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The pass defense once again proved troublesome. Better than ECU, but still troublesome. I seriously wondered why Brown didn't spread the ball around more on pass plays in the 8-10 yard range. It was like taking candy from a baby for them most of the night. With each new UAB drive, I kept thinking--OK, here's where they figure it out and turn into the 4th Quarter Tulane team that made our pass D look like Swiss cheese. They didn't, though. I think the fact that our D overall stepped it up on getting pressure on the QB helped this.

Anyway--what can we do about this. I suppose the "we're young in the secondary" mantra applies here. Oh well.

we will see an entirely different type of QB next week. UAB's QB was ZERO deep threat.

Yeah. That's what I'm afraid of.

Some of those defensive formations alarmed me...I know they were playing a zone, but there were several times where there was no one keyed in on certain UAB receivers before the ball was snapped.

I am perhaps the biggest critic of our pass defense, but I saw improvement last night. They played up on the receivers many times. They covered tighter and they were in position and made tackles on the short ones. We still lack in the "talent" level and next week will be a real test, but if we can pressure Kolb like we did last year, it is possible to slow them down enough to outscore them.

It will be all about Rogers and Haywood against Houston. If they can get pressure then the secondary doesn't get lit up like a xmas tree.

Don't forget Muse. His return is big.

I thought our tackling was 100% better, OK 98%.

My concern was fumbling and our kicking game seem out of sorts. Short KOs bad KO and punt coverage many times.

Granted UAB's QB was very average.

But three things were noticeable.

1. Our pass rush was the best I've seen this year. Remember Muse forced that errant throw to Hawkins.

2. We did a lot better job of tackling. There were still some misses. But as a whole, much better. I thought Lindley played pretty well.

3. Our blitzes were executed better.

Our pass rush will always dictate how we do on pass defense. We're going to have to be that good -- probably better -- against the team with the air raid siren.

The thing that annoyed me was that one 5 yard hook they kept running...it was completed every time!

Seriously McCann is good enough to play people much tighter than what he is. If he's so fast and has such closing speed, lets see the young man face up and make a play

I AM NOT SURE IF WE CAN SCORE ENOUGH POINTS TO BEAT THE COOGS.

ponyfan84 wrote:The thing that annoyed me was that one 5 yard hook they kept running...it was completed every time!

You mean the one to the flats? The one that Tony Hawkins made points out of? Yeah, I guess UAB completed that pass every time, even if one completion went the other way.

If results are the measure of improvement, then 133 yards passing vs. SMU's secondary and a pic for a TD would indicate that somebody did a much better job than in the past. The D-line got a serious pass rush and the corners for the most part locked down the deep routes.

You may know that I am friends with Brandon Bonds family but I never knew he could run.

He is a big guy to take two blockers and free up some others and stop the run.
Last night I saw him run the QB down from behind. WHAT? The D-Line played well and thank you DB's for coming up a little and getting tighter coverage. The line thanks you.

GO MUSTANGS

he did show an improved rush on the play-I was surprised by his quickness on that play-almost got his first career sack against a Division 1A Football Team but alas caught the facemask.

Granted we aren't going to win any awards...but thought our Pass Defense was pretty solid last night. Alot of solid hits right when the receiver caught the ball. As already mentioned we held them to 133 yards passing which is a top notch effort by our standards.

Yes, I always bring up what another 5 to 10 pound off could do.

The play I am tlaking about was late in the game and UAB QB was running the ball after protection broke down. BB caught him from behind for a 4-5 yard gain. It was something I had not seen before.