And that was with one of the greatest offenses we've ever had. This year the D isn't good, and add in that they're handicapped by an offense that is inconsistent at best. I wonder where our offense ranks in number of plays per game. Weak defenses need their offenses to stay on the field more than our offense does. But, regardless, our defense is atrocious.
I think the '91 defense had Brad Culpepper, Tony McCoy, Tim Paulk, Godfrey Myles, Kevin Carter, etc. in the front 7, and Larry Kennedy and Will White in the secondary.
I'm still shocked that we continue to play the same guys over and over again. No matter how much they get burned or miss tackles. And WTF can't we have a safety that stays over the top? The safety is flat footed standing there watching people cross his face and run past him every time. waste of a ship or 2 or 3 right there
Have a friend on LSU staff. He mentioned that they knew the coverage the Gator D was in every play. No disguising of defense at all and that they observed very few changes from what they saw on film from previous games. They were surprised the D did not make any adjustments to their play calling or coverage schemes during the game.
Maybe the issue is the players in the secondary aren't smart enough or talented enough to make adjustments. They certainly don't look like they know what they're supposed to do. I was a teacher, and sometimes no matter what I did, I couldn't get them to understand even the most fundamental things.
We still had William Gaines, Kevin Carter and Ellis Johnson in 92 although I believe Gaines struggled with injury and Mickell waa off field issues. He was a beast when healthy though. Also had mark Campbell and Johnnie church. That line was stacked. Larry Kennedy made his name on his freshman year but was pretty average after that. Linebackers were good too with Robinson, Miles and hanks. I think secondary was the weakest link but I'm not sure how much of that was coaching.
I hope you’re right. My concern is that these defensive recruits see the straight up incompetence out on the field and begin to doubt their ability to get good coaching here
Watching Darrell Jackson the transfer DT we missed on star for Miami. Shocked Billy missed on him. Different team with he and Dexter lined up together. We have to excel in the portal. Need guys like Mullen pulled like Greenard and Grimes. Billy did well w his own guys but they were Jimmy’s. I love Pearsall but he’s not been a major player to this point because we do not run a throwing offense at all and he’s our 2nd option. I’m surprised Billy didn’t have and major portal guys on defense. That will have to change for next year if expects to win 8-10 games. He will have to hit on: D tackles- 2 with one being intermediate plug and play guy to take the place of dexter when he leaves early. The second can be a depth guy but to expect McClellan to be the guy is asking too much. I realize asking for a DT in the portal to be an immediate impact guy is a lot but Norvell did it so not sure why Billy can’t. linebackers- 2 with one being an immediate starter. Replacing Ventrell will be beyond difficult. Shemar will be great by the time he leaves but not sure who plays beside him next year. Gotta have a big time transfer. Tatum Betheune a good one for FSU.
I was surprised at how little discussion there was about how we didn't land any transfers on defense to replace what we lost. I think people were just ready to cut ties with anything Grantham related and while some were upset with losing Hopper in particular, striking out in the portal was way underplayed here. We lost a portal battle to Bama for a linebacker and Miami for the tackle but I don't remember anyone else on defense we chased. I thought that was the staffs first mistake.
So why were they in 3rd and long so often? Honest question. Was it just how we played them on 3rd because we seemed to play well on 1st and 2nd down for much of the game.
Note: UF has been one of the worst first down defenses in the country this season as well. Also ranked in the 100’s. Probably a reason teams convert so many 3rd downs is because we give up so many yards on 1st down as well. We give up yards rushing and yard passing. Not like we are good at one and not thd other. QB completion percentage allowed also not good. LSU - threw for 350 yards, averaged 10 plus yards a throw, completed over 60 percent of passes as. 10 of 14 on 3rd/4th down conversions. They also ran for over 150 yards and averaged over 4 yards per carry.
Ole Miss isn't doing any better than we did against LSU. In fact, scoring less and giving up the same.
Maybe they did t believe hopper would hop. I wish we knew the staff tried to hold on to them. speaking of LBs, can anyone say why a five star in Wingo has not been more of a factor?
