Tackling

[Dodge2007]

I guarantee you that Mendoza will be working on open field tackling this week. I know we got burned playing Cover 1, the whole game, but our tackling was inexcusable.

I would love to know the stats on missed tackles. I bet it would be amazing.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

Please absolve Aaron Weathers from this discussion. Here is a clip from a Sooner YouTube thingy. Weathers, temporarily, stopped two TDs. If he's not our best athlete, I don't know who is:

Also, the very last thing on the tape is the TD that TD contested. That receiver from OU made an amazing catch. We won't see another like him this year, or in a long time. Can't really blame the Nurudeen for that one. He had the guy pinned to the sideline and he still made the catch. Almost no one else makes that catch.

Although it's painful to watch, there were something upon seeing it from these different angles that might help put things in perspective. Here's a couple of things I noticed:

-The interception their #11 had was stolen from Fitzgerald. I expect the coaching staff will be on him to not let that happen again. Fight for the ball.

-Yes, their d-line was bigger. Yes, it was faster. But, sheesh...Venegas was getting his lunch eaten out there. I thought he was hurt. After watching this video and seeing him get beat, I kind of wonder why he wasn't pulled sooner. Facing guys bigger and faster is challenge enough, but to do so while fighting through an injury...maybe a questionable call. Who knows. Leftwich is probably the coach with the most college experience, so I trust him. I just feel bad for Adam after seeing the clips at the different angles.

Finally, again...I wouldn't worry about the tackling/coverage/schemes unless those things are breaking down against SMU and our Belt foes. Also, again, this game gave the coaches plenty of teaching material. I bet we see massive improvement this weekend. Plus, SMU coming off a short week...things can only get better.

[houstonmeangreen]

I guarantee you that Mendoza will be working on open field tackling this week. I know we got burned playing Cover 1, the whole game, but our tackling was inexcusable.

I would love to know the stats on missed tackles. I bet it would be amazing.

I would agree. The most obvious of all the problems was missed tackles. Also, was there no outside LB to turn the plays to the inside? Don't know alot about football, but I do know you want to turn the plays to the inside. Perhaps it was just a speed issue.

[DeepGreen]

Finally, again...I wouldn't worry about the tackling/coverage/schemes unless those things are breaking down against SMU and our Belt foes. Also, again, this game gave the coaches plenty of teaching material. I bet we see massive improvement this weekend. Plus, SMU coming off a short week...things can only get better.

All good points but is there any reason why we have to wait for SMU or our SBC brethren before we tackle and cover our opponents? I know this was OU but what I saw was basic football stuff that you learn in middle school and certainly high school. Do we really have to teach a D1A player not to arm tackle?

[NCMeanGreen]

Oh boy...I knew THAT was coming...

Why is it everytime we get our a$$es handed to us it ends up on You Tube the very next day. Just like with Texas last year...

[Got5onIt]

I know we got burned playing Cover 1, the whole game

This was the biggest problem, IMO. Tackling was the least of our worries. He better be working on a better defensive gameplan this week. No excuses, period.

[CaribbeanGreen]

Agreed 100%.

No one is calling for "firings" (well, except maybe Playmaker), no one is any less excited or positive about the new era.... with that disclaimer out of the way, sitting back in base Cover 1 the whole game against far superior athletes, to me, illustrated a "we're not going to win this, so let's just play our base stuff and get some experience" attitude from the defense. There didn't appear to be any defensive gameplanning or adjustments to be had. I understand there's a big learning curve with the staff, and yes, this was OU -- who out-athleted us at every position. But don't you adjust for that? Don't you play soft on the WRs and give a lot of safety help? Yeah, we probably still get killed, but maybe we don't get the worst trouncing of anyone in the nation, and maybe we see some in-game adjustments.

I know there was a prevailing thought going into this game that OU would come out and run, run, run... we all said they might not even HAVE to pass. New, freshman QB, loaded at RB, etc... so, when they came out and opened it up, threw for 350 yards in THE FIRST HALF, yeah, it caught everybody by surprise. At some point, though, it seems like you can adjust some coverages, change SOMETHING. Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about - I fully recognize that possibility. But what concerns me the most is the quotes from the OU players before the game -- upon scouting SLC's film, saying that Mendoza just ran a bunch of straight up, base man to man, just a "you get that guy, i'll get this guy" defense, and that it wouldn't work on this level. Then, game time rolls around, this huge "opportunity game" with 1AAs and low-mid majors around the country and in the Belt making noise, and we do... EXACTLY THAT. That's what concerns the heck out of me. We either werent really trying to gameplan OU at all because we were resigned to our fate, or that's all we've got. I hope it's the former.

That being said, yes, I have confidence, no, I'm not blindly knee-jerking. Just putting out an opinion.

It may actually be a positive that next week SMU will throw out all these 5-wide sets that force the defense to do some different things. I agree with everyone else... next week, the athletes are comparable. No excuses on the hilltop.

[pollock]

Yep. No defensive adjustments. I don't know why we didn't do something to help out Roman or whoever was on Malcolm Kelly.

I got suckered in by the "9 returning defensive starters." I forgot that our defense was bad last year. Why should it be better now?

[Cr1028]

Has anyone else noticed that the first run in that youtube clip has Evyn Roman having his jersey nearly ripped off at the top of the screen? Where's the flag zebra?

[MeanGreengdub]

Has anyone else noticed that the first run in that youtube clip has Evyn Roman having his jersey nearly ripped off at the top of the screen? Where's the flag zebra?

Ya I just noticed that. Either way I don't think Roman could have gotten him. He would have A. not even caught up to him or B. Try and head butt him out of bounds since he doesn't know how to tackle. Sorry to be so harsh on Roman but OU or not, he looked terrible.

[Got5onIt]

But what concerns me the most is the quotes from the OU players before the game -- upon scouting SLC's film, saying that Mendoza just ran a bunch of straight up, base man to man, just a "you get that guy, i'll get this guy" defense, and that it wouldn't work on this level. Then, game time rolls around, this huge "opportunity game" with 1AAs and low-mid majors around the country and in the Belt making noise, and we do... EXACTLY THAT. That's what concerns the heck out of me. We either werent really trying to gameplan OU at all because we were resigned to our fate, or that's all we've got. I hope it's the former.

Carib,

Where did you hear these quotes? This really bothers the hell outta me.

[GreenBat]

Carib,

Where did you hear these quotes? This really bothers the hell outta me.

He pulled them out of his arse as he was trying to make a point.

[greenminer]

Ya I just noticed that. Either way I don't think Roman could have gotten him. He would have A. not even caught up to him or B. Try and head butt him out of bounds since he doesn't know how to tackle. Sorry to be so harsh on Roman but OU or not, he looked terrible.

I saw it during the game and was like WTF?

Whether or not Roman would have caught the guy, that's holding and that play should have been called back.

Edited September 4, 2007 by greenminer

[Keith7]

Roman was a joke last game.. he couldn't cover anyone, and when he would go to tackle someone, he'd dive at their legs and just get pushed down.. Please dodge replace Roman w/ someone else.. maybe Roman can play as a nickel cornerback, but he is a joke at man to man coverage

[island eagle]

Roman was a joke last game.. he couldn't cover anyone, and when he would go to tackle someone, he'd dive at their legs and just get pushed down.. Please dodge replace Roman w/ someone else.. maybe Roman can play as a nickel cornerback, but he is a joke at man to man coverage

I don't understand this picking on Roman. He wasn't the only one missing tackles, being out of position, taking horrible angles. The linebackers, especially, were disappointing.

[UNTLifer]

I expect to see huge improvements against the Ponies. Too good of a coaching staff to let this occur again.

Edited September 4, 2007 by UNTLifer

[MeanGreenEngineer]

I don't understand this picking on Roman. He wasn't the only one missing tackles, being out of position, taking horrible angles. The linebackers, especially, were disappointing.

Read This.

[Mean Green 93-98]

Carib,

Where did you hear these quotes? This really bothers the hell outta me.

Link to story

The Sooners are prepared for a spread offense like the one Dodge ran at Carroll, but there's a little more guesswork on defense. Wilson said the Dragons would pressure the run game by placing safeties and linebackers in areas they couldn't be blocked, but that left the secondary in one-on-one coverage.

"They played just a lot of man-to-man. Kind of `I've got you, you have him and you have him' kind of defense," said Kelly, who led Oklahoma with 993 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns last season. "If that's what they want to do, then we welcome that."

[Quoner]

Read This.

We can still easily blame DD and just say these are his players. Everyone wins. Well except the players, but we've already established how much we really care about them.

[trud1966]

I don't understand this picking on Roman. He wasn't the only one missing tackles, being out of position, taking horrible angles. The linebackers, especially, were disappointing.

Yeah I dont think picking on Roman is completely fair. He didnt have the lion's share of mistakes out there on Saturday, and everyone needs to quit making it sound as if he lost the game. Guys, he may have work to be done, but we lost by 69. I dont think Roman is reponsible for 69 points. Honestly, I think he just wasnt the right to be teamed against Kelly. Someone that's 5-10 (or whatever) 161 pounds just wont stand a chance against that type of speed. My bigger question is about the decision on coaching thinking this match-up would be ok. Was he the scheduled starter?

[Got5onIt]

Link to story

Well, that's pretty much what we saw all night. Stoops & Co. ate it up like an 800lb gorilla through a buffet line.

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

I don't understand this picking on Roman. He wasn't the only one missing tackles, being out of position, taking horrible angles. The linebackers, especially, were disappointing.

You're both right. Roman was overmatched and should've had help. But, he wasn't the only problem by far. Linebackers were a disappointment as well. Most of their tackles were in or near the middle of the field. They killed us when they were able to get outside. I noticed that even the redoubtable Joshua Chapman kept pinching in toward the middle and they would simply run around the spot that he vacated and take it to the sidelines. Also, we had a couple of starters that didn't make a single tackle.

As long as we could keep them inside we seemed to do okay. Murray gained 87 yards on 17 carries but half of that came on one play where he was able to take it to the outside.

These are not meant to be criticisms of our defensive staff but observations that I hope can be corrected by Saturday. SMU has two pretty good receivers although not the quality of Murray or Iglesias. They can still hurt a pass defense and I hope that we are not relying on one person to cover each without at least part-time help.

My last observation is that I didn't see Green, Chatman or Warren on the sidelines. I hope that nothing has happened to them. I don't know if Gordon played either but I did record the game and will go back and try to find out if he played.

[Keith7]

Ya Roman wasn't the only one who played like crap, but he definently stood out.. Roman fought hard, but he was just plain outmatched.. I haven't seen the other corner backs play a whole lot, but theres gotta be someone who can at the very least keep up w/ other teams outside recievers

[Green Lantern]

You're both right. Roman was overmatched and should've had help. But, he wasn't the only problem by far. Linebackers were a disappointment as well. Most of their tackles were in or near the middle of the field. They killed us when they were able to get outside. I noticed that even the redoubtable Joshua Chapman kept pinching in toward the middle and they would simply run around the spot that he vacated and take it to the sidelines. Also, we had a couple of starters that didn't make a single tackle.

As long as we could keep them inside we seemed to do okay. Murray gained 87 yards on 17 carries but half of that came on one play where he was able to take it to the outside.

These are not meant to be criticisms of our defensive staff but observations that I hope can be corrected by Saturday. SMU has two pretty good receivers although not the quality of Murray or Iglesias. They can still hurt a pass defense and I hope that we are not relying on one person to cover each without at least part-time help.

My last observation is that I didn't see Green, Chatman or Warren on the sidelines. I hope that nothing has happened to them. I don't know if Gordon played either but I did record the game and will go back and try to find out if he played.

Good observations Gray Eagle One. I thought that our outside containment by the linebackers was pretty poor. The interior defensive line seemed to hold up pretty well against the run, but the ends seemed to be collapsing in on every play. When the runners for OU would get to the outside, our linebackers were taking horrible angles in pursuit. By the time the safeties would get over there, the RB's for OU were at full speed and all hell had already broken loose.

Coach Dodge addressed these problems in the press conference today and I expect that we will see major improvements in these areas against SMU.

Roman had a tough game...but so did the rest of the defense, let's not lay everything at his feet. Anyone on our team matched up 1 on 1 with Kelly was going to be in for a long day.

Edited September 4, 2007 by Green Lantern

[trud1966]

You're both right. Roman was overmatched and should've had help. But, he wasn't the only problem by far. Linebackers were a disappointment as well. Most of their tackles were in or near the middle of the field. They killed us when they were able to get outside. I noticed that even the redoubtable Joshua Chapman kept pinching in toward the middle and they would simply run around the spot that he vacated and take it to the sidelines. Also, we had a couple of starters that didn't make a single tackle.

As long as we could keep them inside we seemed to do okay. Murray gained 87 yards on 17 carries but half of that came on one play where he was able to take it to the outside.

These are not meant to be criticisms of our defensive staff but observations that I hope can be corrected by Saturday. SMU has two pretty good receivers although not the quality of Murray or Iglesias. They can still hurt a pass defense and I hope that we are not relying on one person to cover each without at least part-time help.

My last observation is that I didn't see Green, Chatman or Warren on the sidelines. I hope that nothing has happened to them. I don't know if Gordon played either but I did record the game and will go back and try to find out if he played.

Food for thought...How would things been different is Woody Wilson would have stayed on the team and converted to a defensive back? Thoughts?