
Originally Posted by
zephyr
_ Another key has to be in the interior of the D-Line. Watching teams like NT, FAU and Troy run the A gap all day against us last year and amass easily over 200 yards rushing was scary. We have to be able to stop up the interior run and put pressure on the oppposing QB with not only our DE's but also our interior rush.
I will also play Devil's Advocate here and likely not be any more popular than I already am...but, I'm not sure whether I expect this defense to be much improved at all this year. Actually, I'm kind of expected sort of a revival on offense and a same ole, same ole on the defensive side. My reasons come after looking at the roster and depth chart and seeing a lot of potential but few certains. Yes, we bring back a lot of starters which is always nice. For this reason, I initially thought this would, by far, be the strength of this team. However, I look at this defense and it is very similar to the defense of last year minus an NFL DE and one of our best defensive players and leaders to maybe ever play here. Losing Hall Davis and Zanders makes us slightly smaller as a unit even though some would say we are faster and we likely are. However, being faster has done nothing for us in recent years. What this defense lacks is physicality. Our ability to overpower our blockers and make plays in the front 7 has hindered this unit and I don't know if I see any improvement. We got run all over by the likes of NT, FAU and Troy last year and we have a tough time with physical teams. FAU comes to mind foremost as they run a pro style, physical offense who likes to run off tackle and playaction pass, both of which have been very productive against us. Again, I'm not sure how much more physical this defense can or will be this year but the SBC's best defenses in recent years have been those with not only good athletes but those who can put pressure on the QB and stop the run with the front 7. _