DEFENSIVE QUESTION........

[cheesepony]

Stallion et al:

I have communicated personally with Copeland regarding my displeasure with what appears to be alot of "rah rah rah" from Bennet without the substantive organizational skills necessary to run a D1 program. How is it possible that a self-described defensive guru can take a perennial top 30 defense over the last ten years and allow this kind of crap? Please advise and provide opinions - and "he doesn't have the personnel" is no excuse. We all get paid in life to perform, and HE'S GOT TO SHOW SOMETHING - WE'RE JUST NOT THIS BAD!

[HighfalutinHorse]

...wait a minute, wait a minute..we are young, the playing field is not level, we are young, we have no jucos, we are young, we have a messed up adminis., we are young, give 'em time..what happened to ALL THAT?? This board kills me.... :wacko:

[HighfalutinHorse]

...wait a minute, wait a minute..we are young, the playing field is not level, we are young, we have no jucos, we are young, we have a messed up adminis., we are young, give 'em time..what happened to ALL THAT?? This board kills me.... :wacko:

[ProudPonyPa]

Don't worry. They have two weeks to prepare for TCU!

[ponyte]

We small but slow. In addition we are young. There is no doubt that we don't have the athletes to have a strong defense. Any one that watched the TTU game could see that we just don't have the talent we need at the cornors.

Our backers are young and slow. backers are a step behind or slow and that is a killer.

Defenses require great athletes. We just don't have that. :no:

[cheesepony]

None of you have addressed why we're so bad.... "we're young" doesn't cut it! We had the athletes 2 years ago to finish in the top 25 in defense for 5 CONSECUTIVE YEARS!!!! The talent pool doesn't disappear that quickly, and even so, Bennet should be able to configure a defensive game plan which limits opponents scoring abilities. That said, I am VERY ENCOURAGED by the play of all our younger guys, and I am TOTALLY behind them!!

[HixsontoLeVias]

UUUuuhhmmmm, who ever said Kansas State was some big "defensive power"?? I always thought KSU simply "out scored" everybody..?? In other words, who said Bennet was a defensive guru??

[HighfalutinHorse]

Actually HL, KSU had some nationally ranked D's in Phil's time there, but, I sort of remember KState as an "out scoring" machine, too.

[smu hoops fan]

I've been a Big 12 fan for years-living in the Midwest. I went to a couple of games that K-State played while Bennett was there. Their Defense was always strong BUT they had some great athletes that would stick you. However, that doesn't make you a head coach, which requires leadership and organizational skills etc. How many times do you see a NFL coach do miserable as a head coach-get fired-then become D coordinator for some awesome defense. One more year MAX and if we are not .500 or better, Coach Bennett has got to go!

[Diehard Pony]

I have to add myself who is someone that cannot understand how we have slipped defensively from #1 in the WAC in Cavan's last year, to where we are this year. We let a guy who had caught one pass all season catch two touchdown passes to start the game. The second one came without a Mustang within shouting distance. Of all of the disappointments of this season, the defense is the biggest and most puzzeling.

The silver lining in today's debacle was Chris Phillips. He has the chance to be something very special at the most important position on the team. Let's hope he is given the supporting personnel and playbook to allow that to happen.

[GoRedGoBlue]

Originally posted by HixsontoLeVias:
UUUuuhhmmmm, who ever said Kansas State was some big "defensive power"?? I always thought KSU simply "out scored" everybody..?? In other words, who said Bennet was a defensive guru??

Dude, KSU has been a defensive Juggernaut for years. BOB STOOPS had them ranked #1 in the nation as D Coordinator, Bennett had then #2 in the nation.

Their D is their bread an butter. Their offense is basically a Ramon Flanigan, good arm, great legs, let's see what happens, plus add a decent RB.

[ponyte]

It was easy to be #1 defensively in the WAC Caven's last year. Our offense score so many points for the opposition that our defense never faced a tough challenge. We lost to La Tech, TCU, Hawaii and others with interceptions, fumbles (most retuned for TDs) and a host of special team disasters. By the middle of the second quarter opponents could shut down the offenses so that they could get us the ball. We could put more points on the board for our opponents than our opponent’s offenses could.

Caven had more Sr. on defense than we have now and we are dealing with the fruits of his recruiting now. It shows how important recruiting is.