Defense...what happened

[SinCityGriz2005]

We were in the game with that defense. The greatest scheme in the world cannot overcome poor coaching decisions. Not coming after Lampson on 3 and 20 is inexcusable.

It's well know the 3-3-5 is a band-aid defense at best. It' came into existence to accommodate for smaller players. It's very susceptible to inside and outside runs. As proven time and again this season offenses exploited the gaps created by the DL's slants and stunts. The one bright side to UM is they run the 3-3-5 well enough to avoid the linebackers and safeties being out of position. But it was exploited more than once due to missed tackles.

UM just doesn't have the athletes fast and capable enough of blitzing and dropping into coverage. They tried, but it didn't happen enough. Moreover, UM just flat DOES NOT have the elite defensive linemen capable of taking up multiple blockers to free up the linebackers. That was exposed in both MSU games.

UM got ate up on plays that targeted the edge. Once again, see the MSU and UND games. Oh and how many times did UM get burned on four vertical routes? The base cover 3 scheme was vulnerable all year vulnerable to deep passes in the seams, and we saw this most recently with a 95/98 yard TD pass?

I get that with lesser teams, the 3-3-5 is successful using pre-snap movement and post-snap adjustments to confuse the offense, but.... with the good teams, that means that a single player out of position or a missed gap assignment can lead to the explosive offensive plays we saw all year.

So, bad coaching? Okay... I put it on a bad defensive scheme. It's time to move forward into the 21st century.

 

[PhxGriz]

Apologies for off topic question, but as a defender, how difficult is it to prevent a hip drop tackle? Not implying anything here, just curious.

 

[HikeGlacier]

It's well know the 3-3-5 is a band-aid defense at best. It' came into existence to accommodate for smaller players. It's very susceptible to inside and outside runs. As proven time and again this season offenses exploited the gaps created by the DL's slants and stunts. The one bright side to UM is they run the 3-3-5 well enough to avoid the linebackers and safeties being out of position. But it was exploited more than once due to missed tackles.

UM just doesn't have the athletes fast and capable enough of blitzing and dropping into coverage. They tried, but it didn't happen enough. Moreover, UM just flat DOES NOT have the elite defensive linemen capable of taking up multiple blockers to free up the linebackers. That was exposed in both MSU games.

UM got ate up on plays that targeted the edge. Once again, see the MSU and UND games. Oh and how many times did UM get burned on four vertical routes? The base cover 3 scheme was vulnerable all year vulnerable to deep passes in the seams, and we saw this most recently with a 95/98 yard TD pass?

I get that with lesser teams, the 3-3-5 is successful using pre-snap movement and post-snap adjustments to confuse the offense, but.... with the good teams, that means that a single player out of position or a missed gap assignment can lead to the explosive offensive plays we saw all year.

So, bad coaching? Okay... I put it on a bad defensive scheme. It's time to move forward into the 21st century.

Can’t move forward to the 21st century with coaches stuck in reverse

 

[Plainsman]

Yet it worked against South Dakota State and South Dakota, two MVFC teams that are built in the same model as the Cats. The South Dakota line had bigger offensive linemen than the Cats line. What was the difference?

Those games were played at home??

 

[Ursus1]

Those games were played at home??

yep and at home crowd noise really helps when a defense is switching all around the online has trouble communicating adjustments/assignments pre-snap

 

[Vamos Gatos Vamos]

Yet it worked against South Dakota State and South Dakota, two MVFC teams that are built in the same model as the Cats. The South Dakota line had bigger offensive linemen than the Cats line. What was the difference?

As I see it the difference between SDSU/USD and the Cats is Talent. Coaching. Depth. Scheme. Balanced offense. A QB that can pass. And run. A healthy team. Bigger isn't necessarily better. SDSU was a shell of the team it started the season as. USD lost a ton both to graduation & the portal from last year's team and it took them a while to get going & they're not built to come from behind. And The Griz were at home which is a Huge advantage. It's great for UM, Missoula & the Griz to play so many home games, but they weren't road tested, mostly because the BSC was so down this year. Not being a dick here, just what I saw. The Griz had a great year. They just ran into what's becoming a machine on the wrong side of the draw. SFA was good. NDSU most likely would beat everyone had they not laid that egg. And who knows about ISU? They might just beat the Cats.

 

[go4two]

Yet it worked against South Dakota State and South Dakota, two MVFC teams that are built in the same model as the Cats. The South Dakota line had bigger offensive linemen than the Cats line. What was the difference?

We were at home, and the opposing O-lines can't fire off of the ball due to noise. They lose half a second to engage, and that is a big difference in my opinion.