Ya know, I hate that Cougarfan locks up posts if you don’t choose a catagory…SUCKS that we have to post again to fix this Pain in the * feature.
All week long I have been reading about how alarming BYU’s defense was in the USF game. That we did not play like a ranked team and how we are going to get smashed with out remaining schedule yada yada…
BYU won and that is that.
What was alarming to all of us were now many players were injured in the USF game. Sitake assures us that none of the injuries are season ending and I read somewhere that most of the players were practicing this week…also that Ellis, our best DB has been practicing and may be available for the USU game…so Chillax everyone.
Yes, I expect USU to be able to score on BYU but I also do not think that USU can defend worth a darn. They have the same athletes they had last year when they had such a dismal year but they have a fantastic new coach that has really changed the culture other there and USU is flying high again. Utah State report card: Aggies’ issues in red zone, special teams costly - Deseret News
What USU does well:
They have two good QBs that can put up points. Their starter, Bonner, had a dismal 1st haft against BSU. Their other good QB, Peasley, was equally ineffective. Bonner is a scrambler similar to USF’s QB. Peasley is not so much.
USU has a very good RB and adequate receivers.
What USU does not do well:
They are penalty prone, drive killing penalties! I watched the BSU-USU game and BSU could do no wrong while USU threw 3 interceptions and a head scratcher fake punt that just killed any chance of a comeback.
Yes, USU will be ready for BYU but I expect our skill and speed at critical positions win the day as well as our veteran QBs, who just do not make a lot of mistakes, to make this game a solid win.
I have one hope for this game, something that I have hoped for since the mediocre performance vs. Arizona in the first game of the season and something that has not been taken care of in the 3 games since then.
Can the defense please do something about leaving the middle of the field WIDE OPEN to the opponent’s passing game? How many times has a receiver been WIDE OPEN down the middle of the field?
Can’t help you there but I will defend Tuiaki. He has rarely gone to the drop 8 defense and when he has, he has been burned pretty bad…let’s hope he continues to line up 4 and 5 guys and mix it up with blitz packages
To state the obvious, No pass rush + a good QB + average receivers = plenty of time for receivers to run crossing routes or seam routes in open space. Added bonus: DL taking inside lanes to the QB, leaving the entire area outside both hash marks open for the QB to meander around, trying to decide whether to run for an easy 5-8 yards or hit a guy who may have been covered a few seconds before but now is open as his defender gets caught looking into the backfield, thinking “dude, how long do I have to cover this guy? Is that QB really STILL running around?”
He had no choice with USF to go a lot more 3-8 in the 2nd half with all the injuries and players resting.
But, the middle linebacker has to drop back more often to take away that deep ball down the middle.
As the coaches were saying, we were taking bad angles at the QB and others letting him outside. There was little pressure on the QB after the 1st Quarter.
I understand. However, this seems to happen regardless of the time available for QB to throw or WR to get open. It just happens a lot and it doesn’t seem connected to the QB having ample time or any other factor besides the strategy to leave the middle of the field wide open.
If you are right then it is 100% schematic and thus 100% the coaching staff’s fault. “Take away the edge and concede the middle of the field” could be a strategy, although not one I’ve ever heard of…
If Phili wasn’t out, he would be dropping back further taking that option away. Hopefully, the subs playing middle linebacker will do so better tonight.