Defense is an embarrassment

coit said:
We’ve all discussed that we lost most of our starters from last year to the portal, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard WHY that occurred, given that Thacker stayed on.

These guys that are starting for other teams, why did they leave? Did they think that Thacker was likely to get the axe at some point?
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We actually lost our 3 best defensive players to the nfl. Not the portal
 
savbandjacket said:
When you have lazy players not giving 100% effort on every play, you aren’t going to compete well against anyone. Nevermind the SEC.

remember this unit gave up yardage in chunks to SC State.
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The D looked leaderless. It is exactly how we looked under the clown in all phases of the game.

We are not less talented than Tulane or Louisville. Thacker needs to pick something to do well. Send 7 everydown and make the other side choose quickly. Give up zero big plays. Run blitz. Something. Just pick one, take pride in that and then expand. Hell, let’s be the lockdown team on 3rd down. We had that going.
 
A lot of the points came after the game was over. Yeah, it's embarrassing to end with that many points given up, but let's not forget that we were in the game till halfway through the 4th.
 
coit said:
We’ve all discussed that we lost most of our starters from last year to the portal, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard WHY that occurred, given that Thacker stayed on.

These guys that are starting for other teams, why did they leave? Did they think that Thacker was likely to get the axe at some point?
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And yet, offensively, we did well in the portal. Defensively? We lose players. That DT from Colorado State last night was a damn madman, despite being able to hardly walk on or off the field. He just willed himself to make plays after the snap.
 
stingmeyall said:
I wish I knew the solution. Hell PJ went through a bunch of DC and could not find the solution. The rules of the game favor offensive output, but I watch a lot of college football and we just rank near the bottom at the most basic principle of defense...TACKLING. That can be preached at practice and an emphasis must be put on this immediately at our next practice. I have to believe our staff does this, but it has to translate to the playing field on gameday or coaching changes are in order.
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Tackling is about as hard to coach/teach as speed and height. You have it as a player when you arrive or you never will. Nobody at Tech taught Tillman, Roof, Rhino, or Swilling, etc, etc, to tackle.
 
We have GOT to hit the portal hard this season for DT's and LB's. We just don't have the depth to compete. I don't recall there ever being a time when our LB's have been this quiet during a game. I used to love watching Phillip Wheeler pursue a play like a leopard
 
GoldZ said:
And two good DL to Ole Miss via portal.
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And a top retuning DB in Zamari Walton. So, we lost three starters to the NFL and three next-level starters to Ole Miss. Then we lost a starting DE to injury (Sylvain). This off a defensive unit that had very little depth to start with. Anyone who expects much different than what they're seeing is thinking emotionally rather than rationally.

I, for one, think the fundamentals of tackling can be taught at the college level, however, it is true that you're basically either a hitter or you're not by the time you get to college ball. But I do believe we could improve tackling form.
 
stinger78 said:
And a top retuning DB in Zamari Walton. So, we lost three starters to the NFL and three next-level starters to Ole Miss. Then we lost a starting DE to injury (Sylvain). This off a defensive unit that had very little depth to start with. Anyone who expects much different than what they're seeing is thinking emotionally rather than rationally.

I, for one, think the fundamentals of tackling can be taught at the college level, however, it is true that you're basically either a hitter or you're not by the time you get to college ball. But I do believe we could improve tackling form.
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Totally agree. It can certainly be improved. As well as toughness. If not, why even attempt to coach players up.
 
I think part of the reason the D gave up on their last 2 TDs was because the offense went for it on 4th down in our own territory. That was just stupid and asking for it. I mean didn't they score in 2-3 plays each time?
 
I’ll repeat what I said again last night in the game thread. I don’t think many of you actually understand talent vs coaching at this high level.

1. GT hasn’t really had good DL play outside of 2008, 2009 in 25+ years.
2. GT has always had an issue with DL recruiting. This isn’t something new.

With that said, talent makes coaching look good. At this level coaching is a small part of the equation. Talent wins out in the end. Look around the country right now, and compare it to the recruiting rankings. Do you see what teams are always at the top? You think that’s all coaching? It’s more like75%+ talent and 25% max coaching.

GT lost to a better team with an explosive offense. It is what it is. Vegas had GT as a 5 win team. On paper 6 with a shot at 7 was the max effort. Ole Miss was not one of those wins on paper. One of those potential 5-6 wins was against Syracuse who so far looks better than expected. Go figure in a year where Pitt could possibly be the worst team in the ACC, GT doesn’t play them.

Year 2 will truly show the direction of this program under Key. Stabilize a solid recruiting class and add some DL from the Portal. The 2024 schedule isn’t very easy with FSU, ND, Clemson, UGA, but there isn’t an Ole Miss level OOC game. We’ll see what adjustments come to the schedule as well with SMU, Stanford and Cal added.
 
Things I would like to see different on defense:
1. When we play zone, we spot drop. This can be alright against inexperienced QBs or if you're bringing enough pressure, but let's not go there.... Saban's "Man on Demand" seems like it would be a better fit for the personnel we have right now.
2. Trailing man coverage. We're always 2 steps behind where we need to be in perfect position to let them catch the ball in stride and get several yards after catch before we catch up enough to dive and have a 50/50 shot at tripping them by the ankles. If you get beat by a double move I can live with that, run with your guy.
3. LBs are read read react. Give them a quick key and have them fire off downhill to their gaps.
4. Backside free defender slide. Whoever has backside leverage on the play is sitting down right on the hip of the OT rather than getting upfield. This is causing us to miss out on creating negative plays. It seems like a counter for my penultimate gripe of this list....
5. We have to finish tackles in the backfield. It appears we are taking incorrect angles when we are able to crash into the backfield and are totally out of control and not even touching the offensive players half the time after they half heartedly adjust their position. We're missing both ways, aiming at their upfield and downfield shoulders and not disguising where the pressure is coming from so their players are able to see which angle we're coming at and react correctly seemingly every time. FFS this is frustrating to watch.
6. We don't ever drive our legs through tackles. I'm not even talking about the out of position arm tackles. When we are in perfect position, we just stop our feet and lean.... drive through, öööööööööööös. You're a defender, act like it. Drive their players backwards from point of contact. We play like we're scared to hit someone unlike last year. We need a Charlie Thomas headhunter type and it needs to get contagious like it was last year. Seriously, this was a problem since 2008ish and I thought we'd finally turned the corner, but no, we're back to hitting like absolute pussies.
 
QuadF said:
A lot of the points came after the game was over. Yeah, it's embarrassing to end with that many points given up, but let's not forget that we were in the game till halfway through the 4th.
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A pattern has emerged and it involves second half and 4th qtr play, which is concerning. No GT lead is safe with this D.
 
USCJacket said:
2. GT has always had an issue with DL recruiting. This isn’t something new.
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So why is this, do you think? My theory is that elite DL are less abundant than other positions, and that the game changing DL know they are going to make the NFL and as such, why would they want to go to an academically difficult school when they can go to the farm college in Athens or Bama or any number of other schools that are a cakewalk.
 
coit said:
So why is this, do you think? My theory is that elite DL are less abundant than other positions, and that the game changing DL know they are going to make the NFL and as such, why would they want to go to an academically difficult school when they can go to the farm college in Athens or Bama or any number of other schools that are a cakewalk.
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You answered your own question. That said, ND can still land those 4* DL’s. GT is and will remain its own worst enemy until the school truly decides they want to compete. And when the NCAA is removed in the next 3 years, APR will no longer be the builtin excuse limiting getting the solid DL’s.
 
USCJacket said:
I’ll repeat what I said again last night in the game thread. I don’t think many of you actually understand talent vs coaching at this high level.

1. GT hasn’t really had good DL play outside of 2008, 2009 in 25+ years.
2. GT has always had an issue with DL recruiting. This isn’t something new.

With that said, talent makes coaching look good. At this level coaching is a small part of the equation. Talent wins out in the end. Look around the country right now, and compare it to the recruiting rankings. Do you see what teams are always at the top? You think that’s all coaching? It’s more like75%+ talent and 25% max coaching.

GT lost to a better team with an explosive offense. It is what it is. Vegas had GT as a 5 win team. On paper 6 with a shot at 7 was the max effort. Ole Miss was not one of those wins on paper. One of those potential 5-6 wins was against Syracuse who so far looks better than expected. Go figure in a year where Pitt could possibly be the worst team in the ACC, GT doesn’t play them.

Year 2 will truly show the direction of this program under Key. Stabilize a solid recruiting class and add some DL from the Portal. The 2024 schedule isn’t very easy with FSU, ND, Clemson, UGA, but there isn’t an Ole Miss level OOC game. We’ll see what adjustments come to the schedule as well with SMU, Stanford and Cal added.
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Somewhat agree but when I see teams that have fallen way behind us in recruiting rankings play to a much higher level defensively, I have to wonder. Wouldn't you agree that over the last decade we have probably placed anywhere between 45-60 in recruiting rankings and yet our defense usually ranks somewhere below the 90th rank defenses in total defenses. Given, I haven't gone in and done a deep dive analysis so I'm just pulling this out of my a$$ but that's what I seem to recall.
 
stingmeyall said:
Somewhat agree but when I see teams that have fallen way behind us in recruiting rankings play to a much higher level defensively, I have to wonder. Wouldn't you agree that over the last decade we have probably placed anywhere between 45-60 in recruiting rankings and yet our defense usually ranks somewhere below the 90th rank defenses in total defenses. Given, I haven't gone in and done a deep dive analysis so I'm just pulling this out of my a$$ but that's what I seem to recall.
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You'd want to compare in that sense what the kind of recruiting rankings of the offenses faced are. No idea if that would turn out in support or opposition of what you are describing, would need the aforementioned deep dive.
 
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