Good Game for Caponi and the Defense

Mean Green 93-98 · September 29

Just saying. We've given him a lot of grief for last season, a lot of it deserved, but he deserves some praise for a good game as well. Not counting garbage time, he essentially held Tulsa to 3 points.

BigWillie · September 29

I was going to make a thread about this, but I will just use this one.

What changed? I think this defense has looked completely different in the past 2 weeks. You could argue that Wyoming wasn't a good offense, ok, but Tulsa was better on offense and they dominated them.

This defense has done 3 things that I haven't seen really all year.

Tackling
Turning the ball over
Stopping the run

I will stop using the word play on Caponi's name, at least for now.

Lastly, do we think it was a scheme change? Did it come from Caponi or is he just the face of someone else that is now running the defense?

Edited September 29 by BigWillie

peanuts104 · September 29

If you're going to only use 3 down linemen, it makes sense that a defense that uses 4 linebackers is more effective than one that uses 3. I get that the star position is supposed to be a hybrid safety/LB but it just hasn't worked here for whatever reason. We stopped the run because we had four linebackers in position to fill run gaps past the line of scrimmage. And, unfortunately, I think having a really complex backfield with a mix of 5 safeties and corners only works if you have the best personnel AT OTHER POSITIONS NOT IN THE BACKFIELD. For a 3-3-5 to work, the front 3 and linebackers have to be perfect and that is asking a lot. Happy with the 3-4 and multiple D change.

UNT86 · September 29

We have played almost exclusively man in our secondary the last two weeks. Rarely have we had an actual free safety and have not played two high at any point. Our coverage has been outstanding. And yes, we have started tackling and being physical.

Out scheme is very simple, but that allows players to key fast. Sometimes we still don't fit correctly, but that will get better with film.

jtm0097 · September 29

Hats off to Caponi and staff for making adjustments. It was nice to see them mix up the different looks.

The defense is improving and the offense has shown the ability to be explosive.

Also, kudos to the special teams. Blocking punts, great returns, and hitting a FG.

Nature is healing, we are 4-1.

TIgreen01 · September 29

Is it just me or are we rotating more players across the front 7, and especially along the dline, than we did last year? Just trying to keep up with all the numbers moving in and out the first few games was a challenge. Dline visibly looks bigger than last year, as well.

Green Lantern · September 29

1 hour ago, UNT86 said:

Out scheme is very simple, but that allows players to key fast. Sometimes we still don't fit correctly, but that will get better with film.

Yes! Making this alignment shift seems to have allowed the players to read and react much quicker. The extra LB out there has helped set the edge more consistently.

Credit to the defense yesterday. They played well and definitely kept us in the game while the offense was sputtering early. Was really nice to see. Big improvement on that side of the ball these last two games. Credit to the players and coaches for making the change.

3_n_out · September 29

8 hours ago, BigWillie said:

I was going to make a thread about this, but I will just use this one.

What changed? I think this defense has looked completely different in the past 2 weeks. You could argue that Wyoming wasn't a good offense, ok, but Tulsa was better on offense and they dominated them.

This defense has done 3 things that I haven't seen really all year.

Tackling

Turning the ball over

Stopping the run

I will stop using the word play on Caponi's name, at least for now.

Lastly, do we think it was a scheme change? Did it come from Caponi or is he just the face of someone else that is now running the defense?

That’s the big question. It would be nice to know, but I don’t think they’ll throw anyone under the bus by saying who decided and if anyone was demoted. The important thing is that they made the change and it’s working. Humility and a lack of a paycheck often can steer things right.
With the announcers talking a lot about Caponi and his engagement on the sideline, he seems to still be calling plays. Maybe things the best version of Caponi and why we hired him away from a P4 program.

UNT Family Man · September 29

Only gave up like 260 ish before the last two drives. Much improved

GreenEggs&Ham™ · September 29

Never played football myself, but does it make sense that NT's offense will improve over time now because they are no longer practicing against the 3-3-5 defense that couldn't stop the run nor put pressure on the QB? Again, I never played football, so I am just speculating.

GoGreenBeans · September 29

Defense has been great the past 2 games. I don’t even really count the Tech game against Caponi too much because our offense did 0 favors for the defense. Seems like things are starting to click for the defense, now we just need the offense to put together sustained drives. It’s nitpicky, but we need to let the defense get a breather!

3_n_out · September 29

4 hours ago, GreenEggs&Ham™ said:

Never played football myself, but does it make sense that NT's offense will improve over time now because they are no longer practicing against the 3-3-5 defense that couldn't stop the run nor put pressure on the QB? Again, I never played football, so I am just speculating.

During the season, the offense typically goes against a scout team defense that runs the opponent’s style. So, they’re not running against our base defense.

3_n_out · September 29

3 hours ago, GoGreenBeans said:

Defense has been great the past 2 games. I don’t even really count the Tech game against Caponi too much because our offense did 0 favors for the defense. Seems like things are starting to click for the defense, now we just need the offense to put together sustained drives. It’s nitpicky, but we need to let the defense get a breather!

We can only hope that performance against Tech was on outlier. Seven more games to go to find out.

aztecskin · September 29

7 hours ago, UNT86 said:

We have played almost exclusively man in our secondary the last two weeks. Rarely have we had an actual free safety and have not played two high at any point. Our coverage has been outstanding. And yes, we have started tackling and being physical.

Out scheme is very simple, but that allows players to key fast. Sometimes we still don't fit correctly, but that will get better with film.

Yeah Morris says "A split safety look" but I also saw a lot of single-high. I think we are getting more heavy players on the field. Then we are also just tackling better. We are mixing it up -- different looks here and there -- so we are not so predictable. I think the 3-high has a lot of advantages but we had nothing in response when teams would attack it.

So it really is about just having something else in the toolbag to go along with better performing.

meaniegreenie · September 30

21 hours ago, Mean Green 93-98 said:

Just saying. We've given him a lot of grief for last season, a lot of it deserved, but he deserves some praise for a good game as well. Not counting garbage time, he essentially held Tulsa to 3 points.

Yes, it was a good performance and I think there has been improvement since last year, but there's been speculation (doubtful) that some changes were made regarding who was in control of the D. More likely, Caponi was feeling the seat getting hot and he knew he needed to make some changes.

Some young players are getting some good experience and hopefully we can keep them, although #4 (Nelson- RS Fr) had a tough night and was getting picked on a LOT. Hopefully the bye week will get us a chance to get some injuries addressed along with continuing to make improvements related to the changes that are being made.

Glory to the Green · September 30

Tackling has been so much better this season! We struggled early vs the GT counter, but attacked it better in the 2nd half. If their QB was a bit more accurate, he would have hit a couple of guys for TD’s. It happens, though. Like the multiple looks we have now. Keep it going!

greenminer · September 30

1 hour ago, Glory to the Green said:

Tackling has been so much better this season! We struggled early vs the GT counter, but attacked it better in the 2nd half. If their QB was a bit more accurate, he would have hit a couple of guys for TD’s. It happens, though. Like the multiple looks we have now. Keep it going!

I haven't looked into this in depth, but there were a few plays vs. Tulsa where the open field tackling didn't fail!

That was awesome

chris farley GIF

Edited September 30 by greenminer

Green Otaku · September 30

Credit where it is due for sure. Defense has been keeping us in games early when offense has been slow to start. Announcers said we changed from a 3-3-5 to a 3-4? Interesting if true.

Side.Show.Joe · October 2

I don't care who mandated the change in defense, but I'm glad it was finally done. This team is better for it, and is quickly moving up in perception. I believe the defense will only get stronger as they become more comfortable. Proud of the effort and results from Saturday against Tulsa.

NT80 · October 2

The defense has been better but we were also facing QBs the last 2 weeks that made some bad throws.

I noticed we got pass interference calls because DBs didn’t turn and look back for the ball. More work needed at recognizing when the receiver reacts to the ball getting close.

3_n_out · October 2

2 hours ago, NT80 said:

The defense has been better but we were also facing QBs the last 2 weeks that made some bad throws.

I noticed we got pass interference calls because DBs didn’t turn and look back for the ball. More work needed at recognizing when the receiver reacts to the ball getting close.

Definitely. I’ve seen the same issue