The ISU defense....how good or bad....please explain to an outsider.

NU Follower · 05-18-2006, 12:23 PM

Greetings,

I was just wondering why most ISU fans believe the defense will be OK this upcoming year. OK as in top 50 national ranking. I think you'll be hard pressed to be in the top 75 with the tougher schedule, soo many new starters, and lack of depth.

What am I missing?

benjay · 05-18-2006, 01:13 PM

What are you missing? Maybe nothing. There's a lot of optimism coming from the coaches and others close to the program that it will be a fast and aggressive defense, but that is to be expected. The truth is that any time you lose that many players, you've got to expect a dropoff in performance, at least early in the season. The only questions are how far is the dropoff, will the unit gel as the season progresses, and can the offense pick up the slack?

Can't really answer those questions until we start playing games. :P

melt · 05-18-2006, 02:48 PM

Well, the thinking is that the new linebackers will be close talent wise to the ones we lost, so there isn't much drop off there. The secondary was not good last year, and the new guys are inexperienced and smaller, but faster so the drop off will only be slight. Plus Jackson showed improvement as the year progressed so he should be a lot better this year. The Dline I think will take the biggest hit, so we'll have to see how that goes. The run defense will definitely be worse than last year.

The defense last year was around the top 30, so dropping to 50 or 60 seems about right amount of drop off. The beginning of the year might be rough, but there should be a lot of improvement as the year goes on.

JCloned · 05-19-2006, 11:59 AM

I think there are two big questions that will determine our defensive ranking. Will we be injury free? - We have almost no quality depth at most positions, and will we have a B12 quality lineman to replace Leaders. If the answer to both questions in yes, then we have the talent to be a top 50, maybe to 35 defense. With a no to one or both Q's top 75-100 is more likely.

Wesley · 05-19-2006, 12:32 PM

We must expect some injuries. Outside of Stevie last year, we did okay. We really could not find a backup that did not fumble. NNot sure if Stevie will hold up this year. Maybe we may want to sub more than ever at running back. If we can run, I bet we cut down on our injuries.

HawKilla · 05-19-2006, 02:34 PM

Don't forget Brent Curvey is an absolute stud and will have to be double teamed every play. That could make it a little easier for the rest of the D-Line. I think Shawn Moorhead is really underated and could have a breakout year now that he is out of Berryman's shadow. Until the bowl game, he actually had more sacks than Berryman. I'm also excited to get Collins Eboh back. He played quite a bit as a freshman but couldn't hack it in the classroom. He should give us a lot of speed of the end. Kurtis Taylor is also going to be a solid B12 lineman. I think the only major conern is NG. I know the coaches like Braaksma, but he's pretty undersized.

JCloned · 05-19-2006, 02:49 PM

Agree, the danger at NG is we really need solid play there to occupy lineman and keep them off our LB's. Without, our LB's may struggle.

AlanAldaClone · 05-19-2006, 03:14 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>The secondary was not good last year, and the new guys are inexperienced and smaller, but faster so the drop off will only be slight. [/b][/quote]

Wait a minute. Are you actually saying our secondary wasn't good last year, or is that a typo? The secondary led us to second in the nation in interceptions. We had a very, very good, big-play secondary last year. It has to be a typo.

melt · 05-19-2006, 03:31 PM

ISU gave up an average of 239 passing yards per game, putting them 10th in the Big 12. So no that wasn't a typo.

Edit: To include a few more stats, here is how ISU ranked in Pass D last year:

TD's allowed - 11 (tied 3rd Big 12)
Int - 22 (1st Big 12)
Completion % - 56.9 (7th Big 12)
Passing 1st Downs Allowed - 128 (11th Big 12)

So the secondary was a B-, slightly above average as far as the Big 12 goes.

I got all my stats from here - http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/stats/byteam...=2005&sort=1120

Schroed · 05-19-2006, 03:49 PM

As far as giving up a lot of yards, our secondary was really poor last year. But, they were really good at getting take-aways (moser stripping the ball) and they did not give up a lot of touchdowns. It was a bend but don't break defense that capatalized on opportunities. That has to do with defensive play calling so I can see similar things from the secondary this year. Keep recievers in front of you and then go up and make the play.

As far as depth. I think our depth is really good compared to last year. If one starter from the d-line or secondary would have gotten hurt last year, we would have been in trouble. Right now, it looks like we might be playing at least 7 d-linemen per game compared to 5 last year. As a group, our linebackers are probably more "talented" but need more starting game experience. I can also see us playing up to 6 different lbs if you count Kris Means.

Also, James Smith at SS is going to be exciting to watch. If he can keep mental errors to a minnimum, he could be great. The secondary will also have better "depth" as far as people that can be counted on to play in nickel and dime packages. However, our lbs are so athletic, I can see us keeping all three in the whole time like Iowa did last year with Hodge and Greenway.

AlanAldaClone · 05-19-2006, 03:57 PM

Well, I'm going to have to disagree. Our secondary was excellent at the two things you should look at to judge a secondary: takeaways and scored against. Only 11 TDs scored on us through the air last year and something like 15 INTs just by the D-backs alone. That doesn't even include the forced fumbles and strips. Who cares how many yards they gave up? It's scoring that matters.

NU Follower · 05-19-2006, 04:02 PM

I think your run defense is going to get tested often next year. With your explosive offense, most teams will try to play keep away, ie. run the ball. Curvey is the only player worthy of a double-team on a consistent basis and with your other DT on the smallish size, undersized but fast linebackers, teams will try to run right at you (between the tackles). From what I've read, no one has a real clue as to the other DE spot opposite of Moorehead. I don't know how any Cyclone fan can say there is more depth on the DL when 2 positions on the DL are wide open.

clonerules · 05-19-2006, 04:08 PM

dont forget about chris singleton. the guy has crazy speed. first couple of games might be a learning experience, but by mid season all clone fans should know his name.

JCloned · 05-19-2006, 04:16 PM

NU I agree that we don't have more "ready to play" depth on D-line and I think you are dead on our potentially biggest weakness. However, We have a history of ending up solid at the NG. Eboh, Moorehead, & Curvey are a solid mid tier or better 3/4's of a d line so we won't be weak up front, but we must have a solid reliable NG to take heat of LB's.

While teams may want to grind it out, our inexperienced secondary may also tempt O-coordinators. I think we will be solid in the secondary and likely quite good as the season goes on, but we only have one guy with much experience. Our LB's are currently a little light for their height, but if they have a good offseason I am not worried.

I don't think there is an oline in the North that we can't match up against physically (yes including little red) OU, UT may be a different story, but I think we will hold our own if we stay away from injuries

NU Follower · 05-19-2006, 04:21 PM

I think NU and OU are very similar teams. Both teams need their OL to step up to have a successful season, ie. 10+ wins.

I don't remember Eboh from 2 or 3 years ago, so I don't know anything about him. Is he a speed type rusher or good against the run? He needs to be both. I know I wouldn't feel comfortable having to rely on players who weren't on the team last year to either start or play significant minutes.