Copeseticman
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Same style as the offense article, but looking at Golden's defense.
Source: http://www.pageqsports.com/2014/02/spring-preview-a-golden-defense/
In this series, I am looking stylistically at what an Al Golden team looks like, basing those conclusions on his last two years at Temple after he had fully integrated his approach into the team. I will then look at how the 2014 Canes fit Golden’s style. In Part I, I examined the offense. In this section, I will look at the defense.
The Style
It goes without saying that Al Golden’s defenses at Miami have been an unmitigated disaster. What they are doing has not worked (to put it lightly). So they are certainly due any and all criticism they have received. However, where the line must be drawn is when we start lobbing suggestions from the peanut gallery about HOW to fix the defense. Asking Golden why the Canes don’t blitz more often is futile and silly. As if he is going to say, “blitzing, well why didn’t I think of that?”
The truth is that Golden has a plan that worked effectively at Temple that is not working at all here. Whether or not he can make it work will likely determine whether he is successful at Miami. But just as strongly as we can state that Golden’s defenses have been a disaster in Miami, we can likewise laud their success at Temple. So what exactly went so right at Temple that has gone so wrong here? The data paints a picture.
http://oi57.tinypic.com/23wwv9j.jpg
We don’t see an obvious glaring pattern here with Golden’s success at Temple in terms of saying, “they were great at stopping the run” or “they were great against the pass.” But we do find something that does translate into the 2011 season at Miami a bit (the one season where the defense wasn’t a complete disaster, although it was still poor overall when you look at across-the-board metrics and not the stylistic indicators I am focusing on here).
What we can conclude is that the way Golden produced an effective defense was to be really good (Top 20) at one thing, and then also good (or at least decent) at getting off the field on third down. In 2009, this translated into being great against the run and great on third down. In 2010, Temple had a great pass defense, and was still good enough on third down.
In 2011, he tried to emulate that approach, but came up short. He wasn’t quite as good at any one metric, but the 29th-ranked pass defense was still solid. The real failing there was the third-down defense, which stunk both in terms of percentage and in terms of rank.
Obviously, in 2012 and 2013, nothing worked. But across the board we can see a marked decline in third-down efficacy since Golden arrived in Miami, as well as just general poor run and pass defense. Of course, those things are related. When a team gives up a lot of yardage, the opponent tends to be in third-and-short, and that translates to a higher conversion percentage — this leads to the following question: Can the defense do one thing (either stop the run or pass) at an elite level and will that result in the necessary improvement in third-down defense? When the answer to that question was yes at Temple, Al Golden produced some of the better defenses in college football.
2014 Look Ahead
Essentially, if Miami can either stop the run or the pass at an elite level, that should result in a third-down percentage improvement and lead to an effective Al Golden defense. Are they set up to accomplish this feat though?
Against the run, the answer is unfortunately no. Miami received a huge boost when star linebacker Denzel Perryman opted to return for his senior season, and he will anchor the linebackers. While Miami has other talented players at the position, they are largely untested, so expect a learning curve there.
And defensive tackle is the weakest position on the team. The Canes lost three of their top four, and only return Olsen Pierre as a player who got significant playing time last season. It’s also a position they have not recruited well. It’s reasonable to assume, considering the linebackers and tackles, that Miami will be vulnerable to running plays up the middle.
The pass is where the Canes strength lies and where they do have the potential to be elite. In fact, there is no excuse not to be one of the best pass defenses in the country. There are two places to defend the pass: (1) at the quarterback where the pass is defended and (2) at the receiver where the pass is caught.
While the defensive line in general is a weakness for Miami, they do possess some potential elite pass rushers in Tyriq McCord and Al-Quadin Muhammad. If those two players are lined up on the edge, the Canes will be hard-pressed to not pressure the passer.
And on the back end, Miami is outstanding, loaded with experienced, talented and highly-coveted players. At corner, Miami will feature returning senior Ladarius Gunter, juniors Tracy Howard and Antonio Crawford, and sophomore Artie Burns. Those four have played a lot, and should be able to cover anyone the opposition throws at them. At safety, Miami should start juniors Deon Bush and Rayshawn Jenkins. If Miami can’t put together a top-quality pass defense with this many experienced, quality defensive backs, then there is absolutely no hope.
All the elements are in place for Miami to have an elite pass defense. At Temple, Al Golden used the ability to be elite at one thing to create a defense that was overall very effective and in particular an effective 3rd down defense. The open question is whether he can turn these elite and experienced players into an elite pass defense, and whether that will translate down the line like it did at Temple. We know what a successful Al Golden defense looks like, now we will find out if he is capable of producing one at Miami.
Source: http://www.pageqsports.com/2014/02/spring-preview-a-golden-defense/
