I found another example of poor gap fits with a linebacker's perspective. Watch the outside zone Purdue ran in the second half. 1:05:31 on the embedded video.
So on this run, let's walk through what the linebacker is keying. APR sets the edge in a force posture, inside shoulder engaged, outside shoulder free to prevent the back from bouncing outside. Jenkins is also out wide as the alley defender, and he came up from a wide angle to force the runner. So, Tisdale, knowing Jenkins is in force and APR takes on the block in force, so he should be fitting based on Pollard's movement at defensive tackle. If Tisdale fit into the tiny little space between Pollard and APR and Mockobee cuts back, ok... The biggest soft spot is the A gap between Pollard and Fuga. In my assessment, that should be the fit, and if I am wrong, that means Fuga has to make this play. He doesn't, and there is a big run.
The stats can lie. This isn't good defense, especially in a gap scheme system. I hope the staff doesn't look at good luck and mistake it for good execution. There is a ton of room for improvement.
Comments
Careful French, I got hammered for saying it doesn't feel like a top 50 defense.
yeah, and I got hammered watching our "top 50" defense
I kept drinking during the delay expecting the game to start any minute. I was more than a little pissed when the game started, and not in the angry way.
Analytics are wonderful but they don't tell the whole story. Same can be said for the "eye test" which is why analytics exist.
We are a top 50 Defense after 2 weeks analytically...we are not nearly a top 50 Defense from an execution standpoint and whether it makes a marked difference in SP+ it is going to cost us as the year goes on.
Analytics have their place but they shouldn't be treated as an indisputable proof when anyone can see that basic football fundamentals are not being followed here.
Even pre-snap, it should be obvious to an LB that the most likely gap is going to be b/t Fuga and Pollard..as soon as APR makes any movement toward the outside of the OT, you know you need to fill that gap. This is JV-level stuff.
The Defense is clearly less problematic than the Offense, there is no real argument to be made about that, but the story here is really a bigger one...
This is clear display of a fundamentally bad Football team. Are we not coaching correctly? Or are there players who are simply not coachable? And if they aren't..why are they still being put on the field?
I'm interested in finding solutions, not in using rationalizations and statistics to brush off the fact that our Defense looks fundamentally unsound.
There was nobody from VT anywhere near purdue WRs on the first drive. That's all I needed to see. Unprepared.
seems like Tisdale needed to fit between Pollard and Fuga to force the RB to stay flat to the LoS and out toward the corner and giving the safety more time to come up. With Tisdale crashing outside, he let the RB get north-south and a head of steam into a meeting with the smaller safety.
Yep. We can see it. Why a sixth year linebacker can't?
Seems like Tisdale needs to fit between the graduate assistant and the waterperson on the bench.
HAHA that's the problem he keeps missing his gap on the bench and ends up on the field!
Quite frankly, I'm not sure why we keep playing Tisdale. As much as we rail against Wells making the wrong decisions on offense (and man oh man does he ever), Tisdale is probably worse on defense. He loses gap contain on almost every play. He's completely lost out there, and offenses know all they have to do to completely open up the middle of the field is run lateral misdirection, because he overruns it every single time.
Every
Single
Time
The only logical answer is that we just have nobody else.
Keller has been entirely unimpressive when he's gotten a shot and McDonald was a HS safety who was a fringe 3☆.
Makes you wonder how out-of-shape the VMI transfer was...we've gotta be talking like full-on beer gut and car full of old pizza boxes...
So basically, 21 should run towards the big hole, and 34 should run to the left in case the ball carrier tries to make it to the sideline? Am I getting this right?
I believe 21 has to account for the QB on the backside. 34 (Tisdale) should have crashed through the big hole. I would guess a backside defender has outside responsibility.
Does backside = Left side of the screen? Feels like someone needs to cover the left?
On a running play it is the DB's job to shed the block and spill the runner back towards the middle of the field. Is this the QB scrambling around?
the correct term for influencing the runner back inside is "Force" playing the gap to push a runner outside is called "Spill"
Using APR (#52) as an example, he is playing "Force" leverage by keeping his outside shoulder free. This pushes the runner back inside, where the LB's should be filling the interior gaps. Instead Tisdale flows way outside like APR is playing "Spill" by covering the gap between the OT and the OG.
What makes this even worse is that Jenkins (#7) is out of frame to the left, further covering the outside alley. So even if APR was playing Spill, Tisdale still needs to trust his teammates on the edge and fill the big gap in the middle of the line. Fuga has leverage to fill it but the other DT (Kendricks?) got washed out too far to the D's left by the Center. This served really compress the RT-RG gap but left C-LG gap really wide
Keller (#21) has to respect the QB keeper and in that role already has to monitor 2 interior gaps, which will make him a step late - basically able to play cleanup on a partial tackle once he clears that the QB isn't the ballcarrier.
APR looks to have contain on the left side. As the play develops he gets up field to prevent the RB from getting to the left (from the defense side) sideline. Backside means the opposite side of the way the play develops which would be the right side of the line on this play. The qb has the option to keep the ball and run around the right side which I believe would be the responsibility of 21. Watching the play, Tisdale and APR end up in the same gap on the outside left. That leaves me to believe Tisdale screwed up.
Jenkins had that area covered.
Correct. Tisdale has Jenkins out wide (outside of the screen initially) and APR in force mode to contain the run. There is no reason for Tisdale to be running wide. He should be choosing to fit between APR and Pollard or Pollard and Fuga, with Pollard and Fuga being the fit where the back was the biggest threat. It literally looks like he is trying to run away from the block, and ends up wider than both Jenkins and APR.
And worse yet, this is just one example. First two games I could pull a half dozen plays where, if you didn't know football, he looks like he is deliberately running away from where the ball is clearly going. He is doing so outside of the context of the scheme or if there was no scheme and his job was just to chase the ball. It is inexcusable. If he just stands still and doesn't get pushed back, there isn't really a hole.
Isn't Pollard taking on the double-team to somewhat shield Tisdale from the guard who is climbing to block him? Like, if Tisdale is trying to avoid the oncoming guard, he would be better off running to the massive hole since it is somewhat shielded by Pollard. Instead he ran right to where the guard wanted him to go.
Yep. Pollard jams, and Tisdale should fit the vulnerable gap. Instead, he ran to where he had the most help.
Depending upon his coaching and where the safety is, 21 is exactly where I think most coaches would want him to be..outside of Fuga and slightly to interior shoulder of the TE. If he crashes hard towards the big hole, there is a massive cutback lane or QB keep.
34 has absolutely no reason to be anywhere but in the big hole.
The only explanation I can offer from observing him is that he seems to consistently flow towards where the blockers are going--in doing that, he succeeds more often than not in helping them block him. I can't imagine this is what is being taught by our coaches (if it is, God help us).
At this point it seems Tisdale would be better served to sit tight at his position for a split second after the snap to focus mentally/visually on the play and then physically act. If he had a sixth sense as to where he should he immediately cuz he has that "cutting edge vision", then I'd say don't change a thing. But, being a split second "behind" the play to understand where he needs to be can change an 8 yard play to a 2-3 yard gain.
Now, if that isn't feasible in this level of pace then he is helpless and needs to watch the game with us.
Meant to reply to Bar.
As a side comment, it appears to me the only person on defense who needs to be game planned for is APR. Every other lineman can be handled 1v1. The linebackers take themselves out of more plays than they make. While Strong and Mansoor are solid, no one is afraid to throw at them. The quicker the roster turns over the better.
I think add Jenkins to the list? I saw some tweet that showed the defensive stats last season when he was in vs out, and the difference was staggering.
I mean, the secondary is caught in a catch-22 when the front 7 are neutered. If we can't get pressure up front, even a solid secondary is going to be exposed at times. Seems to me like correcting LB play would be the fastest way to drastically improve the defense.
Good point. Secondary are hung out to dry if the front 7 cant get any pressure. Agreed, linebackers are the biggest inconsistency and with a team like this, not beating yourself is step 1. Being in the right gap is not a talent issue. That excuse can be made for the OL. This is where the Duke comparison keeps creeping in. Duke doesn't have marginally better players than us on Defense but the players they do have do their job consistently. The yards they give up are yards earned by the offense. So far through two games we are gifting yards to teams with missed assignments and poor tackling.
Reminds me of Mickey Andrew's commenting on how fast his team was by say they could run themselves out of position faster than any other defense he'd coach
Not sure where to put this, but I guess at least one positive on defense:
Do pressures include sacks? If so, you can deduct 1 from Jenkins because he did not pressure that QB on that now infamous sack he got on Wells.