Tiger Board Logo

Donor's Den General Leaderboards TNET coins™ POTD Hall of Fame Map FAQ
GIVE AN AWARD
Use your TNET coins™ to grant this post a special award!

W
50
Big Brain
90
Love it!
100
Cheers
100
Helpful
100
Made Me Smile
100
Great Idea!
150
Mind Blown
150
Caring
200
Flammable
200
Hear ye, hear ye
200
Bravo
250
Nom Nom Nom
250
Take My Coins
500
Ooo, Shiny!
700
Treasured Post!
1000

YOUR BALANCE
Opinions on defense giving up big plays?
storage This topic has been archived - replies are not allowed.
Archives - Tiger Boards Archive
add New Topic
Replies: 23
| visibility 1

Opinions on defense giving up big plays?


Oct 10, 2013, 10:28 AM

I think anyone watching our defense would agree that the majority of the time they have been lights out. They have created lots of sacks, lots of negative plays, lots of 3-and-outs, plenty of TOs, etc. And then there's the big play thing...

Here are some numbers that i came up with (i may have missed a play somewhere):

In 5 games we have given up 1783 yards and 83 points, and we have defended a total of 349 plays.

14 of those plays have gained 30+ yards and 4 have gone for scores (not including the woulda, coulda, shoulda asterisk play at NCST). 6 were runs, 8 were passes. Those 14 plays (4%) have accounted for 35% of our opponents total yardage and 33% of their points.

How big of an issue is this going forward if we want to compete for a national title? Can we fix it? Is it just a product of being aggressive up front or more of an indication of our deficiencies at MLB and tackling in the secondary?

flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

Re: Opinions on defense giving up big plays?


Oct 10, 2013, 10:32 AM

I know against SU they were given up against our second and some third team defenders.

flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

Re: Opinions on defense giving up big plays?


Oct 10, 2013, 10:40 AM

A few of them weren't though. Cuse's two biggest plays of the day came against the first team defense.

flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

The long run for their 1st TD was with Steward in Shuey's


Oct 10, 2013, 10:45 AM

position and he overran the play alowing him to get sealed off and a wide open hole for the LB to run thru. Not sure where our safeties were

military_donation.jpg flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

Re: Opinions on defense giving up big plays?


Oct 10, 2013, 10:46 AM [ in reply to Re: Opinions on defense giving up big plays? ]

No the second run had all second team players in the back seven. The MLB #7 was way out of position.

flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

I say it can be fixed


Oct 10, 2013, 10:34 AM

I also say that our D is 180 degrees turned from last year. The challenge lately is keeping them focused when we are so far ahead.

flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

virtually all teams at all levels give up big plays these


Oct 10, 2013, 10:34 AM

days as passing is much more prominent..

flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

I don't know that this answers your question but


Oct 10, 2013, 10:34 AM

The long TD run against UGA and the first long TD against Syracuse were the same issue. Our playside LB was behind the DE and they were covering the same gap. Both times the RB cut inside of this gap and went for a score. These two plays are very correctable. Either the DL or LB was in the wrong gap.

flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

Re: Opinions on defense giving up big plays?


Oct 10, 2013, 10:38 AM

I think it is a result of teams using the spread offenses and occasionally the right call is made and the defensive players are caught out of position. This probably isn't going to change. That is why teams favor the spread offenses more. It also spreads out the defense. It is more difficult to position your self for a tackle thus we have seen missed tackles also. This is not a short coming of only Clemson. You see it in every game. You just have to play well enough to not allow a big play at the wrong time or not allow a lot of them to happen in one game. Hard to do I would think. How about it experts?

flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

Excellent analysis


Oct 10, 2013, 10:42 AM

Also have you noticed how many fewer missed tackles there are when more than one defender gets to the ball carrier? Spread offenses attack this issue. Fast defenses prevent this issue. Our defense is playing much faster this year and this is why everyone says how much better we are tackling. The players have made improvements I am sure but it is the same players.

flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

Re: Opinions on defense giving up big plays?


Oct 10, 2013, 10:48 AM [ in reply to Re: Opinions on defense giving up big plays? ]

one thing we have to consider in grading our defense is who we played outside of Georgia. the offense of scs, ncs,wf and su are not the power offense we should be concerned about. neither will be bc. imo fsu will be the best overall offense we will face all year. we will have to step up all phases of our defense to beat fsu. but to qualify my points, fsu has not played anyone yet either, and I hope jameis plays like a freshman against us as well.

flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

Re: Opinions on defense giving up big plays?


Oct 10, 2013, 1:10 PM

Georgia's offense is much more potent than Florida State's in my opinion. Murray and Winston are on the same level as Boyd, McCarron, Manziel, Mariota, etc. but FSU's offensive line isn't as good as Georgia's and their running backs definitely aren't Gurley and Marshall. Georgia has faced some tough defenses and proven that they're legit. Florida State can't say the same. I think they are crazy and will definitely score points but you also can't discount the home field advantage the crowd will provide for the defense.

flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

Re: Opinions on defense giving up big plays?


Oct 10, 2013, 10:43 AM

I was over on STS earlier and they pointed this out in their game tape review. On both of the touchdowns it was simply a matter of players being out of position. On both TDs the safeties were way out of position and on the first TD the DL wasn't set up right.

From one perspective, it's unnerving because we can't make mental mistakes like this. From another perspective, it's nice to see that these aren't coming as a result of horrible tackling which has plagued Clemson defenses in the past.

I'm interested how our defense responds with such a strong running team coming to Tiger Town this weekend.

flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

So 4% of defensive plays end up being big plays?


Oct 10, 2013, 10:55 AM

I think I'll take that. I wonder what the percentage would be for "name defenses" like Bama.

The way I look at it is possibly too simple, but oh well. Outside of UGA game, we've only allowed 14 points or less. UGA scored 35, and I will contend the last 7 was because of prevent D where we were trying to make them use clock, even if it was only a minute and change. Just not let them score in 15-20 seconds.

So we allowed 28-35 to UGA depending on how you look at it. UGA scored 41 against USC and 44 against LSU, two "vaunted SEC defenses".

In football, there are a lot of variables that go into the various stats from a particular game. The most important ones are how many points you score and how many does the opponent score. If we only allow 14, we won't lose. I would venture to say if we keep opponents under 30, we most likely won't lose. So, just from my perspective, I'm not worried about the D just yet.

flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

FIRE VENABLES***


Oct 10, 2013, 10:56 AM



2024 orange level memberbadge-donor-05yr.jpg flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

"Clemson has been historically better than Carolina. That's pretty obvious." - Classof09

"No one knew we were overhyped until the season started." - Classof09


I think the defense is fine.


Oct 10, 2013, 10:57 AM

The style of high pressure D we are playing lends itself to some big runs every now and then, but it is also the reason we have 19 sacks and force so many 3 and outs. There has been a lot of talk about the defense complimenting the offense this year and that is exactly what is happening. The only way this team loses is if the opposition eats up clock with long sustained drives and keeps our offense off the field. Kevin Steele's philosophy was always 'make them work for it and maybe they'll make a mistake'. He never realized the 'bend but don't break' model does not work with our offense. He never seemed to get that He and Chad were on the same team. I think that was the "philosophical difference" that he and Dabo had.

flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

Agree, your analsis makes sense!***


Oct 10, 2013, 11:11 AM



military_donation.jpg flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

For example, on one of the long Syracuse runs...


Oct 10, 2013, 11:45 AM

you can see Tony Steward fill the wrong gap. People say he guessed wrong and he shouldn't be guessing. They say he should wait and be sure which gap the RB is going to hit. If he waits he would probably have stopped the RB for a 3 or 4 yard gain. So waiting and hitting the correct gap is basically conceding 3 or 4 yards. Consistently allowing that many yards per run keeps our offense on the sideline as Syracuse marches methodically down the field. However, lets say Tony guesses right. Then the RB is dropped for no gain or a loss. Lets say he guesses right 9 out of 10 times. That's a recipe for a whole lot of 3 and outs. Even if we do have to endure a long run from time to time (which don't always result in points I might add), our offense gets back out there quickly to answer.

flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

Very astute***


Oct 10, 2013, 12:16 PM

..

flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

I don't love that we seem* to give up one 75 yard run


Oct 10, 2013, 11:01 AM

per game this year, but I do like that other than UGA, teams have pretty well had to hit home runs to score.

*seems means just that. I am not going to look up the stats to support this.

badge-donor-05yr.jpgringofhonor-aero.jpg flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

Re: Opinions on defense giving up big plays?


Oct 10, 2013, 12:00 PM

We are playing the perfect defense for our offense. Go for the big play and try to gain extra possessions. If you get beat it gives the ball right back to the offense and lets them put pressure on the opposing team. Weather it is our defense forcing turnovers or our offense scoring and forcing the other team to throw the ball leading to turnovers, either way we get more possessions and stretch the score.

flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

null


I'm against it. ******


Oct 10, 2013, 12:19 PM



flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

null


Re: Opinions on defense giving up big plays?


Oct 10, 2013, 12:30 PM

I don't think we have a deficiency at MLB. Anthony has looked amazing. He even looks more massive, and appears to be mostly taking good angles and playing fast, confident, and finishing the plays. I think he is one of our most improved defenders. He is only a junior and is stepping up now big time.

Sometimes you just get beat by a great play, or block. for us at the end of 2011 every snap for the other team was a potential big play. Now its not as common for us to get beat big, or a chance to get beat big.

Not even the number one defense could stop some of these offenses completely. Im not sure we can either, but we can be disruptive and are tackling more viciously lately.

flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

I think we should put a stop to it immediately!


Oct 10, 2013, 1:11 PM

Seriously, it has been a problem, one which Venables has acknowledged and commented on. Sure, all teams have defensive breakdowns and give up big plays sometimes, but it seems to happen to us a lot. So far we are winning, and winning big, in spite of it. Still, it could cost us going forward and I hope we can get it corrected.

2024 purple level memberbadge-donor-15yr.jpg flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard."
- H. L. Mencken


Replies: 23
| visibility 1
Archives - Tiger Boards Archive
add New Topic