Is it possible the defense had one bad game?

Harry · October 6, 2014

Are we interpreting one bad performance as indicative of an entire season.

Hear me out. We had some nasty defensive performances last season. Ohio comes to mind but Tulane was right up there.

I tend to think Skladany, Patrick and the other coaches will help these guys rebound or find others who are more willing to make plays.

Bottomline -- I have not yet given up on this defense. If UAB schools us I reserve the right to change my mind. GMG

PS Kenny Buyers and James Jones are better than what they showed against IU. There are others.

Mean_Green09 · October 6, 2014

It's an average defense with average talent. To be good they have to play with great discipline and fundamentals. There are times when they do those things and we feel really good as fans. Then there are the games like LT and IU where we don't and we look really bad.

We need guys like Lee Jones and Buyers to always play above their skill set bc we are forced to throw extra guys against the run. When those guys have bad games we give up large chunks of yards.

Are we as bad as we played against IU? No.

Our defense walks a fine line every week between playing good and not good.

Typically teams that are balanced give us the most problems.

Edited October 6, 2014 by Mean_Green09

LongJim · October 6, 2014

Let's keep in mind the attrition this defense has had in the last 10 months.

Also give some credit to an Indiana team that kicked some ass up front.

Skladany and company will get the best out of these guys, but this year will be a crap shoot due to size and inexperience.

VideoEagle · October 6, 2014

It's an average defense with average talent. To be good they have to play with great discipline and fundamentals. There are times when they do those things and we feel really good as fans. Then there are the games like LT and IU where we don't and we look really bad.
We need guys like Lee Jones and Buyers to always play above their skill set bc we are forced to throw extra guys against the run. When those guys have bad games we give up large chunks of yards.
Are we as bad as we played against IU? No.
Our defense walks a fine line every week between playing good and not good.
Typically teams that are balanced give us the most problems.

Hit the wrong button! I accidentally pressed minus when I intended to press plus!

Very good analysis. We were expecting a lot of run in the first quarter and got pass. As we adjusted, they started running more, but kept things mixed enough to keep us guessing. We don't recover quickly enough when we guess wrong, at least right now.

Cerebus · October 6, 2014

I think this viewpoint could only be valid if you ignore what LaTech did to us. UAB has an accurate QB who makes quick decisions and unless the team gets pressure on him he will shred us.

GOMG2013 · October 6, 2014

Hit the wrong button! I accidentally pressed minus when I intended to press plus!
Very good analysis. We were expecting a lot of run in the first quarter and got pass. As we adjusted, they started running more, but kept things mixed enough to keep us guessing. We don't recover quickly enough when we guess wrong, at least right now.

many times we have been caught in the wrong defenses against latech and Indiana. That is poor preparation and adjustments.

Its the coaches job to put the players in the right position, and its up to the players to execute and make the plays.

Many times we were in the wrong defense and no one was around. Players are wide open. Situations where the were more blockers than defensive players. I havent seen a lot of players missing plays on defense or someone making a better play. Our players are not even there to make the play.

MeanGreenHoops · October 6, 2014

No as Cerebus said, that might be true but the same thing happened against La. Tech. And these bad games are much worse than any from last year.

GOMG2013 · October 6, 2014

Hit the wrong button! I accidentally pressed minus when I intended to press plus!
Very good analysis. We were expecting a lot of run in the first quarter and got pass. As we adjusted, they started running more, but kept things mixed enough to keep us guessing. We don't recover quickly enough when we guess wrong, at least right now.

many times we have been caught in the wrong defenses against latech and Indiana. That is poor preparation and adjustments.

Its the coaches job to put the players in the right position, and its up to the players to execute and make the plays.

Many times we were in the wrong defense and no one was around. Players are wide open. Situations where the were more blockers than defensive players. I havent seen a lot of players missing plays on defense or someone making a better play. Our players are not even there to make the play.

Mean_Green09 · October 6, 2014

many times we have been caught in the wrong defenses against latech and Indiana. That is poor preparation and adjustments.
Its the coaches job to put the players in the right position, and its up to the players to execute and make the plays.
Many times we were in the wrong defense and no one was around. Players are wide open. Situations where the were more blockers than defensive players. I havent seen a lot of players missing plays on defense or someone making a better play. Our players are not even there to make the play.

I'm gonna have to disagree with you.

The Roberts TD run - Buyers and Lee missed tackles

The long run by Coleman - missed tackle

The TD catches by Wynn- ran right past Buyers and Jones

The execution hasn't been there.

Quote from Vito's article:

“Fundamentally, we were about as poor as we have been on defense in a long time,” McCarney said of UNT’s outing against the Hoosiers. “They really did a good job and executed their offense. We had more missed tackles than I have seen in the last two years in one game. That is really uncharacteristic of us.”

Edited October 6, 2014 by Mean_Green09

UNT90 · October 6, 2014

Are we interpreting one bad performance as indicative of an entire season.

Hear me out. We had some nasty defensive performances last season. Ohio comes to mind but Tulane was right up there.

I tend to think Skladany, Patrick and the other coaches will help these guys rebound or find others who are more willing to make plays.

Bottomline -- I have not yet given up on this defense. If UAB schools us I reserve the right to change my mind. GMG

PS Kenny Buyers and James Jones are better than what they showed against IU. There are others.

One bad game?

La. Tech?

GOMG2013 · October 6, 2014

I'm gonna have to disagree with you.

The Roberts TD run - Buyers and Lee missed tackles
The long run by Coleman - missed tackle
The TD catches by Wynn- ran right past Buyers and Jones

we have two safeties. They are no where to be found this year. Last year it seem like there were two or three trices and Lees out there. The safeties are important to this defense. Maybe they are blowing coverages. I dont know.

Jones and buyers got burned. Still does not mean we did not get caught in the wrong defense. You would hope we could get away with it, but it was the wrong call and players were not in the right position.

Cerebus · October 6, 2014

We are missing Trice and Orr. Put those two guys on this D and it becomes one of the better ones in CUSA.

ETA: Especially Trice. There must have been 30 times last year that I turned to my wife and said "If he doesn't make that play it's a long gain/TD." You can cover a lot of mistakes with a safety that can read the entire feed, make quick decisions, and then get there.

Edited October 6, 2014 by Cerebus

Travis · October 6, 2014

There must have been 30 times last year that I turned to my wife and said "If he doesn't make that play it's a long gain/TD.

YOU ARE MARRIED?! Then what was I to you?

Our Defense isn't so good this year. We don't have the line that can hold like we did last year. We have come to find that our secondary isn't good enough to cause coverage sacks and stay with their man without solid pressure from up front. And I am not sure what to think about our Linebackers.

Daddy Dumpsalot · October 6, 2014

I would consider our defensive showing against LA Tech as a pretty terrible showing too. I said it earlier this season, that we have a terrible pass defense. It's time to admit that our defense isn't what it was last year and quite honestly, isn't much to brag about. Hopefully we can start bragging about our offense.

pastorgrant · October 6, 2014

I still don't count the La. Tech as a bad game for the defense. It was a mediocre performance by a D that was put in bad situations all game long.

Our defense isn't bad, it is mediocre. We are all still spoiled by last year's defense.

At IU they underperformed against an offense with a Heisman candidate that has and will put up huge numbers this year. We are not good enough to get away with underperforming against a good offense.

Every game left is winnable if we play our best. There is enough talent on both sides of the ball to get it done--not enough to coast.

cogido · October 6, 2014

Seems like the really good programs find some consistency from year to year even when they are not fully stacked with experience. UNT needs to find that consistency, not necessarily win all of the time, but not go from a good year to getting blown out every time we lose. Losing by a TD or two is one thing, our losses are awful, non-competitive. There should be more of an expectation that UNT will compete in every game, win or lose.

GrandGreen · October 6, 2014

Sure, the defense can get significantly better with that variable we knew they lacked, experience.

Not only did they look bad against IU and La Tech. Their performances were over praised for the UT and SMU contests: which future games would show to be against very suspect offenses although both may be now improving. . Again, the Nicholls game meant little.

MeanGreenHoops · October 6, 2014

My concern is that in 4 years of Mac this defense has looked the same in 3 of those and different last year. In the other three, we gave up a lot of yards, got burned deep and gave up a lot of points. Last year was different. The other 3 years our defenses were more inexperienced, so we may just suffer through it this year.

Last year also had the added benefit of a a huge advantage on Special Teams, while this year not so much. Add to that a RS Freshman QB and it's probably going to be a slight miracle to get to 6 wins.

SSP · October 6, 2014

The Defense CAN perform better. There has been a lot of distrust and inconsistency in the offense this year and unfortunately it looks like we have a defense that feeds directly off of that instead of performing like the game is still 0 to 0 (unlike the squad we had last year). Youth is probably a pretty large contributing factor.

That said, the Indiana team that showed up was the one that beat Mizzou instead of the one that got beat by Maryland. Both were decent. We had a shot against one of them... Home-field advantage probably did not help either.

Time will tell what these guys can do the rest of the year. I really hope that we have enough time to be able to establish a groove...