Good postgame analysis my Mkristo Bruce

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

It is not really about the base, it is about the personnel. I refuse to believe that we cant recruit athletes for any of the base sets including the 3/4. The biggest issue I have is that when you go to a 3/4, 4/2/5, etc you still want to employ multiple sets based on match-up. For the past two opponents the 4/3 would have been more appropriate.

Nope.

Can't do it. If you are messing around with switching from 34 to 43 you are asking waaaaaaay to much of your guys.

The responsibilities are just too different and nuanced to ask them to be good at both, not to mention the physical skill sets required for the positions in each are vastly different. Asking and OLB who <230lbs to set the edge vs a T or TE just isn't going to be very effective.

 

[95coug]

Auburn, LSU, Stanford, etc. have beaten Oregon based on discipline and ability, more than they have on defensive scheme.

Oregon's offense (or any option offense, for that matter) works by forcing individual defenders to make choices. Sooner or later, someone's going to make a poor choice and open a lane. Moving at high speed forces quick decisions, which increases the chances of mistakes, particularly as players wear down.

The defenses that beat Oregon have these things:
1. A strong DL, capable of plugging the middle and reducing the threat of the inside run
2. Consistent discipline on outside containment
3. Good inside-out pursuit, eliminating cutback lanes...this means linebackers who are able to fight through blocks and make plays moving to the sidelines
4. Good awareness and athleticism in the back 7, so when people make mistakes, they have the ability to recover before it turns into a big play.

The first 3 elements are arguably easier to achieve with a 4-man front, unless you have someone on the DL who requires a double-team on almost every down.

 

[BiggsCoug]

Pick a scheme and go with it. Mix and match defense doesn't work.

 

[Cougatron]

Auburn in 2011 for example sure looked like they took care of business upfront and let the back 7 do their thing. You have to slow down the run. It doesn't appear we can do that in a 3-4.

Auburn had Nick Fairly 6'4 298 who was one of the meanest DT to play recently... and yeah he was fast... his 40 time of 4.84 was even faster than Cooper. So let me know when you find DTs faster taller and meaner than Cooper and we'll run a 43.

Of the top 20 tacklers for auburn 7 were Defensive Lineman.

They played a total of 12 Defensive lineman that season. They rotated them like we rotate receivers.

Do you know how many we have on our roster total? 12. Including injured guys like Fehoko/True Freshmen.

So not only would we have to rotate our entire DL roster, but they would magically have to be as fast/big as Auburn in 2011.

So if you can come up with a 3 deep that can all play at the highest level right now....that's what Auburn had. We aren't even close to that.

 

[CougEd]

Auburn had Nick Fairly 6'4 298 who was one of the meanest DT to play recently... and yeah he was fast... his 40 time of 4.84 was even faster than Cooper. So let me know when you find DTs faster taller and meaner than Cooper and we'll run a 43.

Of the top 20 tacklers for auburn 7 were Defensive Lineman.

They played a total of 12 Defensive lineman that season. They rotated them like we rotate receivers.

Do you know how many we have on our roster total? 12. Including injured guys like Fehoko/True Freshmen.

So not only would we have to rotate our entire DL roster, but they would magically have to be as fast/big as Auburn in 2011.

So if you can come up with a 3 deep that can all play at the highest level right now....that's what Auburn had. We aren't even close to that.

Our three man line can't hold an edge. Who cares about "Oregon" when Rutgers pounded us, just as PSU did in the second half.

You need more "big" bodies to run a 3-4 versus a 4-3. You can get away with three at DT. You can get away with smaller DE's, in the 260 range.

Farley was effective because he and his teammate dominated the guard center gap. There were no "reads" to be had, making Oregon one dimensional.

The 3-4 in 2012/2013/2014 really didn't fare well against ASU. And a good defense against Oregon is a good offense, as shown by 2014.

If the four guys up front hold down the fort, the back 7 can contain the read option. But I will tell you a 3-3 5 or whatever they ran that couldn't contain the edge the last two weeks will get run over by the likes of Stanford.

Stop the run game...that is the key.

 

[BiggsCoug]

BD didn't have a prob finding guys to play DT.

Have you met Gary Holmes? He might be one of the largest humans on Earth. Literally.

 

[Cougatron]

Our three man line can't hold an edge. Who cares about "Oregon" when Rutgers pounded us, just as PSU did in the second half.

Stop the run game...that is the key.

We were #40 in the nation in rushing. #48 in ypc last year. There is more to it.

 

[CougPatrol]

Our three man line can't hold an edge. Who cares about "Oregon" when Rutgers pounded us, just as PSU did in the second half.

This is how I feel as well.

So Oregon and some other speed teams exploit our 4-3? OK, they were going to run all over us anyway.

The more pedestrian offensive teams on our schedule (Wyoming, Oregon State, Stanford, ASU, Colorado, and UW) are the ones we need to focus on. Our foremost defensive game plan against all of these teams should be to make them one dimensional and not give up the edge. Of these teams, only ASU and Colorado are teams that can exploit us through the air, and we get both of them at home.

For me, dollar cost averaging says we're better off playing a 4-3 or a 4-2-5 the rest of the way this season.

 

[CougEd]

We were #40 in the nation in rushing. #48 in ypc last year. There is more to it.

Yes...that was last year. Why anyone would run the ball against us last year would need their head examined. Crap, Bear Bryant would have elected to throw against us last year.

 

[spongebob11]

I said as soon as we brought in Breske, that going to a 3-4 won't work because the nose tackles that you need to run it go to Alabama and what not.

Like has been mentioned in this thread, much easier to recruit to a 4-3.

 

[Cougatron]

Yes...that was last year. Why anyone would run the ball against us last year would need their head examined. Crap, Bear Bryant would have elected to throw against us last year.

Right and this year we are #20 nationally in pass defense.. We haven't played any passing teams yet we've just played a lot of heavy run teams. And so far this year we've averaged 22 pts / game on defense.

It's not that bad. I feel like as the season progresses against passing teams I think we'll be decent. It won't be good, but it will be good enough.

 

[CougEd]

Right and this year we are #20 nationally in pass defense.. We haven't played any passing teams yet we've just played a lot of heavy run teams. And so far this year we've averaged 22 pts / game on defense.

It's not that bad. I feel like as the season progresses against passing teams I think we'll be decent. It won't be good, but it will be good enough.

Agreed...but why would anyone pass against us at this point. We are leaking all over the place against the run. The 3-4 or 3-3-5 has no edge contain. They will run the ball down our throats if that doesn't change.

 

[Cougatron]

Agreed...but why would anyone pass against us at this point. We are leaking all over the place against the run. The 3-4 or 3-3-5 has no edge contain. They will run the ball down our throats if that doesn't change.

They won't because that's not what Portland State/Rutgers/or even Wyoming do. The other teams will stick to their game plan which is a spread pass first.

Right now we are #59 in total defense. Last year we were #99.

 

[CougEd]

They won't because that's not what Portland State/Rutgers/or even Wyoming do. The other teams will stick to their game plan which is a spread pass first.

Right now we are #59 in total defense. Last year we were #99.

You don't think Stanford, OSU, UCLA, and Arizona won't try to run the ball down our throat? UW? Interesting.

 

[Cougatron]

You don't think Stanford, OSU, UCLA, and Arizona won't try to run the ball down our throat? UW? Interesting.

I think Colorado, Oregon, and Oregon State will run it a lot. The others not as much as you think.

 

[CougPatrol]

I think Colorado, Oregon, and Oregon State will run it a lot. The others not as much as you think.

If UW and Stanford try to throw the ball 40+ times against us, I like our chances a lot.

 

[Cougatron]

If UW and Stanford try to throw the ball 40+ times against us, I like our chances a lot.

Well right now Stanford has passed 32/game Washington 30/game
Rushing Stanford is 34/game UW is 29 / game

So they are a "balanced" team pretty much an even split for both.

Oregon state has 94 yards / game passing. They will be running it against us more than likely. Colorado has switched it up and run a lot. they have only 162 yds / game passing.