In the preseason, I said I was worried about the defense, Pelini, etc. After two games I was still worried. What I saw yesterday reminded me of the 2003 defense. Just that the names were different. Maybe I'm not smart enough to see the difference, but yesterday’s Pelini defense looked a lot like Saban's National Championship defense. One difference, I believe that Pelini plays more players. Granted we could still lose a game or two down the stretch. I could wait until the end of the season, & pontificate, but... for what I've seen so far….. Pelini :thumb: !!!! We have a very talented offense, a good, if not great quarterback. I love Addai & he is doing great, but we have an offense that needs a Bruiser (Broussard) at Halfback. Our offensive line in 2003 literally blew holes that anyone could run through (Shifty backs like Vincent & Carey were successful). Our line strategy appears to me (the uneducated mind) to be hesitant, not sure which guy to pick etc. They do better in pass defense. I know we have had several injuries, Helms, Arnold, Brian Johnson, Dyakowski, Miller, Niswanger, etc. This has definitely led to problems. The offensive line is a unit, & when you move guys in & out it takes a toll. This line needs to improve, though. Special teams - I couldn't be happier. Punt coverage, kickoff coverage etc. Wide receivers dropped balls earlier in the season, but some of that may be attributed to Russell’s hard throws. Note: In my opinion the greatest decision that Miles made was to go with Russell & STICK with him. The players can get use to him & get in a comfort zone. Russell is a stud & will only get better (& I know he is not perfect, but who is?) Read this. I don't care about the turnovers. All teams have them. I believe we will improve here. Russell is still in his first starting season. When Leak was a freshman at Florida, they had a dumbed down offense. Senior running backs were calling timeouts etc. All he had to do was execute the play. Whereas Russell is doing it all. I love him. Penalties - maybe a result of frustration with the way the season started, Hurricanes, moving games etc. These are excuses I know, but this is the second area I am disappointed in besides the offensive line. PS - How about that defensive line. I believe we have a second string that could start anywhere. Man we just substitute at will we no apparent drop off. Regards - here's to a great second half - Go Tigers! :helmet:
Not only Dline, but also in the secondary it seems we have incredible depth & do a great job with substitutions and getting a bunch of guys in there. I don't think this defense looks like any of Saban's... The blitzes are never really disguised. Pellini uses the front 4 as the main pressure on the QB & doesn't attempt to confuse him like Saban did. I think Pellini's defense may be even better, which I said from the beginning, because it doesn't give up the big play (now that it's working). I agree about penalties. Miles teams at OSU were never known for their penalties & I think it's a combo of the strange season/new coaching staff. However, I don't see how you can not worry about the turnovers. We spotted Florida 17 points. SEVENTEEN FREAKING POINTS! Eventually, somebody is going to take advantage of that. I don't think the WRs dropped a single ball this game. I was very pleased with that, but I don't know what was going on in a few plays where the plays broke down... It seemed like for 2 drives everything was going wrong, receivers weren't getting open, the Oline wasn't giving Russell enough time & Russell wasn't making smart decisions. It was apparent to me that when our Oline dominates, our whole offense dominates. Russell was suprisingly good at avoiding getting tackled (which people here used to **** about non-stop), but his decisions weren't as good once he didn't have time, understandable, but still needs to be worked on. JaMarcus is doing about as well as you can expect someone who came from his circumstances where there was basically no play book in highschool. I think the coaches have done a great job with him, but he isn't a great quarterback yet - he will be soon.
