Alabama Defense improved compared to last year

TideFan in AU said:

First I gotta say that I agree with you that we won't know anything for sure until Oct. However, I also also believe that WVU is pretty good. I base that on how they played the game. We had our issues, but there's no denying that Holgerson is a great offensive mind, and some of those plays were just good athletes making great plays. They have a former 5* RB that CNS recruited very hard, and they have a good QB and receivers. Some of the catches they made were great catches in traffic, and for the most part, Trickett was played very good. Holgerson had a top 10 offense for 4 straight years until last year. They had a ton injuries last year and were playing a lot of young guys. I feel like that 4-8 season is an anomaly rather than the norm. They play OU next week, so we'll know soon enough how good they are or aren't.

Click to expand...

Agree, wvu and Tennessee games for OU are comparison games for us. Both will have been played by next Saturday. Those will be huge indicators.

too soon to tell after two games. to put it in perspective Baylor currently has one of the best scoring defenses. how many people think it will stay like that?

I hope and think we can say the same after we play 3 teams in our division...and y'all know who they are.

DzynKingRTR said:

too soon to tell after two games. to put it in perspective Baylor currently has one of the best scoring defenses. how many people think it will stay like that?

Click to expand...

exactly. some things still dont pass the eye test with me but we have time to work them out. I also think we have some young guys who can step in help with our weaknesses. Question is, how much P/T will they get in the big games.

deliveryman35 said:

And what do you base that on?

I haven't said our defense has been bad, just pedestrian or average.

Click to expand...

Thats an asinine statement. Pedestrian?

CoachJeff said:

Thats an asinine statement. Pedestrian?

Click to expand...

How would say our defense looked against WVU? I understand we only gave up one TD, but I can't say they looked good.

If you take scoring defense and combine with rushing/passing stats, that combination can give you a pretty good indication of the quality of a defense (not a complete picture, but a good indication). EVERYTHING regarding those figures from the first two games indicates Bama's defense will be better than last year's, IMO, especially if you take in to account who did not play in the first game. Key injuries early might make a big difference.

It's too soon to tell anything meaningful, but I thought our DL would be more disruptive. Lots of new faces to integrate there, so I would expect steady improvement.

CoachJeff said:

Thats an asinine statement. Pedestrian?

Click to expand...

How so? The one real team we played made us look average most of the game. Maybe we aren't average, but we'll have to improve and show it against someone other than FAU or USM. As most everyone has said, we'll see in few weeks.

bamacpa said:

It's too soon to tell anything meaningful, but I thought our DL would be more disruptive. Lots of new faces to integrate there, so I would expect steady improvement.

Click to expand...

This is very true, consider that Robinson missed a bunch of camp with a knee injury and might not be 100%, Reed missed a significant chunk of camp, Ivory the same, Tim Williams might've missed the most. I think the unit will improve more as the new faces get more experience and the veterans who missed time get in better shape and form.

When you add in the absence of Depriest who is the senior leader and playcaller and the absence of Eddie Jackson (whose replacement was the target of most of their offense) you begin to see why we might've looked "average".

CoachJeff said:

Thats an asinine statement. Pedestrian?

Click to expand...

I think what he meant is that the defense hasn't played up to the hype. I, along with alot of posters here, thought this was going to be one of the best defenses ever. So far though, too soft in the middle against the run, pass rush ok but not great, and some of the cb play, well... I am expecting it to continually get better though and I am hopeful that will all the talent it will eventually live up to the hype.

BamaMark. said:

I think what he meant is that the defense hasn't played up to the hype. I, along with alot of posters here, thought this was going to be one of the best defenses ever. So far though, too soft in the middle against the run, pass rush ok but not great, and some of the cb play, well... I am expecting it to continually get better though and I am hopeful that will all the talent it will eventually live up to the hype.

Click to expand...

We had miscommunications against WVU and one corner that had some serious problems (and will probably never start another game in 2014).

If I had to describe our defense I'd use words like: rusty, unsharp, young, inexperienced. Pedestrian? A pedestrian D gives up 5 TDs against WVU, not 1.

Our pass rush is fine. It's hard to sack a QB on a 3 step drop or on quick outs out of the shotgun.

I'm less worried about sacks given the quick passes from WVU. What worries me is softness (Saban's word after first half of WVU) and, related to that, concerns in the middle of the defense. That softness seems to have been evident throughout both games. We don't seem to stone people but catch runners as they're falling forward. And, of course, we'll see how far our corners have come when we face stiffer competition.

CoachJeff said:

We had miscommunications against WVU and one corner that had some serious problems (and will probably never start another game in 2014).

If I had to describe our defense I'd use words like: rusty, unsharp, young, inexperienced. Pedestrian? A pedestrian D gives up 5 TDs against WVU, not 1.

Our pass rush is fine. It's hard to sack a QB on a 3 step drop or on quick outs out of the shotgun.

Click to expand...

Can't argue the first two points you make and I guess we'll see on the pass rush. I think we've had 3 sacks in each game? but I'm just not seeing what I expected yet. No worries though as it's a long season... Like I said, this defense has some high expectations to live up to.

CoachJeff said:

We had miscommunications against WVU and one corner that had some serious problems (and will probably never start another game in 2014).

If I had to describe our defense I'd use words like: rusty, unsharp, young, inexperienced. Pedestrian? A pedestrian D gives up 5 TDs against WVU, not 1.

Our pass rush is fine. It's hard to sack a QB on a 3 step drop or on quick outs out of the shotgun.

Click to expand...

By our standards, I would say a disaster D gives up 5 tds, again what I've seen so far against one legitimate opponent I would call average(pedestrian, if you will) with the potential to improve and get better. I have not said our defense is bad and am not hitting any panic buttons, I'm simply saying that the jury is still out on how good we actually are, and there were some things in the WVU game(not only corner play) that were concerning. After the Auburn and Oklahoma debacles, defensive improvement is the first thing I wanted to see this year and I don't think we've really got an answer yet. There is no question that we have the talent that it takes to be very good on that side of the ball--the question as I see it is how quickly our players can develop. Personally, I think this debate, for lack of a better word, will pretty much be settled after the Texas AM game.

It makes my head hurt to think that people think the first test of the defense is Florida. I'd wager WVU is FAR ahead of Florida offensively.

I am still convinced we haven't seen the play book on O or D. We will be fine.

CoachJeff said:

We had miscommunications against WVU and one corner that had some serious problems (and will probably never start another game in 2014).

If I had to describe our defense I'd use words like: rusty, unsharp, young, inexperienced. Pedestrian? A pedestrian D gives up 5 TDs against WVU, not 1.

Our pass rush is fine. It's hard to sack a QB on a 3 step drop or on quick outs out of the shotgun.

Click to expand...

Agreed. Some are acting like the sky is falling because of one game with two key starters out and an opponent that is a good offensive team. I think Coach Saban and Smart's track record and our incredible talent would have some bearing on how our defense will turn out. Too many pessimistic thoughts on our defense.

In case some of you haven't noticed, offenses aren't what they were. A defense can still be good and give up yards we didn't expect a few years ago.

RTR91 said:

In case some of you haven't noticed, offenses aren't what they were. A defense can still be good and give up yards we didn't expect a few years ago.

Click to expand...

Exactly!

We tightened up in the second half of the WVU game, only allowed six points.

Also this D looks different already with DePriest and Jackson back. From what I remember, that 2009 defense took a while to get its legs too. Give them time. I believe we are right on schedule.


Sent from my iPhone

Roll Tide! 15 Time National Champions, More BCS Championships than any school...