Our Defense Scheme

[Iowahawkeye1982]

Is it just cover 2 everytime? I do not understand it, yesterday we had 4 down linemen a lot and we tried to cover with the back 7 guys.

Did we ever switch to 3 downlinemen? I haven't watched the game yet, but from where I was sitting it was pretty much pointless to have 4 dlinemen in the game, neither of them were getting pressure on Persa.

We did blitz a few times, but look how effective they were, why don't we blitz everyplay? I watched South Carolina last night blitz every damn play and they got pressure on Florida's QB and made him make some bad throws! They were blitzing corners, safties, and LB's. They would switch it up every play and each time they would get pressure on the QB. Why do we just sit back in our cover 2 and allow them to throw all over us?

Also why do we play so loose on the corners at mid-field and allow them to throw the 7yd out or slant. We should be bumping the receivers and making it hard for them to get off the ball, give our dlinemen a little more time to get to the QB. We just allow themt to run that quick hitter for 5yds everytime.

Sitting in the stands it was very upsetting to watch, our defense is supposed to be this number 1 defensive of line in the country, I think they are about 50 or so after yesterday. Pretty sad showing by the defense you allow them to go 85 & 91 yds on ya to win the game.

 

[hwks1]

I think we have the talent to be more of an attacking defense. Its hard to argue with the success of 'bend but dont break' defense but relying on the other team to stop themselves is not very fun to watch.

 

[sergeanthulka]

Is it just cover 2 everytime? I do not understand it, yesterday we had 4 down linemen a lot and we tried to cover with the back 7 guys.

Did we ever switch to 3 downlinemen? I haven't watched the game yet, but from where I was sitting it was pretty much pointless to have 4 dlinemen in the game, neither of them were getting pressure on Persa.

We did blitz a few times, but look how effective they were, why don't we blitz everyplay? I watched South Carolina last night blitz every damn play and they got pressure on Florida's QB and made him make some bad throws! They were blitzing corners, safties, and LB's. They would switch it up every play and each time they would get pressure on the QB. Why do we just sit back in our cover 2 and allow them to throw all over us?

Also why do we play so loose on the corners at mid-field and allow them to throw the 7yd out or slant. We should be bumping the receivers and making it hard for them to get off the ball, give our dlinemen a little more time to get to the QB. We just allow themt to run that quick hitter for 5yds everytime.

Sitting in the stands it was very upsetting to watch, our defense is supposed to be this number 1 defensive of line in the country, I think they are about 50 or so after yesterday. Pretty sad showing by the defense you allow them to go 85 & 91 yds on ya to win the game.

Basically this +1000.

In the matchup yesterday, our talent is dumbed down by the scheme.

Any idiot can see it (those that are honest anyway). We are clearly superior up front and have the best tandem of safeties in the country...yet we allow 6-8 yard passes, waiting for a mistake. We got one gift, but in the end the front four was exhausted & NW was patient & accurate.

It's probably a good fall-back scheme if you don't have the horses. But we do have them & they're being muzzled.

We could have NFL talent at every defensive position & the outcome would be more or less the same, imo.

 

[okeefe4prez]

We could have NFL talent at every defensive position & the outcome would be more or less the same, imo.

Absolutely wrong. The defensive scheme is generally successful when you have two high level d-linemen to get pressure and two really good LBs.

That's why the 2003 and 2004 defenses with Roth, Babs, Hodge and Greenway were so good and the 2008 and 2009 defenses with Clayborn, Ballard/Binns, Angerer and Edds were so good.

2005 - missing component was dominant line play when whole d-line turned over

2006 - d-line started coming around, but Hodge and Greenway were gone and LBs dropped off - Edds was a freshman and got picked on sometimes

2007 - LB play was less than stellar and only line stud was Mitch King

Guys like Edds and Greenway could cover the slot guys once they had some time in the system - remember Edds last year? In key situations, the guy could sense which way the route was going and he ran underneath many routes for easy picks. No one can do that this year.

We mixed in some blitzes yesterday, but every time we did, it was like NU knew what was coming other than the Morris blitz up the middle.

The most frustrating thing is that the staff doesn't seem to understand this simple fact and try to think of new creative ways to deal with it, they just stay in the base defense and hope for the best. The other frustrating thing is that with all the talent on offense, they don't just stomp on teams so that the diminished defense doesn't get left in such crappy positions.

 

[InNormwetrust]

Absolutely wrong. The defensive scheme is generally successful when you have two high level d-linemen to get pressure and two really good LBs.

That's why the 2003 and 2004 defenses with Roth, Babs, Hodge and Greenway were so good and the 2008 and 2009 defenses with Clayborn, Ballard/Binns, Angerer and Edds were so good.

2005 - missing component was dominant line play when whole d-line turned over

2006 - d-line started coming around, but Hodge and Greenway were gone and LBs dropped off - Edds was a freshman and got picked on sometimes

2007 - LB play was less than stellar and only line stud was Mitch King & Matt Kroul

Guys like Edds and Greenway could cover the slot guys once they had some time in the system - remember Edds last year? In key situations, the guy could sense which way the route was going and he ran underneath many routes for easy picks. No one can do that this year.

We mixed in some blitzes yesterday, but every time we did, it was like NU knew what was coming other than the Morris blitz up the middle.

The most frustrating thing is that the staff doesn't seem to understand this simple fact and try to think of new creative ways to deal with it, they just stay in the base defense and hope for the best. The other frustrating thing is that with all the talent on offense, they don't just stomp on teams so that the diminished defense doesn't get left in such crappy positions.

 

[tm3308]

I'm not sure we really even have to blitz much against NW. But by playing off so much with our corners, the routes that NW wants to take are WIDE OPEN every play. That lets Persa get rid of the ball in a hurry. Our D-Line has little time to really put pressure on him when the receivers he wants are open immediately.

 

[hawkeye28]

I'm not sure we really even have to blitz much against NW. But by playing off so much with our corners, the routes that NW wants to take are WIDE OPEN every play. That lets Persa get rid of the ball in a hurry. Our D-Line has little time to really put pressure on him when the receivers he wants are open immediately.

Our defensive scheme works when you have DB's who can cover. After that debacle yesterday, and Wisconsin's hammer it down our throat with passing plays, I find it hard to believe we have the DB's to be an elite top 10 team, at least those who are on the field now.

 

[trj]

I disagree with okeefe.......Unless their is some philosophy changes the success of this defense will always be depend on the linebackers. They have to be both cerebral and athletic if either one is missing your going to have issues.

 

[Maroons19]

The defensive line is getting way too bad a wrap, IMO. There is only so much they can do rushing 4 against 5 against a quick-throwing spread team. Did we even have one pass deflection/break-up yesterday? A true cover two has the corners squatting in the flats completely taking away the 5-7 yard stop patterns. Our corners play so far off the ball, which makes no sense against a team like NW or Wisc. who have not desire or intent on throwing deep.

 

[tm3308]

Our defensive scheme works when you have DB's who can cover. After that debacle yesterday, and Wisconsin's hammer it down our throat with passing plays, I find it hard to believe we have the DB's to be an elite top 10 team, at least those who are on the field now.

It works when we're playing teams that don't take the 10 yards we give them on the outside. There aren't many teams who do that. Northwestern and Indiana do.

 

[okeefe4prez]

The defensive line is getting way too bad a wrap, IMO. There is only so much they can do rushing 4 against 5 against a quick-throwing spread team. Did we even have one pass deflection/break-up yesterday? A true cover two has the corners squatting in the flats completely taking away the 5-7 yard stop patterns. Our corners play so far off the ball, which makes no sense against a team like NW or Wisc. who have not desire or intent on throwing deep.

You also have to credit offensive coordinators in the B10 for what they have done to take our d-line out of the game. First, they have started throwing the ball quickly. Second, there have been dozens of plays where they have just told the LT NOT to let Clayborn beat them to the inside and then pushed him wide and then sent the QBs back in slightly shallower drops - how many times have we seen Clayborn running full speed right behind the QB this year? Most offensive coordinators in the B10 have some sort of institutional knowledge that grows year over year - it's just been so long since you guys have seen it that it is causing you guys to miss that subtle change that everyone is doing to us.

 

[jsmhawk]

I'm not sure we really even have to blitz much against NW. But by playing off so much with our corners, the routes that NW wants to take are WIDE OPEN every play. That lets Persa get rid of the ball in a hurry. Our D-Line has little time to really put pressure on him when the receivers he wants are open immediately.

Yes. This. It is not our d line's fault at all. It is the scheme. IT HAS TO CHANGE AGAINST NORTHWESTERN!!