Not only do many colleges use this defense, some of the top teams use it. Watch the games. Also, some of the pro teams use it as well. I think the better question ask is does it have to be used exclusively? Would it be better to mix it up with other defensive looks? We certainly have to blitz more and pressure more.
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Far as it being inept, what is your definition of a successful defense? If we hold the rushing to 2 yards per carry but they get 5 touchdowns on long throws because of not enough protection deep, then what? The goal of the defense has been to hold teams to under 24 points and we should win.
You canât give any quarterback in any league Four seconds plus to find a receiver, especially an accurate thrower. Receivers will eventually come uncovered and the quarterback will find them. Only if you can pressure the quarterback with three linemen and an occasional blitz linebacker will this defense work and BYU has consistently shown they canât do this since the injury to their good middle backer
I can only think of one game lost that was on the defense. That was Baylor and BYU got manhandled by a superior team that day. The Boise debacle was on the offense for turning over the ball 3 times and one time by special teams. Everybody talks about the defensive breakdown against Boise but take away two of the turnovers and BYU probably wins. The last turnover was an interception when BYU was in the mode of trying to score fast late in the game, but take away 2 or the 3 fumbles and BYU almost surely wins a close game. Yeah the defense could have been better defending the run against Boise but the game was largely lost by the offense. They only gave up about 140 rushing yards that game. Too many against a team that doesnât run well but not a terrible effort.
Good grief the record is 6-2 with 4 power five wins, albeit against a conference that is just slightly better than mid major caliber, but still the record is better than expected. BYU beat Utah for the first time in 12 years. Take heart the glass is more than half full and so far a successful season.
I donât see Virginia running much to eat clock but they probably wonât have to. They can score on anybody throwing the ball. BYU has to keep pace and then some. They should try to eat clock with sustained drives to keep Virginia off the field. I donât see Bronco and Anae changing what they do. BYU just has to contain it. They wonât stop Virginia but they need to score on nearly every possession and get a few stops.
If BYU can finish somewhere between 9-4 and 11-2 they will have exceeded expectations for this season.
My other observation is that this isnât your traditional BYU team. They grind it out and donât blow anybody out and that frustrates the fans and part of that may the schedule. They have played 6 good to really good teams and two real weak teams. The only blowout I anticipate is Idaho St and maybe Georgia Southern. Maybe I am delusional but I see Virginia and USC as tossup games.
Incidentally I thought the defensive effort was good against a WSU team that had been hot with 3 straight conference wins. BYU was playing without a bunch of injured defensive players in the game. I read somewhere that they played 16 guys on defense against WSU as opposed to 24 against Baylor.
We have only lost two games, so I guess the defense is responsible for one and the offense for the other with turnovers. Most fans donât like what they see from the bend and break defense, but you are right, they arenât responsible for the BSU loss. My biggest concern with the defense, is the amount of time they keep the offense off the field by allowing 4 and 5 yards per play on long sustained drives. That is something the BYU offense will attempt against Virginia-the results will be seen by the defensive play-both teams score-which defense can come up with the plays-simple math-no excuses. The better team on that day will win whether rain, sleet, hail or snow
Fantastic post. Exactly my sentiments as well. All this negativity towards the coaches is really weird being that the schedule we have played is crazy with no bye weeks. I donât think the PAC 12 is that bad. Even so, they are very deep and have strong physical teams and we have seen the results with our injuries.
Itâs nice to see that someone else recognizes the fumbles as the reason for the loss. Boise scored 17 points on the fumbles giving them good field position on two of them. And, itâs still clear the reason for the fumbles was the wet ball due to the rain. Anyone seeing the San Francisco game yesterday would understand this.
I agree that the defensive scheme isnât always the best. But, with the injuries, perhaps it was decided that it would keep more from injuries. Iâd rather see them mix up the defenses rather than the same thing game after game. Definitely more blitzing and pressure on this QB.
Byuâs defense was very creative to start the year. Many stunts and blitzes. Last four games absolutely boring. I donât know if itâs injuries and the loss of Pili and shifting Chaz around. but I do know this, Byu is very easy to plan for. Without pressure Armstrong will chew us up.
Please site which teams use this defense outside of BYU? Please explain which NFL team you say uses it as well.
This defense for BYU has the following Rankings:
#72 - Total Defense
#69 - Red Zone Defense
#63 Rush Defense
#87- Tackle for Loss
#113 - 3rd down stops
So to say this defense is anything but below average is being ignorant of what defenses can or should beâŚ
Please donât give me the âScheduleâ was harder, because other teams have had a harder SOS.
My problem is not the win/loss record. Because it has been pretty much proven that the PAC-12 as a whole is pretty bad. That is not to say BYU did not deserve the wins.
The main issue I have and will always have is the prevent 8 defense allows the other teams offense to be on the field longer, which actually prevents our offense to get on the field more.
The other issue is that I really do not see improvement in key positions like Offensive and Defensive lines, LBâs and hate to say, Hall play as QB (This could be caused by coaches decisions).
Overall the team does not seem to improve from one game to another.
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Injuries have affected what we do. The DBs as well. That dictates what is done on defense. So, to win as we do and should have except for poor showing on offense with Boise, the D has done well.
The last statement is simply not seeing the big picture. Another example of assuming other teams donât improve so we arenât improving. That simply isnât true. Boise had improved when we played them. Baylor had improved when we played them. Washington had won 3 in a row and obviously had improved. So, we had to improve in order to win or be in the game.
The defense has had to go back to the 3-8 defense because of injuries. The subs for DBs canât defend well enough to go man all the time. Now, can we occasionally change up the D? YES! And, hopefully Saturday we will.
As for the PAC12, who says they are bad? Because we beat them? Because they beat up themselves? Because they lost to some MWC team that happens to be really good this year like BYU ocassionally did? They are P5 teams and deep. They have decimated our lines OL and DL.
Can you please show me anywhere in my posts that says ANYTHING about what other teams are or are not doing?
What does what other teams do or do not do have to do with BYU performance?
I am talking about âImprovementâ that I would expect to see in BYU defense (mostly) and offense after having played 8 games. I still see Hall getting hammered because the O-line is not picking up blitz or simply not protecting the pocket.
On defense, I still do not see pressure on the QB (why they are ranked 87th in the country for sacks) from the edge. Add to that, I still donât see that the Outside backers/Ends containing the edgesâŚ
They have had âTwoâ major injuries (Ellis and Pilli) so far, so please tell why the coaches through spring and fall camps told everyone that they had âDepthâ on the defense side of the ball if they are now reeling from two injuries?
Seriously? the only thing on the defense is how good our dbâs are. Even moving Chaz to LB, we have some solid dbâs who have not given up deep balls very often.
What you posted is imply excusing the lack of planning on our DC and lack of accountability on the players part.
Just about every college football expert says they are âdownâ this year. They usually have two to three in the top25, this year they have 1 (Oregon).
More than 60% of the league does not have a winning overall record.
Arizona lost to Northern Arizona
Washington State lost to Utah State
Washington lost to Montana
Cal lost to Nevada
UCLA lost to Fresno
Just to spotlight a few of the miscues this year from within the PAC-12
Haha Floyd, funny because I just posted a message citing those same defensive statistics on the other UVA thread. Iâll just say it this way: our defense sucks. Statistically and for enjoyment of watching the games.
Like I said, those early on games show that these teams have gotten better. They may have not been completely prepared after the last two crazy years.
Perhaps other teams have improved so that although we have improved it doesnât look like we have. Itâs harder to understand when talking about team sports like football and basketball. Itâs better understood with individual sports. When I started learning martial arts in my teens, other guys got better with more training, teaching, coaching and experience. But, if I could win a sparring match before, I could still do so a year or 5 years later because I improved as well.
Tom,
My main concern is the prevent defense (drop 8) allows the opponents offense on the field more than they should be, by doing that, it prevents our offense of being on the field and providing more points.
But apparently Kalani can not see that.
One other thing, Hans Olsen who played for BYU defense years ago (All MWC, All American and played in the NFL) is a sport radio host on 1280 the zone here in SLC.
He talked about the prevent defense and as a former defensive player it drives him nuts.
Some observations that I remember him touching on:
- He said as a defensive lineman, these players are âTypesâ of lineman (2, 3,4,5) which I believe refers to where on the line they line up in.
*He said it would drive him nuts as a 4 to be ask by the coach to play a 2 when his skill set is a 4. Add to that each play the defensive lineman line up in a different spot (2-5) almost every play which prevents the lineman from honing in their skill set to learn that particular position better. - He said it is unfair of the fans to ask âWhy isnât their more pressure on the QBâ when most sets on the defense is 3 down, which means it is a 3 on 5 or 6 man. He explained that even if the d-lineman got pass the first player there was always a secondary player chop blocking or smacking them down.
- Olsen was asked by his partner, could BYU move to a different set and be better, his answer was âNoâ we do not have the talent to do that.
- His final point was interesting, he said even though it drives him nuts to watch the drop 8 defense, âIt worksâ for BYU because they are 6-2. The interesting part about his comment was BYU defense plays for the score, meaning if you put 24 on us, we will score 28. He mentioned each of the wins and the scores to illustrate this point.
Hans is no âBYU Homerâ, although at times I dislike his views, he is pretty honest about how he sees the teams (Utah, USU or BYU).
So, your first smack at Sitaki was he canât see the? What an incredible statement. He cannot see what you see? WOW your are so smart with that huge head of yours. You need to step back a bit because you followed that up with several of his statements where he obviously does understand that. He took BYU to 11-1 last year and 6-2 with a much more difficult schedule this year. Yes the offense has fewer opportunities with the defense on the field more. But, BYU ran the same defense last year and put up lots of points. The difference is who we are playing. Teams with much more athleticism, size, speed and lots of those P5âs and Boise is right there with them.
Now, with that said, we were successful with 4 or 5 on the line with Arizona and Utah with more blitzing and pressure. But, we didnât have 2/3rds of our starters out with injuries as well. Sitaki looks at the big picture because his job is on the line unlike all the armchair QBs in here. With our depleted players it is working to limit points and win with our offense. I do hope the subs have gotten better so we can mix it up to keep Virginia off the field. But, these personal attacks on Sataki have to stop. It sounds too much like UCLA alumni and fans after John Wooden left. And, a bit like many who would attack Bronco as well and then he left.
grasshopper: " . . . these personal attacks on Sitaki have to stop."
Me: 
Oh yeah? Well I bet Sitaki poots on occasion. And I bet he picks his nose once in a while. He has not put deodorant on after every single shower. I would guess that Kilani has been mean to someone, at some time. Betcha Sitaki has yelled at a family member at some time or another. I assume that he has made a personal decision or two that he would take back, if he could. Is that enough for you grasshopper? These attacks I have made are personal. Floyd did not attack Sitake and in any case, what Floyd said was not personal. But anyway hopper, yer mama wears army boots.
I never said this was a personal attack. But others in here do it on a daily basis. Floyd made a comment that he cannot possibly know. I simply stuck up for him, again saying does know. But with the defense injury list, he cannot do what these arm chair coaches want.
You are right about your personal attacks. Shameful.
um Scott, the word âapparentlyâ means that to me, the person cannot see the obvious problem that others see. It does not mean I actually âknowâ, it is more of an observation.
Has not seeing or not, I have had enough friends who have played at the higher level (college, NFL) that will tell you the better players do not always start. âSomeâ of them are butt kissers and the ones with talent sits on the sidelines.
Two prime examples that I can think of:
Jim noticing that Bronco did not start Kyle Van Noy when he was clearly the best LB we had.
The comment by Tom Lamier who stated that a kid is on the scout team because he does not like the drop 8 defense scheme.
I know personally that a lineman who started for two years, had ZERO sacks that was attributed to his play on the field that came the Junior year he came into a new coach, but in as a backup, while the starter had 10 sacks attributed to him during the year. The player is the son of one of my good friends who has long graduated.
So please donât tell Kalani âSees allâ.
Floyd got personal attack by a Bug? That is OK just pick him up and throw him in the Provo River 