I think your initial point was that you were surprised the defense hasn't gotten exposed because of how simple it is - specifically playing spot drop vs match in zone? Why would it be better for this defense to play match vs spot in zone?
We've limited explosive plays given up relative to last year. Do you disagree that playing spot drop vs match has helped in that regard?
We are top-20 in takeaways/gm, sacks/gm, and TFLs/gm. As long as we tackle well past the sticks (which we usually do), bending a bit on defense doesn't concern me.
Earlier in the year we were bad at stopping teams from scoring TDs when they got in the red zone (gave up nearly 6 points per drive on those first 7 games), but since then we have given up less than 3 points per drive when the defense has bent enough that the opponent scrimmages in the red zone (and we are also giving up fewer red zone drives per game). We give up more yards than other very good defenses, but we are elite at limiting points.
I thought McElroy was spot on when he said our defense is more about players than plays early in the A&M broadcast. We've got a bunch of guys who are going to be NFL players playing on our defense this year. The scheme is pretty simple, they rarely get tricked, the communication is great, they play fast, and create a lot of havoc.
Maybe it's not sustainable without similar elite pro-ready talent, but we don't know that Hetherman would have the same defensive plan in future years.