Good News.....Kane is staying!

[Charleston Pony]

Navy has had plenty of big play deep balls this year. Hope they drop some on Notre Dame this week.

[birddogger]

For those of you with football experience:

Why has the defense regressed? Stronger competition, injuries, scheme, talent?

I haven't watched enough to get a handle on this. Memphis has more talent it seems, but did we catch up-and-coming Tulsa and ECU, which seem to be playing better football these days?

[peruna81]

Partly all of the above...

Injuries slow everyone a bit, even if you are still trying to play. Good coaches have schemed to fit our defense as well. Our defense also blitzes a good bit, and we have been burned deep in man on man schemes as you saw Saturday.
Finally, it is November and we are playing well enough to win when we play poorly. THAT is a major difference than the last 30 years.
all that said, it is still a good year to be a Mustang fan.

[birddogger]

It's been a fun season, no doubt. The team has surpassed our expectations. We have 2 tough games ahead, so it will be a challenge to win out.

[redpony]

and if we end up 9-3 how many of us would have predicted that kind of a record for this year? Now we are expecting 11-1. Go ponies!

[AusTxPony]

I'm no expert, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express, so... One aspect is opposing coaches have seen enough to be able to scheme us effectively. We are short one or more true safeties. Don't know if Johnson is back 100% yet. We have been susceptible to experienced QBs all year that can evade our respectable pass rush. Also, playing Nelson at Safety against ECU allowed their QB too much roaming room to force quick releases. Therefore, I fear Tulane slightly more than Navy in our final two season games. We're just going to have to outscore all our opponents.

[ponyboy]

Again, ECU put up nearly the exact same numbers, points and total yards, against Cincinnati two weeks ago. Not defending anything, pardon the pun. But it’s got to be taken into consideration.

[PonyTime]

and if we end up 9-3 how many of us would have predicted that kind of a record for this year? Now we are expecting 11-1. Go ponies!

I can guarantee that our final record for this season will not be 9-3 or 11-1.

[redpony]

I was obviously referring to regular season play and not post season.

[PoconoPony]

I admit that I have really been concerned about the pass D since the Memphis game. All to frequently our corners and safeties are not even in the TV shot when the pass was caught. Then I closely watched the LSU win over Bama. Both teams with boat loads of 4 and 5 star corners, line backers and safeties. Neither team could cover the passing attacks of the other. CB and safeties were repeatedly torched and made to look hideously bad. If two of the teams with the most talent in the country cannot cover a good offensive plan with high quality QBs then it gave me solace that our kids are doing the best job they can without more pressure from the D line.

[Charleston Pony]

Seems like all the fastest and most skilled guys want to play on the offensive side of the ball these days so it's tough finding enough defenders to keep up with them.

[PNW_Stang]

I think I remember Sonny saying before the game that ECU was getting better and better in the passing game every game he watched film on. I think we just caught them at their peak, and their QB made some great plays avoiding the pass rush and had some great throws.

[Charleston Pony]

I think I remember Sonny saying before the game that ECU was getting better and better in the passing game every game he watched film on. I think we just caught them at their peak, and their QB made some great plays avoiding the pass rush and had some great throws.

ECU played a good game. ECU and Tulsa are a couple of pretty good 3-7 teams.

[JasonB]

For those of you with football experience:

Why has the defense regressed? Stronger competition, injuries, scheme, talent?

I haven't watched enough to get a handle on this. Memphis has more talent it seems, but did we catch up-and-coming Tulsa and ECU, which seem to be playing better football these days?

I'll take a stab at this.

1) Defensive numbers looked better than they actually performed for the first several weeks because of some timely drops.

2) Ever since the Houston game, we have given up a number of huge plays out of the slot. Teams have figured out our zone scheme with man on the outsides. The first breakdowns we saw were during the Tulsa game, when the corner would bite inside on the slot, leaving the outside receiver running free. They adjusted to keep the corner outside, but now the safeties aren't able to match up with the slot once they get past the LB zone.

3) In modern football, you have to generate negative plays in order to stop the other team. Sacks, penalties, turnovers. Teams have started to take advantage of the SMU blitz packages, so SMU hasn't been blitzing nearly as much the last three games. The quarterback has had enough time to wait for the slot receiver to shake the LB coverage and get past the safety. With the blitzes early, the other team didn't have that much time to throw. And there were lots of overthrows and drops when it was there.

4) The new scheme - I'm not a fan. This past game, we played a three man front, one DE dropping in the LB group, two middle LBs, and then a three safety line. Our stength is DL, so taking one of those players off the line and playing them in coverage doesn't play to strength. Sitting 3 in favor of 43 takes playmaking and athleticism off the field, which is another bad aspect of the scheme. Playing the second leading sacker in the country 10-15 yards off the line of scrimmage is playing against his strength. I'm hoping that scheme was driven by injury rather than a new idea. But playing a passive defense like that plays against the strength of the defense. It also creates a lot of holes on the field, which allowed for easy completions as well as the QB scramble.

[PNW_Stang]

Seemed like they tried to be a little too innovative this week.