Josh Heupel “We’re going to play Elite Defense”

#51
#51
I personally think the level of “in game competency” of the defense boils down to two factors…depth and talent level (mostly depth). No reason to think we can’t achieve both at the same time. IMO blaming the speed of the offense for lack of defensive efficiency is low hanging fruit. Prob not an accurate statement. JMO
 
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#52
#52
If the D next season can just be good enough to rank in the top 25, should be enough to be in every game. Got to get the offense on track against GA. Don't how A&M is going to be but we have the both GA and A&M at home. UF - Bama on road will be tough no matter the D.

All my Bama buds keep telling me the TN game is already circled on the schedule. I tell them its great to be hated by Bama fans agian.
 
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#55
#55
When we get people off the field, we roll them! Candy had no chance, KY had no chance (they even gave up). MO had no chance. Even Clemson wore down, then they looked up and the game was out of reach.
 
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#56
#56
sjt18 said:
In a subtle way... he just called Banks out.
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Idk. I’m critical of Banks but I don’t think he has the pieces for an even mediocre defense. Thought he overperformed given the talent he had. That said Carolina was inexcusable. Idk how you field a defense that’s that terrible on every possession.
 
#57
#57
titansvolsfaninga said:
Did you watch the tackling? Hadden was atrocious. Flowers was atrocious as well.
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yes but we played prevent defense in the last 7 minutes of the game. In addition put pressure on Richardson. We almost gave it away and the tackling was atrocious by those two regardless of who we were playing. Areas they can improve on or recruit over. Defensive play calling is what almost costs us the game and got better by year end. I think it will continue to improve this year with new recruits and with the staff expanding the ability to adjust with the players and schemes.
 
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#58
#58
Hoping for QB pressure and a backend that can be closer than 5 yards from the receiver when the ball arrives....Please stop giving up 3rd and 10 yards plus at a high percentage. This is a pass happy football world now....finishing at or near the bottom of the country in pass defense stats is not good and the only way we can go there is up.......I hope!

Pretty sure Heupel is smart enough to know that you're not going to just go out there and outscore everyone week to week.
 
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#59
#59
After the dismissal of Coach Pruitt, we lost a lot of our best athletes off the defense. Coach Banks inherited lack of depth, and players who had been recruited for a different defensive philosophy. Reality says, what he and his staff have accomplished so far is outstanding!

It won't be until the 2025 season that we will likely see what the ceiling is for Banks' defensive philosophy in relation to Heupel's offense. But we should see improvement each year, as he keeps recruiting players to fit what he intends to do.

In fairness, we do not know how much of what we have seen so far is what he intends to do, or was just the best accommodation to the player skillsets he had available.

But I'm of the mind that what we've seen is philosophically indicative: shut down the run, create TFLs, and force more pressured pass plays because they yield more turnovers. Allow the offense to build a lead that forces teams to play one-dimensionally in the second half, and force more turnovers. We'll know it's clicking when we see us winning more games by 20+ points.

Injured and recovering players in the spring of 2022 produced relative inexperience in the secondary last season, forcing us to play more bend-don't-break defense against better offenses. I don't think we will see that this season.
 
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#63
#63
Zooguy’s an Aggie. There aren’t enough grades of slaw.
 
#64
#64
DaddyChad said:
Idk. I’m critical of Banks but I don’t think he has the pieces for an even mediocre defense. Thought he overperformed given the talent he had. That said Carolina was inexcusable. Idk how you field a defense that’s that terrible on every possession.
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Disagree but I don't think that can be resolved objectively. The '21 UK game was really bad too. It is those games where his talent is equal or maybe even better but he can't get off the field that make me question him.
 
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#65
#65
Voldog1998 said:
Heupel’s defenses will never be elite not with his fast pace offense I just hope they are decent to average instead of terrible as they been the last two years.
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Perhaps the issue isn’t the offense nor defense, but rather the metric you are using for “elite”. Pace doesn’t effect the ability to be “elite” if you’re looking at the right metrics
 
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#67
#67
tennrich1 said:
I personally think the level of “in game competency” of the defense boils down to two factors…depth and talent level (mostly depth). No reason to think we can’t achieve both at the same time. IMO blaming the speed of the offense for lack of defensive efficiency is low hanging fruit. Prob not an accurate statement. JMO
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There WAS some validity when we had a more pronounced depleted roster. That is less a factor now. Team finishing ranked should help get better talent on that side too. Biggest decencies should be less now. Ex. Corners.

On top of that the new clock rules should help us as we rush to score and opponents cut total plays down on that side of the ball as the clock keeps running when they don’t. Same minutes should mean less snaps.
 
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#69
#69
Hawkeye4588 said:
Serious question here. Since Heupel's offenses get off the field so quickly is it realistic to think our defenses could be elite? According to our own athletic department our average time of possession in 2022 was 25:14 while our opponents was 34:45: 2022 Football Cumulative Statistics - University of Tennessee Athletics That is a lot of time for the defense to be on the field, and lets be honest, they are facing some of the best offenses in the country. I think until we get depth and can keep fresh legs in we should not expect Fulmer era defensive stats.
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Gonna be hard to expect Fulmer era defense against today's offenses anyway. They just need to be disruptive, opportunistic and get off the field quick. No long drives.
 
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#70
#70
Vol865 said:
Gonna be hard to expect Fulmer era defense against today's offenses anyway. They just need to be disruptive, opportunistic and get off the field quick. No long drives.
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It's entirely realistic to expect a defense that gives up 13-17 points per game on average. If Banks can't pull that off we need to get rid of him and get someone else.
 
#71
#71
I think our D will be a very good D over the next couple of years as we add more depth and experience. I think we’ve shored up our D line and LBs with recent recruiting. DBs need to make big strides this year. Heupel must like what he saw in spring practice. Regardless, the D needs to be just good enough to make stops at the right time with this offense.
 
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#72
#72
Rememberthelate90s said:
Yeah. 11 and 2 season last year. He ain't showed us jack **** yet. In year 2 as well. Hell with that much time he showed have already won us a super bowl.
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We walked into that South Carolina game, in control of our own destiny and had a great shot at still being in the playoff picture. Instead we participated as a practice squad against their offense that put a blowout on us. We were on the other end of elite that game. However Pitt and UF were both too close as well due to our defense. If we play even mid range defense we beat USCjr no matter any other issues. The Bama game came down to not our defense playing well at all but who got the ball last. I trust Heupel to get it fixed as after all he's only been here a couple of years and has beat expectations so far, but our defense has stunk it up more than not so far.
 
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#73
#73
Sudden Impact said:
yes but we played prevent defense in the last 7 minutes of the game. In addition put pressure on Richardson. We almost gave it away and the tackling was atrocious by those two regardless of who we were playing. Areas they can improve on or recruit over. Defensive play calling is what almost costs us the game and got better by year end. I think it will continue to improve this year with new recruits and with the staff expanding the ability to adjust with the players and schemes.
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So you didn't watch the other 53 minutes? Cause those were bad too....it wasn't just play calling but the players were bad.
 
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