What to think of our D?

[gabn92]

They’ve played pretty good…until they give up the big play. Is it nitpicking or a troubling trend? Wondering how correctable that is for the D or is it a sign that better teams are going to be able to really do some damage?

[WrekDivr]

I think we are challenged to stop a good offense. UTSA ran for about 12 yards on their first two plays (including the fumble). They averaged 5.5 yards per carry. To stop them, we had to stunt, blitz and take other risks. Sometimes it works - shy sack for example - and sometimes you get burned. We got burned a few times on Friday and had some successes as well.

If we don’t take risks on D, we don’t stop anyone (well maybe DSU). I fully support taking those risks, but would like find a way to be successful more often. It would have helped to get 2-3 sacks on Friday instead of just one (though you gotta love the timing).

[kfan12]

I think we are challenged to stop a good offense. UTSA ran for about 12 yards on their first two plays (including the fumble). They averaged 5.5 yards per carry. To stop them, we had to stunt, blitz and take other risks. Sometimes it works - shy sack for example - and sometimes you get burned. We got burned a few times on Friday and had some successes as well.

If we don’t take risks on D, we don’t stop anyone (well maybe DSU). I fully support taking those risks, but would like find a way to be successful more often. It would have helped to get 2-3 sacks on Friday instead of just one (though you gotta love the timing).

Well, it would seem you need a safety to have any hope of tackling a receiver who gets past the D-line if you are going to blitz...I'm all for the blitz, but someone has to be back.

[ARMORMAN]

I'm afraid we're seeing the effects of Marquel Broughton's departure. He covered a helluva lot of ground and seemed to always back up our first line of defense... Was hoping that Hammond would mostly fill those shoes, and perhaps he will over time....

[gabn92]

Our D is going to be tested against Syracuse. We’ve always seemed to struggle with mobile QBs, and from the scouting reports it sounds like that’s the Syracuse QB…195 rushing yards and I think 4 TDs against Purdue! Ouch.

Red zone efficiency and turnovers look to be a potential opportunity for Army D to exploit. We will see…but hoping we can eliminate the broken plays for TDs we’ve seen thus far; force a couple of turnovers and bend but don’t break by holding them to more FGs than TDs. Do that and play a perfect game from the O and Army has a chance.

Fingers crossed!