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I'm sure our offense will score our share of points this Saturday, but....can our defense stop Navy's option? We certainly didn't shut down SWT's option earlier this year. We will have to have someone on the QB and on the pitchman (RB) at all times. Otherwise, they will just run up and down the field on us like in past Navy games.

westexSMU wrote:I'm sure our offense will score our share of points this Saturday, but....can our defense stop Navy's option? We certainly didn't shut down SWT's option earlier this year. We will have to have someone on the QB and on the pitchman (RB) at all times. Otherwise, they will just run up and down the field on us like in past Navy games.

The navy tailback is a better than average runner given the chance he will put a hundred and a half on a defense.

Will we? Don't know. Can we? Of course.
I'm going to try to make the radio show tomorrow to hear Coach Hundley explain how.

BEAT NAVY!

we better hope so

Stopping the option is not terribly difficult. Stopping it without sacrificing your secondary to do so is difficult. If we do that, then we open up the long pass to a lonely receiver. Linebackers and DEs need to step up. Obviously we need strong play by Serge (is he ok?) et al.

If we can make them go for long drives with that offense, it will keep the score down and perhaps, perhaps we can outscore them. Speaking of running games. Didn't Barry Sanders put up all his numbers with the Lions out of the run n' shoot offense? If so, a great running back can succeed out of the run n' shoot.

It takes very good athletes on defense to stop the option. As mrydel points out, without athletes, defenses have to commit the secondary to stopping the run. This allows an option team to throw the ball (and it doesn't have to be long or crisp passes). We witness this a few years back when we played an option Rice team. Their TE had a Heisman day against us.

We have not been a very good team stopping the option in the past. If we don't play very smart, hard and tackle well, then it will be a very hard game for us to win.

As it has been for decades and now until the end, our defense has to step up for us to win.

No

I'm geting out the RAZOR!

Why should they bother with the option and risk a fumble? Just run it up the middle on us for 5+ yards a carry.

our only hope is to outscore them with our offense, rather than pray the defense can stop them.

I will say we've stopped the option better this year than recently. I'm concerned however how our guys out wide got blocked last week v Houston. UH did a good job taking out the OLB and the corner.

if our D learns how to tackle by kick off then the answer is yes

I didn't see Bennett's D having too much trouble with their option in Annapolis last week. Funny what a change in personnel can do for a coach

I am guessing no. If our D can't stop the run, they will be more busier than a one-armed paper hanger. That equals a long day.