Coach PK & the Texas D—#1 Defense in the Nation (CBS now says this is our Best Defense in Program History)

[X Misn Tx]

I was just being a wise guy.

Dude, Wiseguy is not the preferred nomenclature. It's gangbanger, please.

 

[Monahorns]

I'm not a fan. The defense is "better" but still has an Achilles heel.

The only saving grace for me is if he can improve pass coverage next year like he improved the run defense this year.

 

[Pomspoms]

why can't our pass defenders see a receiver coming into his area and then start gravitating to him before the qb even throws the ball? and why can't our defenders take a moment to look at the qb's eyes while they are moving to the receiver?
this is football 101.
I think Ford actually did that and got his interception.
I am feeling much better about our defense this year. Much better than our 2nd half offense which chaffs my butt.

 

[mchammer]

why can't our pass defenders see a receiver coming into his area and then start gravitating to him before the qb even throws the ball? and why can't our defenders take a moment to look at the qb's eyes while they are moving to the receiver?
this is football 101.
I think Ford actually did that and got his interception.
I am feeling much better about our defense this year. Much better than our 2nd half offense which chaffs my butt.

I have a lot of doubt that our players are doing a good job carrying our coaches instructions (offense 2nd half and defense in general). I think our players are at least 50% of the problem.

 

[Sangre Naranjada]

I guess I am too old and remember what defense was like in the 60s. Maybe my memory is bad but I dont remember many teams scoring 33 points on us. How will 33 points fare in the SEC?

Then you should also remember what offense was like in the 60s, and use that metric to adjust your recollection of defenses.

 

[Your Wrong]

I’m about 75% fan.

I believe we try different things to improve our defense. I’m giving him credit for whatever happens - not GP. I do not generally question personnel decisions although I’m very curious about some. I’ll always question play calling even though it’s very difficult on defense to ascertain what was called.

I am Fords biggest critic for my own reasons. Largely on pass defense. He’s improving quite a bit this year. And I’ve always had a question on what exactly he’s being asked to do. But in my opinion, the biggest weakness on D is LBer pass D. There were instances in which he got better depth last weekend, and one resulted in a pick. But that was bad QB play. I’ll take it. It was a big play. And yes the recovery was big but also a matter of circumstance. He wasn’t doing a particularly great job of covering - just dropped to a spot. Again, I’m thankful. That said he’s progressed. He’s fairly easy to get him out of the way by enticing him to chase. As to Overshown, I’m not sure he’s not worse than last year. He absolutely covers grass, doesn’t get depth and honestly adds little in zone coverage to what I can see. There is a potential solution that I’d be curious to see.

I do believe there was a philosophical change in LB coverage so I’ll be curious whether that was a KState thing or more to address coverage issues.

The best hope for future is 1) more pressure and 2) better coverage out of the corners. That’ll always be the top two. And when I say pressure I’m talking from 4 and not bringing extra bodies. So maybe next year? I feel Broughton and Murphy will be good options next year for pressure. Sorrell will be improved. Frontline should be fine but depth is the question.

Thank you Coburn, Ojomo and Sweat. You guys are the primary reason for our improvement this year. But let’s hope we don’t miss you next year.

 

[erbutch]

Then you should also remember what offense was like in the 60s, and use that metric to adjust your recollection of defenses.

Are you kidding,It is hard to remember what I ate yesterday. I do remember I liked the 3 yards and a cloud of dust type of play,and hard nose defense.Just my opinion and not meant for approval or disapproval.

 

[Chop]

BIG 12 TEAM DEFENSE STANDINGS

Team...............average PPG allowed
ISU.......................16.3
KSU......................19.1
UT........................21.8
Baylor..................24.6
TCU......................26.9
KU........................29.0
Tech.....................29.8
OU........................29.8
OSU......................31.8
WV........................34.2

Not bad, not bad at all; congrats to Pete K and the Texas D!
(and his sidekick Patterson)

Big 12 Conference

 

[Chop]

The Texas Longhorns Defense--only giving up 21.8 ppg in this day and age of wide open, high-scoring offenses.

NCAAF Football - Defensive Stats

Our D is ranked ahead of a whole bunch of non-conference teams; here's just a small sampling of Defenses that our D is better than:












(no waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy!!!)

 

[Horn6721]

SOB
Thanks for some perspective.

 

[Chop]

So, who has the best Defense in the land?

This Curly Joe look-alike may have seen his share of controversy over the years, but it turns out he's a very good coach. 10.44 PPG.

NCAAF Football - Defensive Stats

 

[Chop]

There is another noteworthy coach who is coaching up a higher ranked D than we have this year...

NCAAF Football - Defensive Stats

 

[Horns11]

There is another noteworthy coach who is coaching up a higher ranked D than we have this year...

NCAAF Football - Defensive Stats

I liked what Manny _iaz was going for at Texas. Watching the 2011 Holiday Bowl, it made sense. What we were able to accomplish with a brand new scheme and a rash of horrible injuries was actually pretty inspiring. We hit the buzzsaw of OU and OK State at a bad time, and then the injuries down the stretch hurt us against Mizzou and KSU.

His inability to work with what we had on the roster doomed him against the run, culminating in the BYU disaster and immediate firing.

There's always a lot of potential for excitement with that kind of D. But he couldn't seem to harness the fundamentals of tackling and "covering without interfering."

 

[Sangre Naranjada]

Are you kidding,It is hard to remember what I ate yesterday. I do remember I liked the 3 yards and a cloud of dust type of play,and hard nose defense.Just my opinion and not meant for approval or disapproval.

Well, somebody else said what I said further up the thread, but more detailed and with scoring metrics to back it up. Basically, the median NCAA offense today scores something like 85% more than the median offense of the 60's.

 

[Chop]

I liked what Manny _iaz was going for at Texas. Watching the 2011 Holiday Bowl, it made sense. What we were able to accomplish with a brand new scheme and a rash of horrible injuries was actually pretty inspiring. We hit the buzzsaw of OU and OK State at a bad time, and then the injuries down the stretch hurt us against Mizzou and KSU.

His inability to work with what we had on the roster doomed him against the run, culminating in the BYU disaster and immediate firing.

There's always a lot of potential for excitement with that kind of D. But he couldn't seem to harness the fundamentals of tackling and "covering without interfering."

It was like that old backyard football play: "Everybody Blitz"

 

[Chop]

There is another noteworthy coach who is coaching up a higher ranked D than we have this year...

NCAAF Football - Defensive Stats

Of course, aside from Michigan and Ohio State, the Big 10 doesn't score as much as the Big 12...

 

[Chop]

PK and the Texas D must now stop TCU and the #4 ranked offense in the Nation. 43.11 PPG scored.

NCAAF Football - Offensive Stats

 

[Chop]

So when we hold TCU to 25 or fewer points, crow shall be served on this thread...

 

[Sangre Naranjada]

I’m about 75% fan.

I believe we try different things to improve our defense. I’m giving him credit for whatever happens - not GP. I do not generally question personnel decisions although I’m very curious about some. I’ll always question play calling even though it’s very difficult on defense to ascertain what was called.

I am Fords biggest critic for my own reasons. Largely on pass defense. He’s improving quite a bit this year. And I’ve always had a question on what exactly he’s being asked to do. But in my opinion, the biggest weakness on D is LBer pass D. There were instances in which he got better depth last weekend, and one resulted in a pick. But that was bad QB play. I’ll take it. It was a big play. And yes the recovery was big but also a matter of circumstance. He wasn’t doing a particularly great job of covering - just dropped to a spot. Again, I’m thankful. That said he’s progressed. He’s fairly easy to get him out of the way by enticing him to chase. As to Overshown, I’m not sure he’s not worse than last year. He absolutely covers grass, doesn’t get depth and honestly adds little in zone coverage to what I can see. There is a potential solution that I’d be curious to see.

I do believe there was a philosophical change in LB coverage so I’ll be curious whether that was a KState thing or more to address coverage issues.

The best hope for future is 1) more pressure and 2) better coverage out of the corners. That’ll always be the top two. And when I say pressure I’m talking from 4 and not bringing extra bodies. So maybe next year? I feel Broughton and Murphy will be good options next year for pressure. Sorrell will be improved. Frontline should be fine but depth is the question.

Thank you Coburn, Ojomo and Sweat. You guys are the primary reason for our improvement this year. But let’s hope we don’t miss you next year.

@Your Wrong
How do you square your critique of Jaylan Ford with the following? We have had our private chats about Ford, but given how he ranks among his peers it seems you might be excessively critical of his shortcomings.

 

[Chop]

I haven't done any sort of deep dive analysis on his stats or coverage skills, but I will say this about Ford--he has a knack for the big play at just the right time. He's a gamer.

 

[Chop]

Don't y'all think we're having fewer missed and broken tackles than we've typically had since around 2010 or so...?

 

[Sangre Naranjada]

Don't y'all think we're having fewer missed and broken tackles than we've typically had since around 2010 or so...?

If I recall from some @Your Wrong stats, that's not true. The missed tackle stats are actually similar. What is improved is that missed tackles aren't killing us for excessive YAC because we are gang tackling (or in Sark's parlance, populating the ball) a hell of a lot better than last year.

 

[erbutch]

Well, somebody else said what I said further up the thread, but more detailed and with scoring metrics to back it up. Basically, the median NCAA offense today scores something like 85% more than the median offense of the 60's.

I cant argue with those stats however it doesnt seem to help our winning ability. The best offense is a good defense. the current trend is just the opposite

 

[beaVo]

wow. very encouraging stats on this thread. our 3rd down defense was enough to make me think we were way worse off than we really are.

 

[Pomspoms]

I cant argue with those stats however it doesnt seem to help our winning ability. The best offense is a good defense. the current trend is just the opposite

you do realize that we are very close to being undefeated. Our record doesn't reflect how good we are. If Sark had just done one or two things differently in each of our losses, like keep the pedal to the medal, like taking Ewers out when he was royally stinking up the place.

yes, I blame the losses on Sark

 

[caryhorn]

PK and the Texas D must now stop TCU and the #4 ranked offense in the Nation. 43.11 PPG scored.

NCAAF Football - Offensive Stats

That frog looks mad. Or maybe just has a bad case of gas.

 

[Vol Horn 4 Life]

While I'm not yet a believer in PK, I also believe the defense is better when the offense is clicking. Seems to me when the offense stalls in the second half that's when the other team piles up the points and stats. The defense is just on the field too much and put in bad situations in the second half.

On the critical side I too wonder how much Patterson has helped the defense this year and what it will look like against TCU with him apparently playing no role in that game. I guess we'll see in a few days.

 

[Your Wrong]

If I recall from some @Your Wrong stats, that's not true. The missed tackle stats are actually similar. What is improved is that missed tackles aren't killing us for excessive YAC because we are gang tackling (or in Sark's parlance, populating the ball) a hell of a lot better than last year.

I’ll respond to your question about Ford too but may be tomorrow.

Off the top of my head prior to the OSU game our miss rate was around 13% as compared to around 15-16% last year. Now both OSU and KSU we had a miss tackled rate above 20% in each. So generally speaking, I’d agree we are populating the ball much better. Didn’t Deuce have like 10 broken tackles the other day yet he was pretty limited. He had a big pass reception, but there weren’t any broken tackles on it. Martinez caused some misses too but averaged less than 4 per carry. I’m curious if our guys have been instructed to be a little more reckless getting there to ensure we get there in bunches.

At the end of the year, I’ll look at it again.

 

[BLucky]

While I'm not yet a believer in PK, I also believe the defense is better when the offense is clicking. Seems to me when the offense stalls in the second half that's when the other team piles up the points and stats. The defense is just on the field too much and put in bad situations in the second half.

On the critical side I too wonder how much Patterson has helped the defense this year and what it will look like against TCU with him apparently playing no role in that game. I guess we'll see in a few days.

I guess I missed something. Can anyone say where the information that Patterson isn't helping this weekend came from? Why wouldn't he?

 

[SabreHorn]

Since Sonny Cumbie is now living in Ruston not Tarrant County, I don't know how Patterson would have an advantage. Now talk to me about Dykes offense versus Patterson's defense and that should be a matchup any true football fan would love to watch.