Ragin' Cajuns Defense Seeking Upgrade

[NewsCopy]

Ladarius Green had just recovered Brett Baer's onside kick. Alonzo Harris had just run in from three yards out, giving the Ragin' Cajuns a 36-35 lead with just more than a minute remaining. About time the defense did something, huh? That's what ...

The rest of the story

[Bandwagon King]

I hope the guys play more man defense in this game. The strongest part of our team is our defensive backfield, but they are not nearly as effective in zone coverage & they played a lot of zone this past Saturday. A lot of credit goes to ULM for executing their game plan & catching just about everything their QB threw, but this defense can play better & in fact MUST improve its intensity level A LOT to bring back the SBC championship. While our offense has been fun to watch in the later part of the season when they're hitting their stride, it is the defense that WILL win us this championship. LET'S GO CAJUNS!

[sportsfanatic21]

The problem with playing a lot of man this week is that stAte's QB is a good runner. If the DBs are playing man, with their backs to the QB, he will have lots of room to run. This is gonna be a tough match-up, let's hope the coaching staff comes up with a great plan, and the guys execute it to perfection. That's what it will take to get the win this week. Geaux Cajuns!!

[Bandwagon King]

The problem with playing a lot of man this week is that stAte's QB is a good runner. If the DBs are playing man, with their backs to the QB, he will have lots of room to run. This is gonna be a tough match-up, let's hope the coaching staff comes up with a great plan, and the guys execute it to perfection. That's what it will take to get the win this week. Geaux Cajuns!!

The QB last week was a pretty good runner too. We have one of the best defensive backfields in the country. When those guys have set assignments of playing certain players from the other team, they understand & are able to take their responsibility much more seriuosly. You play zone when you have weak links in your backfield ( IE Jsaon David) the Zone allows for smaller areas of responsibilty. The fundamental problem with zone defense is a football team that has an accurate QB with good hands recievers can run to those open spots of your defense & create numbers mismatches to leave certain areas uncovered. The problem with zone coveragesis they seldom get repaired because it is usually a systemic break down as opposed to a breakdown in individual responsibility & if you shift your zone to overmatch one side then all the offense has to do is send guys in motion to the other side of the field to get mismatches on the other side.

In other words, zones are for loosers. Let their QB run for this win if he can. Between our speed at LB & safety, I highly doubt he'll be running wild for the duration of the game. We can also blitz more & get better pressure on the QB with man coverage. This game is about hunting a championship, not defending some imaginary crown that's been given to this team. To the VICTOR goes the spoils.

[sportsfanatic21]

I wasn't wholeheartedly disagreeing with you. Just pointing out that a man defense is susceptible to giving up big plays. I'm sure there will be a mix of zone/man throughout the game, because if you do one or the other all the time, good offenses will exploit you. And if you do play zone, you better be able to get some pressure on the QB. And when in man, with a good running QB, there will have to be some kind of "spy", or someone that's not just pinning their ears back trying to rush.

I'm fully confident that Coach Stewart will have a good plan. Geaux Cajuns!!

[Bandwagon King]

I wasn't wholeheartedly disagreeing with you. Just pointing out that a man defense is susceptible to giving up big plays. I'm sure there will be a mix of zone/man throughout the game, because if you do one or the other all the time, good offenses will exploit you. And if you do play zone, you better be able to get some pressure on the QB. And when in man, with a good running QB, there will have to be some kind of "spy", or someone that's not just pinning their ears back trying to rush.

I'm fully confident that Coach Stewart will have a good plan. Geaux Cajuns!!

The big play is always a risk for man defenses. Even the best atheletes will get caught with double move routes & too many guys will get caught somtimes by a great offensive athelete making a great individual play. The over all outcome is the end story though. I believe our best chance of winning this game is with our defense. For our defense to win the game they have to be able to bring pressure. They have to be physical at the point of attack. The reason we couldn't produce pressure Saturday is because we sat back in zone & their QB sliced & diced our guys up & down the field with quick hitch routes, bubble screens, & shallow crossing routes in front of our coverage areas.

We were playing our DBs at abolut ten yards off the LOS. This gave their guys plenty of time with those quick hitters to try to make plays in space. The only way to get pressure is to take away that open space & dare them to try to beat us deep while we attack the LOS with our DL & LBs. I understand having some mixture & of a LITTLE zone for the sake of being able to audible into & out of different coverages, but the staple of our defensive strength is straight up mano a mano.

[ULGrad@HOU]

IMO, the number one factor for UL's defense playing a bit loose, is the pressure on the QB. We just haven't had it or not enough of it. The first few games, the DL was doing a fantastic job and everyone was noticing how they improved. The past few games there doesn't seem to be that push needed up front and it appears our guys are getting beat at the line of scrimmage. I don't know what has changed, but I hope it gets figured out soon.....like this Saturday. Get pressure on the QB and their offense will have a long, dissapointing day.

[Bandwagon King]

IMO, the number one factor for UL's defense playing a bit loose, is the pressure on the QB. We just haven't had it or not enough of it. The first few games, the DL was doing a fantastic job and everyone was noticing how they improved. The past few games there doesn't seem to be that push needed up front and it appears our guys are getting beat at the line of scrimmage. I don't know what has changed, but I hope it gets figured out soon.....like this Saturday. Get pressure on the QB and their offense will have a long, dissapointing day.

I didn't get to see the WKU game, but watching this game there was no doubt why our DL didn't get pressure on their QB. It was simple. he had the ball out of his hands & into the hands of a reciever within 1 1/2 to two seconds. It's pretty hard for Lawrence Taylor in his heyday to get pressure in less than two seconds. Why were they doing this? Because ot DBs were 8-10 yards off the LOS the whole game. I mean just about every single play, if not every play. ULM only took what we gave them. What we gave them was the flats on both sides of the field. They did almost no business in the middle because we would have manhandled them there. I have only seen a small amount of ASU this year, but from what I can gather, they are shifty & quick like the Philadelphia Eagles or the ULM Warhawks. I believe we have the edge physically & must use that edge to our advantage in this game.

We cannot let them dictate the tempo & get out to a double digit lead like we did ULM or its likely going to be along trip home for UL fan. We have to attack & attack early & hard. Even at the risk of getting "stupid" penalties & giving up the big play, it is better confidence wise to give up a big play or get a dumb penalty, than to have the other team's QB carve your strong suit up like Thanksgiving turkey. Confidence is the ultimate trump card in a game like this. Confidence builds momentum & momentum will most likely cause the inevitable crucial big play or takeaway that will lead the winner to victory.

[Just1More]

IMO, the number one factor for UL's defense playing a bit loose, is the pressure on the QB. We just haven't had it or not enough of it. The first few games, the DL was doing a fantastic job and everyone was noticing how they improved. The past few games there doesn't seem to be that push needed up front and it appears our guys are getting beat at the line of scrimmage. I don't know what has changed, but I hope it gets figured out soon.....like this Saturday. Get pressure on the QB and their offense will have a long, dissapointing day.

I agree. You do recall against ULM... I said "hey, we need us some Bernard Smith on this guy"... and the next play #44 sacked their QB. Of course, I waited to say that in the 4th quarter. Anyhow, we need us some DL pressure against ASU!

We gave ULM's WRs a huge cushion and I'm not exactly sure why we always had an uncovered man in the flats. We tend to play to prevent the deep threat and give up a lot of space in the short to middle.

If we give Aplin that much time and space... he is going to pick us apart. I hate seeing open guys in the flats and wide open middles. We have got to get in that guy's face and we cannot drop back instantly into deep zone coverage to prevent the deep pass. We need to crowd their WRs and jam their routes. I want Aplin to hurry passes and/or stand in there dancing for an open target... take a sack... that results in a fumble... and a quick UL score. I also want our 7th pick six.

We need both sides of the ball to peak in order to pull out of there with the W. But, our defense has to step it up this week. I think we're going to do it.

48-6 UL