musso
Member
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=4340650
while i was able to post about 4 or 5 articles last preseason which all featured notable coaches across the country who claimed to be trimming down their defense in order to better defend in space, this is the first such article i've found this year.
this brings me to the point discussed last year: does Saban's larger defensive front give opposing spread offenses an advantage?
last year's thread was massive, but in it i argued that Saban's ideal defensive front contrasted with the direction in which defensive coaches across the nation were headed due to the growing popularity of spread offenses. therefore, i posed the question of the efficacy of Saban's system versus the different spread offenses out there.
i remember after the lopsided Clemson game, ItTakesEleven ridiculed my uncertainty in Saban's defense to defend against the spread. however, in all fairness, i believe Clemson's OL youth, inexperience, and otherwise complete ineptitude as demonstrated all season long made my argument moot. simply put, the depravity of Clemson's OL and to a lesser degree, Harper's inaccuracy was evident long after the Bama game. i believe Harper was finally pulled in favor of the talented freshman Korn.
before the UF game i argued that we'd probably hold our own against them due to the inside running game which was so integral to UF's offense. as we know that was one heck of a game, decided not by defensive failures but rather a few untimely penalties, two special teams blunders, and several Heisman-like passes and catches by UF's offense.
the Utah game unfolded very much like i imagined. let me begin by admitting i certainly never expected being down 3 TDs in the 1st quarter. who did, right? however i did anticipate the failure of our OL to protect JP. i envisioned a few early sacks to rattle JP for the rest of the game. and most pertinent to this thread, i expected Utah's no-huddle, shotgun, passing attack to give us fits. i didn't expect Utah's QB to be quite so accurate, but i told everyone i knew before the game, that the keys to the game would be QB protection for both teams. i expected Utah to bring the house on every passing down due to JP's lack of pocket poise. conversely, i feared that our larger defensive linemen wouldn't be able to apply pressure on Utah's QB, especially while utilizing the shotgun and quick passes. i also feared that stamina would be a factor for our DL due to the no-huddle.
well ... in the post Sugar Bowl presser Saban admitted that his personel didn't match up well against Utah's offense and that he'd have to reconsider how he prepares against similar offenses in the future. if you noticed, it wasn't until Saban placed Hightower at DE at the start of the 2nd half until we applied pressure to Utah's QB. for the rest of the 2nd half, Saban seemed to use more LBs at DE, but it was too late. in all of my pregame discussions with friends, i told people that Utah would use our advantage - strength and physicality - against us. i expected Cody to be a nonfactor. heck, Saban should have left Cody in Tuscaloosa and dressed up another walk-on in the 230 pound range instead. in planning for the Sugar Bowl he should have expected Utah to abandon any running game. there was no way a Mountain West Conference spread offense was going to run against us. if there was any doubt about Utah's offensive ambitions, it was soon evident as Utah seldom lined up with any backs in the backfield at all. Saban should have planned and practiced to use DEs like Greenwood, Deaderick, Washington, and Dareus at DT from the outset while simply rotating two LBs at DE on every down.
Saban could have easily used the defensive gameplan Georgia had used against Hawaii the year before. if you remember, Georgia often used DBs and LBs as DEs against Hawaii, and as a result Georgia's defense nearly sent Hawaii's record-setting QB Brennan home in a body bag. effectively, Georgia did what the above quote advised: moving DEs to DT, LBs to DE, safeties to LBs, etc. i remember hearing Georgia's defensive players saying after the game that never before had Coach Richt made them do sprints so much in preparing for a game. Saban's mistakes costed Bama 21 points which proved to be too much to overcome given our OL problems.
i should add that at a Red Elephant Club meeting several weeks ago, i talked to Coach Smart about the Utah game. i shared with him much of what i shared with you guys in last year's thread and in this post. although it might surprise some of you, he agreed with me. however, he said that they didn't feel like they had the necessary depth at LB and DB to take heavier defensive linemen off the field. i understand his point to a degree, but i still felt like we had the numbers for a single game, against a one dimensional offense like Utah, with several weeks to prepare. i felt like what we may have lacked in depth at LB and DB could have been made up for in the extended preparation time.
while i was able to post about 4 or 5 articles last preseason which all featured notable coaches across the country who claimed to be trimming down their defense in order to better defend in space, this is the first such article i've found this year.
this brings me to the point discussed last year: does Saban's larger defensive front give opposing spread offenses an advantage?
last year's thread was massive, but in it i argued that Saban's ideal defensive front contrasted with the direction in which defensive coaches across the nation were headed due to the growing popularity of spread offenses. therefore, i posed the question of the efficacy of Saban's system versus the different spread offenses out there.
i remember after the lopsided Clemson game, ItTakesEleven ridiculed my uncertainty in Saban's defense to defend against the spread. however, in all fairness, i believe Clemson's OL youth, inexperience, and otherwise complete ineptitude as demonstrated all season long made my argument moot. simply put, the depravity of Clemson's OL and to a lesser degree, Harper's inaccuracy was evident long after the Bama game. i believe Harper was finally pulled in favor of the talented freshman Korn.
before the UF game i argued that we'd probably hold our own against them due to the inside running game which was so integral to UF's offense. as we know that was one heck of a game, decided not by defensive failures but rather a few untimely penalties, two special teams blunders, and several Heisman-like passes and catches by UF's offense.
the Utah game unfolded very much like i imagined. let me begin by admitting i certainly never expected being down 3 TDs in the 1st quarter. who did, right? however i did anticipate the failure of our OL to protect JP. i envisioned a few early sacks to rattle JP for the rest of the game. and most pertinent to this thread, i expected Utah's no-huddle, shotgun, passing attack to give us fits. i didn't expect Utah's QB to be quite so accurate, but i told everyone i knew before the game, that the keys to the game would be QB protection for both teams. i expected Utah to bring the house on every passing down due to JP's lack of pocket poise. conversely, i feared that our larger defensive linemen wouldn't be able to apply pressure on Utah's QB, especially while utilizing the shotgun and quick passes. i also feared that stamina would be a factor for our DL due to the no-huddle.
well ... in the post Sugar Bowl presser Saban admitted that his personel didn't match up well against Utah's offense and that he'd have to reconsider how he prepares against similar offenses in the future. if you noticed, it wasn't until Saban placed Hightower at DE at the start of the 2nd half until we applied pressure to Utah's QB. for the rest of the 2nd half, Saban seemed to use more LBs at DE, but it was too late. in all of my pregame discussions with friends, i told people that Utah would use our advantage - strength and physicality - against us. i expected Cody to be a nonfactor. heck, Saban should have left Cody in Tuscaloosa and dressed up another walk-on in the 230 pound range instead. in planning for the Sugar Bowl he should have expected Utah to abandon any running game. there was no way a Mountain West Conference spread offense was going to run against us. if there was any doubt about Utah's offensive ambitions, it was soon evident as Utah seldom lined up with any backs in the backfield at all. Saban should have planned and practiced to use DEs like Greenwood, Deaderick, Washington, and Dareus at DT from the outset while simply rotating two LBs at DE on every down.
Saban could have easily used the defensive gameplan Georgia had used against Hawaii the year before. if you remember, Georgia often used DBs and LBs as DEs against Hawaii, and as a result Georgia's defense nearly sent Hawaii's record-setting QB Brennan home in a body bag. effectively, Georgia did what the above quote advised: moving DEs to DT, LBs to DE, safeties to LBs, etc. i remember hearing Georgia's defensive players saying after the game that never before had Coach Richt made them do sprints so much in preparing for a game. Saban's mistakes costed Bama 21 points which proved to be too much to overcome given our OL problems.
i should add that at a Red Elephant Club meeting several weeks ago, i talked to Coach Smart about the Utah game. i shared with him much of what i shared with you guys in last year's thread and in this post. although it might surprise some of you, he agreed with me. however, he said that they didn't feel like they had the necessary depth at LB and DB to take heavier defensive linemen off the field. i understand his point to a degree, but i still felt like we had the numbers for a single game, against a one dimensional offense like Utah, with several weeks to prepare. i felt like what we may have lacked in depth at LB and DB could have been made up for in the extended preparation time.
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