Interesting stats

[Travis]

Thanks.

I've said repeatedly this defense is good enough to get us to a bowl game. 50% of this site is the Pollyanna Sunshine and Happiness Club and the other 50% of it is a Doomsday Cult

[UNT90]

Are we forgetting that LaTech didn't score until well into the 2nd quarter? Even with our horrid 3-and-outs and our defense's short field we managed to put enough pressure on Sokol to keep him out of rhythm for an entire quarter and some change.

If you consider their 1st drive of the second qtr at about the 11:00 minute mark "well into," well, ok.

[Cerebus]

[meangreenthirteen]

If you consider their 1st drive of the second qtr at about the 11:00 minute mark "well into," well, ok.

Semantic. This point is that if given the opportunity to control the pace via our offense, our defense has shown that it can get the job done.

[houstonmeangreen]

You play the game...get the stats... who gives a flying organhead who they are against...give the effing team some credit every once in a while....shit

Yes...even the Big12 and SEC stats are boosted by playing low level teams !!!

[Aldo]

Enough with the, let's wait till Saturday. We have gotten enough looks from our defense. I can see that excuse with the offense since we've changed it.

I think the "let's wait before we can truly say anything" can be used on the first game of a season, second tops. We've been up and down, and that's what we are. Great up front, shaky in the back, with trouble covering deep slants. The defensive output is correlated to the offensive output. If the offense sputters, the defense will wear down. We don't have to wait till Saturday to figure that out.

I don't care who we play, we can make assertions or predictions based on film from the past few games of each team, not just our own team. I don't have to wait till Saturday to know we can move the ball vertically on Indiana. They're also vulnerable to horizontal passes, and can be beat with screens and runs or options to the outside.

What does that mean? The Our defense doesn't get gassed in the second quarter.

Based on their play, if we get 2-3 sacks this game, or stop them for a long 3rd down, we take away the running dimension for the most part. They don't really run the ball on long 2nd or 3rd down folks. That increases our chances to get the defense off the field.

If you just want to look at "good" teams we played against and ignore all other stats, film, and play-calling, fine. That's really lazy and frustrating, but fine.

Against UT we put enough pressure up front against what was considered a formidable O-line. We got 2 sacks. We allowed 5.6 yards per pass. That's really good. We allowed 4.1 yards per rush. That's solid. We allowed 4-15 3rd down conversions. 4-15! We couldn't defend the boots and the deep slant. We weren't fast enough down the field.

We match up well on offense and on defense against Indiana. I don't have to wait till Saturday to know. That doesn't make me a fluffy whatever, or anti-naysayer. I can see the numbers and the film to know what we have the potential to do.

How we actually execute is a different story altogether, and I can't predict that. Just ask the 2007 Patriots.

[BillySee58]

We looked bad against latech and Texas, but our defense had good starts. If our defense can give us a similar start to the ones we got against latech and Texas, I think we come out of the first quarter with a lead.

That's the key. We NEED a quick start. The sooner we can make them one dimensional, the better. Their qb is average. Not the kind of qb you have much confidence in to lead a large comeback.

As for our pass rush, I think we have a good pass rush. Truthfully, we'd have even more sacks but we haven't been consistent on bringing the qbs down and we've often over pursued after getting past the offensive line. Getting there hasn't really been a big issue. I have confidence in our pass rush, and making them rely on the pass as well as giving a lot of chances to let our pass rush have an effect would give us a great shot at getting this win. I don't think scoring points will be an issue.

[Cerebus]

any questions?

[Cerebus]

We had zero sacks, and virtually zero pressure, on Indiana yesterday. 14 of our 19 sacks came against two terrible teams. Our secondary is having serious issues in 1 on 1 man coverage. I know Skladany doesn't like blitzing but he is going to have to think of something to create pressure.

Otherwise any team with an accurate QB, like UAB next week, is going to sit back there and tear us to pieces.

[UNT90]

I was concerned for pressure before, I'm really concerned now.

UAB will score 40 plus if we can't collapse the pocket.

[Aldo]

any questions?

Not sure if it's meant for me but, nope. We got overmatched on the exact weaknesses I pointed out.

Shaky in the back, not fast enough to cover deep slants.

I didn't think two sacks was a lofty goal. Not getting a single one sucks, but not getting enough pressure was even worse. Sudfeld got free too often on scampers for first down.

The one surprise was the run defense. Holy moly. Bad tackling.

[UNT90]

Bad tackling.

We seem to have gone from an excellent tackling team to a bad tackling team in one year. Noticed this in La. Tech game, also.