Baylor 247 has a free breakdown of SMU's Defense

[WordUpBU]

Next part will cover the offense. It's got a decent breakdown on what Malone is doing vs Mason.

http://baylor.247sports.com/Article/S11 ... e-38858720

[JasonB]

"SMU played a 3-4 under June Jones & former DC Tom Mason that played conservative in coverage and tried to use their linebackers to create chaos up front. Under Malone they will call their scheme a 4-2-5 that from what I saw at the Spring Game will resemble Oklahoma State's defense in that it will be using it's Linebackers & STAR to adjust to changes in formation strength much like a 4-3 would, whereas 4-2-5 teams like TCU & Rice use their 3 safeties to adjust to these issues. "

I think this is why some of the players refer to that STAR position as the SAM. And also why the Scotts were trying out there over the summer.

It could be that the STAR has a more LB flavor to it than the TCU version because of personnel, but it might be that there is a fundamental difference between our version and the TCU version...

[mrydel]

I have seen enough breakdown of our defense in the past several years.

[JasonB]

They get pretty close on the lineup as well. Some of the other SMU sites have misinterpreted Rhone's spot since the spring, and they got it right.

Gentry/Green Minor/Wood is probably the DT rotation. Lawler starts on the outside with McCleneghan. Nabusoshi and Seals are the pass rush specialists and the Scotts fighting for time. It sounds to me like Horace and Johnson will start at corner, with Montgomery and Montes backing up.

One thing to note defensively is that the 1 technique guy in this scheme is the one player who will be asked to take on a blocker I think. The others try and shoot gaps. This is important to recognize because if Gentry/Green/Hollie can't do that, Yenga in the WILL behind them will get blocked out pretty easily for big gains. If they do, Yenga will be free to make a lot of plays. Pretty important thing to watch in the first game IMHO.

[SMU 86]

The TCU 4-2-5 is better than the OSU 4-2-5 from what I have seen.

[Planter's Punch]

This article is deffinetly worth the read, just for the part about the 2-gap to 1-gap transition for the D-line. I remember SMU being bad against UNT, but that clip was horrific. At least the line will have a chance with the 1-gap technique.

For a while SMU was able to be sufficient by recruiting one-dimensional Nose Tackles who could play with leverage and growing lanky & athletic recruits into decent 3-4 Ends with offseason weight programs. With SMU's recruiting slipping under a prior staff with a lazy reputation things spiraled downward for a previously stable unit. Not only were the Ponies unable to Two-Gap, they also struggled to keep blockers off their Linebackers. The play from the UNT game is a good example. Look at how the Linemen fail to hold up at the line of scrimmage, in particular the close DE gets completely manhandled trying to take on his blocker.

Thanks Tom Mason

[StallionsModelT]

At the scrimmage on Saturday it was clear that David Johnson is going to start for us at corner.

[PonyKai]

I know it's only one play, but that video against UNT...it's horrifying how badly the defense got blown up there. Just shockingly awful.

[AustinPerson]

Is there really a point in breaking down any defense in college football these days since they are all similar to video game football?

[Rebel10]

Those Baylor spies at the SMU scrimmage game sure learned a lot from what they saw. I hope Coach Malone did not show very much of his defensive arsenal nor Coach Morris very much of his offensive arsenal.

[Hoop Fan]

agree with Rebel, I am shocked these guys know so much, they must have been at the scrimmage on Saturday for sure, in addition to spring game.

[StallionsModelT]

agree with Rebel, I am shocked these guys know so much, they must have been at the scrimmage on Saturday for sure, in addition to spring game.

I was there and I would put a rough estimate that maybe 500 people were in attendance. Didn't see any obvious BU fans.

[SMU89]

No mention of All Out

[malonish]

It's called spying for a reason. They're not going to show up in all green

[Rebel10]

At the scrimmage on Saturday it was clear that David Johnson is going to start for us at corner.

Well they said that they were there and like Malonish said, they are probably not going to show up in Baylor attire at an SMU scrimmage.