Defense

[FDNY99]

After 2 games Hank Hughes has put up Manny Diaz like numbers.....and Manny Diaz was fired as DC at Texas after week 1. Just sayin'........

 

[noeynox]

Hank's defense has looked just like he did in that interview with Emily Noonan on The Blitz. Disinterested.

 

[rich1122]

We have mastered the Sieve Defense quite well actually. No pass rush; let them get around the corner every time; receivers open all over the field. It's working well now that it has been installed for two weeks.

 

[weyuo]

Too many times the Huskies were in the right spot but just couldn't seal the deal. Just too many missed tackles. They had the QB dead to right in the backfield and too many times just let him off the hook. Is that a difference in talent? Conditioning? I don't know but when a linebacker has Maryland's QB in his grasp the play needs to end there, not 5 or so yards up the field.

 

[FDNY99]

We have mastered the Sieve Defense quite well actually. No pass rush; let them get around the corner every time; receivers open all over the field. It's working well now that it has been installed for two weeks.

HH is just waiting to perfect it next week on national tv!

 

[Duncan Idaho]

They had opportunities to get 50+.

 

[noeynox]

Too many times the Huskies were in the right spot but just couldn't seal the deal. Just too many missed tackles. They had the QB dead to right in the backfield and too many times just let him off the hook. Is that a difference in talent? Conditioning? I don't know but when a linebacker has Maryland's QB in his grasp the play needs to end there, not 5 or so yards up the field.

Don't confuse guys reaching for a purported arm tackle as they fall to turf for guys in position to make tackles. I'd argue the opposite we are always a step behind. There has been a huge dropoff at LB, and we have no one capable of coming close to providing the pass rush Trevardo could. Two games, zero sacks. Enough said. Even worse, zero passion out there.

 

[FDNY99]

Don't confuse guys reaching for a purported arm tackle as they fall to turf for guys in position to make tackles. I'd argue the opposite we are always a step behind. There has been a huge dropoff at LB, and we have no one capable of coming close to providing the pass rush Trevardo could. Two games, zero sacks. Enough said. Even worse, zero passion out there.

Noey you hit the proverbial nail square on the head about the pass rush. For a d scheme that was NOT going to change after Brown left we have seen ZERO blitz pkgs..we play the "just keep sending the 4 down lineman" scheme all game.

 

[UCFBfan]

I believe Silver tweeted out last night after the game that UConn had only two tackles for a loss and one of them was a fumble recovery on a dropped pitch. That's just unacceptable.

 

[bigAbruns]

Noey you hit the proverbial nail square on the head about the pass rush. For a d scheme that was NOT going to change after Brown left we have seen ZERO blitz pkgs..we play the "just keep sending the 4 down lineman" scheme all game.

Sadly the only time they got to the QB it was Frank who got there and of course missed the tackle.

 

[ruskin]

HH hasn't exactly covered himself in glory, but if he gets the boot and GDL keeps his job. . . ..yikes, don't even want to think about that one

 

[jackl]

Too many times the Huskies were in the right spot but just couldn't seal the deal. Just too many missed tackles. They had the QB dead to right in the backfield and too many times just let him off the hook. Is that a difference in talent? Conditioning? I don't know but when a linebacker has Maryland's QB in his grasp the play needs to end there, not 5 or so yards up the field.

It looked like we were a slower than Maryland. How Can that be in general? We just couldn't make a play. I thought their QB had a game running the ball like the Navy QB did against us a few years ago. We didn't have a clue where the ball was. He was much better than I anticipated or we really suck on D and I don't think that is the case.

 

[uconndogs]

The score last night wasn't even remotely reflective of the ass kicking we received and it was worse on the defensive side of the ball than it was on the offensive. We gave up 500 yards of offense to a team that essentially sat on the ball most of the 4th quarter.

Ashiru I thought looked pretty good and certainly better than what Stewart has shown. Obi continues to impress and Yawin will make about a million tackles this season and then head into the NFL. After that, everyone's been having some pretty rough sledding and I see nothing of a physical, emotionally charged defense.

As for Hughes, my perception is that he has always been an emotional guy for this team and now he seems passive. I really wonder if this coaching staff is together.

 

[cohenzone]

Hard to blame the DBs when the QB has 2 minutes to find receivers. Terrible D. Hard to know if it's lack of talent, lack of aggression, lack of scheme, whatever, on the D line. Both lines were eaten up. But we did stop 2 4th and shorts. Maybe that's our specialty.

 

[joey3$trike$]

after the 1st quarter they were terrible, hard to say after two 4th down stops an INT and fumble recovery. usually that means a win, far from it..

 

[Carl Spackler]

They had opportunities to get 50+.

THey also turned the ball over. Defense is defense - the biggest problem I have, is that we've now gone through two coordinators, and multiple personnel (many of which are in the NFL now) and we don't seem to be able to come out of the halftime break and play the same way we did in the first half.

THe three and out and field goal deep in Maryland half of field after one of the TO's was just sucky from our offense, after a key defensive moment. The PI call in the endzone was a terrible call by the back judge who was behind Tymeer and had no view of what was happening other than Tymeer's back.

I don't think the D played a particularly bad game, except for two explosion plays and the flatness in the third quarter - but those things happened under Edsall as well, the D gave up 24 points, they are giving up b/w a FG and TD more in points than last season . Our offense is not good enough to cover that.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

There is a laundry list of complaints but my biggest gripe this season is the number of times we've made contact but did not wrap up, allowing the RB (or whoever had the ball) to break a tackle and continue gaining yardage. I'll wager that the kid from Towson got 40% of his yards after we (should have) had him tackled.

Last night defense spent too much time on its heels. We were so afraid of Digg's speed that we gave him huge cushions all game and we seemed so concerned with their QB that when he did make a move on a would be tackler, we sat back and lost all leverage. Too often our players don't look like football players.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Funny, because I didn't see any of that. I went into the game last night, with the focused mindset of ignoring coaching decisions, and just watching football. THe thing that stood out the most to me, was that we are so slow between snaps. (and that was in all three phases)

Almost invariably, IMNSHO, when there was a poor play on our part, it happened immediately after a particularly slow and confusing looking movement and change between snaps. Blame that wherever you want. But that's where the bad football happened IMNSHO.

I saw players that were beating the crap out of Diggs, and at one point, Diggs dropped a pass over the middle, clearly because he was thinking he was going to get hit. Diggs is going to be playing on Sundays though, and he's a great player, and great players make great plays. He tried to stiff arm Tymeer Brown at one point, and Tymeer tossed him over the bench. Little Taylor Mack was all over him through most of the game.

What Maryland did, was get him free on crossing routes, getting him out of the double coverages and shaded coverages we had for him, and he's got the speed to get there, and a QB that knew where to put the ball. There were a few completions where that Maryland QB threw the ball to a wide open space with Diggs no where near, and that kid was fast enough to get there, and you can't hit players that running routes down field.

Football is football. I'm watchign football only from here on in, this season.

 

[bmayuc]

I have remained mostly silent because I have been trying to find any valid reason why our defensive scheme was as Mind-Meltingly bland as it was Saturday.

We matched up personnel, switched between press-man and zone a few times, but other wise did NOTHING to hinder or try and confuse a Maryland offense that(until classic Edsall stall kicked in) was marching up and down the field unimpeded.

We heard the platitudes during the preseason: "oh, nothing much is changing!" "same schemes". THat was clearly BS.

I'll scout our Defense for every team here on out.

Scheme: Vanilla, Base defense. Generally passive. Read and React, no taking initiative from Offense. No mental games. No Pressure threat off edge. No Blitz threat. Coverage is a Mix zone-2/Covers 4/man-free depending on down/distance.
Packages:
1. Base 4-3/3-4
2. Nickel Cover - Base + Stevenson/Williams minus Donohue. Mack drops into slot to cover, usually press
3. Nickel Strong - We sub a LB(Donohue) for a S(Wilbert Lee). Lee Drops into the box and Graham Stewart Flexes to the Slot.
4. No seriously that's it

Disguise: None. There is no shifting, no shading, no disguise, no LB threat to OLINE. Line-em-up and play it out. Its really a joke. Short of being the 2001 Miami Hurricanes, it is negligence at Defensive coordinator to put that type of game plan out, regardless of opponent.

I am beyond disgusted at this point.

Its sad.

 

[noeynox]

Even with what you described, it seems half the time they're still trying to get lined up and know their assignments as the ball is being snapped. It is sheer lunacy what your eyes see out there. You cannot believe it has gotten this bad. Mind numbing.

 

[UconnFamily]

Noey you hit the proverbial nail square on the head about the pass rush. For a d scheme that was NOT going to change after Brown left we have seen ZERO blitz pkgs..we play the "just keep sending the 4 down lineman" scheme all game.

Exactly, not 1 blitz package... WTF is going on with Hughes? Last season and the season before the players were all over the field, playing with their hairs on fire.

 

[FDNY99]

Exactly, not 1 blitz package... WTF is going on with Hughes? Last season and the season before the players were all over the field, playing with their hairs on fire.

This is the same performance that got Hank a GDL like promotion from Edsall and Todd Orlando a Promotion to DC...

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Too many times the Huskies were in the right spot but just couldn't seal the deal. Just too many missed tackles. They had the QB dead to right in the backfield and too many times just let him off the hook. Is that a difference in talent? Conditioning? I don't know but when a linebacker has Maryland's QB in his grasp the play needs to end there, not 5 or so yards up the field.

Affirmative. And yes!

 

[TouchdownHusky]

I have remained mostly silent because I have been trying to find any valid reason why our defensive scheme was as Mind-Meltingly bland as it was Saturday.

We matched up personnel, switched between press-man and zone a few times, but other wise did NOTHING to hinder or try and confuse a Maryland offense that(until classic Edsall stall kicked in) was marching up and down the field unimpeded.

We heard the platitudes during the preseason: "oh, nothing much is changing!" "same schemes". THat was clearly BS.

I'll scout our Defense for every team here on out.

Scheme: Vanilla, Base defense. Generally passive. Read and React, no taking initiative from Offense. No mental games. No Pressure threat off edge. No Blitz threat. Coverage is a Mix zone-2/Covers 4/man-free depending on down/distance.
Packages:
1. Base 4-3/3-4
2. Nickel Cover - Base + Stevenson/Williams minus Donohue. Mack drops into slot to cover, usually press
3. Nickel Strong - We sub a LB(Donohue) for a S(Wilbert Lee). Lee Drops into the box and Graham Stewart Flexes to the Slot.
4. No seriously that's it

Disguise: None. There is no shifting, no shading, no disguise, no LB threat to OLINE. Line-em-up and play it out. Its really a joke. Short of being the 2001 Miami Hurricanes, it is negligence at Defensive coordinator to put that type of game plan out, regardless of opponent.

I am beyond disgusted at this point.

Its sad.

Finally, after all these years, the defense has caught up with the UConn offense (run right, run left, run up the middle, punt). Is there a more conservative coach out there than Randy Edsall? Yep, UConn found him.

 

[CTMike]

Are they afraid to blitz because they think they will give up a big play? Because they are giving them up anyway...