I'm a little concerned about LSU's defense. All the talk has been about the QB performance and that the QB performance will be the key to LSU winning. Well, last year with all the uncertainty at QB and lack of steady performance at QB the defence is what held on to win the games in the 4th. It seems we were always relying on the defence in the 2nd half and they did a fine job. Well that was under Saban who is a defence guru of guru's. Do you think Pelini will be able to have the defence perform like last season or if we are lucky like 2003. I am coming into this season with more confidence at QB, which seems to be the focus of all due to the lack of consistency last year. But we need to remember it was the defence that picked up the pieces in the 2nd half after offensive issues emerged. What are your thoughts? I'm just a little unsure about Pelini when comparing him to Saban.
Well I'm VERY excited about the focus on turnovers.....while our defense has been great the past few years, we have lacked in the turnover department. I love Pelini's "We want the ball" attitude. I'm excited about the defense and ready to get this season started!!!
The inexperienced Corners seem to be everyones main concern. But we have one of the best D-lines in the country. And it is quite difficult to throw over the corners head when the quarterback is on his back.
The corners we have have actually seen a lot of playing time. Ronnie Prude has been on the field in probably every game for the last 2 years.....granted not starting at CB, but coming in and playing. And the other guys have seen some good PT as well, I think as long as we stay away from injuries at the CB postion we will be fine.
FWIW, there was a sporting news article on turnovers a couple of weeks ago. Basically it looked at the turnover margin of each team that has won the MNC over the last few years, and then compared the year they won the MNC to their average over the last few years. If memory serves they saw that a lot of teams had a lower turnover margin during their MNC year than their average. I think LSU's turnover margin was 4 during the MNC year and 5 on average, although I may have that flipped. What suprised me more was on average, most MNC teams dont have all that much of a good turnover margin.
Pelini's track record (especially when he was with Nebraska and was the sole DC) speaks for itself--and leads me to believe that we're in very good hands. It's also comforting to hear every "expert" rave about Miles' hiring 2 of the best coordinators in the game (retaining Fisher and Pelini). The only thing I DON'T like hearing is Pelini's defensive scheme being called "simplified"....I think they'll get some of the same results as we have over the past few years, but I think with Miles' offensive-minded approach, and willingness to open up the offense more, we'll put up more points, but more points and bigger scoring plays = more time the defense sees the field. So, look for our defense to still "get after it" and force more turnovers...but also you have to realize that with an offense that is going to have their full potential unleashed, the more they score, the more our opponents get the ball in return. And that could translate into a drop statistically (allowing more yards than previous years, and possibly more points). But if our defense executes the way Pelini's scheme calls for, we're going to be giving the ball to our offense a lot more than in years past, so our scoring will be up. I think instead of winning games 33-10, or 28-7, we're going to see scoring along the lines of 42-20, 49-28, etc.
I'm not worried at all about Pellini. Pellini is one of THE hottest DC coaching commodities & he's here at LSU to show what he can do. He's got NFL experience & was even a college head football coach for one game (his winning percentage is 100% as a head coach.... :hihi: ). His philosophy is that the defense isn't just out there to stop the other team, they are there to get the ball back for our offense. He was ranked as one of the top 5 DC's in the country by Rivals. Pellini also believes in using the blitz to suprise teams & will occassionally use tricky ones to confuse the opposing QB, but doesn't rely on it like Saban - that means he isn't keeping our CB's out on an island, which created a lot of big time plays for opposing teams & was a weakness of Saban's defense. Pellini's defense are much less complex than Saban's & result in less confusion & less blown plays. Still concerned? Miles has continuously said that the defense has been ahead of the offense is in practice, and we all know what kind of big things we expect from our offense.
I may be wrong to worrry, but until I see a few games I too am concerned about the defense. Maybe the offense will carry usfor a while.
Anyone who is concerned about the defense is being illogical... No, the corners arent what they were last year, but neither is the scheme... Pelini runs alot more zone coverage and zone blitz, which requires less coverage skill at cb but better tackling.. Prude, Landry, and Daniels will all knock your d*ck in the dirt, and all of this "Chevis Jackson is made in the mold of CW" stuff says to me that he isnt going to shy away from contact either. The D-line is one of the best in the country, and with the DB's in zone, expect more converage sacks. The LB's are as fast as most recievers/backs in the country so they shouldnt have problem with pass coverage. The D is built in a similar mold to the Chicago Bears defense from a couple years ago... Big DT's to protect the fast LBs, speed from the edges, talented Safeties, and servicable corners.. Will this Defense be the top D in the country? Maybe not, but dont expect them to fall out of the top 10.
Ronnie Prude is a player that always gives you 125%. His special teams play is second to none. If he's not making the tackle, he's never far from it. He also learned a couple of very hard lessons last year against Auburn and Iowa. He said that he used those lessons as opportunities to improve this year. This cat will be making some noise this year.
