appears to be, 2010 might be a great year.

I tend to agree, on paper, the defense should be better this year than last, but the proof is in the playing, we'll have to see. We have more speed a linebacker, more experienced corners, excellent safeties, and I believe our Dline is going to be better than last year, maybe significantly better.



If the D plays up to expectations, they could get credit for some important wins this year. Football is a funny game, you can win the game statistically but lose by 4 TDs and it looks like you got clobbered. You can move the ball up and down the field but fail to score, or turn the ball over in scoring position, and it looks like the other team killed you. The FSU game last year was an odd game. When was the last time BYU could not stop a running team? FSU was a freak game that kind of defies explanation. They were not that much better than us. This year we take out our frustrations on them.



I believe we beat Washington, and I expect we'll beat AFA, and if we can upset FSU, Nevada should also be a win. The defense is the key in these first three games, if they can shut people down, BYU wins those games. If the defense isn't as good as we hope, we could lose two of those first three games.