Recruiting Forum Football Talk VI

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#50,926
#50,926
TN-POSSUM said:
Go ahead with the baseball updates @Johnny Majors, if that's ok. I think the RF appreciates someone posting the score



*I'm pretty sick and will probably unintentionally doze off before this game is over.

GBO
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Hope you feel better...I'm sure someone will post updates. Taking the kid to the batting cage myself. Go Vols!
 
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#50,928
#50,928
Vols4us said:
Was the USCJr. approach of laying off the WR's 5-10 yards most of the game effective?

The question answers itself. It caused Heup to change the philosophy for Banks. We saw how it finished when that got straightened out.

Bama was another game that had similar tendencies on the back end as USCJr. I could semi-understand it with their talent. Not USCJr.
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I seem to remember some differences in the defensive lineup for that game that may have caused some matchup issues. We lost the only functional LB on the team, amid a group of DBs that couldn't cover spilled milk with a beach towel, while staying on the field all day due to a feckless offense not moving the ball.

So, in response to a request for analysis on specific occasions that you mention, you make a vague reference to one game, give no analysis, and respond with "the question answers itself."

That's not how this works.
 
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#50,929
#50,929
ChattaTNVol said:
Stop Rate –

Since Tim Banks noted in his spring media session that our defense as measured by stop rate was better than perceptions I thought I’d take a look. I consider a stop any drive that doesn’t end in a rushing TD, a passing TD, or a made FG. That means I credit as a stop if the opponent missed a FG, punted, gave the ball to us on a turnover, we forced a safety, or the opponent failed to convert a 4th down attempt. I didn’t include drives at the end of the halves when the clock runs out because for all of FBS I don’t have easy access to that info.

By my calculation we were 26th in the nation in stop rate for the season. Marshall was #1 and I’m thinking I want their DC. They had to defend more drives per game than we did and they had less returning production last year that we do this year. Now granted Marshall doesn’t play our strength of schedule but they did beat Notre Dame last year and Notre Dame in their bowl game beat a hot South Carolina team that we sort of didn’t. lol

Anyway, Tulane beat me to hiring Marshall’s DC from last year but less than a month after the Tulane deal and before Lance Guidry (the DC in question) could settle into the Big Easy, Mario Cristobal intercepted him and signed him to a contract with the Hurricanes as their new DC.

I looked at the stop rates for all of FBS. Behind Marshall, was Iowa and Illinois at #2 and #3. Michigan was #5. Georgia was #7, Alabama #11, Clemson #18, Kentucky #23. South Carolina was #75. smh.

There were a number of areas where our defense improved dramatically last year and I really mean DRAMATICALLY. The biggest sore spot that stands out to many is our pass defense and I think Tim Banks and some fans sort of deflect when addressing that. In the 11 games we won our pass defense rating was 119.92. That would have been 21st best in the nation. In 9 of those games we won (leaving out UF & UA) our pass defense rating was 111.82 and that was #10 in the nation. Against UF and UA we had a pass defense rating of 151.00 which would be #120 in the nation and against Georgia and South Carolina, our only 2 losses, our pass defense rating was 212.76, good for maybe the 674th best pass defense in all of college football.

I’ve looked at a lot of data on our pass defense trying to figure out if I should expect it to improve. Even with the selective look at games where our pass defense rating was exemplary we still gave up a lot of yards and first downs via the pass, more than just about everyone else, and their brothers and cousins. It turns out we’re giving up more completions in the less than 10 yards zone and in the 10-20 yards zone that the average for all of FBS. Beyond 20 yards our pass defense outperforms the FBS average, from a season perspective. Obviously this is “bend, don’t break”.

I don’t think we always play bend, don’t break; I think it depends on the matchups the staff expects to see when they’re game planning. Last year against Kentucky we, I guess, figured we could match up well with their receivers because we played really tight coverage and the guys talked about it in their post-game media appearances. Our pass defense was outstanding in that game.

I’m not sure about Tim Banks and Willie Martinez but I can’t find anything that tells me they don’t know what they’re doing. Actually, I lean toward the opposite. I think they probably do know what they’re doing. I think the problem may have been, as others have long pointed out, perhaps our lack of significant talent in the backend of our defense. Obviously recruiting is the coach’s responsibility so there’s no passing the buck. If my count is right we have 20 scholarship DBs on our roster so far for 2023, 15 of which were rated as a blue chip prospect by one or more of the recruiting services.

Okay, back to the stop rate. We give up more passing TDs than anyone else in the top echelon of the rankings for stop rate. We do okay in limiting rushing TDs. Alabama gave up 12 passing TDs in all of last year, 5 of those to us. We gave up 21 passing TDs last year. If we can cut our passing TDs down to 12 and force a punt for the other 9 then all else being the same we’d have the #1 stop rate in the conference. jmo.

Tamarion McDonald and Doneiko Slaughter led our defense last year with 6 PBU’s each. Gabe Jeudy-Lally had 7 PBUs for BYU last year. TMac also had 2 Ints and Doneiko added another. I don’t know how soon the new freshmen (Matthews, Gibson, etc.) will be ready but, and this may be a bit foolish on my part, I’m leaning toward optimistic in regards to the improvement of our pass defense this year. jmo.

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Great info.......except wanting Lance Guidry....😄
Guidry inherited one of the best defenses in the country. In 2020, before he took over, Marshall was #1 in scoring D, #1 in red zone, #4 in stop rate and #2 in total D. They went to #79 in total D, #44 in scoring D, #18 in red zone and #23 in Stop Rate his first year. He did not have a defense to rebuild. Marshall's had a great defense for several years prior to him.
 
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#50,938
#50,938
SoilVol said:
That fails to consider very important variables. The Barnes Haters would have to be open-minded, fair, rational, and intelligent. There was enough data prior to the tournament, nothing aside from a national title would change their minds. Some would still hate Barnes - we watched them shift the goalposts all season and during the tournament.

"He won't get out of the first round." "He won't make the second weekend." *after proven wrong* "If they beat Duke and make the Sweet 16 I'll be impressed." "They're playing a mid-major so if he doesn't win he's a failure." "He can't make the Elite 8."

If we'd won it would've been something else. "No Final Four." "Should've beat K State but he didn't take a timeout with 10 left in the first half or sub X on at the right moment therefore coaching failure." "He lost to a garbage mid-major in the Final Four he had the easiest matchup what a failure." Write your own "He's a failure because ...." script for the title game.

One of the best men in coaching. Consistently top-ranked teams. Future Hall of Fame coach. They'll never be happy with him if they're not appreciative now.
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Excellent.

They already have their mind made up. Even a national championship would only get a “he got lucky” response.
 
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