You are Chris Wilson... what is your defense strategy for UM?

[drt7891]

I'll start us off... first off, I want to look at what Ole Miss has:

1. A mobile QB who can make things happen with his feet. He can also hit timing throws (this would be my focus). Not "Johnny Football" good, but respectable enough to keep a good watch on him
2. A WR corps that can spread the field. This corps feeds off Dontae Moncreif. Sanders can open up the field for them opposite Moncreif.
3. An OLine that isn't deep, but can give Wallace just enough time to complete throws.
4. Their offense thrives on the Home Run play. I will put 20+ yard receptions into this category. They do a good job with these. Their scoring drives yesterday against LUS were not long drives, but they can complete 2 or 3 big passes and are inside the 10.

Here is what OM struggles with:
1. Sustaining laboring drives to run clock. They are A&M'esque in their drives. They would rather put up a lot of points as quickly as possible with deep passes (+7 yards) down the field.
2. A consistent running game. Scott is respectable, but they do not want to beat you running the ball.
3. A tight end threat, however, they utilize post routes and slants out of the slot.

How to best defend this group?

1. I would utilize a base nickel package, a 4-2-5. 5 d-backs, and focus my strength on Moncreif. He is their catalyst deep.
2. Utilize safety blitzes on the edge. I will say aGAIN, they do NOT want to beat you running the ball. Concede the run, if need be. In crucial situations, Freeze will opt to pass.
3. PRESSURE PRESSURE PRESSURE. OM was successful yesterday, I'm CONVINCED, because LUS played a base 3 man front that could not get to Wallace. Use a 4 man front, along with a dog, and do everything you can to disrupt the play up front, but try to do it with no more than 5 men, especially early on. Don't all out blitz this group with a bunch of Lineman and LBs. When you blitz, bring a DB, I don't care if it's obvious. You hear me, Wilson?
4. Most will kill me for saying this, but play a lot of zone (TIGHT zone... not this 10 yard off the WR ********). Limit their receivers to the catch only. Zones also allow for better chances at interceptions. Force Wallace to make tight throws under pressure. Test how greedy he wants to get.
5. KEY ON MONCREIF. Frustrate him. Don't let him get confident. Make someone else beat you. Freeze was a former basketball coach, right? Look at Moncreif as that pesky guard who can do what he wants if left open. Don't allow that to happen.

Anyone got anything else? Discuss. What would you do to defend this group?

 

[jdbulldog]

without being too technical I would knock the hell out of the UM QB every single play.

 

[BoDawg.sixpack]

Definitely start with the four man front

And I have never understood why we play such loose coverage with talent like Banks and Slay. I would like to see Nickoe walk up to the LOS and play run support/blitz or spy the QB on third downs. This is going to be a TOUGH game. Freeze has done a nice job of reenergizing the Rebels and making them believe. They also hate Dan as bad or worse than they did Jackie. We're going to have to match their enthusiasm and effort to come out with a win.

 

[57stratdawg]

Stop Jeff Scott. He's faster than any of our LBs. That ahould be key 1. If Wallace is throwing the ball, the rest will work itself out.

 

[mcdawg22]

I tell Banks, Wherever you see #12 I want you to be there too.

 

[operch]

Assign No. 22 to Bo. HIt him if he runs.

 

[121Josey]

blitz

Wallace and the offensive line can't handle constant pressure.

Move Eulls inside and a hardy helping of Ryan Brown and Preston Smith.

I look for the scheme to resemble Saturday. We never stopped Tyler Wilson but we looked competant.

If I had my wish we'd sit Whitley and Love. They can't takle much less cover.

 

[Coach34]

without being too technical I would knock the hell out of the UM QB every single play.

Absolutely. Hit him every chance we get

I would employ a 3-3-5 look.

Boyd at NG, Eulls and Autry at the DT's- play the DT's inside shoulder of the offensive tackles, so that they are able to help inside and can't be blocked by the OT's. This front causes a clog from tackle to tackle if done correctly, and also makes it tough on the OL to get to the 2nd level, allowing the LB's to run free to the ball. Boyd should also be disruptive vs their Center.

 

[QuadrupleOption]

I'd like to see our defense actually, you know, 17-ing tackle. I'm sick of watching the first guy to the ball-carrier flail his arms out and totally whiff. If we'd wrap up instead of trying to arm tackle our defense would be a LOT better.

 

[BogeyGolfer.sixpack]

Get faster on D, learn how to tackle...

I still think we win by 7-10 points...

 

[Coach 57]

Forget any 4 down linemen groupings Vs tsun it isn't going to work. The key to beating them is FIRST stop the zone reads and read option plays. The key to do so is having speed to match them(although they are going to be slightly faster). C34 mentions a decent idea about using the 3-3-5 as to play more speed behind the bigger DLMEN. Good idea but I want another inside backer as I saw something yesterday that worries me about going with any set that utilizes 3 backers. I'll come back to that in a second. First the 3 down linemen sets Vs this offense is the way to attack them. But those 3 have to be huge! Starters should be Eulls & Autry @ DE & Boyd at NT. But I might even be tempted to start Cherrington/Virges @ NT and Eulls & (the kicker) Boyd at DE. Now before you pop a top he has already been at DE many times this year but you just didn't maybe notice. In our "predator" package the DE has been dropping as an extra backer and he has had outside rush & containment responsibilities. And has actually done quite well at it. So on the front side of our defense that's what I'd do. Now to the second level and what I mentioned "made me worry" after what i saw yesterday. Don't know if any of you saw it but earlier on Vs. Arky they started picking on a weak link in our defense which is our freshmen MLB. If you go back and watch they were throwing his direction and making him make quick decisions in the game. They accounted for 2 TDs on that premise. We then made adjustments by going to the "prowler/predator" packages and confused Tyler Wilson and there was nowhere to throw the ball which is why he had so many rush attempts. Now the zone read & read option plays put a tremendous amount of stress on the MLB to make quick decisions. The key to stopping/slowing down this team is EVERYBODY has an assignment and they.must worry about doing YOUR job! Offenses like this are made to cause confusion with zone blocking and catching you out of position. Make no mistake this game will be squarely on the shoulders of Geoff Collins getting the LBs prepared to "scrape" and read to react. Once you take away the zone read & read option they get pretty predictable. If #85 is in the slot in a trips set the LB that bumps over has GOT to be physical as hell with him! If he is in that set they ALWAYS throw either stutter go, seam or stops all of which are timing routes that can be derailed by "point of contact" coverage by the OLB. As far as Moncreif he is one hell of a football player! He is in fact SO good I actually think he is going to get his no matter what. Which is why I said "slow down" not because"stopping" their offense. One last thing I've seen. Bo Wallace is not good at going through his progressions as a QB. If his primary & 2nd reads aren't there we have a solid chance at a turnover.

 

[Victory Red]

If you don't think Freeze wants to run the ball, you don't know what you are watching. We like to run the ball as much as pass, and will run it over and over if it is effective, the same concept Oregon uses. The problem the last 3 weeks has been making the right decisions and some playcalling. We were able to run it much more effectively yesterday with Mackey at RB as well as Brunetti at QB.

 

[Coach34]

Forget any 4 down linemen groupings Vs tsun it isn't going to work. The key to beating them is FIRST stop the zone reads and read option plays. The key to do so is having speed to match them(although they are going to be slightly faster). C34 mentions a decent idea about using the 3-3-5 as to play more speed behind the bigger DLMEN. Good idea but I want another inside backer as I saw something yesterday that worries me about going with any set that utilizes 3 backers. I'll come back to that in a second. First the 3 down linemen sets Vs this offense is the way to attack them. But those 3 have to be huge! Starters should be Eulls & Autry @ DE & Boyd at NT. But I might even be tempted to start Cherrington/Virges @ NT and Eulls & (the kicker) Boyd at DE. Now before you pop a top he has already been at DE many times this year but you just didn't maybe notice. In our "predator" package the DE has been dropping as an extra backer and he has had outside rush & containment responsibilities. And has actually done quite well at it. So on the front side of our defense that's what I'd do. Now to the second level and what I mentioned "made me worry" after what i saw yesterday. Don't know if any of you saw it but earlier on Vs. Arky they started picking on a weak link in our defense which is our freshmen MLB. If you go back and watch they were throwing his direction and making him make quick decisions in the game. They accounted for 2 TDs on that premise. We then made adjustments by going to the "prowler/predator" packages and confused Tyler Wilson and there was nowhere to throw the ball which is why he had so many rush attempts. Now the zone read & read option plays put a tremendous amount of stress on the MLB to make quick decisions. The key to stopping/slowing down this team is EVERYBODY has an assignment and they.must worry about doing YOUR job! Offenses like this are made to cause confusion with zone blocking and catching you out of position. Make no mistake this game will be squarely on the shoulders of Geoff Collins getting the LBs prepared to "scrape" and read to react. Once you take away the zone read & read option they get pretty predictable. If #85 is in the slot in a trips set the LB that bumps over has GOT to be physical as hell with him! If he is in that set they ALWAYS throw either stutter go, seam or stops all of which are timing routes that can be derailed by "point of contact" coverage by the OLB. As far as Moncreif he is one hell of a football player! He is in fact SO good I actually think he is going to get his no matter what. Which is why I said "slow down" not because"stopping" their offense. One last thing I've seen. Bo Wallace is not good at going through his progressions as a QB. If his primary & 2nd reads aren't there we have a solid chance at a turnover.

You make some good points- but I disagree on which position group is more important. I think the DL is the key moreso than the LB's.

We have to play gap responsibility vs the Bears whether by slanting or alignment (I'd prefer alignment because you dont always get there when you slant). If we continue to play a read technique and 2 gap with our DL- we will get our *** beat. We need to be disruptive. Playing a read technique doesnt allow that.

Cherrington at NG is an awful idea. He gets single blocked way too often. If we go with your 3-4 look with Cherry in there, I'm going to base block and hit it up inside with Scott cutting off the Center's block. Their Guards will abuse our LB's and we wont get any help inside from Autry or Eulls UNLESS they play an inside technique in a 4i.

Now, if you wanted to play Cherrington at NG, we could get in a Chicago Bear 46 look with a NG and two 3-techs to take away the lanes from inside shoulder tackle to tackle. This would screw with the blocking schemes and allow the LB's to scrape off the edge. It would also cause some confusion with their pass protection if you ran the blitzes correctly. It would also allow the safeties to run the alleys well and would be easier to funnel things back inside as well

 

[Coach 57]

I said Cherry or Virges. Plus I never said Autry. I said Boyd and Eulls at DE. You won't be able to single off on Virges either. Let your DL take away the dive. And let the LBs worry about the edges. As I said you better go back and watch the Arky game C34, Arky was putting alot of pressure on McKinney and he constantly rolled snakeyes that TD to Hamilton in the middle of the field was on his inability to get back where he was supposed to in his zone coverage. Bruiser is right, all their offense is predicated off of the run.

 

[drt7891]

I suggested the base 4-2-5 for the very reason of trying to be as disruptive as possible up front. I'd like to see a db line up and blitz often, too. I think that will help disrupt their blocking scheme. Getting in the bears' backfield will be our only shot of slowing them down. Look back at A&M... If we wait on them to make the moves they want to make (either blocking, routes, or with Wallace making a throw), we will get beat. If we disrupt their blocking scheme, get in their backfield, get some pressure on Wallace, and redirect the run, we have a good chance of slowing them down. The key is blowing them up from the start, but we have to do it with 5 or fewer. Bringing all out blitzes will backfire on us very quickly.

 

[cheewgumm]

After reading you coach types speak on this, I feel like we are going to get pummelled. Appprecaite teh commentary....very interesting.

 

[121Josey]

3 man front

Forget any 4 down linemen groupings Vs tsun it isn't going to work. The key to beating them is FIRST stop the zone reads and read option plays.

Have you seen us run a three man front? Not for the faint of heart. Has anyone had success against tSUN with a three-man front? Bama sure didn't. You're not going to stop their read option with a three man front.

 

[Coach 57]

We won't be able to stop them from "making their moves" as far as the running game is concerned as they are IMMEDIATELY after the snap. That's what the read option/zone read is. You HAVE no choice but to see the QB stick ball in the RBs gut as he reads the DEs pursuit angle and decide whether he pulls the ball out and turns the corner or allows the back to keep on the dive. It works the same way from the perimeter sweeps as well (see tsuns 1st TD Vs. LSU ) . These "moves" are going to happen regardless of what formation your in. You just have to make sure you are doing your job as a player. And to cheewgumm, we aren't going to get have "plummelled". Calm down. And it's my pleasure giving an opinion on something I'm passionate about.

 

[drt7891]

You are right about execution... schemes are meaningless without execution, and that's most important. Overall, we cannot let the plays come to us. We HAVE to be disruptive and put pressure on the play, whatever it is. Allowing them to get settled will result in an A&M type performance. Disrupt their timing and their blocking and make them resort to doing things they don't want to do to beat us. I want this to be the most aggressive defensive showing we've had all year.

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

If I were Chris Wilson, I'd probably have 3 down linemen and not blitz in 3rd and long situations. But if I were defensive coordinator and not Chris Wilson, I would run a Nickel and keep an extra guy on Moncrief on half the time and blitz him the other half.

 

[Koldfire]

I think we need to play a 3-3-5 with a safety deep in the box. Blitz the safety or LB occasionally. Four OL won't consistently get pressure on Wallace. We don't have a speed lineman. Coach 57 is dead on. Our real weakness is coverage in the middle with LB's and safeties. The are going to hit us with slot guys across the middle. The key is to get the best primary coverage players on the field. I don't think 4 LB's give the best chance. Wells may be our best LB in coverage. We can put 5 guys on the line; but if we don't put in a scheme and PLAYERS who can cover underneath, it's going to be a long night.

 

[Coach34]

You are right about execution... schemes are meaningless without execution, and that's most important. Overall, we cannot let the plays come to us. We HAVE to be disruptive and put pressure on the play, whatever it is. Allowing them to get settled will result in an A&M type performance. Disrupt their timing and their blocking and make them resort to doing things they don't want to do to beat us. I want this to be the most aggressive defensive showing we've had all year.

I'm a 4 man front guy- however if we run it like that we will be in trouble. It's easier to block. Hell, look at what they did to LSU and their 1st round draft picks...That's why I suggested a 3-3 or a 46 look to make them change their blocking schemes and confuse them up front.

They run the read play at the DE faking the sweep and then pull the guard and kick him out- and the QB keeps up inside...that eats up a 4-man front. The DE is wrong no matter what he does. We know what they run- we have to get them out of their comfort zone

 

[cheewgumm]

I have a question. As a Defense, can you trick them into doing what you want? Meaning...if the DE slant the way taht makes them hand it off up the middle, then be prepared for that another way? Maybe simplifying too much. And I am calm...DAMNIT!!!

 

[Coach34]

Have you seen us run a three man front? Not for the faint of heart. Has anyone had success against tSUN with a three-man front? Bama sure didn't. You're not going to stop their read option with a three man front.

Bama didnt? Mississippi had 218 yards on offense- less than we did against them btw,,,,you dont call that having success against them?

Georgia and their 3-man front held them to 10 points and 238 yards...you dont call that success either?

 

[drt7891]

Unfortunately, with zone reads, it's not that easy. The point of an option is to occupy every defensive player in a given area by blocking up front, and force a single player (usually a DE or LB) to commit to one of two guys (a QB and a RB, for instance). Once the QB reads where the defensive player committed, he does the opposite. The easiest way to beat it is to commit more defenders to an area (a safety or LB, for instance), but then you open yourself up to the play action pass or a misdirection type play. That's why zone option is so effective in the spread because it forces defenders to make quick reactions and make solo tackles. It's hard to defend, but good defense that can be disruptive can ruin it because it does take more time to develop than a standard run between the tackles, sweep, or even some passes.

 

[biguglyjoe]

I thought our 3 man front did well against the hogs.