🏈 The Spread is here to stay

[musso]

Our defense had ONE bad game and now we need to overhaul the entire system?

no one is calling for an overhaul.

I'm not exactly sure when it happened but we did move to a 3 man front with 3 DE's pretty early in the first half. At that point Hightower became a pass rusher and McClain blitzed more than he had all year. The adjustments that you wanted, happened... and we only marginally improved.

21 points on the first three possessions ... 10 points for the rest of the game ... and that's what you call a "marginal" improvement?

The problem wasn't system, scheme, or size.

really??? did you not read/listen to Saban's postgame presser? here again are some of his comments which i provided on the first page of this thread.

it's a difficult matchup for us [on defense], 4 and 5 receivers in the game … systematically we’re going to have to do some things different in the future … we didn’t get any pressure early in the game … we probably kept it too simple early in the game and didn’t create enough problems in pass rush … it was a good matchup for them and maybe not a good matchup for us …

We didn't have the DB's to play man to man coverage

well, without pressure on the opposing QB few defenses can cover for very long in man to man.

we didn't have a speed rushing DE

and why is that?

and we didn't tackle.

agreed, but in some cases it was due to being overmatched physically, not simply lacking in fundamentals.

For the love of all that is good... Nick Saban knows more about defense than anybody on this board.

probably, but that doesn't mean he doesn't make mistakes. and that doesn't mean some of us who enjoy thinking can't discuss his mistakes. furthermore, that doesn't mean that we can't highlight the obvious fact stated several months ago by me, a host of reputable coaches, and finally by Saban in his postgame presser, that is, that his defense doesn't matchup well against spread offenses. i fault Saban for not understanding this sooner and game planning accordingly. to his credit, he has admitted his mistake.

If he wants McClain playing the Mike... then just trust him and go with it.

this isn't the religion forum.

 

[pimpsahoy]

I called it a "marginal" improvement because we made the adjustment before it was 21-0. So 14 pts before 17 after...

Reading his postgame comments I don't see him saying that his defense can't defend the spread. Twice in the comment you quoted he mentioned "early in the game", he made adjustments after that and our defense was still only average.

Utah didn't throw deep very often or take many 7 step drops. Most of their passes were within 10 yards. DB's should be able to cover within 10 yards, with or without a pass rush.

We don't have a speed rushing DE because we don't have one. I guess you're implying that we would but Saban is not smart enough to realize that we need one. The fact is that this is year 2 of a 3 or 4 year building process. In a couple of years Saban will have recruited plenty of guys to play DE and the Jack and we'll still have 245lb inside linebackers.

So we didn't tackle because we were over matched physically but you want to get smaller on defense?

If I remember correctly the reputable coaches were Richt, Shannon, and Stoops. If I'm wrong feel free to correct me but we had a better defense than every one of those guys. And just to reiterate what I said earlier, in the comment you quoted, Saban never admitted that his defensive philosophy couldn't defend the spread.

I'll concede the fact that nobody should have to trust Nick Saban.

 

[Guest]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BnQl0q7L9c&eurl=&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

sure, this was a tough matchup for us, but Saban got his ass handed to him, period. this may be tough for all the Saban worshippers on this board to accept, i know.

Dang musso, just when I thought I was "over" the game I had to watch that Jackson segment. Oh, that was rough. If his interview is any indication of our future I feel sick. Bless his heart! I prefer to remember what ended up being his game saving tackle on Enrique Davis of Ole Miss on that long run.

I have to agree with your Saban comment. Tough for me to say it too. :? Just proves even great coaches are vulnerable. I just wish I could sit down and talk to him one on one and find out what went wrong. I have a feeling we've pretty much broken down all he'd say though.

 

[UAgrad93]

The spread is just like every other offense that you would care to name. Executing and defending those offenses all comes down to players making plays. Utah was able to expose our weaknesses early and get us on our heels. Changes were made in the game to slow them down but we never fully recovered.
If you have ever been involved in coaching, you should know that you never know what is going on inside the head of (insert the age level you work with) year olds. You can talk them up, scream at them , whatever you want to get them ready, but in the end they must execute. It is a building process that in year 2 made some unbelieveable strides. Let the process run its course and see what type of MACHINE we will have in a couple of more years.