Why Is Our Defense So Passive?

[DTP]

OP is complaining that Miami does exactly what he wants them to do

 

[Coach Macho]

You're not praising Perry if he threw for 277 yards on 46 passes and under 50% and only generating 9 points without the help of picks. Two picks that started drives inside the 15 and the 5. You got problems with Baker's defense? Fine. But that QB didn't have a good day and neither did Pitt's offense.

Considering the fact that he's their back-up, missed a bunch of open throws AND had a handful more dropped...I'd say he had a pretty adequate day. King didn't play any better. Like I said, take away the wide open TD's that were schemed up by Lashlee and then look at the numbers.

Furthermore, explain to me why this "elite" defense can't just COMPLETELY shut down a Pitt offense and their back-up QB? Why was Addison allowed to have a career day?

Back in the day we would've feasted on a MF'ing back-up QB.

If you watch the Pitt game again you'll see plenty of throws/plays that shouldn't have happened...or wouldn't have happened if we were coached differently.

 

[OrangeBowlMagic]

Pitt finished the game with 22 yards rushing.

22 yards rushing is the least amount a Miami defense has allowed against any team since the FIU game in 2018.

22 yards rushing is the least amount a Miami defense has allowed against a P5 team since UNC in 2014.

Pitt scored 19 points, with 7 of those coming on a 1 yard drive after an INT. They scored 1 TD in the football game. It was a 1 yard drive. It's 2020....scoring is at all-time highs. We've held these dudes the last 3 years to 19, 12, and 3 points the last 3 times we've played.

I genuinely don't know what y'all expect here. I didn't think it was our A+ defensive game, not really very close to that. But half the posts here are "Why aren't we like Clemson??"

Clemson has THE BEST defensive coordinator in the sport. #1. The absolute best. Blake Baker is NOT Brent Venables. And Miami DOES NOT have Clemson's athletes. You know what athletes and coordinator Miami does have? Ones to hold Pitt to 4 FGs on their "normal" offensive drives. But did y'all expect to shut them out? In a game we almost certainly lose over the last 15 years? They had 22 yards rushing....are we not allowed to give anyone any credit for a performance that hasn't happened since 2014? I don't understand this place sometimes.

Someone has to tell me what the expectation truly is here. Is it to have Clemson's defense? Is that what you guys expect?

 

[RightSaidFred]

Some dudes won't be happy until we go back to running a Randy Shannon cover 2, 4-3 defense.

I LIKE our defense. It's fun to watch. I'm always expecting a strip sack or a pick or some big play from them. Do they get dinked and dunked a little bit? Sure. But we probably have the most exciting defense in college football.

That and it should be said.... the ONLY game I can remember where Diaz's defense straight up lost us the game was one of the bowl games against Wisconsin years ago. Every other game, our defense has been good enough to keep us in the game to win.

Even against Clemson this year. Our defense got worked a little bit, but they played well enough. It was our offense that couldn't get it done.

So I say we can win big with this defensive scheme. Our only problem is getting better quality players at all the spots that have been harped on for weeks - OL, WR, LB, and CB.

 

[Coach Macho]

Obviously you, like coach diaz act like we are the only team playing against spread-offenses. If you think the striker position makes us a more aggressive defenses have at it. Our linebackers have been deployed wrong in this scheme vs what our secondary is being asked to do which is why our linebackers are damyum near never in passing lanes and keep being out of position on running plays. This is not a coincidence, if you look at alot of our defensive alignments the flaws pre-snap are often comical and than our weakside defenders are often just being asked to be in no Mans-land. There is no way guys should be getting open in our secondary on 2 and 3 receiver routes.

The striker position makes us more vulnerable against the run and all that position is traditionally for, your most athletic linebacker. With 3 linebackers, teams won't call to many trap plays to the weak-side waiting for the striker to clear out, also in a 4-2-5 you're asking your linebackers to cover more unnecessary ground which in turns causes them to be outta position often times as well as trying to read keys. So here is a basic fundamental question, if the striker position is here because we primarily play against spread offenses how does primarily protecting against the pass makes you a more aggressive defense over stopping the run 1st!

I don't think you even realize what our Striker is asked to do, cause if you did then you wouldn't want a LB out there.
Even if you put a LB out there, he'd be lined-up outside the box most of the time like the Striker is. So how exactly is that making us more aggressive?

Nobody uses 3 LB's anymore because all of the offenses are spread these days. Even Saban, who was a 3-4 guy, is now a 4-2-5 guy.

You can't put a LB out there and ask him to cover slot WR's vertical like we do...or ask him to tackle slot WR's in space like our Striker has to.

Furthermore, having an 'LB' next to your name doesn't make you more aggressive. Aggressiveness is a mentality. Smith is more aggressive than any of our LB's, as is Bolden. So having a 6'1" 220lb+ kid out there in space isn't necessarily making us anymore aggressive on defense just because it's a 3rd Linebacker.

This reminds me of the conversations I have with hood cats about the 4-3 defense being better at stopping the run than the 3-4 because "there's more D-lineman on the line dawg!"

 

[Coach Macho]

Pitt finished the game with 22 yards rushing.

22 yards rushing is the least amount a Miami defense has allowed against any team since the FIU game in 2018.

22 yards rushing is the least amount a Miami defense has allowed against a P5 team since UNC in 2014.

Pitt scored 19 points, with 7 of those coming on a 1 yard drive after an INT. They scored 1 TD in the football game. It was a 1 yard drive. It's 2020....scoring is at all-time highs. We've held these dudes the last 3 years to 19, 12, and 3 points the last 3 times we've played.

I genuinely don't know what y'all expect here. I didn't think it was our A+ defensive game, not really very close to that. But half the posts here are "Why aren't we like Clemson??"

Clemson has THE BEST defensive coordinator in the sport. #1. The absolute best. Blake Baker is NOT Brent Venables. And Miami DOES NOT have Clemson's athletes. You know what athletes and coordinator Miami does have? Ones to hold Pitt to 4 FGs on their "normal" offensive drives. But did y'all expect to shut them out? In a game we almost certainly lose over the last 15 years? They had 22 yards rushing....are we not allowed to give anyone any credit for a performance that hasn't happened since 2014? I don't understand this place sometimes.

Someone has to tell me what the expectation truly is here. Is it to have Clemson's defense? Is that what you guys expect?

I would expect to shut down Pitt's offense completely, particularly with their back-up.

Why, you ask?
Because I saw COUNTLESS plays on Saturday that could've been prevented.

Like...I don't think y'all realize how bad Pitt's offense is. They have one of the best defenses in the country and they're still losing.
Holding them below 19 points, with their back-up QB, is a very realistic request. Not allowing their freshman WR to have 8 catches for 147 yards is a very realistic request.

It's not just about stats with me.
It's about LOOKING AT THE PREVENTABLE PLAYS. Regardless of the stats, there were plenty of plays versus Pitt that were preventable, and versus better opponents those things get magnified.

 

[Coach Macho]

Some dudes won't be happy until we go back to running a Randy Shannon cover 2, 4-3 defense.

I LIKE our defense. It's fun to watch. I'm always expecting a strip sack or a pick or some big play from them. Do they get dinked and dunked a little bit? Sure. But we probably have the most exciting defense in college football.

That and it should be said.... the ONLY game I can remember where Diaz's defense straight up lost us the game was one of the bowl games against Wisconsin years ago. Every other game, our defense has been good enough to keep us in the game to win.

Even against Clemson this year. Our defense got worked a little bit, but they played well enough. It was our offense that couldn't get it done.

So I say we can win big with this defensive scheme. Our only problem is getting better quality players at all the spots that have been harped on for weeks - OL, WR, LB, and CB.

ok.

Name ONE good offense we played well against.

Go.

 

[OrangeBowlMagic]

I would expect to shut down Pitt's offense completely, particularly with their back-up.

Why, you ask?
Because I saw COUNTLESS plays on Saturday that could've been prevented.

Like...I don't think y'all realize how bad Pitt's offense is. They have one of the best defenses in the country and they're still losing.
Holding them below 19 points, with their back-up QB, is a very realistic request. Not allowing their freshman WR to have 8 catches for 147 yards is a very realistic request.

It's not just about stats with me.
It's about LOOKING AT THE PREVENTABLE PLAYS. Regardless of the stats, there were plenty of plays versus Pitt that were preventable, and versus better opponents those things get magnified.

To be fair, we held them to 12 points. But it's 2020 my man. You coach the game, you understand how ALL the rules are geared towards the offense these days. You wanted to shut them down completely? Like, a shutout? You're a big time fan of this program, you've seen us literally lose outright to teams like this how many times in the past? And you wanted to just completely shut them down? I mean, they ran for 22 yards. That's about as shut down as you can be. So if you're selling out against the run and making their QB beat you, he's going to have some opportunities to do so. And they left some plays on the field, for sure. Make no mistake, I'm not saying this defense is great or perfect. It's not. Baker is not a top-notch coordinator, and we have a lot of holes on the defense (backer being the most glaring, as we all know). But ****, I watched a defense hold a team to 22 yards rushing and their QB to 5.9 YPA. He threw the ball 47 times, yeah they're gonna get some yards and catch a few balls. I just can't see how you can have followed this program as closely as you have for the past 15 years and go into games expecting to literally shut people out. We are who we are. I wish we were better as much as you, but at some point we just have to realize what we've got. And what we've got is a good not great defense that's going to keep us in **** near every game we play. And in 2020, I'm not sure you can ask for a ton more than that.

I get never being satisfied and always wanting to improve, but I really didn't walk away from that game on Saturday cursing the defense. I thought it was a pretty good performance overall and we were helped in spots by a bad offense who didn't make plays at times when they were there. But it's a college football game. You know who I watched not make plays Saturday night? The supposed #5 team in the country with the best offense anyone has ever seen (sarcasm font)….those tarholes from Chapel Hill. 3 straight flat out drops to lose a football game. They're college kids, it happens. Make the opposing offense make tough plays to beat you, don't give them anything easy. That's what we did on Saturday and that's what we pretty much do every week.

 

[RightSaidFred]

ok.

Name ONE good offense we played well against.

Go.

Brother, I'm having a hard time naming one good offense we've played against, period.

Can you think of any "great" offenses that we've played badly against?

We live in the ACC and we don't see great college offenses besides maybe Clemson this year and 2017.

So against the teams we actually play year in and year out, we've been a good statistical defense since Manny took over as DC.

 

[RightSaidFred]

Besides Clemson, have we actually played against a top 10 offense since 2017? I can't think of any.

 

[Coach Macho]

To be fair, we held them to 12 points. But it's 2020 my man. You coach the game, you understand how ALL the rules are geared towards the offense these days. You wanted to shut them down completely? Like, a shutout? You're a big time fan of this program, you've seen us literally lose outright to teams like this how many times in the past? And you wanted to just completely shut them down? I mean, they ran for 22 yards. That's about as shut down as you can be. So if you're selling out against the run and making their QB beat you, he's going to have some opportunities to do so. And they left some plays on the field, for sure. Make no mistake, I'm not saying this defense is great or perfect. It's not. Baker is not a top-notch coordinator, and we have a lot of holes on the defense (backer being the most glaring, as we all know). But ****, I watched a defense hold a team to 22 yards rushing and their QB to 5.9 YPA. He threw the ball 47 times, yeah they're gonna get some yards and catch a few balls. I just can't see how you can have followed this program as closely as you have for the past 15 years and go into games expecting to literally shut people out. We are who we are. I wish we were better as much as you, but at some point we just have to realize what we've got. And what we've got is a good not great defense that's going to keep us in **** near every game we play. And in 2020, I'm not sure you can ask for a ton more than that.

I get never being satisfied and always wanting to improve, but I really didn't walk away from that game on Saturday cursing the defense. I thought it was a pretty good performance overall and we were helped in spots by a bad offense who didn't make plays at times when they were there. But it's a college football game. You know who I watched not make plays Saturday night? The supposed #5 team in the country with the best offense anyone has ever seen (sarcasm font)….those tarholes from Chapel Hill. 3 straight flat out drops to lose a football game. They're college kids, it happens. Make the opposing offense make tough plays to beat you, don't give them anything easy. That's what we did on Saturday and that's what we pretty much do every week.

Yes, brother... I think it's a reasonable request to hold Pitt and their back-up QB to 6 or 9 points. (maybe even 13)
And under 200 yards passing.
And not let their freshman WR have a career day.

I only say that because I saw SOOO MANY preventable plays that happened on Saturday.

Our particular game plan seems to be relatively the same versus every team. Our level of success usually relies on the OC and offense's ability to exploit this game plan.

You're playing Pitt, an already bad offense, and they're without their starting QB. Why not play more aggressively at DB and force an inexperienced back-up QB to make tight/accurate throws under duress? (instead of playing a very loose zone)

Again, versus Pitt it'll get us by.
I'm not focusing on Pitt. I'm looking at the flaws we show against Pitt and imaging them versus an offense with a pulse.

 

[JD08]

Besides Clemson, have we actually played against a top 10 offense since 2017? I can't think of any.

Pitt's number 7.

NCAA College Football FBS current team Stats | NCAA.com

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www.ncaa.com

Edit: My bad, I thought you said defense.

UNC is number 9 right now though.

NCAA College Football FBS current team Stats | NCAA.com

Discover the current NCAA FBS Football leaders in every stats category, as well as historic leaders.

www.ncaa.com

 

[Coach Macho]

Brother, I'm having a hard time naming one good offense we've played against, period.

Can you think of any "great" offenses that we've played badly against?

We live in the ACC and we don't see great college offenses besides maybe Clemson this year and 2017.

So against the teams we actually play year in and year out, we've been a good statistical defense since Manny took over as DC.

Wisconsin 2 years in a row. One year they beat us throwing the ball, which is hilarious.

VT's TE is still running wide open.
28 points in the first half. I don't care how bad the offense was, there's no excuse for that.

Louisville had 500+ yards and 34 points against us a few weeks ago. I actually thought their offense was really good after that game, but then they went and got dominated by Pitt and ND.

I mean, we allowed FIU to score 31 and their RB had a career day.

 

[RightSaidFred]

Pitt's number 7.

NCAA College Football FBS current team Stats | NCAA.com

Discover the current NCAA FBS Football leaders in every stats category, as well as historic leaders.

www.ncaa.com

Edit: My bad, I thought you said defense.

UNC is number 9 right now though.

NCAA College Football FBS current team Stats | NCAA.com

Discover the current NCAA FBS Football leaders in every stats category, as well as historic leaders.

www.ncaa.com

Ehhhh… technically maybe.... numbers are what they are.... but I'm not buying that one. By the end of the year they won't be.

But OK. We held them to 19.

 

[JD08]

Ehhhh… technically maybe.... numbers are what they are.... but I'm not buying that one. By the end of the year they won't be.

But OK. We held them to 19.

Your point stands. We're great against good competition, but not good against great competition.

 

[RightSaidFred]

Wisconsin 2 years in a row. One year they beat us throwing the ball, which is hilarious.

VT's TE is still running wide open.
28 points in the first half. I don't care how bad the offense was, there's no excuse for that.

Louisville had 500+ yards and 34 points against us a few weeks ago. I actually thought their offense was really good after that game, but then they went and got dominated by Pitt and ND.

I mean, we allowed FIU to score 31 and their RB had a career day.

OK but Wisconsin's offense those years wasn't even top 50. VT, Louisville (this year), and FIU aren't top offenses.

So yeah you can say we've been inconsistent, but that's most teams. On the whole, statistically, we've been top 20. I'm still saying that besides Wisconsin, our defense didn't lose us any of those games.

So if you're trying to say this defense's stats are padded by playing **** offenses, well maybe. If you're trying to say they wouldn't hold up against a good offense.... I'm saying there isn't any way to know, because besides Clemson, we haven't played any.

It's not like we're playing Oklahoma and Ohio State every year. Our one test has been Clemson, and I don't know what to say about that... we played to our talent level. But the offense was the bigger problem in that one.

 

[Coach Macho]

OK but Wisconsin's offense those years wasn't even top 50. VT, Louisville (this year), and FIU aren't top offenses.

So yeah you can say we've been inconsistent, but that's most teams. On the whole, statistically, we've been top 20. I'm still saying that besides Wisconsin, our defense didn't lose us any of those games.

So if you're trying to say this defense's stats are padded by playing **** offenses, well maybe. If you're trying to say they wouldn't hold up against a good offense.... I'm saying there isn't any way to know, because besides Clemson, we haven't played any.

It's not like we're playing Oklahoma and Ohio State every year. Our one test has been Clemson, and I don't know what to say about that... we played to our talent level. But the offense was the bigger problem in that one.

Exactly! Those offenses weren't even top-50 and we looked like doo-doo versus them!

 

[Go Canes!!]

Exactly! Those offenses wern't even top-50 and we looked like doo-doo versus them

I'm not sure what point you are continuing to make, especially after watching college football every Saturday. Week in and week out just about every defense in college football looks like crap against a competent offense. Who is this team beating up on Top 25-40 offenses?

Imo our defense is designed to work exactly as it did in drive one against Pitt. Yes they made a few throws and runs for a couple of first downs. But around mid field they tried to throw on 1st down and one of our playmakers did what they usually to do, beat his man for a sack. Now with down and distance in our favor they forced Yellen into two bad throws under pressure and the drive ended.

That's what we have done consistently well under Diaz for a vast majority of his tenure here very well. So you may see the short passes in front of them but I see that in nearly every possession, our defense makes drive changing play that the vast majority of the time results in a punt.

 

[RightSaidFred]

Exactly! Those offenses weren't even top-50 and we looked like doo-doo versus them!

In 2017, our defense carried us the entire year. They single handedly won every game for us and took us to 10-0 at one point. The Richt offense with Malik Rosier that year was complete dog****.

All Miami needs is better players in certain spots. I think blowing up the defensive scheme when it's proven to work here just a few years ago would be a mistake.

 

[canesdogo]

Exactly! Those offenses weren't even top-50 and we looked like doo-doo versus them!

Macho brings up interesting points.

Consistent inconsistency, especially with teams that have average players, making them into superstars is not the way to improve your team. One of our ongoing problems, to which no one has an answer.

Miami for years have said that we had "best practices in years", and then came out looking like "sh**" in games we should have dominated.

After 15 years of waiting it makes you wonder what our Coaches are doing with some of those 4 star talents that have walked through our doors.

Hopefully a Lashlee mindset to reboot, along with some " win attitude " will make us improve as the season progresses.
I certainly as **** hope so............................ahhh, where is the warp speed O gone?.........we are waiting....