Where we were........and where we ARE...

[vegasvolfan]

As the conversation and criticism of the defense continues, let's look at a small sample of basic stats that matter based on the style of offense we play

Last year, one of the biggest complaints was 3rd down defense. We were ranked #103 last year. This year we are #32.

-4th down defense was #64 last year and #28 as of today.

-Red zone defense last year was almost last at #120 and as of today, we are #14

-Scoring defense was #90 last year and as of today, we are #36

-As of today, we are #42 in YPP.

(Updated: PPP we are #14 ----we're playing alot of snaps on defense)

-Rushing d was #59 last year and as of today, we are #21.

This year, we HELD 6 teams to 14 or below points. (In the SEC, Georgia held 8 teams to 14 or below, Alabama held 5 teams at 7 or below, and Kentucky held 6 teams to 17 or below and all of these teams rank in Top 15 in total defense).

Win total last year was 7, this year we have 11 WINS.

The defense had improved and is GOOD. Improvements on D would move it to ELITE and we don't have far to go based on the improvements this year.

The scoring defense is the tell all. We were nearly 3 times as good this year. We need to be much better than 36 to win it all IMO, but this is serious progress--especially when you consider the hodge podge of players we had to put together.

 

[VOLINVONORE]

Good is a strong word. I think fully healthy all year we would have looked better in the secondary and next year the defense will be better on the field and on paper for 2 reasons.

1. We aren't losing a lot on defense and have a lot of talent coming in.
2. Most likely the offense won't be quite as fast tempo/explosive and this will lead to less defensive snaps.

Not a knock on Milton I'm a big fan and supporter but he runs the offense at a different pace than Hooker. If its true that Wright transfers that's a blow and its gonna be hard to replace the talent we lose on offense. We lose the right side of the Oline on a very right-handed team, We lose at least one of our two tight ends, We lose Hooker, We lose Hyatt and Tillman. We also lost a lot of guys that could have stepped up next year to the portal at WR and RB.

It's possible we have guys ready to step in which is the reason guys did enter the portal. It's possible that we get guys to fill those spots via the portal. History says this is likely to happen but I am not one to assume. All signs point to a dropoff on the offensive side. Not a huge one but a dropoff and that will actually help the defense.

Those guys spent a huge amount of snaps on the field. I wonder if I can find a metric for yards and points per snap. I have a feeling that we would be ranked a lot higher on defense by those metrics.

If one plays a bend but don't break defense, the defense will always have a lot of snaps, regardless of how fast the offense plays. The offense has to score points on more 50% of possessions. With Hooker, we scored a lot of points, many of them on 2 minute or less drives.

 

[coffeevol]

In todays football defense is important but it’s nearly impossible to stop scoring. Vols had a great defensive year.

 

[pimo1]

If one plays a bend but don't break defense, the defense will always have a lot of snaps, regardless of how fast the offense plays. The offense has to score points on more 50% of possessions. With Hooker, we scored a lot of points, many of them on 2 minute or less drives.

We don't play bend don't break,, our defense attacks....the number of snaps our defense plays has nothing to do with the defensive scheme its the pace of the offense. With Milton we also scored quick sir...As Cromp daddy pointed out Miltons performance against Clemson (a very good defense on a ranked team) was about par for the course for an average Hooker performance.

 

[stevenrich2003]

I never thought we were as bad as everyone thought, but I also never thought we were especially good. I think the next 2 years will tell a lot about this Tim Banks defense

Speaking of this coach, I do not think the criticism of him his completley fair. 1 major disadvantage that he has is the other side of the ball. The other side of the ball scores so many points, and plays so unbelievably fast that other teams are more likely to pull out bomb plays, or tricks to keep up. Also, our defense does not have time to breath or get coached up on the sidelines. I think it is fair to be critical of some of his coaching. However, I think we should all keep the aforementioned facts in mind.

 

[VOLINVONORE]

We don't play bend don't break,, our defense attacks....the number of snaps our defense plays has nothing to do with the defensive scheme its the pace of the offense. With Milton we also scored quick sir...As Cromp daddy pointed out Miltons performance against Clemson (a very good defense on a ranked team) was about par for the course for an average Hooker performance.

The Dline plays very aggressive but the secondary definitely plays bend-don’t- break defense. When they don’t, you see 6 points go on the score board. Hopefully, with the new talent coming in, the secondary can play much more aggressively in the future. That will give more opportunities for the offense to score more.