Thoughts on the Gators defense?

[Gator Fever]

I see a lot of excuses for our defense posted trying to mostly blame the offense not doing much for many of their shortcomings but I don't see it that way at all even though they are clearly not the weak link of the team like the atrocious offense is.

No excuses for our defense imo because in the Tenn game we ran the same amount of plays in that 2nd half Tenn did and after their first score in the 2nd half they were literally scoring every time with just 3 and 4 play drives which shouldn't tire any defense out. The same with this Arkansas game they were getting gashed in the run game even before the game was out of reach. I think our defense isn't as tough as many think it is just because they feasted on crappy offenses in all of our wins for the most part. If you watch some of those Arkansas plays their O line (the best one we have played and maybe the only O line that was average for an SEC line) manhandled our D linemen.

If we were playing in the SEC west I dont even think FL would be in the discussion of being one of the eilite defenses in the country. This is not the defense from last year on the D line.

Watch our game against LSU and see how they hold up. Bama wasn't hardly scoring on LSU and their defense held up the whole game just fine but I bet our defense folds against that hard nose rushing attack unlike Bama once they get punched in the mouth a few times. They are a little soft imo and only our pass defense is close to elite.

 

[AugustaGator]

Pass defense elite? I'd say good

 

[Gator Fever]

Pass defense elite? I'd say good

True - we do have bad breakdowns there at times.

 

[ergator920103]

I never thought Collins was a good DC hire. Who exactly did the Minster of Mayhem stop as DC at Miss State? His defense never shut down Bama or LSU... Not sure how he is the Minister of Mayhem?

 

[AugustaGator]

True - we do have bad breakdowns there at times.

I'd like to think dumb luck but I see too many poor decisions. A good QB will find the bad decisions more times than not.

 

[gators4224]

Imo I didn't think our defense was elite last year either i.e. reference the FSU, Michigan, Bama, LSU games.
I think the pass defense has been vastly overrated...I distinctly remember getting burned at UT this year, LSU last year, and Bama last year. But also, I don't think we're great at stopping the run either against teams with actual Olines. We get beat often up front, that's why our lack of DT depth scares me.

 

[Jbossgator8]

When the offense does nothing on the field and that means your defense is on the field for over half the game then the defense is going to get tired and break down after awhile. Our offense has to be better and help the D

 

[Gator Fever]

When the offense does nothing on the field and that means your defense is on the field for over half the game then the defense is going to get tired and break down after awhile. Our offense has to be better and help the D

What was the excuse against Tenn then? What will be the excuse against LSU when they ram it down our throats if they do?

They weren't tired when Arkansas first started manhandling them some on the lines of scrimmage.

 

[Jbossgator8]

The offense sputtered all 2nd half against Tenn and our D was on the field all 2nd half. LSU will run it down our throats just like Ark and control TOP and our D will be on the field all game again.

 

[ufgator812]

Over
Rated

 

[Durty South Swamp]

Let's rephrase the question. How would you rate our defense against LSU, bama, even vandy.

What do you think those defenses would look like if each of them had our O.

Does anyone really think those defenses would look the same as ours in that situation? Can anyone honestly say that with a straight face?

 

[FireFoley]

this is the type of topic I enjoy b/c it is one of those that is the reason I am not a stats/numbers/ranking person, and prefer my own 2 eyes. the old football adage is that running game and defense travels, but historically on the road, even when our defense is suppossed to be great, we have way too many lapses on the road. take yesterday, as ARK is not offensive juggernaut, yet they racked almost 500 yards. Major breakdowns against UT. Away from home our defense was decent against UGA and VU, both awful offensive teams. But too often we tend to make way too many mistakes in road games against not so great teams. Look at Bama. yes LSU is offensively challenged. But we went there last year and Fournette went for about 175. Not bad but still good yardage. Last nite, Fournette went for 35 yards on 17 totes. Now that is defense. Sadly SideHat is not that good. I would have made Shannon the DC and forgotten about SideHat. Since LSU will probably clean house, I would make a 2 MIL offer to the LSU DC, who worked wonders at WISC with below avg. athletic talent. Would like to see if he can teach discipline to those with athleticism. If that fails, I would fire SideHat and promote shannon, make Rumph asst. DC.

 

[Gator Fever]

Let's rephrase the question. How would you rate our defense against LSU, bama, even vandy.

What do you think those defenses would look like if each of them had our O.

Does anyone really think those defenses would look the same as ours in that situation? Can anyone honestly say that with a straight face?

Good points

We had everything still to play for against Arkansas and their O line was handling our D line on a bunch of plays out there. I think we actually got lucky they were trying to throw as much as they were in the first half.

Bama defense in the same position SEC wise without their offense scoring hardly played tough the whole game. Tenn's defense was on the field as much as our defense in that game. I just think we aren't as tough as some people think on that side of the ball and all it takes is a good large O line determined to run the ball to show that.