PASS DEFENSE

[btmoats]

Getting off the field on third and long has been our Achilles heel all season. I forget which player was interviewed, but I think he pinpointed the problem when he said the Griz defense needs to react to the ball better when it is in the air. We appear to give the receivers too big a cushion for fear of getting beat deep, so we give up the big play anyway. I understand that today's rules make it tough to play pass defense, but this has to improve to make a playoff run.

 

[Grisly Fan]

And now add to that the officials' increased scrutiny on defensive ferocity, and playing defense has practically become a standard bend but don't break overall philosophy.

I agree that changes for "game safety" have tipped the balance in favor of the offense. It used to be hard for a receiver to cross the middle for fear of being "lit up" and now not so much. The middle of the field seems really soft nowadays. I watched Stanford kill OSU with pass after pass to the middle.

Frankly if the game is safer and the scores are higher that doesn't bother me. No one really wants to watch "soccer match" 3-0 wins anyway. At the end of the day the only thing that matters is a team's W/L. Aside from maybe some last minute smoky room committee negotiations for the lower playoff positions, there is no credit for style points.

All of that said, the Griz still need to tighten up their pass D. When you allow the game to come down to one score, you bring luck into the picture. The Griz need to dominate some teams real soon because Luck won't always be a Lady.

 

[mtgriz]

And now add to that the officials' increased scrutiny on defensive ferocity, and playing defense has practically become a standard bend but don't break overall philosophy.

I agree that changes for "game safety" have tipped the balance in favor of the offense. It used to be hard for a receiver to cross the middle for fear of being "lit up" and now not so much. The middle of the field seems really soft nowadays. I watched Stanford kill OSU with pass after pass to the middle.

Frankly if the game is safer and the scores are higher that doesn't bother me. No one really wants to watch "soccer match" 3-0 wins anyway. At the end of the day the only thing that matters is a team's W/L. Aside from maybe some last minute smoky room committee negotiations for the lower playoff positions, there is no credit for style points.

All of that said, the Griz still need to tighten up their pass D. When you allow the game to come down to one score, you bring luck into the picture. The Griz need to dominate some teams real soon because Luck won't always be a Lady.

I agree. To follow up my first post, I'm okay with a pass defense that will surrender yards but not losses. The pass defense against EWU was very subpar and was the primary reason the Griz lost. The pass defense was the difference in the UM-Cal Poly endgame. In OT ours made a play, Cal Poly's surrendered a play.

 

[IHateRobPhenicie]

The Griz are wasting the best front 7 in the Big Sky. If the back 4 could cover and tackle, they would dominate. Watching them consistently blow their coverage and miss tackles is maddening. How bad must the backups be if they can't beat these guys out?

 

[mtgrizrule]

The Griz are wasting the best front 7 in the Big Sky. If the back 4 could cover and tackle, they would dominate. Watching them consistently blow their coverage and miss tackles is maddening. How bad must the backups be if they can't beat these guys out?

Very true in my opinion. Anyone notice the majority of our opponents get the ball off quickly against our defense? That is because opponents OC's are smart enough to know our front 7 will get to their qb, if they try longer pass plays consistently. Also it is easy to pick on our DB's, the only CB who does not give up the short pass over and over is Goodwin. Goodwin challenges WR's teams to beat him. The majority of time Goodwin wins his 1 on 1 matchups. Also why don't we play much nickel and dime? We stay with our base package almost every damn play. Ty very seldom adjusts to teams with 4 and 5 WR's. There is always some sort of pass defense matchup for offenses to exploit.

At least many other teams try to show nickel and dime packages. Ty very seldom takes his 3 LBS off the field. Yes they are great, but makes no sense to not use dime and nickel packages when the situation calls for it. Very disappointed in Ty as a DC.

 

[1Griz_Fan]

Of all the defensive passing stats, "yards per game" is one of the least correlated with winning. It's really quite a useless predictor of winning. Montana is 12 out of 13 conference teams in passing defense yards. Guess what team is the worst in that category. If you guessed Eastern Washington, you would be correct.

Both Montana and Eastern Washington are quite a bit better in passing efficiency defense. Weber State is the opposite: They are fifth best in the conference in passing defense (yards) but second worst in the country in passing efficiency defense, and also, of course, last in the conference standings.

We're third in the conference in rushing defense (a yard per game more than second place MSU). You think opposing teams know that and utilize the pass more?

Passing Defense (YPG, Conference stats)
1. Portland State 187
2. UC Davis 189
3. Montana State 202
4. Cal Poly 206
5. Weber State 233
6. Southern Utah 239
7. North Dakota 243
8. Northern Arizona 247
9. Idaho State 269
10. Sacramento State 276
11. Northern Colorado 281
12. Montana 292 <====
13. Eastern Washington 302

Pass Efficiency Defense (122 FCS Teams)
http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fcs/current/team/40" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
21 Northern Ariz. 112.37
22 Montana St. 113.69
34 Portland St. 118.44
49 UC Davis 123.51
54 Southern Utah 124.43
72 Cal Poly 132.86
74 Montana 133.67 <====
75 Sacramento St. 133.78
85 Eastern Wash. 137.80
89 Idaho St. 138.89
95 Northern Colo. 143.11
104 North Dakota 147.40
121 Weber St. 170.94

Now here comes PR...defender of the weak and timid. NFL...backer??? my a$$ :roll: :roll: Can't wait for the sprayed on sugar on this one :roll: :roll: :egriz: Without J.J. we are total dogshit.

Nice post and points. It seems EWU may be giving up all those pass yards because their opponents are playing catch up or trying to hang with them in a shootout but I am not positive. There is no doubt the Big Sky used to be a huge passing conference then changed to more of a running league but seems to be more balanced now if not leaning more towards passing once again.

No matter what teams seem to pass first and often on the Griz but there have been some weaknesses in the running game exposed too. The main problem may be poor tackling while some players tend to over pursue and get caught out of place.

The pass D has been a major weakness for the Griz the last two years, if not more with a few prime examples including North Dakota's conference record setting game last year and the past two career days by opposing QB's.

The run D has been mostly solid with the exception of some career running games by some opponents players last year and they will definitely be tested this weekend with some power runners at South Dakota.

 

[66volvo]

Let's see, we get nearly 100 passes thrown against us in the last two games for almost 1000 yards and we snag only ONE interception? GRIZ pass D needs to get aggressive.

 

[grizcountry420]

Let's see, we get nearly 100 passes thrown against us in the last two games for almost 1000 yards and we snag only ONE interception? GRIZ pass D needs to get aggressive.

We'll never have an aggressive defense as long as Gregorak is our D Coordinator. He's all bark and no bite!

 

[JayLarson]

We had 2 picks vs Eastern, Tully and Harris.

 

[AllWeatherFan]

Seems like we should match up a little better against South Dakota than we did against Sac State or Eastern Washington. I still picked South Dakota just because of how we played in a dome against a decent team in Flagstaff. But I hope the team makes an idiot out of me.