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How far can a top 25 defense get us ?
Posted on 7/21/16 at 1:02 am
Posted on 7/21/16 at 1:02 am
Thoughts?
This post was edited on 7/21/16 at 1:06 am
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Posted on 7/21/16 at 1:43 am to ChexMix
A top 25 defense is really wishful thinking. I've been trying to stay positive on the defense. Just can't get over Steel giving up 70 to West Virginia.
Posted on 7/21/16 at 7:08 am to AU24
quote:
A top 25 defense is really wishful thinking. I've been trying to stay positive on the defense. Just can't get over Steel giving up 70 to West Virginia.
Why? WVU was an offensive machine that year with some sick weapons out there. I mean, Saban gave up nearly 500 yards passing to Nick Marshall but no one questions him. Bad games happen. The truth is that Steele consistently has fielded good defenses around the top 25.
Posted on 7/21/16 at 7:53 am to WareagleKK
As far as our quarterback play takes us.
Posted on 7/21/16 at 7:57 am to AU24
quote:
A top 25 defense is really wishful thinking. I've been trying to stay positive on the defense. Just can't get over Steel giving up 70 to West Virginia.
That one game was horrible & that season was his worst but defining a coach by one game is dumb. I don't think Steele is an elite DC but I do think he can be solid. Here are his S&P+ ranks for every season he has been DC.
2007 Bama - 45th
2009 Clemson - 26th
2010 Clemson - 27th
2011 Clemson - 73rd
2015 LSU - 27th
So 3 out of his 5 years as DC he has fielded a top 30 defense. Again I am not arguing he is the best DC in the SEC or he will give us consistent top 10 defenses but I think it's a mistake to judge him only on that horrible Orange Bowl
Fun stat Gus Malzahn as HC of AU is 20-4 when defense holds opponent to under 30. All 4 of those losses came last season under his worse collegiate offense. I think Steele can give us a defense that holds our opponents under 30. If Malzahn does his thing that's enough for us to be successful.
Edit: FYI he is 71-9 in his collegiate career as HC/OC when defense holds opponent to under 30 which is an 89% win percentage. Average defense paired with Malzahn's usual offense results in a lot of success
This post was edited on 7/21/16 at 8:01 am
Posted on 7/21/16 at 8:07 am to WareagleKK
quote:
Why? WVU was an offensive machine that year with some sick weapons out there. I mean, Saban gave up nearly 500 yards passing to Nick Marshall but no one questions him. Bad games happen. The truth is that Steele consistently has fielded good defenses around the top 2
Giving up 456 passing yards total is not equivalent to giving up 70 points. That was a really stupid analogy. I don't care how good West Virginia's offense was, giving up 70 is extremely bad. It's not like their great athletes invented the wheel and was a new brand of athlete that no one has ever seen before. I can see why you're regarded as a huge sunshine pumper
Posted on 7/21/16 at 8:19 am to AU24
quote:63 not 70
Just can't get over Steel giving up 70 to West Virginia.
Posted on 7/21/16 at 8:19 am to WareagleKK
quote:
The truth is that Steele consistently has fielded good defenses around the top 25.
Ok. But how many of those did Steele turn into around a top 25 defense that were not already close?
Posted on 7/21/16 at 8:25 am to AU24
quote:
A top 25 defense is really wishful thinking. I've been trying to stay positive on the defense. Just can't get over Steel giving up 70 to West Virginia.
I think if we get the offense back on track and field a top 50 defense without any really heinous games then we will be just fine and close the class out strong with a future.
If the defense continues to underperform then we might be looking at 7 wins with a bowl.
No matter what, Malzahn hangs his hat on his offense and that is what his future will be gauged on.
Posted on 7/21/16 at 8:52 am to jangalang
You're a fool if you judge someone off of 1 game in their career. End of story.
I don't even believe Steele will be successful at Auburn. But it's sure as hell not because I'm judging off of a single game out of hundreds and hundreds of games he's coached in
I don't even believe Steele will be successful at Auburn. But it's sure as hell not because I'm judging off of a single game out of hundreds and hundreds of games he's coached in
Posted on 7/21/16 at 9:10 am to Rig
If Champ could not get us to a top 25 defense, what makes people think Steele can
Posted on 7/21/16 at 9:12 am to TigerPaw1
quote:what the hell is S&P+? Why not use scoring defense since that is really the only measure that matters for a defense
Here are his S&P+ ranks
Posted on 7/21/16 at 9:12 am to LanierSpots
Steele has better more experienced players to work with
Posted on 7/21/16 at 9:15 am to LanierSpots
Agreed.
Posted on 7/21/16 at 9:25 am to ChexMix
quote:
what the hell is S&P+? Why not use scoring defense since that is really the only measure that matters for a defense
S&P+ Explanation
I used it because it does a better job of evaluating the effectiveness of a defense but if you insist here are his scoring defense rankings
2007 - 27th
2009 - 24th
2010 - 13th
2011 - 81st
2015 - 41st
So again 3/5 top 30 & 2011 being his worst
Posted on 7/21/16 at 9:57 am to TigerPaw1
where are you getting your ranking numbers. Under LSU for 2015, LSU has S&P+ rank of 27, not 41.
Also, according to the link you provided, Auburn had a rank of 31.
Also, according to the link you provided, Auburn had a rank of 31.
Posted on 7/21/16 at 10:10 am to Rig
quote:
You're a fool if you judge someone off of 1 game in their career. End of story.
I don't judge him off of one game. How in the helll did you infer that I was judging KS off of one game? KS has been around the block so I obviously know what kind of talent he has been working with. I obviously can form a much more complete opinion of him with the rest of the information
However, don't undersell the conference-level embarrassment that occurred during the Orange bowl and compare it to putting up 456 passing yards on Bama. If you watched the WVU-Clemson game, you would've saw that WVU could have easily score another two touchdowns.
Posted on 7/21/16 at 10:21 am to ChexMix
quote:
where are you getting your ranking numbers. Under LSU for 2015, LSU has S&P+ rank of 27, not 41.
Which is what I posted in my original answer but you asked for scoring defense. so in 2015 they had the 27th ranked defense according to S&P+ but 41st in scoring defense
Edit: For clarity here are the numbers all together
2007 Bama - 45th S&P+ 27th scoring defense
2009 Clemson - 26th S&P+ 24th scoring defense
2010 Clemson - 27th S&P+ 13th scoring defense
2011 Clemson - 73rd S&P+ 81st scoring defense
2015 LSU - 27th S&P+ 41st scoring defense
2 good defenses, 2 average defenses, 1 bad defense
all those D's but the 2011 paired with a normal Malzahn offense gets the job done
This post was edited on 7/21/16 at 10:31 am
Posted on 7/21/16 at 11:07 am to TigerPaw1
IMO, if we just fix the fundamentals our D will improve drastically. Think about all the missed tackles that gave up tons of yards. If we make tackles...we don't give up nearly as many yards. Maybe KS can fix that?
Posted on 7/21/16 at 11:20 am to TigerPaw1
quote:much better comparison there, thank you
Edit: For clarity here are the numbers all together
2007 Bama - 45th S&P+ 27th scoring defense
2009 Clemson - 26th S&P+ 24th scoring defense
2010 Clemson - 27th S&P+ 13th scoring defense
2011 Clemson - 73rd S&P+ 81st scoring defense
2015 LSU - 27th S&P+ 41st scoring defense
what do you think about Auburn being ranked 31? Are we that far off from being a top 25 defense?
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