re: 11-1 is VERY possible

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I'm talking in general terms between the 2 seasons.
We were much better with our rush defense in '11 compared to '12

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For one, Brandon Boykin was a stud. He manned the star position and just about led the team in tackles for a loss in 2011. We also lost Deangelo Tyson to graduation.

Going into 2012, Derek Lott transferred and midseason Abry Jones got hurt. That forced John Jenkins out of NT in our base defense and into DE (Kwame geathers was the new full time NT).
Losing 3 guys from the DL and playing our best lineman out of position had a big impact on our ability to control the line of scrimmage.

We could do it against run only teams (Shawn Williams,Herrera, and Gilliard plugging the holes). But teams that can stretch the field with WRs forced our run stuffing safeties out of the box. Our run stuffing ILBs also had to focus on the pass responsibilities. And all of a sudden, we couldn't stop the run or pass... even against weaker competition.