Flood may stay but...
- Thread starter RUsilencer
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Ridiculous post. The DBS are using the correct technique and that showed when Cioffi and Wharton intercepted passes. Sudfeld is a good quarterback who made mistakes when the game was on the line, and our DBs capitalized.
Rossi switched up the defense and didn't stay in cover 2 all game, which I liked. He also brought pressure at key moments.
Everybody deserves credit for the victory because each unit did enough to win.
Rossi switched up the defense and didn't stay in cover 2 all game, which I liked. He also brought pressure at key moments.
Everybody deserves credit for the victory because each unit did enough to win.
I definitely credit rossI for holding them to 52.
It's a problem due to talent and experience, not scheme. Last year we faced the national champion, the big ten west winner and a Nebraska team which had a heisman caliber back in Abdullah. This year the defense is playing as well as it is capable of, especially considering we lost 3/4 of our secondary.
I think that RU should make it a practice to fire a different coach after every game.
As long as Rossi holds the opponent to one less than our opponent, it's a fantastic outcome, especially when you consider the context of our situation. Not easy for first timers to play big time football, as there is a huge learning curve, but our guys are playing as well as possible.
Floods philosophy is to not give up the big play. At least 1 of the safeties isn't in the field of play on every play.
You need your head checked if you don't think there is something wrong on defense, especially after last night. Our defensive game plans for spread offenses is pitiful and someone should be fired for it.
The question needs to be whether it's really Rossi at fault, or whether he gets a pass this year because of all of the last second turnover in players on D.
Wasn't the pass last year, with 4 blowout losses? Other than last week, we have been poor defensively this season.
And don't you think a major reason for that is due to the secondary situation?
Geez....can't you give the negative stuff a 24 hr respite?
We are all aware of the overall situation of the program, but my god....enough already...just sit back, smile and enjoy the win
I wouldn't evaluate based on 1 year. Take a look at the full picture and see if there's any improvement. Looks like we're just about running place.
2014 total defense 98; scoring defense 92
2015 (through 6 games) total defense 106; scoring defense 84
As a point of comparison under Cohen (in the AAC)
2013 total defense 74; scoring defense 81
2014 total defense 98; scoring defense 92
2015 (through 6 games) total defense 106; scoring defense 84
As a point of comparison under Cohen (in the AAC)
2013 total defense 74; scoring defense 81
No, that is not true and that is the problem. See this thread as shining example.
1. OP raises a question
2. People answer
3. Disagreement with the status quo is attacked.
Why?
There is no defending this defense, period, I'm sick of hearing excuses. Talk about how "great" our DL and LB's were, coming into this season, was an absolute joke. Time to move on, get bigger, and get better. Bottom line: we have one of the WORST D's in the nation. Period.
You can always find an excuse for why the defense or the offense is not performing well, and if you want to you can find an excuse year after year after year....
Turay - Hasn't made the necessary jump yet. Still a passing down rusher.
Hamilton - Redshirting due to injury. Big loss.
Young DTs - For frosh, I think they've played pretty decent.
Other DTs/DEs - Been OK, nothing special.
Longa - Should play on Sundays.
Lewis - A good addition.
Gause - Has played OK, but nothing super special.
Other LBs - None of the young guys have really stood out yet.
DBs - Yeah, about that ... we're essentially throwing ME out there and asking me to defend at the B1G level. Cioffi and Hester were the only guys really expected to see time this year.
Overall, yes, we're pretty bad on D right now, with a couple standout guys. Things would be much different if this team was the same team going into this year.
Disagree that it would be "much" different. It would be better, yes, but not "much" different than it is now and I'm not even sure if the #'s would be better than last year (which everyone here, myself included, thought would be the case). Bottom line:
Total D - 105th
Pass Efficiency D - 112th (should get a little better)
Team Sacks - 86th
Run D - 30th, BUT.....this ranking will plummet after we play OSU, Michigan, Wiscy, Nebraska, and Army. So far we've played teams who like to throw the ball (for the most part).
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You seem fixated on results and not the root cause. Our DL wasn't strong enough to take on the top OLs in the B1G last year. The DL was getting pushed down field 5 yards on every running play. Steve Longa indicated the team focused on improving their strength when preparing for this season. Rutgers DL is playing much better, especially the last couple of games. This year's DL is much improved, even with Hamilton out.
"better"?? Let's see how we do against OL's with pulse (did awful against PSU's...MSU down 3 projected starting OL including an AA): OSU, Michigan, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. We've played well against the run, so far, but our pass D is literally one of the the nation (see above, stats don't lie).
I'm not smart enough to know whether or not Rossi is a FBS D-Coord.
What I do know is Rutgers has not been able to develop any DB continuity since Ryan, Harmon, etc left. If you are going to be fair, that's not Rossi's fault.
Since December Rutgers has lost 6 DB's at the least. 3 were likely starters, 2 second teamers. Very few teams could withstand that. Even MSU has problems at DB and they lost only 2 DBs.
What I do know is Rutgers has not been able to develop any DB continuity since Ryan, Harmon, etc left. If you are going to be fair, that's not Rossi's fault.
Since December Rutgers has lost 6 DB's at the least. 3 were likely starters, 2 second teamers. Very few teams could withstand that. Even MSU has problems at DB and they lost only 2 DBs.
Stop Al. When it comes to technique at Rutgers Wilson is doing a piss poor job with the young guys. Wilson is giving them bits and pieces of nice technique, but he needs to finish it. Situation awareness is at an all time low at Rutgers. Rossi as the DC has to hold Wilson accountable. Btw, go talk to one of the young DB and give them a situation and wait for the answer. Wilson isn't dotting the "I"s and crossing his "T"s.
Rossi has shown the ability to call a nice game, but he's not consistent. A good coach will continue to evaluate himself to see what is working and in what situation. When things don't go right for Rossi, he retreat to calling the same defense over and over because it's his comfort zone no matter what. You can't play zone most of the time and the same goes for man to man. There has to be a solid mixture of both and the zone can't be the same one like cover 2 all the time. You can play cover 3 or quarters to the front side and with a safety on the backside playing 1/2 the field. Just mix it up.
This is not the same attacking style defense Rutgers ran in the past. Under Schiano and Rob Smith, Rutgers blitzed/pressured defense to the tune of more than 40% of the snaps. Under Cohen, Rutgers was around 30% of the time. Now under Rossi it's down to 20% of the time and that does not including the MSU game. Last year's defense faced better equipped offenses, yet they gave up few yards/points per game. I think Rossi can be a good DC, but this might not be the stage for trial and error on what works.
MSU did fine with backups and played adequately against Michigan yesterday. All the top B1G programs we face have superior OL size and depth. Yet, this year our DL isn't getting pushed downfield that way they did last year. That is a noticeable change.
This team has played well enough offensively to be 5-1. They've played poorly enough defensively to be 1-5.
Stats don't lie and, I've always said, tough to use huge rivalry games as a barometer for most things in college football. Again, let's see what happens against the "bigger" teams to come, hopefully not more of what happened against PSU!!
Doug:
Do you know why situational awareness is at an all time low, it's because 3/4 of our starting secondary is either sitting in jail or thrown out of school because of stupidity. Darian Daily and Barnwell should have been our starting corners.
These kids are going to be much better as sophomores and juniors than they are as freshman. This year, they're taking their lumps, but they're getting better at the same time. Adams was at his prom in May, and now he might start vs tOSU, when he should be red shirting. Look how Cioffi was a total disaster in 2013, and now hes playing like a star.
Why, because he's bigger, stronger, and more experienced, and his situational awareness has increased exponentially. That also why we aren't seeing as much variety in defensive schemes. You can only tell kids to play what they know. What good is it to have them playing what they don't know? This ain't 2012, which is why we have to keep it simple. We aren't even sure what our responsibility is in vanilla cover 2 and now you're going to ask them to play cover 3 or quarters? Come on!
Any qb who can throw accurately downfield is going to torch this secondary, and that's what we have to live with. With no Hamilton, there's no pass rush, unless we bring pressure.
But you know what, our guys stepped up and made plays when they were needed most. Take away Cioffi and Whartons interceptions, and we're 2-4 and the season is pretty much over.
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we are playing a completely freshman backfield (several true-freshman). Our best Lineman is a medical redshirt. Turay has clearly been injured.
we are not that deep.
"next man up" is a great expression but, one player is not interchangeable with another..
Whether Rossi needs to go -- a lot of people don't seem to understand what has been going on with personnel on this team.....
we are not that deep.
"next man up" is a great expression but, one player is not interchangeable with another..
Whether Rossi needs to go -- a lot of people don't seem to understand what has been going on with personnel on this team.....
You don't want to hear about freshmen DBs? Well....it's the reality and RU has to live with it. Anyone who states that it doesn't have a big impact on defensive play...especially the way the game is played today.. has very limited knowledge. If anything , having an experience defensive backfield (players who have been playing 3, 4 or 5 years) is probably more important than experience on the DL. When Schiano had young or inexperienced DBs..the defense usually struggled. The two best RU defenses in the last 15 years (2006 and 2012) had very experienced secondarys...with not only the starters having played a lot but most of the backups as well.
When the defense has no pass rush and inexperienced defense backs the end result is chaos and difficulty winning any game.
At the end of the season check the records and see how many Rutgers wins were against teams with a winning record.I think Maryland and Navy were the only teams last season.
The bottom line is that the defense has been in a downward spiral for a number of years going back to Schiano's tenure.
At the end of the season check the records and see how many Rutgers wins were against teams with a winning record.I think Maryland and Navy were the only teams last season.
The bottom line is that the defense has been in a downward spiral for a number of years going back to Schiano's tenure.
You're a waste NUTS ...a 40+ something spoiled Rutgers ALUMNUS...I wish you nothing but the best but after we get the 6th win... and we will...promise us you won't say that though disappointed at times you're happy to go to a Bowl game and still hate Flood...
RU deserves better. We are in an elite conference. Good DC's don't depend entirely on their roster. They manage to have good D's year after year despite the vagaries of roster changes. Some are innovators, some are schemers, some are adjusters and some are just plain intuitive. The good ones manage to overcome personnel shortcomings in one of the three levels of defense. In 18 games, Rossi has not shown any of these traits except blitzing an MSU O-line in flux. A competent DC can take good to great players and have an great defense. RU's roster is not there yet. We need top line OCs and DCs now. RU cannot afford to be penny-wise and pound foolish on their OCs and DCs. Rossi must go and since we have a cut rate HC salary the money must be spent.
The performance at Penn State can be attributed to extenuating circumstances from the off the field stuff. It really did affect the team even though no one would admit it. Try watching the games instead of the box score. There is improvement. For a guy with 77k+ posts you seem more fixated on being heard and crying about the sky falling.
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That's not the entire reason. When you are recruited by these coaches they are aware of your experience as a player and football IQ. It's the job of the coach to address the different players weaknesses because you are only as good as your weakest link. Did you every factor in Wilson's ability as a coach playing a big role in this? Wilson was at Iowa for one thing and that was to recruit. He wasn't considered a good position coach. Over time Wilson's ability to recruit has been reduce due to his ability to relate with the new generation. He was on the verge of getting fired at Iowa when the opportunity to coach at Rutgers, for less money, became available. Rutgers best DB coach in recent years was Demarest. It's a shame because the current crop of DB have as much talent as any DB to pass through Rutgers in the last 20 years. They are physically gifted and why else does Austin and Wharton excel in man to man coverage. If they had some of the basics level coaching, this group should be no worse than middle of the pack against the pass right now. With more experience and coaching they could rival the group from 2012, but they may never reach it. It pains me to see other DB with similar rankings and skills out of HS perform at a higher level at the same stage in their career. It's called coaching.
The excuses have to stop. Most of these guys have been playing football since they were 8 or 9, so knowing cover 2 or cover 3 is par for the course. Besides recruiting a kid just on physical gifts, check the football IQ or the ability to learn because that's 90% of the battle on this level. Here's a great example of good coaching: Michigan, under Harbaugh, screwed up on 4th down by trying to punt and turned it over to MSU for the winning TD. Last year Rutgers in a similar situation ran the clock, but at worst would have only given up a safety and still would have won the game. Flood said they prepared for this type of situation. The great Harbaugh was clueless in the same situation. I'll give Flood credit for that one, but some of his other coaches hide behind others with the hope of never being found.
As a former DB I love this group, but I can't watch a coach like Wilson get away with without performing his duties. Natural ability and desire will only take you so far. The coaches have to do their share of the heavy lifting. Btw Al, Colorado didn't shy away from giving the entire playbook because it was given to me the summer before my arrival and I was expect to be familiar with it if I expected to play for them. If you baby someone, then don't expect them to be anything other than a baby.
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I've said something to this effect in the past but it's more a reference to the team as a whole not any position group or side of the ball. It's football and it's college, players will get hurt and players graduate it's the nature of the beast. Those are the realities and the circumstances and you have to find a way to operate in that environment and succeed in it. Maximize your strengths as much as possible and hide your weaknesses as much as possible.
Everything isn't always going to be perfect with everyone healthy and with a ton of experience. Sure it might happen from time to time when all the stars align but it's not the norm. You have to work around it.
I've said I'm okay with a mediocre defense paired with a high powered offense. Give me a top 15 offense paired with top 50-70 defense I'm okay with that because I think more times than not you'll end up in a good spot. It's why I favor a spread because I think it increases the probability of those criteria being met at least for 1 side of the ball and sometimes that 1 side can even overcome a defense that's worse than mediocre. Right now to this point in the season, I'd say we have a mediocre offense paired with a not so good defense. Need improvement on both sides of the ball to get where we want to go.
Less than 24 hrs after a great come from behind B1G road victory the same malcontents who were emailing the AD during the comeback to fire the coaching staff now again want to fire the coaching staff. What a surprise.
There are 6+ games to be played this seaon. How about we let this team finish out the season before banging your rattles on your high chairs to fire the coaches ?
There are 6+ games to be played this seaon. How about we let this team finish out the season before banging your rattles on your high chairs to fire the coaches ?
