It's all on the D now

by 5026 on Oct 20, 2008 2:59 PM CDT Comment 7 comments

With 5 games to go it seems to me our success is going to be totally decided by the Defense. Everybody has figured out the way to stop Bama is play a tight man, pack the box, and then make JPW beat you. JPW is better this year than last year thanks to our new OC, but is he really the guy you can count on to win the close games? I don't know, but I am not confident.

Our running game seems to be less each week and to me our offense is now in middle of the SEC. ( I think UGA, UF, Ole Miss, & LSU are all better on O than us.) Our "great" line may have 3 future NFL guys playing there, but they are not good enough to play 5 on 7 and have success. Since the 2nd half of UGA we have looked unable to control the game from the offensive side. We will have long runs or long bombs, but we can't seem to grind much out. Even a good drive against UK ended with only a FG. Saturday success was largely due to field position and big plays.

So, it seems it is all on the D now. Fortunately UT, MSU, and AU all seem to be poor offensive teams so maybe our D can handle them. Unfortunately, as we saw Sat., our D is not as good without Cody. Hopefully he will somehow make it back for LSU which has the best O we will face the rest of the way. Even if he is 90% I'd play him just to get their mind on him.

The really bad thing is if you are playing to win with the D you need a good kicking game. Both punting and kick-offs are weak. Do you ever notice how almost every school's kicker get's it to the end zone on kick-offs except us? Do you ever notice how almost every school's punter punts it higher and deeper than us? We are terrible here and even when we signed a kicking guy to a scholly he can't beat out the walk-ons. Man, we could sure use a good punter now.

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Worst kicking game ever

Tiffin makes me a nervous wreck. He is so unreliable. Not sure why PJ didnt kick on Sat, unless he is hurt. The new guy was no better. I dont think we have had a touchback from a kickoff all year.

I wouldn't piss off the boys from Alabama . . .

by I hate UT on Oct 20, 2008 3:26 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Man thats a grim out look on our team

Sure the offense struggled but i wouldn’t say Ole Miss and LSU have better offenses than us. You’re right about not being able to block 7-8, we do need to figure out a game plan for this.

And our kicking game hasn’t been that bad. PJ Fitz has done a much better job this year. and tiffin, besides the arky game has been very reliable. I know the 2nd half has been rought these last 2 weeks but it hasn’t been that bad to say its all on the offense.

Don't take life to seriously, you'll never get out alive.

by bammer on Oct 20, 2008 3:38 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

What he said.

Overall, our offense has been the biggest difference for us this year. Looking only at SEC games, we have put up better numbers than every team except the Gators. Our line is stout, JP is solid, our receivers/TEs are talented, and we finally have a healthy stable of RBs. The point totals are likely to drop since we are now facing better defenses each week, but I’ll take our O over any we face. The UK game? We pissed all kinds of points away with turnovers and penalties, but we pushed them around all day long. And there’s no way Ole Miss has a better O than us. No. Freakin’. Way.

Nobody’s D is better without Cody, but Josh Chapman is a man. We just need quality help for him, and I hope we don’t have to move Washington to do it. Gentry played better than I expected against Ole Miss, so we’ll see. This is where it’s nice to have two 250+ MLBs behind the line.

I would love to have better punting, and I don’t know what’s going on with kickoffs, but I’m wondering if we were intentionally kicking short to avoid their return man. I just don’t know. I can tell you this: I’m very comfortable with Tiffin kicking field goals. He’s already at least one of the top five field goal kickers we’ve ever had, and he’s just a junior.

We’ve got a tough road ahead, but keep your head up, scream your lungs out, and soothe your throat with a tasty brew. Maybe we’ll make history. We’re definitely making noise.

by NiceLittleSaturday on Oct 20, 2008 3:54 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah

i don’t think the kicking game is that bad, Tiffin missed 2 FG’s in the UK game but other than that he’s been solid much like he was last year. PJ did a good job I thought punting as well. To me, with special teams, its all about not screwing up. If you can execute on special teams and just not f-up and get a kick blocked, fumble a snap, miss a makeable FG, shank a punt or muff a punt etc… thats 80% of the battle.

I think with the offense in the 2nd half, its got to have something to do with trusting JP to make a play or two. Which I think he should be trusted to do. I mean, he’s not Brandon Cox, the guy has shown he can throw a pass over 10 yards with accuracy, so why not?

by Bens4vcobra on Oct 20, 2008 3:53 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

All I'm saying is

we aren’t going to put 40 or even 30 up on people like we did on UGA. We are going to have to win more like 17-10 (you know like UK and even Ole Miss) which is a defensive win. People have figured us out offensively.

By the way Coffee will not play as much here on in. Ingram will ge tmost of th ework, although I’d like to see Upchurch some too. But Ingram has not been a break away threat thus far.

And the field goals are ok as long as Tiffin isn’t on the far right hash, but the kick-offs and punting is not D-1 level. You can’t tell on TV, but in person it is clear that PJF is not as good as almost every other punter we have faced.

I think we can win them all, but it is going to be DEFENSE that pulls us through.

by 5026 on Oct 20, 2008 6:30 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I

have to dissagree with that about Ingram. You have to remember this kid is a true freshman and is playing like a sophmore he has had many a runs where most other backs would have went down he just kept on going. I have saw him run over db’s and bounce off would be tackles all year and he has been our second string back. I know if he starts getting more carries than coffee you will see even more talent displayed as long as our line can make holes and JPW can make the defenses unload the box more.

by rolltidejunk on Oct 21, 2008 12:14 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Do Not Despair

An important positive note is that we don’t have any games left on our schedule against an experienced quarterback. UT, LSU, MSU, and Auburn have all have had serious quarterback woes this year. This should allow our defense to keep opposing offenses in check and keep pressure off the offense.

I think we will see more of the screen passes that were so effective against UGA to counter the blitzes and stacking of the box, so hopefully the offense will improve.

by CJackson on Oct 20, 2008 9:47 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs