Did DC Robb Smith make an adjustment?

[Kevin]

Here's my thought. Our linebackers aren't good cover guys so blitz the hell out of them constantly. What's the point of having them cover if they get beat repeatedly.  Maybe that's what CBB and CRS had a spirited discussion about last week.

Totally agree

[jkstock04]

When the defense actually got set we played better. Seemed like we tackled much better than last weekend as well. Pass coverage was light years better than I thought it would be. I want to go back and watch the game again and see some more details.

But overall, I thought when we actually got the play in and got set...we played much better.

[azhog10]

It was frustrating watching us constantly not ready pre-snap. That said we did blitz more.

[ricepig]

It was frustrating watching us constantly not ready pre-snap. That said we did blitz more.

Yeah, Wise and Ledbetter are celebrating a sack and OM is running a play......

[Biggus Piggus]

When our LBs drop into coverage, often they are covering nobody, just taking themselves out of the play. Next step is what happens when opponents run somebody into the space the LBs are leaving.

The improvement of the defense this week was impressive, especially in the second half. That is the big change - playing better in the second half than in the first. No signs of wearing down. The defense made enough stops. Plural.

[Youngsta71701]

We also played more dime than I can remember us playing under Smith. I've been asking for this for a long time against these 4 wide spread teams. No way ANY of our linebackers can cover these speedy slot receivers or speedy TE's.

DL- 4, Wise, Ledbetter, Johnson, Beanum and the rest of the rotation
LB- 1, Ellis
CB- 4, Pulley, Collins, Toliver, and Dean
S- 2, Liddell, Ramirez, or Coley

[Youngsta71701]

Ok some of you are thinking the defense played well? It was our running game that kept them from getting the ball more. Heck, they had 30 points and over 400 yards in only 19 minutes of possession time. Imagine if they would have had the ball more.

Could that be because they run the hurry up and they run a lot of plays? Which in turn can make your offensive numbers or your offensive efficiency look better than it really was? And that's what hurry up teams are designed to do. Score fast and score often.

BTW: We still didn't play better defense than we can or I think we should be playing but we played better defense than we have been playing. Especially considering the fact that Ole Miss is a pretty good offensive team.

[Josh Goforth]

Few LB's are good cover guys. VERY few LB's have the speed to cover a TE, that's why O's scheme to get one-on-one's with a TE or RB on an LB.

Wouldn't it be great if Eugene could really take over Greenlaw's spot and allow Greenlaw to shed a few pounds and become hybrid safety/LB?

I would really like to see a D Coordinator come up with a scheme to disrupt the true spread offenses. Call it a 3-3-5 or even a 3-1-7 with 3 down linemen, 1 true ML, 2 hybrid safety/LB types, 4 corners and 1 true safety. On 1st down plays those offenses usually try to hit the quick 2 or 3 step passes to get a good 4 to 6 yards. It's almost impossible to get to the QB like that, but you could flood the flats with coverage and maybe get a break-up or tackle for minimal gain.

On 2nd or 3rd and long you could rush the normal 3 or bring in a 4th lineman, blitz the ML or the ML and 1 hybrid, or keep the ML home and blitz a corner and a hybrid or maybe even blitz the safety. The combinations could be countless and cause quite a bit of confusion for the O.

I have to believe that sooner or later some defensive guy will think outside the box and come up with a concept to disrupt spread teams.There are only a very few teams with the sheer talent to over-power spread teams for disruption.

you described the Manny Diaz defensive philosophy pretty much. Where they get chewed up is against multiple te running teams who can playaction every once in a while.

[Josh Goforth]

We also played more dime than I can remember us playing under Smith. I've been asking for this for a long time against these 4 wide spread teams. No way ANY of our linebackers can cover these speedy slot receivers or speedy TE's.

DL- 4, Wise, Ledbetter, Johnson, Beanum and the rest of the rotation
LB- 1, Ellis
CB- 4, Pulley, Collins, Toliver, and Dean
S- 2, Liddell, Ramirez, or Coley

And they locked up in a form of man free or cover one a ton of those dime situations. It was a bit if a gamble against a running qb who could take off with the defenders backs turned running down field but late in the game those dbs made the plays.

[Youngsta71701]

And they locked up in a form of man free or cover one a ton of those dime situations. It was a bit if a gamble against a running qb who could take off with the defenders backs turned running down field but late in the game those dbs made the plays.

I think Ellis was spying Kelly on most of those. Sometimes he made the play and of course sometimes he didn't. lol

[rzrbaxfan]

I think there were a few factors that made this week different.

1.  Ole Miss had an injury on the left side of their line and had a talented but inexperienced player filling in there.

2.  Unlike Alabama, Ole Miss has no real running threat aside from their QB.  Blitzes work great when the Offense is either QB run or pass deep.

3.  Chad Kelly is a good QB, but he's not great.  It doesn't take much to rattle him.  Once he's rattled, he's off for the next couple of plays.  He'll be remembered for being a gunslinger with impressive stats, but not for being "clutch".

[Pork Twain]

while we're patting ourselves on the defensive back

why in the hell, for the third year in a row, does it take half the season to figure out that pressuring the qb might help win a game?

i just don't get it. the win last night was great.

but how about those drives that ole miss took straight down the field unchallenged in the first half? hell, kelly coulda done his math homework at the same time because we were so passive.

All of our big games so far have been against extremely mobile QBs.  When you blitz those guys and are disciplined in your gaps, they eat you alive.  No defense has been able to slow down TCU, aTm, Bama or Ole Miss this year.

NCAA Total offense leaders
8 Texas A&M 532.8
9 TCU 530.7
17 Alabama 504.7
29 Ole Miss 475.8
41 Arkansas 445.6

http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/21

[Potosihog]

First half we were waiting on defensive play calling to be sent in. CBB said when leaving the field that we had to get auto calls ready for those situations.  It looked like we did so for most of the second half.  We were ready for the snap much more often which resulted in us being in position and making plays.

The only times we appeared to not be ready for the snap in the second half was because we were busy celebrating a play.  Even on the 4th down at the end of the game I'm yelling at the screen "Quit celebrating and get lined up".

The sad thing is even the OM coaches mentioned being surprised we were not ready for the HUNH in our alignment and play calling.

Of course that may have just been a ploy to get the attention off Womack.  They are ready to lynch him in Oxfart.

[The Kig]

Few LB's are good cover guys. VERY few LB's have the speed to cover a TE, that's why O's scheme to get one-on-one's with a TE or RB on an LB.

I have to believe that sooner or later some defensive guy will think outside the box and come up with a concept to disrupt spread teams.There are only a very few teams with the sheer talent to over-power spread teams for disruption.

Well stated.  We saw it first half with Ellis on Engram.  It happens every Saturday and even most Sundays.  Very few teams have speed at MLB to cover the slot or a receiving TE.  Blitzing is high risk/high reward, especially against teams that get rid of the ball quickly.  OC's scheme well against traditional alignments and spread teams will continue to give Defenses fits until they stop lining up with a pre-snap disadvantage. 

[Youngsta71701]

Well stated.  We saw it first half with Ellis on Engram.  It happens every Saturday and even most Sundays.  Very few teams have speed at MLB to cover the slot or a receiving TE.  Blitzing is high risk/high reward, especially against teams that get rid of the ball quickly.  OC's scheme well against traditional alignments and spread teams will continue to give Defenses fits until they stop lining up with a pre-snap disadvantage.

If I have to play dime the whole game then I'm playing dime the whole game. I believe in matchups on defense. In other words if the offense lines up with your their base 2RB, 1TE, 2WR personnel then I'm playing a 4-3. If they line up in a 2RB, 3WR personnel or a 1RB, 1TE, 3WR personnel then I'm using a nickel or a dime depending on what kind of receiving threat the RB or TE is. If they lineup in a 1RB, 4WR personnel then I'm using a dime defense. As simple as that.

[jgphillips3]

If I have to play dime the whole game then I'm playing dime the whole game. I believe in matchups on defense. In other words if the offense lines up with your their base 2RB, 1TE, 2WR personnel then I'm playing a 4-3. If they line up in a 2RB, 3WR personnel or a 1RB, 1TE, 3WR personnel then I'm using a nickel or a dime depending on what kind of receiving threat the RB or TE is. If they lineup in a 1RB, 4WR personnel then I'm using a dime defense. As simple as that.

Agreed.  Even Saban has adjusted his defensive philosophy due to the proliferation of spread teams.  The use of the dime versus those 1RB, 4 WR sets just makes good sense.

[flynhog]

Against our pressure game, Mississippi completed 5 passes in the second half in 18 attempts.

You're right.  Chad Kelly threw to empty spots on the field the whole 4th quarter.

[a0ashle]

Since we are talking about defense, did you guys see one defensive play where OM was running hurry up, we didn't get lined up right and Ellis and Ramsey had switched positions. Ellis was on the right side end, and Ramsey lined up in the middle. It had looked as though they did that on their own because they were too far out of their own position. I thought that showed some good football intelligence (being caught off guard aside)

[Arthur pigby sellers.]

All of our big games so far have been against extremely mobile QBs.  When you blitz those guys and are disciplined in your gaps, they eat you alive.  No defense has been able to slow down TCU, aTm, Bama or Ole Miss this year.

NCAA Total offense leaders
8 Texas A&M 532.8
9 TCU 530.7
17 Alabama 504.7
29 Ole Miss 475.8
41 Arkansas 445.6

http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/21

Ok this makes me feel better about the overall state of
Our defense. I'm hoping to see this defense hit its stride against some middle of the pack or worse offenses in the second half.

[jgphillips3]

We played our best defense yet against Ole Miss.  if we keep improving, we might be good by the end of the year.  Also, our best offensive opponents are behind us.  That will help on its own.

[Pigsknuckles]

The one adjustment I noticed in the second half was that our defense got to the line much quicker following a play. They ran around like Keystone Kops the first half trying to get lined up. In that OM scoring drive right before the half it looked like they were herding cats. Most of the time we were not in position when the ball was snapped. Smith knew what we would be facing, and we were simply not prepared for that pace.