Hudspeth wants his Ragin' Cajuns to put teams away

[zephyr]

If we don't get to the QB we will lose...he is good

In the game against ULM, he was the best player on the field and it wasn't even close....People give Browning all his props but this kid is just as good if you let him play that way. He's faster than Browning, at least right now that Browning has been injured most of the year, and he's accurate as well. I think he may have better targets than Browning overall. This team is scary and some of us here were saying this weeks ago. I felt this game would be tougher than the ULM game. I hope I'm wrong.

[CrazyCajun]

In the game against ULM, he was the best player on the field and it wasn't even close....People give Browning all his props but this kid is just as good if you let him play that way. He's faster than Browning, at least right now that Browning has been injured most of the year, and he's accurate as well. I think he may have better targets than Browning overall. This team is scary and some of us here were saying this weeks ago. I felt this game would be tougher than the ULM game. I hope I'm wrong.

Hopefully we get the running game from wku/asu back that was putting together 9 minute scoring drives.

[Just1More]

I'd settle for actually trying to play a proactive defense. The best defenses are always the ones that dictate what the offense can and can't do. They push the issue and make the offense respond to them. Remember back to the Pats and Colts days with Peyton? They would put up video game numbers all year and the Pats would just blitz and confuse Manning all game with different setups and blitz packages and they had the Colts number. This is just one example but you see it all the time in College. The high flying offense that is grounded by the defense who presses them into doing things they don't want to do. How about throwing different things at USA rather than the 3 man rush zone defense we've played ALL year?

That is very true, Zephyr. When you identify some difficulties in your secondary, you can't pull everyone out of the pressure required to disturb a good QB, only to see if you can scatter more people downfield to defend. I saw someone kind of famous (to us) post the other day that what happens at the line has nothing to do with what happens in the secondary. That is ludicrous. If I sacked the QB every pass attempt, no one would ever know if you had anyone in your secondary. There are gives and takes in any defensive scheme. In the SBC especially, right now, we have some decent QBs. Some are the best player on the team by a long shot. There are gaps all over the field on every team. But the QBs are pretty darn good. If you do not give them a pass rush threat, the shift in power goes wildly in that QB's favor. He doesn't care how many people you place in spots downfield. He sees his people in between those open spaces... and you've given him the time to make the connection. I cannot imagine almost any makeup of secondary, recruited from the south, that cannot provide at least enough coverage, to run a standard, somewhat aggressive defense, and not have better results. You must, at the very least, put a guy (LB, safety, CB) and confuse a QB on whether he may be setting up for a sprint off the corner... or a LB (or two) up against the line in a gap blitz threat. You don't have to actually rush most times, but you do have to posture and threaten... and ever so often send the house.

PS This is not a negative post. This is just my opinion of effective and ineffective defenses when facing decent passing QBs.

[Redgineer]

Is Zo going to be running for this game? Wasn't he hurt last game, or wasn't used?

[Just1More]

Is Zo going to be running for this game? Wasn't he hurt last game, or wasn't used?

Wasn't used for undisclosed reasons. He'll be sharing duties with McGuire this weekend.

[ULGRAD-MIKC]

This is my first post to Ragin Pagin, so I'll give y'all a little background on myself.
Born and bred here in Lafayette (Carencro), graduated in '06 in Marketing w/ a minor in English. Ive been attending football and baseball games since middle school. Family and friends were equip managers for UL, been bleedin' Vermilion since I can remember.

I have to say, our team has looked a little "soft" these past few weeks. I believe a lot of us noticed the holes in the 3 man zone D, and last week was scary true. Reading this article, and having had convos with Hud in his first few years, I hope he means every word and gets back that intensity we know is there.

I believe we will win this weekend, and I'm looking forward to seeing all of y'all in NOLA in a couple weeks.

[CrazyCajun]

I wonder if a the "easy" practices started to have a part in losing their edge...fine line

[Cajunjeb]

This is my first post to Ragin Pagin, so I'll give y'all a little background on myself.
Born and bred here in Lafayette (Carencro), graduated in '06 in Marketing w/ a minor in English. Ive been attending football and baseball games since middle school. Family and friends were equip managers for UL, been bleedin' Vermilion since I can remember.

I have to say, our team has looked a little "soft" these past few weeks. I believe a lot of us noticed the holes in the 3 man zone D, and last week was scary true. Reading this article, and having had convos with Hud in his first few years, I hope he means every word and gets back that intensity we know is there.

I believe we will win this weekend, and I'm looking forward to seeing all of y'all in NOLA in a couple weeks.

Thanks for your first post! Welcome aboard.

[Cajunjeb]

If we don't get to the QB we will lose...he is good

Yep, USA is #1 in SBC in "sacks by" and "sacks against". They don't give them up and they get them on D. I think this game will come down to our o-line and our d-line. Can we protect and run block? Can we get pressure with the front line to help out the DBs?

[ULGrad@HOU]

Coach Hud is right on. This team has not shown much emotion on the field, except defensive players raising their arms on third down trying to get the crowd in it just to have the offense get the first down anyway. They look like they are going through the motions. I hope he can get them emotionally charged for this game, we will need it.