I'm actually a little worried about the D

dmcougar wrote:

Overall I liked what I saw out of our defense but I really worry about Thomas back there. I wish we could move Brandon Bradley over to free safety and have Eason start at corner or that someone else would step up. He doesn't take good routes to the ball and doesn't seem like a very good tackler.



I don't think we really tried to put much pressure on Locker and we tried to spy him. The times we did blitz it was effective though. Our defense has a lot of potential along with the offense. It's a great time to be a cougar fan!

Actually Brandon didnt look that great tonight. He's had better games. I know he had the one injury (stiches to head?) but he got burned several times. And felt that Corby actually played quite well. Would love to see J'ray step up.

I will agree 100% here, both Brandon and Logan looked bad in this game. Logan got beat bad on a couple of plays but thankfully the non heisman Locker couldn't hit the recievers when one was at least 10 yards past Logan. After the half it seemed like Logan got his head back in the game and had that great pass breakup in the endzone on the fourth down, but I still wasn't impressed with Brandon.

blue42 wrote:




I will agree 100% here, both Brandon and Logan looked bad in this game. Logan got beat bad on a couple of plays but thankfully the non heisman Locker couldn't hit the recievers when one was at least 10 yards past Logan. After the half it seemed like Logan got his head back in the game and had that great pass breakup in the endzone on the fourth down, but I still wasn't impressed with Brandon.

Hence why Eason came in late and I gotta say, he impressed me



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

First off, dudes, chill. The D was solid and gt it done. The reason for little pressure is because we played contain on Locker the whole game, did nothing but base pass rushes with guys holding their lanes to contain him and basically force him to throw it. When we did bring pressure, which was rare, we got their and got the sacks or forced quick throw. BYU was trying to force Locker to beat us with his arm, and in the end, he couldn't.



The defense was awesome the 2nd half after adjustments, so give the coaching staff credit. They outschemed UW and players made plays when required. Holding then to 0 2nd half points was HUGE, and when the game was on the line, the D got it done. That is what we should take from this.



Room to improve, but overall a great result.

craigoscarson wrote:

Overall I liked what I saw out of our defense but I really worry about Thomas back there. I wish we could move Brandon Bradley over to free safety and have Eason start at corner or that someone else would step up. He doesn't take good routes to the ball and doesn't seem like a very good tackler.



I don't think we really tried to put much pressure on Locker and we tried to spy him. The times we did blitz it was effective though. Our defense has a lot of potential along with the offense. It's a great time to be a cougar fan!

Steven Thomas will be the quarterback of the defense next year (he's a jr. now) I dont' think Bradley is big enough of an upgrade to mortgage the future for. Putting Bradley at safety also puts Dequan Everetts redshirt at risk if Eason or Buckner get hurt or dont' perform.



Don't mortgage the future for a slim to no upgrade. Thomas will improve every game and Scotty Johnson said on KSL tonight that Thomas is a much better athlete than he was.



The defense will have some ups and down this season but there was no obvious hole in the D, everyone showed they can tackle (crucial early in a season) and our young players still got work.



If Steven Thomas was a liability, then Locker and an pretty experienced offense would have been able to put up some points in the 2nd half.

You make a good point about Bradley but as I stated I wish someone else steps up. Bronco mentioned during fall camp that he was not seeing enough plays made at the FS position and I agree. I hope Thomas isn't the QB of the defense next year. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a new guy start at FS next year. Thomas may be the best option right now, but I hope he either improves a lot or someone else steps up. Thomas may be faster than Scotty J but not nearly the player. I'm just calling it like I see it.

I'm amazed at the criticism the D is getting on this board. Has everyone forgotten how Locker lit us up last time? We were far more fortunate to get out of that game with a win than this game, and we had a much more seasoned D then than now. The scheme was designed to make Udub do exactly what they were doing and take our chances with that rather than letting Locker go off again as he was surely determined to do (after losing last time). Not only was he not able to go off, but he was rattled enough to be rendered relatively ineffective as a passer. That was a product of our defense's containment. I am really impressed! Our inexperienced D did what our defenses have been unable to do in recent years. They contained a mobile QB. If they keep doing what they did in this game, we should have a very good season.



I'm also not too worried about Thomas. His most important job is not playmaking, it is running the defense. That is why Bronco has him there, and I think he aquitted himself well at that. The criticism on him in camp was his playmakng ability, and perhaps that is why the critics, but I did see him make a couple of really good plays. Perhaps he will gain confidence and grow into his athleticism, but for now, he is obviously doing his most important job well.

bigbluepuma wrote:
I'm amazed at the criticism the D is getting on this board. Has everyone forgotten how Locker lit us up last time? We were far more fortunate to get out of that game with a win than this game, and we had a much more seasoned D then than now. The scheme was designed to make Udub do exactly what they were doing and take our chances with that rather than letting Locker go off again as he was surely determined to do (after losing last time). Not only was he not able to go off, but he was rattled enough to be rendered relatively ineffective as a passer. That was a product of our defense's containment. I am really impressed! Our inexperienced D did what our defenses have been unable to do in recent years. They contained a mobile QB. If they keep doing what they did in this game, we should have a very good season.



I'm also not too worried about Thomas. His most important job is not playmaking, it is running the defense. That is why Bronco has him there, and I think he aquitted himself well at that. The criticism on him in camp was his playmakng ability, and perhaps that is why the critics, but I did see him make a couple of really good plays. Perhaps he will gain confidence and grow into his athleticism, but for now, he is obviously doing his most important job well.

I'm with you bigbluepuma, But, I also was at the Y for 03-07 years. I think some of us here have forgotten what 03, 04, and 05 defenses were like. UGLY!

One of the difficult things for casual fans like me to remember about defensive secondaries is that the less you see them on TV, the better. Kearse is so big and so fast, the fact that he only caught a couple big ones is a testament to our little corners ability to cover him.

bigbluepuma wrote:
Perhaps he will gain confidence and grow into his athleticism, but for now, he is obviously doing his most important job well.

Scotty Johnson (KSL) is impressed with Thomas. He would know. That's good enough for me.

Brandon B will be back. No worries. I will say it again, THIS D is better than last year. GIve them a game or two more and we will see continued great things. Remember how its been said that the defensive backfield was going to be the strength--our D line is awesome. LB's are great also. Not the best D ever at BYU, but they are solid.

bigbluepuma wrote:
I'm amazed at the criticism the D is getting on this board. Has everyone forgotten how Locker lit us up last time? We were far more fortunate to get out of that game with a win than this game, and we had a much more seasoned D then than now. The scheme was designed to make Udub do exactly what they were doing and take our chances with that rather than letting Locker go off again as he was surely determined to do (after losing last time). Not only was he not able to go off, but he was rattled enough to be rendered relatively ineffective as a passer. That was a product of our defense's containment. I am really impressed! Our inexperienced D did what our defenses have been unable to do in recent years. They contained a mobile QB. If they keep doing what they did in this game, we should have a very good season.



I'm also not too worried about Thomas. His most important job is not playmaking, it is running the defense. That is why Bronco has him there, and I think he aquitted himself well at that. The criticism on him in camp was his playmakng ability, and perhaps that is why the critics, but I did see him make a couple of really good plays. Perhaps he will gain confidence and grow into his athleticism, but for now, he is obviously doing his most important job well.

I think overall the D was great. They made some rookie mistakes and had some first game jitters but overall they impressed me. I'm sold on everyone on the D but Thomas. Do I think he's terrible? No! I do think that's our weakest position on the field though. He needs to learn how to take better angles to the ball and react much quicker. The latter definitely comes with experience, but some guys never really learn how to take good routes to the ball (same goes with outfielders in baseball). I have nothing against Thomas, just hope we see better play at the FS position, whether it comes from him or someone else I don't care. I'm really excited about our D this year and think they have a ton of potential.

frdbtr wrote:
Funny, we are criticizing the team that won the game for us. When will all you guys learn that the cushions that BYU gives in the secondary are on purpose. Bronco decided that keeping stuff from going over the top is more important in the long run then stopping 5 yard passes. If you haven't noticed over the last 5 years....it works.

Accept against TCU and other schools that are absolutely content with just 5 yards on each play. Bronco gives a cushion on purpose and part of that purpose is due to his philosophy on execution - which ever team executes better will win. The cushion forces the other team to execute. Bronco is banking on the fact BYU executes better. That's fine and dandy until you come across a team that actually can out execute you and it just fine throwing 5 yard passes over and over gain. Two 5 yard passes do equal a first down after all. I don't like the cushion, but it is what it is.

Did anybody notice in the second half the corners played up on the receivers?



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

I only remember Eason playing up closer to the receivers.

Lawboy wrote:
First off, dudes, chill. The D was solid and gt it done. The reason for little pressure is because we played contain on Locker the whole game, did nothing but base pass rushes with guys holding their lanes to contain him and basically force him to throw it. When we did bring pressure, which was rare, we got their and got the sacks or forced quick throw. BYU was trying to force Locker to beat us with his arm, and in the end, he couldn't.

I was watching the pass rush and noticed that our guys rarely, if ever, tried to beat the lineman around the sides. I thought it was a great call by Hill as it seems that is when the field in front of the QB opens up and the QB takes off up the middle. Locker never had that open field in front of him.



Is Saturday here yet?

I expect this D to really shine v. AFA on Saturday. Our speed at LB is really good, and they guys made plays from sideline to sideline Saturday. Minus a couple big running plays, we shut them down. I think holding UW as a team to a total of 128 yards on 31 rushes as a team is very good. Especially with the feature back and running QB combo they have. Not a perfect game, but only gave up 17 pts, and I will take it. Something positive to build on for 2010.