- Oct 5, 2017
- 2,328
- 6,329
It's amazing, last week our defense look like we were seeing improvements and this week, they look the worst they have all year. There is no question this loss is on the defense. This is a defense starting 3 former 5 stars, Pro Football Focus's top rated LB, and one of PFF's top rated pass rusher's last season. Yet, there's a narrative that being ranked in the 100's in total defense is 100% acceptable because there is absolutely no talent on the defense. That isn't true. There definitely are talent deficiencies and that's without question, but there is definitely talent. You returned basically the same defense from last year and are currently 33 spots behind that finish. For commentary about losing some players, we also gained experience, what was purported better coaching and no doubt a better MLB in Miller over Diabate. My point is, there is still enough talent to not be 13th in the SEC in total defense, there is enough talent to not give up 6 straight TD drives to start the game against a middling LSU offense and there damn sure is enough talent to not be the absolute worst 3rd down defense in the country who only got one punt due to a bad pass and failure to catch it with not a defender close.
I know there seems to be among at least 50% of the base that you can't have any expectations to even be top 100 defense because a top 15 talent composite team can't be expected to do that. Yes, there are depth issues, but at some point there needs to be some semblance of standards. I agree with Neil Blackmon, who sometimes I disagree with when he says Gators need to be patient with Napier, but need not be patient with a 100+ ranked defense which is unacceptable any year at UF.
Explain to me how a guy like Jason Marshall goes from being the top CB, if not DB, in the SEC as a true freshman in completion % against (when they were avoiding the CB on the other side as well) and the lowest passer rating against in the SEC on throws over 20 yards and now many fans are saying he has no talent when being coached by Corey Raymond. Did he lose his talent? Did he regress? Is it something else?
I'm not here to say it isn't some talent and depth. Yes, that is definitely it, but at some point there does have to be accountability. There does need to be some looking at the coaching. Players like Dean and Johnson continue to start despite being major liabilities. If we are giving up points on 7 of 8 drives, it is time to just throw in the underclassmen because they probably could not do worse. As said, we are dead last in 3rd down defense in the entire FBS. Don't tell me Vandy and Charlotte have more talent. Here's the killer thing, our last 3 game average is higher than the season average, meaning other teams have seen something and our numbers are getting worse. Our last 3 games are Eastern Washington, Mizzou, and LSU, not exactly top tier offenses despite what we made LSU look like. With Georgia, Jimbo, and Carolina on the horizon, it could get worse. Sure A&M and Carolina aren't scary offenses, but we made USF look like world beaters. A&M is on the road and Carolina has a dual threat QB.
In 2017, I pissed Steve Russell off by tweeting his Radio show asking how many 100+ ranked offenses are acceptable, and my opinion was, is and will always be 0. I don't change for defense. I'm not saying they should be top 10, but at least top 75.
I'm not calling for PT's job. I am saying we need to see changes that tell me we are building for the future. I am saying that we need to get more than a single stop due to a drop in every single game the rest of the season. I am saying that a failure to make changes should have serious questions asked both about him and the people allowing it to happen. There is no room for lack of talent to be an excuse for this year and next year the excuse being lack of experience. If it is talent this year, you get that experience immediately with young guys like Moore (who is injured and has had mixed results), Mitchell, McMillon, Collier (another former 5 star), Young, Wilcoxson, etc. and I don't mean getting a rotational back up share.
What does any of this have to do with LSU? Everything. They are an SEC team with a first year coach who lost 10 guys to the NFL and quite a few to the transfer portal including their top corner.
On Offense, we were hurting with the loss of O'Cyrus Torrence. Our running game suffered as a result. Yes, Montrell Johnson had a 39-yard TD run on a toss, but averaged 1.5 ypc outside of that (12 runs for 18 yards). ETN had less than 4 ypc. Lingard averaged over 5 ypc on 3 carries. AR did scramble well for 109 yards on 9 carries including the 81-yard TD. He at least had some sack yards to deal with. The OL didn't do too well on the last drive where we had virtually no chance to win. AR was under plenty of pressure. He was at 71% before that drive. People were bitching when he was 8/11 with a good throwaway (had 3-4 of those), a throw that hit Pearsall's hands (but a bit far in front), and a bad throw to Zanders that we still pushed the ball into the endzone. Several plays where everyone was covered and geniuses were yelling "throw". Yea, when 3 guys run routes with one triple covered and the other two double covered, "throw" is well...we will say not smart. He did enough to win. Also, I still don't know how you call an incompletion on a backwards lateral, blow the whistle, and then spot the ball there when a penalty is declined. Johnson should have been able to advance the ball (but I also would take the clock stopping). Also, the false start by White on the drive did not help.
With that said, the offense did enough to win this game. You shouldn't need to score over 35 at home to win against a team who hadn't scored 35 in a power 5 game this entire season.
For those that made it this far, thank you. I am just tired of the entire narrative we've had for every coaching staff since 2011 that you can't have any expectations ever. And that all expectations are "unrealistic", you know like not being dead f-ing last in 3rd down percentage. That it takes 3-4 years to look competent. A friend has even indicated that multiple 100+ finishes are fine and then questions might be able to be asked if still bad in year 3. There are too many examples of bad units suddenly looking competent. Look at the offense's jump in 2018 after the prevailing narrative for 2017 was "talent" and MacNuss not having it due to Muschamp. Overall, same guys then were top 30. If we had an offense like UT, it wouldn't matter because their D is only two spots ahead of ours, but Heupel has the philosophy of score points first, ask questions later. I'm not asking for a jump like that. I'm just asking to be in the 60's or 70's this year. Doing what we did last year shouldn't be considered unreasonable when we know how bad it was.
This isn't the time to give up on Nape and I think the few calling for it are definitely premature. Maybe he works out or maybe he doesn't. There are good things like how recruiting looks at the moment, but it's not how it looks in October, it is what signs in December and February and what makes it to campus. We can talk about it taking time while acknowledging that since 1957 no coach in the SEC has won a National Title at their school (which is the goal) without winning the SEC within 5 years. Only 1 took those 5, Phil Fulmer. If we want to embrace data, then that is a piece of data to remember. I'm for being patient, but not blind, blanket statement patience. Show me improvement, show me a dedication to improving starting with line up and strategy changes against UGA. Don't waste the bye week.
Go Gators!
I know there seems to be among at least 50% of the base that you can't have any expectations to even be top 100 defense because a top 15 talent composite team can't be expected to do that. Yes, there are depth issues, but at some point there needs to be some semblance of standards. I agree with Neil Blackmon, who sometimes I disagree with when he says Gators need to be patient with Napier, but need not be patient with a 100+ ranked defense which is unacceptable any year at UF.
Explain to me how a guy like Jason Marshall goes from being the top CB, if not DB, in the SEC as a true freshman in completion % against (when they were avoiding the CB on the other side as well) and the lowest passer rating against in the SEC on throws over 20 yards and now many fans are saying he has no talent when being coached by Corey Raymond. Did he lose his talent? Did he regress? Is it something else?
I'm not here to say it isn't some talent and depth. Yes, that is definitely it, but at some point there does have to be accountability. There does need to be some looking at the coaching. Players like Dean and Johnson continue to start despite being major liabilities. If we are giving up points on 7 of 8 drives, it is time to just throw in the underclassmen because they probably could not do worse. As said, we are dead last in 3rd down defense in the entire FBS. Don't tell me Vandy and Charlotte have more talent. Here's the killer thing, our last 3 game average is higher than the season average, meaning other teams have seen something and our numbers are getting worse. Our last 3 games are Eastern Washington, Mizzou, and LSU, not exactly top tier offenses despite what we made LSU look like. With Georgia, Jimbo, and Carolina on the horizon, it could get worse. Sure A&M and Carolina aren't scary offenses, but we made USF look like world beaters. A&M is on the road and Carolina has a dual threat QB.
In 2017, I pissed Steve Russell off by tweeting his Radio show asking how many 100+ ranked offenses are acceptable, and my opinion was, is and will always be 0. I don't change for defense. I'm not saying they should be top 10, but at least top 75.
I'm not calling for PT's job. I am saying we need to see changes that tell me we are building for the future. I am saying that we need to get more than a single stop due to a drop in every single game the rest of the season. I am saying that a failure to make changes should have serious questions asked both about him and the people allowing it to happen. There is no room for lack of talent to be an excuse for this year and next year the excuse being lack of experience. If it is talent this year, you get that experience immediately with young guys like Moore (who is injured and has had mixed results), Mitchell, McMillon, Collier (another former 5 star), Young, Wilcoxson, etc. and I don't mean getting a rotational back up share.
What does any of this have to do with LSU? Everything. They are an SEC team with a first year coach who lost 10 guys to the NFL and quite a few to the transfer portal including their top corner.
On Offense, we were hurting with the loss of O'Cyrus Torrence. Our running game suffered as a result. Yes, Montrell Johnson had a 39-yard TD run on a toss, but averaged 1.5 ypc outside of that (12 runs for 18 yards). ETN had less than 4 ypc. Lingard averaged over 5 ypc on 3 carries. AR did scramble well for 109 yards on 9 carries including the 81-yard TD. He at least had some sack yards to deal with. The OL didn't do too well on the last drive where we had virtually no chance to win. AR was under plenty of pressure. He was at 71% before that drive. People were bitching when he was 8/11 with a good throwaway (had 3-4 of those), a throw that hit Pearsall's hands (but a bit far in front), and a bad throw to Zanders that we still pushed the ball into the endzone. Several plays where everyone was covered and geniuses were yelling "throw". Yea, when 3 guys run routes with one triple covered and the other two double covered, "throw" is well...we will say not smart. He did enough to win. Also, I still don't know how you call an incompletion on a backwards lateral, blow the whistle, and then spot the ball there when a penalty is declined. Johnson should have been able to advance the ball (but I also would take the clock stopping). Also, the false start by White on the drive did not help.
With that said, the offense did enough to win this game. You shouldn't need to score over 35 at home to win against a team who hadn't scored 35 in a power 5 game this entire season.
For those that made it this far, thank you. I am just tired of the entire narrative we've had for every coaching staff since 2011 that you can't have any expectations ever. And that all expectations are "unrealistic", you know like not being dead f-ing last in 3rd down percentage. That it takes 3-4 years to look competent. A friend has even indicated that multiple 100+ finishes are fine and then questions might be able to be asked if still bad in year 3. There are too many examples of bad units suddenly looking competent. Look at the offense's jump in 2018 after the prevailing narrative for 2017 was "talent" and MacNuss not having it due to Muschamp. Overall, same guys then were top 30. If we had an offense like UT, it wouldn't matter because their D is only two spots ahead of ours, but Heupel has the philosophy of score points first, ask questions later. I'm not asking for a jump like that. I'm just asking to be in the 60's or 70's this year. Doing what we did last year shouldn't be considered unreasonable when we know how bad it was.
This isn't the time to give up on Nape and I think the few calling for it are definitely premature. Maybe he works out or maybe he doesn't. There are good things like how recruiting looks at the moment, but it's not how it looks in October, it is what signs in December and February and what makes it to campus. We can talk about it taking time while acknowledging that since 1957 no coach in the SEC has won a National Title at their school (which is the goal) without winning the SEC within 5 years. Only 1 took those 5, Phil Fulmer. If we want to embrace data, then that is a piece of data to remember. I'm for being patient, but not blind, blanket statement patience. Show me improvement, show me a dedication to improving starting with line up and strategy changes against UGA. Don't waste the bye week.
Go Gators!
