re: Which team will have the best defense in '13?

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One player does not make a team great.

He is a great player don't get me wrong. USCe will not have the best defense in the SEC because of one player.

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No Gamecock fans (I highly question if the OP is a legit Gamecock fan) thinks USC will have the top SEC D in 2013, Clowney or no Clowney. USC was 4th, 3rd, 7th (our poor pass D in 2010 brought us down), 3rd, and 4th in total D beginning with 2008. We certainly have had some of the better defenses in the SEC in those years, and that should be good enough.

I expect a slight drop in team defense for 2013 unless our LB position of young, inexperienced players steps up and solidifies early in the season. Perhaps out of the top 5 like we did in '10 - that was the last time we were also thin at the LB position, and IMO it played the biggest role in our poor pass coverage because our safeties were having to cover the hole behind the DL too much, and it over-burdened our CBs into over-committing often on big plays.

We should be solid at both the DL and DB for '13. If our LBs can pleasantly surprise, we could wind up with another top-4 total defense again. It's the offense that I'm hopeful will take a step forward: we had the best offensive production ever under Spurrier last season, and I'm expecting to surpass that for '13....

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'm looking at the official participation report....but looking not only at the number of listed starts, but also at the PRODUCTION those players had for the team. Saying a player started 10+ games means little if he didn't contribute much. And saying a player didn't start, and therefore wasn't a factor to the team means little if he's a team leader in tackles, TFL, sacks, INTs, etc.

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Yes. Your problem is that you equate a high tackle position like LB with the other positions. he was good in limited time and made tackles because that is what his position does. He is listed behind three DBs, and the LB that was on the field the entire game. It is sort of funny how someone who didn't see the games thinks that he knows better than the fans of that team.

Minter is listed ahead of Brockers, Logan, Montgomery,and Mingo. All played substantially more than he did. What accounts for the difference? The position in Chavis' scheme. Without that bit of context, you will continue to be misled.

ETA: Check out the "solo" tackle category. That explains a lot of what I'm talking about in terms of tackle differences that are positional. He had like 21 tackles on his own and was in on almost double that amount based on his position.

Bama played 2 really good offenses last year, TAMU and UGA. They had a really hard time stopping both of them. They also made LSU and Mett look like Peyton Manning.

Bama has a very strong defense but they have such a balanced offense and power running game, it makes their defense look better than it is.

This sounds homerish but I think Florida had a better defensive unit. Our offense was just the shittiest in the SEC. It puts SO much pressure on your defense when your offense leads Earth in 3 and outs. An example is our common opponents. UGA and LSU. Both UGA and LSU struggled mightily against our defense, scoring 1 TD.

We also held Johnny Football to 2 TDs and only 2 second half first downs. He did that to Bama in the first 6 minutes of that game.

Bama. 3/6 of our two deep on the DL return, all four of our starting LBs this season will be returning starters, and our secondary will be far and away better than last season.

Not Arkansas.

:lmao:

Well, last year I'd have to say- sadly- it was LSU. :-(

This year I'm happy to say it looks like Bama. :-)













Oh wait...I thought you meant criminal defense.



Sorry.

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Auburn. Frick Clowney, he'll be licking the jock strap clean of the 2013 Heisman winner, Carl Lawson. 33 sacks, calling it.

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I agree somewhat - FL had a good defense last season. It helps to have the offense help out the D and it helps when the D helps out the O. Finding the right mix between Off-Def-ST is tough, but when a team can put them all together, good things happen.

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This is why I am hopeful for 2013...we've had solid defenses overall for longer than the past 3 seasons, but our offenses have improved substantially beginning with 2010, and I feel that's the reason why our overall success has improved. Unless our defense is hurt by our new LBs more than I expect, and our offense is plagued by injuries again, we should have a very balanced team again overall on O and D, unlike most of the SEC-East is expected to be next season...