Bathroom Break epiphany

[clob94]

So this afternoon I'm taking my mid day- you can set your watch by it- and I'm doing some thinking about the Houston game last night. I'm going down the Houston defensive roster and comparing it to our roster. With the exception of one position-- we have SO much more talent than cougar high does. It's not a talent issue. So then I start looking at Houston schemes. I start comparing them to our schemes.

Long story short, overall, Houston runs a high risk, high reward defense. Yes, there been burned deep on some long balls and long plays this year but they are playing defense head and shoulders better than we are. We seem to be more if a "prevent" D. We don't want anybody getting behind us. Houston attacks on D. We "defend". Houston is aggressive as hell. We, not so much.
Houston will roll the dice on blitz packages-- we haven't really blitzed that much. Now I get it-- a team that blitzes is showing desperation in a sense. If you're blitzing like crazy, the old school mindset is- "Well, we can't get into the backfield with 4 rushing so we need 6."
I think Houstons' mindset is "fvck it! Pin our ears back and make them beat us". It's Russian Roulette if you're not careful.


But they seem to be getting away with it thus far.

 

[4MNChampsHorn]

Our defensive coaching is terrible and our team defense statistics reflect it. We have a chance to turn it around with a new DC. Otherwise, I predict Strong will be fired. It is so obvious to anyone that is not personally attached to a coach and can evaluate objectively on merit.

 

[TapeFace]

Houston is an interesting case study. Much like Boise and TCU back a few years ago its hard to measure them game to game because they are in a mid major conference. They are obviously a top 10 caliber team and would likely be competitive in most any conference in the country. But they are getting the benefit of playing lower level competition in all but 2 of their games this year. They can afford to play this style of defense because there is almost no chance they are going to get burned enough to lose a game. They looked really good against an overrated OU team. I'm really looking forward to the game against Louisville. Should be a good one.

 

[westx]

Houston is an interesting case study. Much like Boise and TCU back a few years ago its hard to measure them game to game because they are in a mid major conference. They are obviously a top 10 caliber team and would likely be competitive in most any conference in the country. But they are getting the benefit of playing lower level competition in all but 2 of their games this year. They can afford to play this style of defense because there is almost no chance they are going to get burned enough to lose a game. They looked really good against an overrated OU team. I'm really looking forward to the game against Louisville. Should be a good one.

I don't think Louisville will have a very difficult time with Houston.

 

[TapeFace]

I don't think Louisville will have a very difficult time with Houston.

That's what I'm thinking too but the game is in Houston so who knows. Its going to get very interesting if Louisville beats Clemson and then loses to Houston. The committee will have to stiff 2 P5 conferences to put a mid major in.

 

[2300 Nueces]

So this afternoon I'm taking my mid day- you can set your watch by it- and I'm doing some thinking about the Houston game last night. I'm going down the Houston defensive roster and comparing it to our roster. With the exception of one position-- we have SO much more talent than cougar high does. It's not a talent issue. So then I start looking at Houston schemes. I start comparing them to our schemes.

Long story short, overall, Houston runs a high risk, high reward defense. Yes, there been burned deep on some long balls and long plays this year but they are playing defense head and shoulders better than we are. We seem to be more if a "prevent" D. We don't want anybody getting behind us. Houston attacks on D. We "defend". Houston is aggressive as hell. We, not so much.
Houston will roll the dice on blitz packages-- we haven't really blitzed that much. Now I get it-- a team that blitzes is showing desperation in a sense. If you're blitzing like crazy, the old school mindset is- "Well, we can't get into the backfield with 4 rushing so we need 6."
I think Houstons' mindset is "fvck it! Pin our ears back and make them beat us". It's Russian Roulette if you're not careful.


But they seem to be getting away with it thus far.

This, we are trying to contain spread offenses but our d for whatever reason is not containing much. We need a threat from at least 2 D linemen on any given play without having to blitz. This is how you win against spread offenses. Without any push, these teams are getting players open after 3 seconds.... If we send the blitz, the qb's are finding the empty zone and making us pay. Until we have players who can overpower their counterparts on the o line consistently, we are going to have problems if the scheme is not executed correctly 95% of the time.

 

[CoachEmUp64]

Who would have thought that UH vs UL might be the game of the year?! Wtf is the world coming to

 

[cwillfromdatx]

Great observation Clob. That has been a problem with our team. Playing a Prevent D will not cut it. You have to be aggressive, that's in any sport. As we all have notice from last year to this year. Our team love to run a 3-4 base Defense. That's the whole problem. Need to run a 4-3 with multiple looks with a 4-2-5. Once we do that, we will be great on D again and claiming our DB status because of all the pressure is being put on the QB from the front 4. The DB's will be getting INT's (which they don't have any yet).

 

[horn01]

I said this in a round about way on Monday after Cal. What are we on defense? College defenses are rarely lights out, so you have to establish a few things that you do well. Are we going to be an agressive blitzing team? Do we move around a lot and try to cause confusion? Do we force teams to throw?
With the players we have and the problems we've had, I think this team needs to start taking some chances between the 20's. Role the dice on some blitzes and let Jones clean up the mess if our DBs get beat. Hold them to field goals or better, stuff them on 4th down attempts in the red zone. Could it be worse than what we are getting from the D right now? It's not like we are doing a great job of limiting big plays.

 

[4MNChampsHorn]

This, we are trying to contain spread offenses but our d for whatever reason is not containing much. We need a threat from at least 2 D linemen on any given play without having to blitz. This is how you win against spread offenses. Without any push, these teams are getting players open after 3 seconds.... If we send the blitz, the qb's are finding the empty zone and making us pay. Until we have players who can overpower their counterparts on the o line consistently, we are going to have problems if the scheme is not executed correctly 95% of the time.

Why? We only play 3 defensive line men. That is a prevent defense. Until that changes, we will continue to get torched on the ground and in the air.