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I'm actually a little worried about the D

by wildeone · 9/5/2010

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wildeone
They played great 95% of the time, but they gave up too many big plays, but I was impressed with the team speed, it's a TON better, so even when we did give up a big play, we were able to chase them down...

But it's the first game, I hope we don't see any more gaping gaps deep down the middle



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Sammich
wildeone wrote:
They played great 95% of the time, but they gave up too many big plays, but I was impressed with the team speed, it's a TON better, so even when we did give up a big play, we were able to chase them down...

But it's the first game, I hope we don't see any more gaping gaps deep down the middle



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I think the gaps in the middle were due to the defense trying to close up the outside against Locker's scrambling ability. And for that reason is was stupid for Washington to not use Polk up the middle more often.
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Y 4 Ever
Sammich wrote:
They played great 95% of the time, but they gave up too many big plays, but I was impressed with the team speed, it's a TON better, so even when we did give up a big play, we were able to chase them down...

But it's the first game, I hope we don't see any more gaping gaps deep down the middle



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I think the gaps in the middle were due to the defense trying to close up the outside against Locker's scrambling ability. And for that reason is was stupid for Washington to not use Polk up the middle more often.


And they're also very, very young. A few plays where someone was out of position, and gave up a few plays. The one that chaps my hide the most is the 3rd and 8 from the UW 2, where Polk ran for 22 yards - and eventually led to a FG. But for the most part, good game D. They'll weed out these mistakes.
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BigCougsFan
I was impressed with our D! They made all the correct adjustments at halftime and shut Washington out in the second half.



In the second half... Washington was only 1 for 7 on 3rd down AND something like 0 for 2(or3) on 4th down. That's frickin' awesome!
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craigoscarson
wildeone wrote:
They played great 95% of the time, but they gave up too many big plays, but I was impressed with the team speed, it's a TON better, so even when we did give up a big play, we were able to chase them down...

But it's the first game, I hope we don't see any more gaping gaps deep down the middle



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New faces on both sides of the ball in the 1st game of the season. I'm not sure we could have expected much more. They'll clean things up but if giving up the middle meant containing Locker, then mission accomplished.



This game was close because the offense sputtered at times, not because the defense did; in fact the defense came up huge when it mattered the most. Washington has big play home run guys and they're going to get theirs; we did an excellent job of keeping them out of a rhythmn and it just wasn't enough.



What I like about the defense, was that with all the youth in the linebacker corps and d-line, there was not one ovbious gap that a good team like UW could just blatantly exploit; that was my major concern that a d end or backer would make major mistakes and that UW would just milk it.



We still have a young inexperienced team and I'm cautiosly optimistic. As young as we are, I still think we have the potential to drop some games that we're favored in, but after tonight, I think we're going to be competitive in all games and 10 wins isn't impossible. (I'll still be happy with 8 and a bowl win)



The future is very very bright. If we can find a competent replacement for Andrew Rich, we're going to be insanely good next season. (Matt Reynolds, come back for your senior year and help your dad win a national championship)

If we catch 4 more catchable balls tonight, then I think we easily win by more than 10.
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Short_Changed
Overall I liked what I saw out of our defense but I really worry about Thomas back there. I wish we could move Brandon Bradley over to free safety and have Eason start at corner or that someone else would step up. He doesn't take good routes to the ball and doesn't seem like a very good tackler.



I don't think we really tried to put much pressure on Locker and we tried to spy him. The times we did blitz it was effective though. Our defense has a lot of potential along with the offense. It's a great time to be a cougar fan!
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Cougs_Rule
Ditto What Craigo said. THis defense will likely be better than last year. They are quicker, deeper and more stout up front. They and the special teams won this game. NOw if you had said I am worried about our offense, I would be more accepting of that.
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wildeone
I meant gaps deep down the middle in the secondary, that they took advantage of a few times.

But I was particularly impressed with 2nd half adjustments



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Cougs_Rule
Short_Changed wrote:
Overall I liked what I saw out of our defense but I really worry about Thomas back there. I wish we could move Brandon Bradley over to free safety and have Eason start at corner or that someone else would step up. He doesn't take good routes to the ball and doesn't seem like a very good tackler.



I don't think we really tried to put much pressure on Locker and we tried to spy him. The times we did blitz it was effective though. Our defense has a lot of potential along with the offense. It's a great time to be a cougar fan!


Actually Brandon didnt look that great tonight. He's had better games. I know he had the one injury (stiches to head?) but he got burned several times. And felt that Corby actually played quite well. Would love to see J'ray step up.
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craigoscarson
Short_Changed wrote:
Overall I liked what I saw out of our defense but I really worry about Thomas back there. I wish we could move Brandon Bradley over to free safety and have Eason start at corner or that someone else would step up. He doesn't take good routes to the ball and doesn't seem like a very good tackler.



I don't think we really tried to put much pressure on Locker and we tried to spy him. The times we did blitz it was effective though. Our defense has a lot of potential along with the offense. It's a great time to be a cougar fan!


Steven Thomas will be the quarterback of the defense next year (he's a jr. now) I dont' think Bradley is big enough of an upgrade to mortgage the future for. Putting Bradley at safety also puts Dequan Everetts redshirt at risk if Eason or Buckner get hurt or dont' perform.



Don't mortgage the future for a slim to no upgrade. Thomas will improve every game and Scotty Johnson said on KSL tonight that Thomas is a much better athlete than he was.



The defense will have some ups and down this season but there was no obvious hole in the D, everyone showed they can tackle (crucial early in a season) and our young players still got work.



If Steven Thomas was a liability, then Locker and an pretty experienced offense would have been able to put up some points in the 2nd half.
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Schmoe
With Logan and Eason in, we had the shortest corner tandem in D1 football (I'm guessing here, but I wouldn't be surprised). Seriously though, the defense adjusted well at the half and really took it to them in the second half. Also, is this the first time in BYU history that our first points of the season or even of the game came on a safety?
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BigCougsFan
I thought Thomas did well for us tonight! I loved how our outside linebackers contained the outside where Locker is so dangerous at.
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Mars
craigoscarson wrote:
The defense will have some ups and down this season but there was no obvious hole in the D, everyone showed they can tackle (crucial early in a season) and our young players still got work.

1- Short, quick passes to the flats, same as years prior. Washington was killing us with 5 yard dink-and-dunks.

2- Giving up long runs repeatedly on 3rd down.

3- The mid-range middle of the field being wide open multiple times, not covered by anyone in zone.

4- Tackling. Lots of guys bouncing and sliding off of what should have been sure tackles.
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craigoscarson
Mars wrote:
The defense will have some ups and down this season but there was no obvious hole in the D, everyone showed they can tackle (crucial early in a season) and our young players still got work.

1- Short, quick passes to the flats, same as years prior. Washington was killing us with 5 yard dink-and-dunks.

2- Giving up long runs repeatedly on 3rd down.

3- The mid-range middle of the field being wide open multiple times, not covered by anyone in zone.

4- Tackling. Lots of guys bouncing and sliding off of what should have been sure tackles.


What did we expect? a 59-0 beatdown ala UCLA? Nothing above was so poor that UW managed to exploit them consistently.



Give our average offensive play; if any of those mistake you listed above were glaring, UW would have been able to manage more than 17 points. I think we're getting a little greedy for the 1st game of the season where I believe 16 guys that had never played a regular series snap (aka non special teams) of a real college game participated.



I also think that Bronco was willing to give up passes in the flats rather than let their receivers get behind us or worse, Locker tucks it and runs with our entire secondary unable to help cover the run due to playing such tight coverage on the receivers.



There was obviously some give and take built in to the defensive scheme and in the 2nd half it was executed to near perfection.
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Mars
craigoscarson wrote:
What did we expect? a 59-0 beatdown ala UCLA? Nothing above was so poor that UW managed to exploit them consistently. Give our average offensive play; if any of those mistake you listed above were glaring, UW would have been able to manage more than 17 points. I think we're getting a little greedy for the 1st game of the season where I believe 16 guys that had never played a regular series snap (aka non special teams) of a real college game participated. I also think that Bronco was willing to give up passes in the flats rather than let their receivers get behind us or worse, Locker tucks it and runs with our entire secondary unable to help cover the run due to playing such tight coverage on the receivers.

No, I think the game looked a lot like I expected it to look. Though UW could have had more than 17 points if they took the available field goals. The score could have been more lopsided if there weren't so many drops (6? even a shovel pass) and fumbles though (O'Neill seemed to lose the ball twice, Nelson once, although luckily we didn't lose any).



I couldn't see why our DBs didn't play up closer to the line of scrimmage, and why we didn't bump the WRs more. Washington only threw the ball deeper than 10 yards a few times all game long. Why allow them those 5 yard plays outside? Our secondary should be our strength this year, which should allow them to help out more in the mid-to-short range stuff, especially if the opposing offense appears to have no deep playbook. Perhaps that would have helped with the occasional 30-yard running play as well.
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mizzoucoug
I was not happy with the missed tackles in the first half. Luckily I don't think I saw any of those in the 2nd, however.
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KYCoug
I think I only saw 1 sack but the D-line was constantly putting pressure on Locker. I know that's when he gets dangerous but we were able to contain him very well. I think with a little game time we will be able to tighten up the DB's. Overall I saw a big improvement over last year in every area.
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frdbtr
Funny, we are criticizing the team that won the game for us. When will all you guys learn that the cushions that BYU gives in the secondary are on purpose. Bronco decided that keeping stuff from going over the top is more important in the long run then stopping 5 yard passes. If you haven't noticed over the last 5 years....it works.
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bball
To be honest, I think we should all be focusing on the play of the defense in the second half, no points, 1-7 third down conversions, 0-3 on fourth down attempts. We need to all understand that it was the first game of the season, that for many, this was their first start, and that after halftime, they played really, really tough, won all the critical plays, and frustrated the Heisman leader (silly but true).



I expect to see this defense frustrate Air Force this week, if these guys throw a shutout against AF, then, yes, we're off to the races boys, and I wouldn't count out our chances against FSU. But we'll see. If this D can shutout AF for even a half, we'll win the game with relative ease. Our defense is going to be our salvation early this season, while our QBs, running backs, tight ends and receivers get into their groove.
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BYUcougfan
The defense clearly had some problems at times, but they were dealing with a team that had a bunch of options and that put up lots of yards on teams last year. Everyone says BYU gets killed by teams with mobile/running QBs so I will take this performance, given what they were dealing with. That said....the tackling has got to get better.



On a very bright side, it was incredibly nice to see 2 BYU corners on the field who could cover PAC-10 caliber recievers.
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