Kinda makes you wish EJ and Lawing were around to see what we could do with that.
The reality of our defense (Venables)
- Thread starter Cocky4SC
- Start date
All things equal? No. With all the talent their recruiting machine puts in the program most anything works. Defense in college football is mostly determined by how good you are up front. And they have better than anybody in the country.
They were gashing us with the run when we blitzed. Coach talked about this, but I know many dismiss him as a fool even though Will has forgotten more about FB than most of us have ever known- if you pass blitz and they stick it in the RB’s belly, all those guys pushing up field to get after the passer are suddenly out of position. Defense is a bit more complicated than many of you make it out to be.
Say you bring the house- how many DBs are you leaving back for “man coverage”? 3? 4? Rushing 5-6- leaves maybe ONE LB in the middle of the field? Now any run play is a 6-10 yard gain before he gets touched. A screen pass right over the rushing defenders? Almost guaranteed to be explosive... TE leaking out off a chip block- untouched for 10-15 yards. Yes, if you time a blitz when the WB is dropping back and looming deep you might catch him off guard. Any coach worth his salt knows we want to come after a first time starting frosh, so they were ready and gashed us any time we showed pressure. People keep talking about the WB as though he played amazing? He did fine but most of his passes were shorter routes, a few broke big.. they had like THREE HUNDRED YARDS RUSHING on us because of what I described above though and in the end, that is why we could not stop them.
I am not defending anyone just clarifying why we did not blitz more... If you watch the NFL, the rage on D is the disguised DB blitzes where they show an 8 man front like the whole house is coming, drop most back into coverage and bring a DB off the edge who was not lined up right over a lineman. Gives the OL FITS, is almost unblock-able if executed well, but requires expert coordination and timing born from years of virtually unlimited practice to be really effective- that is why you don’t see it done as much/as well in college. Not enough practices allowed and not enough experience to pull it off well on most teams.
Venables tenure at OU didn't exactly inspire Bob Stoops to go to any lengths to try and keep him happy. I am sure Venables has some good qualities as a coach, but he is just being wildly overrated because Clemson is having the success it does.
I tend to think Clemsons success has a lot to do with Venables being there. Using your logic a lot of successful coaches, head and assistant, are getting too much credit. Absolutely need lots of talent but it’s what coaches do with it. Besides, other programs have been all over Venables to come. Don’t think it’s because he’s “wildly overrated “
When the opposing coach comes out after the game Saturday night/Sunday and says he's shocked at the lack of pressure that Carolina brought, that speaks volumes.
I agree Will has forgotten more about fb than I've ever known, but I can tell you if what you are doing isn't working, you try something else. Playing seven yards off the ball at CB position and the safeties 15 yards off the LOS, mixed in with the lack of pressure is the reason those routes were open all night.
The DBs playing so far off has been a point of frustration for me for years. I don’t get it... What is the poi t of keeping them in fron of you when YOU CAN’T TACKLE ANYWAY!?!? 🤦♂️
Honestly the inability to tackle at the second level has been a problem all year. Some of it is a size thing- other than Israel virtually all our guys behind the LOS (and many DL ON IT) are under sized. People were giving Shilo some props for laying wood back there earlier this season... He got toasted- Absolutely ABUSED against LSU. On their really long TD pass, he ran right bye the guy and turned, took a bad angle and never got close on a play it looked like be could have made. That is a microcosm of how our DBs have tackled all year.
And this might be his most fatal flaw. All good leaders want the best working for them. Insecure people promoted above their competence level are afraid of their subordinates' skills and see them as a threat.
No but Venables has taken Charlie Strong's old 3-3-5 defense and made quite a reputation with it..
the big 12 gave up on defense a decade ago, thats why they continually get stomped when they step out of conference.
Under Muschamp's tenure, our defense has never had a blitzing scheme whatsoever. The reason is because our linebackers and defensive backs are not competent to blitz. And that is a major head scratcher especially in year 5 of a rebuild. All the formidable defenses in the SEC not only have talented pass rushing defensive ends but they also have gifted linebackers and defensive backs who can blitz the quarterback as well. Sigh!!!
Don't equate OU with the whole conference. Herman at Texas has beat both SEC teams he has faced in bowls (Georgia and Missouri) plus beating an 11-1 Utah.
