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ive always loved the 3-3-5 Defense and RR did a great job implementing it at WVU...

for those that watched the fiesta bowl, you saw how dominate that D could be. granted, some will say OU played a horrible game on offense but the 3-3-5 shut them down.

anyway possible that we would have a big turn around if a new coach came in here and taught the 3-3-5?

You'd need much bigger LBs.

StangEsq wrote:You'd need much bigger LBs.

there linebackers arent that much bigger than ours...the 3-3-5 is more about containing ... but we would need LBs with Speed

Nebraska ran a 3-3-5 this year and it got the coaching staff fired. (112th ranked defense in the country)

WVU did it right, but it is very difficult to pull off. It requires a very complicated blitzing scheme or there is no pressure on the quarterback. You also have no way to defend the run unless every player on your defense is lightning fast. SMU is not in danger of having that kind of defensive talent anytime soon.

I'm always surprised that TCU has so much success in the 4-2-5 Defense they run but despite some pretty nice talent the secondary has really let them down in some big loses. You'd think that would be the strength of that type of defense. I think the 4-2-5 concept makes the most sense in this new passing era of College Football

I think I tend to agree with that. With the 3-3-5 you just don't have enough people in the box to generate any pressure unless your linebackers are as fast as WVU's were tonight. Still they were blitzing 1 or 2 on most plays, effectively giving them an extra guy in the box anyway. It just gave them options on which guy to send.

Again, you still have no ability to stop the run unless your linebackers are incredibly fast. If AP had still been around, WVU might have struggled a little more tonight.

I have become a fan of the 3-3-5 as this season has progressed.

I think it's important to note however that You SHOULD be blitzing at least 1 LB every play. The other thing that it opens up off the edge is a sneaky corner blitz.

I also would argue against the notion that it requires Linebackers to be Superhuman. This is a more technically difficult defense to run, but I don't think it requires any more physically than a 3-4. And that's because you have your 3 down linemen who need to be bigger.

Just my Opinion.

My high school ran the 3-3-5 and i think the problem we would have is that defense not only needs fast lbs but it also need great d-backs who can cover espeically man coverage. I think more than anything we dont have the dbs to run the defense

Not superhuman. Just fast. You need a couple of guys that can run a 4.3 and are really quick off the ball. You have to have that speed to defend a team with a balanced offense. WVU definitely had that tonight. The linebackers were through the O-line before they were even off the ball. But if you don't have that, and the offense has someone with the speed and quickness of an Adrian Peterson/Vince Young/Eric Crouch/Reggie Bush and you're leaving a couple of extra blockers out there to create havoc for them, they can pick up 7 yards around the end on every play and break it open pretty easily.

mustang's point about the man-coverage is right on too. I don't totally understand why, but zone coverage just doesn't seem to work with this defense.

I think it might be because of having to blitz at least one lb or even rovers and ss which tends to leave open spots in the zone

Fast is the key in any defense.
Marshall ran a 3-3-5 a couple of years ago when Justin Smart was in school here. He was VERY effective in it. It's complicated to run because it gives coaches a lot of options and the ability to create coverage confusion, but the players have to pay attention. I liken it to the defensive equivalent of an offense that runs a ton of traps, counters, and draws. There are stunts and spins and mismatches on personnel. You can always look like you are going to blitz, or the converse, drift back into coverage.
But none of this matters unless you have the personnel. We have trouble in a base 4-3....

Tenuta is a big 3-3-5 guy now....

Leave this crap to a good head coach.

In fact, we do not even have the personnel for a standard 4-3. Our Ends are too undersized to go head up with the tackles. If we had more big bodies in the middle we would probably be better suited for a 3-4. Yenga would make a much better attacking outside linebacker who gets to pick on tight ends, backs or tackles who are trying to catch up to him than having to fight his way around a tackle. Justin Smart would be a good player in this defense as well. We just don't have the speed to make a 3-3-5 work. Heck, I am not sure what defense I would run with our personnel but I do know that I would find a way to make Smart and Yenga my focal point of the attack.

i'd like a defense before we implement the 3-4 or 4-3 or 5-6 or 3-3-5 or Tampa 2 or what the crap ever