I'll grant you that the offense "dropped the ball" in the first half, but to say the defense wasn't at fault in the loss Friday is assanine. To give up 50 pts and 500 yds at home is rediculous. When the O finally got it together in the 2nd half, the defense was nowhere to be found. They made Arky look like a fine-tuned machine that couldn't be stopped. LSU scored 28 pts in regulation, that was plenty to beat this arky team.
And what were people thinking when he finished top 5 the past couple seasons & will probably do so again this year.
I wouldn't say he is expected to return. I say we have about a 50% chance he comes back and a 20% chance Tyson Jackson returns. If the whole coaching snafu comes true, neither will be back.
Beckwith will be back to man the middle for '08 and Riley should be good enough to win one of the OLB positions. We have some talent coming in, but just like the ones that are already here: they just haven't been able to prove themselves on the field much yet. As for McCray. I think as the games go by, he's showing that he's more of a run-supporting safety than a duel-threat DB capable of playing safety and the nickel/dime positions (like Steltz has done in the past). McCray's cover skills just aren't where they need to be to consistantly line him up on a WR or running back. Come to think of it, hasn't his INT's been made because he was simply an "extra defender" on the play; just happened to be around at the right place/right time along with someone else helping with coverage?
McCray's INT's were made in games where he was supposed to drop back in pass coverage. Against Arkansas, Ole Miss, Bama, and Auburn he was not supposed to do that. He was to play run first, then, if he read pass he was to drop back in zone and support the man coverage. He was not even IN pass coverage for over 90% of the game on Sat or the last couple four weeks for that matter. We have played almost all man on man the last three games. In man coverage, the nickel back's primary responsbility is run support. It is a little bit of an odd system as most people are not used to seeing a team play nickel or dime coverage and man on man at the same time. That is probably why the guys announcing the game made some of the comments they made. Because they didn't understand WHAT the defense was designed to do. My question would be, how do you blame a guy for playing the defense the way it is designed to be played?
Well, since the play was not a run (as it should be expected with 4th & 10 & a QB who's not a scrambler), shouldn't he have, ya' know, been near the receiver...
If the defense gives up 400 yards/game and 30+ points per game in the SEC, were probably not going to be finishing anywhere close to the top 5. More like top 25. In 2005 and 2006, our defense was not giving up close to those numbers. I think the problem is Bo already has one foot out of the door. If I'm right, then Miles need to let him go and choose an interim DC.
Maybe, we'll see. I think we'll still finish top 10, but a total of 6 OT's are going to bring our defensive stats down (but our offensive ones up). You may be right, but the problem is that's Bo's foot is out the door to no specific destination. He wants to be a HC, but doesn't have any offer yet (and I don't think he'll get one from Nebraska). Personally, my biggest complaint about the defense is the lack of player rotation. Our young guys aren't getting enough reps & our starters aren't getting enough rest. Injuries have been a part of that, but we have to have more than 5 guys that can play on the DLine.
