Ralph is a little concerned about the defense

[hawkwing]

[BroncoBot]

It was BAD.
And a lot of those were on 3rd and LONG.

[CrimsonCoug]

Confirms what my eyes and gut told me.
I know Greg used to share trends and stats with Bronco. And I know that Greg and Ralph are tight. I wonder if this has been shared with Sitake and Tuiaki? Is it too pessimistic to think that they don't already know somehow? But if they do know, would they really do anything differently besides give some coach speak about how pass defense is always a priority?

On the other hand, they did hire Preston Hadley to coach the safeties--only defensive change besides Kaufusi leaving, iirc. Hadley played under Bronco, so if he can transfer that toughness and accountabilitym that might help. Maybe.

Jernaro Gilford has been coaching the corners the last 2 years. They've been pretty unremarkable.

It does make you wonder about what could have been in 2016 with an average pass defense and those 4 close losses

[snoscythe]

When you refuse to make blitzes a regular part of your pressure strategy and rely on your ineffective front four to get pressure even when it's become obvious they can't do it, it doesn't matter who is in your secondary. You're gonna give up a lot of passes and a lot of big passes

[SpiffCoug]

It was BAD.
And a lot of those were on 3rd and LONG.

Actually 3rd and Long wasn't that bad. It even improved over the previous year fairly significantly. Here's how opponents have done on 3rd and Long since I started tracking it in 2006 (listed in order from best to worst):

2012: 13 of 87 (.149)
2014: 27 of 114 (.237)
2013: 28 of 117 (.239)
2017: 20 of 83 (.241)
2011: 23 of 93 (.247)
2007: 34 of 127 (.268)
2015: 30 of 110 (.272)
2006: 31 of 108 (.287)
2009: 37 of 119 (.311)
2010: 41 of 128 (.320)
2016: 28 of 85 (.329)
2008: 39 of 113 (.345)

[Cougarfan87]

It was BAD.
And a lot of those were on 3rd and LONG.

Actually 3rd and Long wasn't that bad. It even improved over the previous year fairly significantly. Here's how opponents have done on 3rd and Long since I started tracking it in 2006 (listed in order from best to worst):

2012: 13 of 87 (.149)
2014: 27 of 114 (.237)
2013: 28 of 117 (.239)
2017: 20 of 83 (.241)
2011: 23 of 93 (.247)
2007: 34 of 127 (.268)
2015: 30 of 110 (.272)
2006: 31 of 108 (.287)
2009: 37 of 119 (.311)
2010: 41 of 128 (.320)
2016: 28 of 85 (.329)
2008: 39 of 113 (.345)

I am sure that we all felt it was the worst ever because we could only hope to stop them since our offense wasn't doing much. An interesting stat to put next to that one would be the our offense's scoring average that year. In my mind, that is what made it seem so much worse last year. If you are going to have a really poor scoring offense, then you have to get off of the field on third and long.

[EM_Puma]

Good ol' Ralph Sokolowski. If you listed to the recording on KSL of the Beck to Harline game winning reception at Utah, he's the one in the background making the high pitched whine. Sounds like some little kid. He's a great guy. I think he retired as stats guy for Greg Wrubel after last year, but he did his stats for quite some time. I used to ride a bus with him daily from Salt Lake. He used to tell me how much fun it was to get to go to all the BYU games no matter where they played. I remember he retired from working for the State of UT in accounting and then he got called as a YSA Bishop. That's not much of a retirement.

[BroncoBot]

It was BAD.
And a lot of those were on 3rd and LONG.

Actually 3rd and Long wasn't that bad. It even improved over the previous year fairly significantly. Here's how opponents have done on 3rd and Long since I started tracking it in 2006 (listed in order from best to worst):

2012: 13 of 87 (.149)
2014: 27 of 114 (.237)
2013: 28 of 117 (.239)
2017: 20 of 83 (.241)
2011: 23 of 93 (.247)
2007: 34 of 127 (.268)
2015: 30 of 110 (.272)
2006: 31 of 108 (.287)
2009: 37 of 119 (.311)
2010: 41 of 128 (.320)
2016: 28 of 85 (.329)
2008: 39 of 113 (.345)

Very nice.
Thanks. Subjectively, it felt unbearable last year, losing some of those games may have been a part of it. Not all 3rd downs are created equal?

[frdbtr]

Confirms what my eyes and gut told me.
I know Greg used to share trends and stats with Bronco. And I know that Greg and Ralph are tight. I wonder if this has been shared with Sitake and Tuiaki? Is it too pessimistic to think that they don't already know somehow? But if they do know, would they really do anything differently besides give some coach speak about how pass defense is always a priority?

On the other hand, they did hire Preston Hadley to coach the safeties--only defensive change besides Kaufusi leaving, iirc. Hadley played under Bronco, so if he can transfer that toughness and accountabilitym that might help. Maybe.

Jernaro Gilford has been coaching the corners the last 2 years. They've been pretty unremarkable.

It does make you wonder about what could have been in 2016 with an average pass defense and those 4 close losses

The problem with our Pass defense (other than general scheme) is that the defensive line has gotten no pressure on opposing QB's for the last 2 years. I could stand back there and throw darts with the little pressure that opposing QB's have seen. It has been maddening watching our QB running for his life as soon as the shotgun snap hits his hands and watching Opposing QB's drink a Mtn dew while they pick out which receiver they are going to throw too. The poor secondary needing to cover indefinitely makes them look bad.

[Mars]

When you refuse to make blitzes a regular part of your pressure strategy and rely on your ineffective front four to get pressure even when it's become obvious they can't do it, it doesn't matter who is in your secondary. You're gonna give up a lot of passes and a lot of big passes

This.

Our guys aren't world beaters, but giving the opposing QB 10+ seconds to throw each snap makes them look like scarecrows.