5 Ways to Improve the Texas Defense

[Harrison Wier]

Elliot and jones at safety. Locke Nickel.Hill and Davis Corner.Freeman and Wheeler at linebacker. Put Malik on the edge with Hager opposite. Poona and Boyette at tackle. Get the shark,Elliot,Roach and Christmas plenty of snaps too! Fowler also if he's ready!

I like the sound of a lot of that lineup. I'm not sure if Freeman is athletic enough to keep up with the spread as a full-time starter, but I wouldn't be opposed to seeing what he's made of. I'm not sure if Shark and Fowler will play this year. If they do, I think that means they earned their reps.

 

[RunRickyRun]

I like the sound of a lot of that lineup. I'm not sure if Freeman is athletic enough to keep up with the spread as a full-time starter, but I wouldn't be opposed to seeing what he's made of. I'm not sure if Shark and Fowler will play this year. If they do, I think that means they earned their reps.

Has the staff ever thought about trying Jason Hall at MLB? I think that would be a better fit for him than safety.

 

[83Dee]

The issue is playing spread offenses, you're going to give up yards. 

Who can move the ball well in the conference? Nearly everyone. Tech, Baylor, Ok State, OU, West Virginia, 

Heck, even Alabama gave up 421 passing yards to Ole Miss a week ago and no one would dare question the defensive greatness of Nick Saban. 

The goal is going to have to be creating turnovers and stops. Ignore yards because teams are going to get them. So if you're looking for the Texas defense to give up less than 300 yards per game, you will be left wanting more. What they need is to stop them from scoring every drive. 

Cal had 15 drives. Here is how every Cal drive ended:

Touchdown

Downs

Punt

Touchdown

Punt

Touchdown

Touchdown

Safety (for Texas)

Touchdown

Punt

Punt

Punt

Touchdown 

Touchdown

End of Game. 

The ones in bold are the 2nd half drives. So half of the drives ended with stops. What did Texas do?

Missed FG

Punt

Punt

Touchdown

Field Goal

Punt. 

So each team had 6 drives in the 2nd half. Texas scored twice and Cal scored twice (officially). Texas didn't answer efficiently as well. Left 3 points at least on the field in the second half. The first 3 drives of the second half, the defense only gave up 36 yards to Cal. That's pretty good. They just didn't close. 

Cal scored touchdowns on 7 of their 15 drives (unofficially 8 since that touchdown was called back). We are going to get into shootouts this year in the Big 12. The defense needs to ensure that teams only score AT MOST on 40% of their drives. Plus, don't commit as many penalties. That's the recipe for success, but this is still a young team that will make mistakes. 

I think the point is that most Texas fans don't expect to go blow for blow with Cal.  Your point is that we battled to a pretty close game with Cal?  I think most Texas fans feel as though we should be better than that. 

I began watching Texas football about the time Fred Akers took over; and during that entire time (40+ years) I have felt that Texas should be an elite team.  Akers had a good stretch of being in the top ten consistently and Mack Brown had an elite stretch during the Vince and Colt years.  Other than that Texas has been ordinary to a little above average (far from elite).

I have always thought that the recruiting base in Texas, endless financial resources, beautiful City of Austin to sell, rich tradition.... put us in a position where we should be elite in football; my history is beginning to make me think that my expectations are what the real problem is.   

 

[83Dee]

Hey everyone,

While you are watching football on this lovely Saturday evening, I wrote a piece on what I thought needed to happen in order for Texas to right the ship on defense. I did not mention Charlie Strong taking over play-calling, primarily because I tried to keep it to scheme and personnel. Let me know what you guys think and if you have any additional thoughts on what you think needs to happen. This weekend has had a crazy slate of games. Let's chat about them! Hope you are having a great weekend! 

http://www.armchairallamericans.com/105028-2/

I agree with every point as well.  Very good article!  One point that is particularly frustrating is your point about Malik. 

We have taken the top defensive recruit in the country (out of high school).... an outside linebacker with pass rushing skills that scream "Top Ten NFL Draft Pick!"  And put him at Middle Linebacker - dropping him in pass coverage far too often.  This is even more head scratching when you recall that before Malik's freshman season the coaches actually said that the only area of his game that is not real good is pass coverage.  Why, oh why, oh why is he not lining up on the outside and rushing the QB every time he drops back?  I thought we were told that the development of Wheeler enabled Malik to go back to his NATURAL position of OLB? 

I'm not in practice or the coaching meetings; but this seems pretty clear cut (apparently it is to Harrison as well).  We probably have Malik for the rest of this season and next before he gets paid by the NFL.  We have now spent about half his time in Austin playing him in a position that doesn't suit his skills best. 

 

[Godz40acres]

nm
 

 

[oldhorn2]

83dee....I have always thought you have been an above average poster, but when you have decided where players should play ( Malik) and how they should be used, I was disappointed to say the least.Now if you will list your credentials I might respect your opinion, but if you are just another couch hugger watching the games on Saturday, I really wish you would not give your opinions as facts.

 

[North Texas Golfer]

83dee....I have always thought you have been an above average poster, but when you have decided where players should play ( Malik) and how they should be used, I was disappointed to say the least.Now if you will list your credentials I might respect your opinion, but if you are just another couch hugger watching the games on Saturday, I really wish you would not give your opinions as facts.

Did I miss something?

I didn't see where he gave his opinion as a "fact". His opinion looked like an opinion. 

 

[83Dee]

83dee....I have always thought you have been an above average poster, but when you have decided where players should play ( Malik) and how they should be used, I was disappointed to say the least.Now if you will list your credentials I might respect your opinion, but if you are just another couch hugger watching the games on Saturday, I really wish you would not give your opinions as facts.

Credentials:  Couch hugger. 

My post was intended to pose questions I have due to things I have heard coming from the coaching staff: 

1)  The only area in which Malik does NOT excel is pass coverage; a tremendous strength of his is getting after the QB from the edge. 

2)  All last year they talked about moving Malik around giving him opportunities to rush from the edge (which they do some).  As soon as the season ended last year, I heard they were looking to line him up on the edge to take advantage of his pass rushing skills. 

3)  I thought I heard that the emergence of Wheeler (ILB in high school) afforded the opportunity to move Malik to OLB.... I thought it was a done deal. 

I admitted in my post that I am just trusting my ears (what I have heard) and eyes (what I see watching the games).  I do not understand why Malik ever drops back in pass coverage.... why he isn't rushing the passer (team weakness / Malik strength) every time the QB drops back?  Wasn't that one of Harrison's five bullet points?

I was surprised when it was announced last year that Malik would play MLB; even more so this year when he lined up there again. 

 

[oldhorn2]

fair enough. I should not have come off that aggressively. The strange thing is that I see and hear different things....that Malik excels in space where his amazing speed allows him to lose quickly and make plays that way. I heard the biggest reason to move him from the inside is that he continually wastes his ability trying to get off of blocks by the O line. Then I read somewhere that Hager, not Wheeler would be the best option at MLB.

What I do agree with you on is that in the current setup we are not hearing Malik's name nearly as often as we should.