Just asking

Don't really think you can blame it on the rule changes. Bama shut out Ole Miss under the same rules. The gaytor defense which is very good plays well under the same rules.

Now the up tempo type of offense is something to think about. I think it has more to do with coaching and the schemes that are taught and the experience factor. Bama and Florida recruit and have the same type skill and talent that we have and their Defenses are very good.

Good post thriller looking forward to more.

Good morning . . . .

Interesting thread. Read it more than once to try and get "my feel" before saying anything. Solid football talk, like it a lot.

Trying to recall what I saw the LSU defense do on Saturday. First thing that comes to my mind is John Chavis and the success he has had coaching SEC defenses. Gentleman knows defensive football better than many.

JMO, the young LSU defense was faced with a 5th year quarterback that has spent many of his hours off of the field with tutors that have given him great insight. Not just the mechanical part, also the cerebral aspects of the position. AM can pick an experienced defense apart, just needs that extra second or split second to make even experienced players look inexperienced.

Drawing this comparison is not in the least meant to say AM is another Peyton Manning. AM has approached football the same way that Peyton has and still does. Manning wins games because he is a master at what he does. Put AM behind a very good offensive line, better than most, the numbers he would put up would be incredible.

Another example. Johnny Manziel. The God given talent that he possesses has been seen before, just slightly different. Michael Vick was all that when he first was introduced to the NFL. Fran Tarkenton ran wild while he was in the NFL, caused problems for defensive coordinators, not because they did not understand and teach defense, something crazy was going on in football. Fran in my opinion was a better quarterback when he moved out of the pocket.

Talking heads that like to say SEC defenses have broken down, nonsense. They point to Alabama/Texas A&M and the score. OK. Now Alabama plays Ole Miss and what does the defense do, produces a shutout. Nada, nothing but a goose egg. Same defense, same quarterback.

Georgia/Clemson. What was the “overall” deciding factor or factors in that game. Quarterbacks.

From where I sit, if we are primarily discussing Georgia’s defense, takes me to this. After we put a hurting on Hawaii some years back, seems to me that our coaches took leave of their responsibilities. By that I mean better football players leaving the State of Georgia, crossing the Chattahoochee River, appeared that there was something special going on in Tuscaloosa and on the Plains. Friction caused by the coaching staff and athletic director set us back to a point of almost no return.

Defense is still played in the SEC, at a higher level than any other conference in the country. One thing I fall back on, and have said it more than once on this board. Coach’em Up is not a little tattoo at the end of a post, it is put there by me because good coaching produces good results.

Could go on forever, hope I have added something to this thread. Part with this, our defense is finally getting to the point that it has depth and . . . . Coaches.

Go Dawgs . . . .

Another reason the quarterbacks make the big bucks.

If this team is not lights out on defense next season, will be totally in the dark. Does not appear Grantham is leaving, definitely holding his feet to the fire in 2014.

Looking at the commits, there are some very strong folks in that group that will play in the front seven.

Edit: www.nola.com/lsu/index.ssf/2013/09/lsu_c...iles_cant_cover.html

I don't think our D should be simplified or dumbed down at all. Doing that will stunt the development of our young pups on that side of the ball. With young players in an established system or even with juniors and Seniors in a new system you have that lag, meaning that players can comprehend the scheme and know their assignments, but react just a little slower as they have to think or don't see what the coach is teaching as quickly. With a good QB that extra second is all they need. Our D is experiencing that and it looked like some of the confusion was pre snap when it was loud as hell in Sanford and LSU shifted or changed their look. Those third down conversions came when Mett had that one extra second.

Speaking of D coaching, got two former staffers in Knoxville this Saturday. Jancek is DC and ole bend then break Willie Martinez coaching the DBs. Vols putting on their smoky unis for a morale shifter. Hope AM demonstrates why these guys are not in Athens anymore! Should hang 50 on them.

"Dumbing it down" is just a phrase. It should more accurately be described as simplifying responsibilities. It doesn't necessarily
mean you are playing a defense that will now be easier to dissect. It just means putting your superior athletes in a position to
let their athleticism shine.

I don't care about LSU's D or anyone else... just ours. They may have the same problem. It may be that the new spread offenses
and formations are causing trouble for CTG, and other coordinators as well. Other teams having problems as well doesn't mean that
simplifying assignments isn't the answer.

We were confused on secondary coverages often this past week simply because of the formations they went to after seeing our
base alignments and then having formation movement.

Call it whatever you want to...but we need to work on it. Many may want to see this as just a product of having young pups, but we had similar issues last year when we had older pups.

I personally think its a combination of a few things : young d, complex scheme, offenses evolving.

Bama had trouble with Texas am, we've had trouble with Clemson Sc LSU.

Clemson and South Carolina don't run traditional offenses, spread offenses are a whole lot more difficult to stop especially when the other team has the right playmakers in the right spots. We get down to lsu, when they were under center our d had some success. When they spread us out we didn't.

It's not just Georgia's defense that hasn't been " good". I personally think some sec offenses have just outgrown a lot of sec defenses, the defenses will catch up though.