Excellent Pass Coverage against Baylor

**Cycsk** · 10-10-2011, 12:03 PM

While I was as frustrated as anyone at the big running gains up the middle, I think it may have been because we chose to emphasize coverage downfield. Overall, I think we did a pretty good job with pass coverage. We made RGIII scramble a lot.

Kudos on the downfield pass coverage.

**CyDude16** · 10-10-2011, 12:34 PM

I guess you missed the guaranteed 5-8 yard outs they were getting.

**clonomaniac** · 10-10-2011, 12:38 PM

Originally Posted by CyDude16

I guess you missed the guaranteed 5-8 yard outs they were getting.

They ran the ball a lot which seemed to be the obvious option for Baylor. We were not good against the run at all.

**fenton06** · 10-10-2011, 12:43 PM

The point was to take RJesus3 out of the equation and the big pass plays, which we did very successfully. Unfortunately, this allowed them to dominate the running game. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

It'll be interesting to see what OSU and OU do against their prolific offense. It helps that they will be able to more effectively pressure RJesus3, but I will be very interested in their defensive schemes.

**ajk4st8** · 10-10-2011, 12:44 PM

We did what we had to. Take away the deep ball.

Teams with a good Dline should/could do similar things we did against the pass and still really slow down the run.

**tejasclone** · 10-10-2011, 12:46 PM

At times, our defensive front got some decent pressure on RG3. I was pleased to see that we were able to get a few hits on him, and he was slow to get up after a few plays.

The defense was bending but we had 2 (should have been 3) takeaways in the first half. With more consistency from the offense and little less shenanigans from the zebras, it could have been a closer game.

But yeah, can't give Ganaway 30 yards of open space on every carry. Watching from the stands, the dude would hit the line, and then explode out of nowhere and no one on our D was within 10 yards of him.

**fenton06** · 10-10-2011, 12:49 PM

Originally Posted by tejasclone

The defense was bending but we had 2 (should have been 3) takeaways in the first half. With more consistency from the offense and little less shenanigans from the zebras, it could have been a closer game.

Exactly, our defense gave us a chance to win, but the offense could not capitalize on the turnovers and had a few key turnovers themselves. I will also call shenanigans on the officials not helping our chances. The non-fumble and onside kick both resulted in TD's for Baylor.

**Doc** · 10-10-2011, 12:52 PM

Originally Posted by CyDude16

I guess you missed the guaranteed 5-8 yard outs they were getting.

I think you missed the last 3 quarters of the game where they sure weren't getting them near as much as they had on their first few drives. I was happy with our pass coverage as well.

**ISUCyclone06** · 10-10-2011, 12:52 PM

LJ did a great job playing one on one most of the day. Baylor's scoring drives averaged 2 minutes a piece coming into the game, I think we did ok. Offense needs to figure something out though.

**Cyclophile1** · 10-10-2011, 12:58 PM

Originally Posted by ajk4st8

We did what we had to. Take away the deep ball.

Teams with a good Dline should/could do similar things we did against the pass and still really slow down the run.

I think the coverage was very good on the whole.

Unfortunately, it was the WORST middle linebacker play I have seen in years from our guys.

**TXCyclones** · 10-10-2011, 12:58 PM

I agree with you on the OP, and this is the reason I think we'll beat TTech. They don't have a running game. Baylor had a nice balance between run and pass. We kept the pass offense from being as explosive as they'd been advertised, but opened ourselves up to the running game.

**Cycsk** · 10-10-2011, 01:00 PM

Originally Posted by ajk4st8

We did what we had to. Take away the deep ball.

Teams with a good Dline should/could do similar things we did against the pass and still really slow down the run.

Yes, this was my point.

Now, what could we have done differently that would have still shut down the long pass, but done more to clog the middle against the run. I saw some missed tackles, but this seemed more like Baylor taking what we gave them by positioning against the pass. Maybe we could have gone to a three man line and used an extra linebacker to clog the middle. However, I liked the number of times we got good pressure on RGIII. We wouldn't have gotten that pressure if we had stopped the run up the middle.

At any rate, I was proud of our downfield pass coverage. It seems like that was our defensive game plan, we stuck with it, and performed well. Baylor didn't really seem to be adjusting much, they just seemed to run plays up the middle at the right times. Or maybe that was their adjustment. They kept trying to do enough other things on the sides and downfield that it didn't seem that they were really trying to counter our pass coverage. It just worked when they ran up the middle.

**Cycsk** · 10-10-2011, 01:04 PM

Originally Posted by Cyclophile1

I think the coverage was very good on the whole.

Unfortunately, it was the WORST middle linebacker play I have seen in years from our guys.

I don't think it was ML play, but a defensive scheme that moved the ML out of position to plug the middle. I would say that we were in a position to put a hand on the RB about 1/3 of the time they ran up the middle. This isn't on the ML, but on the defensive coaches who decided to give up the middle. Now, the few times that we put a hand on the runner up the middle and didn't stop him, we can put that on the ML.

**weR138** · 10-10-2011, 01:09 PM

Originally Posted by CyDude16

I guess you missed the guaranteed 5-8 yard outs they were getting.

Yeah, we got gashed but I still think Wally's game plan was sound. Consider that the staff regards BU's O line to be the best we've seen so far...

I think we'll match-up a lot better vs. Mizz.

**isufbcurt** · 10-10-2011, 01:10 PM

Pick your posion, do you:

1) Play a defense like Wally did that prevents the big play and fast scores (i.e. deep ball to K. Wright) and hope that we can stop the run enough

or

2) Play man to man on the receivers with no safety help in order to stop the run but most likely giving up the big play

I would have done what Wally did!!!