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I find it hard to believe. Someone please remind me again how PB drove this defense into the ground? I have blocked out so much but here is what i am left with: he's a defensive coordinator who coached T-New, Terrance Newman at K-State...and he left us with the worst D in D1A CFB? How does this happen again? My disbelief is going on into 2 seasons and I want answers. Something here is deeply wrong and it reminds me of the Texas Rangers pitching staff in that these guys are WAY worse in real life than they are on paper (3 star recruits, anyone?). It is one thing to be not quite as good as advertised but this is stupid.

Anyways, just my musings...I am willing to listen.

the new scheme is effective, there has been 7 dropped interceptione on more than 10 pass deflections and the line is starting to generate more pressue. They need to pull it together.

Kent Dorfman,

To answer your question of why the D, and O, is so bad, I submit the primary reason is that you're not playing. I might be wrong but I could be right.

I think the D is a tad better in some respects. They seem to all fly to the ball. There has been some pressure on the QB. We don't seem to make as many busted coverage mistakes. There has been some solid open field tackles. The D seems to hustle the entire time.

We are young and small and inexperienced. Smart in the middle is learning a new position as an example. He has yet to make the transition to a true headhunting middle linebacker. That will take a little time while he gets comfortable with new assignments, reads and responsibilities. And he needs to learn that a middle linebacker wraps up and doesn't hit like a DB.

We haven't taken advantage of turnover opportunities. We haven't been able to step up and make plays on 3rd down.

We are worn out by the forth quarter (lack of depth and lack of an offense).

Overall, it appears there are some areas of progress. We will know more about our defense later in the season and more realistically next year.

These comments are correct but in my mind the defense starts to fail as the game goes on.
One after Serge comes out, we have no size. At TX ST game I looked at the program and we had,, 220, 257, 260, 220 as a front line. And TX ST was pushing us around.
220 is an LB and 257 needs to be an d-end.

Saw Parham in the game this past week, where is Even H.?

We are undersized and not quick enough which together makes for a bad combination. Some of the lack of quickness can be chalked up to inexperience, but some of it goes to athleticism which can't be coached. Size is something that can be added as years go on, but right now, we are getting pushed around a lot. Also depth is a huge problem. When your small, you get tired and the subs are even smaller. So, it kind of reinforces itself.

Dylan08 wrote:Kent Dorfman,

To answer your question of why the D, and O, is so bad, I submit the primary reason is that you're not playing. I might be wrong but I could be right.

I have no idea what this is supposed to mean.

Junior wrote:

Dylan08 wrote:Kent Dorfman,

To answer your question of why the D, and O, is so bad, I submit the primary reason is that you're not playing. I might be wrong but I could be right.

I have no idea what this is supposed to mean.

Dylan was never easy to understand.

Bad as it seems, and admitting I only saw the Rice game, and listen to the others over the internet, it seems that we aren't badly schemed defensively, but we just lack the personnel- i.e. no size or speed. Hopefully they will be able to win two or three and continue to recruit. If we could hold onto a pick here or there, we'd probably not have won any more games, but we'd probably not be so worried about the D.

Oddly enough (and don't get me wrong, I HATE being 1-3 at this point), I feel much better about the time and their performances than I did for the last few years. Maybe it's is still the JJ glow, but I feel the kids are better prepared than they have been for years. We are just young and talent thin and in new systems. And we have had a tough schedule to start out with. The Red Raiders are easily a top-ten team, TCWhoo is probably a top-25 quality program, and this is as good as Rice is ever going to be with a great WR, senior QB and that overage TE/FB/whatever else he plays.

Yes, the kids are still making mistakes, but I get the feel that they are better coached, and when things click, we will surprise some people, and hopefully with a little recruiting, we're going to be tough. It is just hard to watch at this juncture, because we want to win and SMU went out and got the coaches to do it.