Defensive Philosophy

[CycloneKC]

Understand we have a young D but I’m fed up our 3-deep safety look. Can we please make an adjustment ?!?!

We have allowed 35 and 36 points in past two games.
Zero sacks
Rarely any pressures
Short yardage stack the box!

 

[Frak]

Just retire, Heacock. That’s enough.

 

[Nor'easter]

Wasn't he going to retire anyways? I hope not he's still good, one game isn't indicative of his career here. Although teams have caught on to our scheme.

 

[3TrueFans]

Understand we have a young D but I’m fed up our 3-deep safety look. Can we please make an adjustment ?!?!

We have allowed 35 and 36 points in past two games.
Zero sacks
Rarely any pressures
Short yardage stack the box!

His email is probably [email protected] if you wanted to send him some suggestions.

 

[simply1]

So many idiots.

 

[isucy86]

Have never been a fan of the 3-3-5 formation.

1. IMO it is a finesse defense (bend/don't break) and LB/DB's have to be overly aggressive to be a solid run-stopping defense.
2. Campbell talks about being a physical team and I don't feel a 3 man defensive line meets that mantra.
3. An aggressive pass-rush is the best pass defense. And creates negative yardage plays.
4. A 3 man rush leaves wide passing lanes for the QB to throw.
5. Using a spy is a waste of a defender. He's not rushing the passer AND too shallow to be in pass defense against even shallow crossing routes.
6. Defensive lineman who are 6'4"+ and 250+ lbs are more physical and better trained to be pass rushers than LB's ad DB's.
7. It is not a blitz to send 3 DL and 1 LB/DB against 5 OL and RB and maybe TE.
8. Our OL has struggled for much of Campbell's tenure. Does playing a 3 man d-line impact the development of a quality OL?

I feel like there was a time when the 3-3-5 worked because it was unique, but seems like teams have adjusted and identified its weaknesses. Or maybe teams with certain playing styles and strengths can more-easily take advantage of the 3-3-5.

I would love for ISU to adopt a 4-2-5. It would allow ISU to be more physical along the line-of-scrimmage AND still allow one of the safeties to be strong at run support.

 

[casey1973]

So easy to see the opposing QB drop back. No rush and drop a 7-8 yard pass in the middle all day. Bend but don't brake you say.....

 

[Cyclone06]

I think we should go 1-5-5. Keep it all in front. Let the other team beat itself.

 

[LarryISU]

Another thing I notice about our 3 man front, we knock down very few passes. You watch teams with 4 or 5 men on the defensive line. They get hands up and take away passing lanes. NFL teams notably. A lot of tipped passes. We get practically none. Opposing QBs have unrestricted view and easy throwing lanes. To make that work, you must have DBs that can cover like a blanket. Today we were missing our top two, but guys that good are not easy to find, or keep!

 

[ISUTex]

Understand we have a young D but I’m fed up our 3-deep safety look. Can we please make an adjustment ?!?!

We have allowed 35 and 36 points in past two games.
Zero sacks
Rarely any pressures
Short yardage stack the box!

We don't have a lot of talent. If you have an extra 50 grand sitting around, you could help change that if you care enough.

 

[cymac2408]

Have never been a fan of the 3-3-5 formation.

1. IMO it is a finesse defense (bend/don't break) and LB/DB's have to be overly aggressive to be a solid run-stopping defense.
2. Campbell talks about being a physical team and I don't feel a 3 man defensive line meets that mantra.
3. An aggressive pass-rush is the best pass defense. And creates negative yardage plays.
4. A 3 man rush leaves wide passing lanes for the QB to throw.
5. Using a spy is a waste of a defender. He's not rushing the passer AND too shallow to be in pass defense against even shallow crossing routes.
6. Defensive lineman who are 6'4"+ and 250+ lbs are more physical and better trained to be pass rushers than LB's ad DB's.
7. It is not a blitz to send 3 DL and 1 LB/DB against 5 OL and RB and maybe TE.
8. Our OL has struggled for much of Campbell's tenure. Does playing a 3 man d-line impact the development of a quality OL?

I feel like there was a time when the 3-3-5 worked because it was unique, but seems like teams have adjusted and identified its weaknesses. Or maybe teams with certain playing styles and strengths can more-easily take advantage of the 3-3-5.

I would love for ISU to adopt a 4-2-5. It would allow ISU to be more physical along the line-of-scrimmage AND still allow one of the safeties to be strong at run support.

I second this. Very well said.

 

[Cyclonepride]

We're a different team without TJ Tampa for sure (not to mention Verdon). TJ basically erased an option from the pattern on every play. Losing that takes a serious adjustment, but also, give that Memphis QB his due, he was throwing some strikes all game (short and deep).

 

[BCClone]

We don’t have the backers right now. I have been thinking a 4-2-5 would fit our players better.

 

[cyfan92]

Players, formations, plays...

We don't have the players to get pressure with three, so WTF are we doing keeping the same formation when there is no Will McDonald or Jaquon Bailey to get pressure?

WeWill either has to go shopping for a couple NFL capable pass rushers, or we need to change up our defense.

 

[MartyFine]

Heacock retired in November

 

[mitchforcy]

Have never been a fan of the 3-3-5 formation.

1. IMO it is a finesse defense (bend/don't break) and LB/DB's have to be overly aggressive to be a solid run-stopping defense.
2. Campbell talks about being a physical team and I don't feel a 3 man defensive line meets that mantra.
3. An aggressive pass-rush is the best pass defense. And creates negative yardage plays.
4. A 3 man rush leaves wide passing lanes for the QB to throw.
5. Using a spy is a waste of a defender. He's not rushing the passer AND too shallow to be in pass defense against even shallow crossing routes.
6. Defensive lineman who are 6'4"+ and 250+ lbs are more physical and better trained to be pass rushers than LB's ad DB's.
7. It is not a blitz to send 3 DL and 1 LB/DB against 5 OL and RB and maybe TE.
8. Our OL has struggled for much of Campbell's tenure. Does playing a 3 man d-line impact the development of a quality OL?

I feel like there was a time when the 3-3-5 worked because it was unique, but seems like teams have adjusted and identified its weaknesses. Or maybe teams with certain playing styles and strengths can more-easily take advantage of the 3-3-5.

I would love for ISU to adopt a 4-2-5. It would allow ISU to be more physical along the line-of-scrimmage AND still allow one of the safeties to be strong at run support.

Turns out rushing 3 works a hell of a lot better when one of the ends is a generational pass rusher.

 

[mitchforcy]

Players, formations, plays...

We don't have the players to get pressure with three, so WTF are we doing keeping the same formation when there is no Will McDonald or Jaquon Bailey to get pressure?

WeWill either has to go shopping for a couple NFL capable pass rushers, or we need to change up our defense.

ISU will never be able to get an NFL level pass rusher out of the portal. Those guys are going to the blue bloods that can drop big time NIL checks.

 

[cyfan92]

ISU will never be able to get an NFL level pass rusher out of the portal. Those guys are going to the blue bloods that can drop big time NIL checks.

Proven ones, probably. But MJ was pretty good last year

 

[CascadeClone]

We're a different team without TJ Tampa for sure (not to mention Verdon). TJ basically erased an option from the pattern on every play. Losing that takes a serious adjustment, but also, give that Memphis QB his due, he was throwing some strikes all game (short and deep).

Those 2 are probably the most athletically talented defenders. Take them off the board and all that is left is scheme, discipline, and effort.
DL. The big 3 are good, but not good enough to dominate LOS, especially once tired. Not enough depth to keep them fresh.
LB. Bacon is the best LB we got. He is a walk on and is too slow to start anywhere else. But he goes 100% all the time. Miracle he stayed healthy all year. Sawdowski is NOT the next Mike Rose, but the staff seems to be betting the future on him.
C. Pretty good, some depth. Losing TJT hurts, but the drop off isnt terrible.
S. Scheme relies HEAVILY on the safeties being excellent. And the big 3 are great. But the drop off from those 3 to next man in is shocking.

Overall, theres just too many talent holes to paper over. That said, you dont need to fix them all, but man, you gotta fix a couple. They need a Big12 level LB and some DL depth in just the worst way.

 

[clonehome]

Have never been a fan of the 3-3-5 formation.

1. IMO it is a finesse defense (bend/don't break) and LB/DB's have to be overly aggressive to be a solid run-stopping defense.
2. Campbell talks about being a physical team and I don't feel a 3 man defensive line meets that mantra.
3. An aggressive pass-rush is the best pass defense. And creates negative yardage plays.
4. A 3 man rush leaves wide passing lanes for the QB to throw.
5. Using a spy is a waste of a defender. He's not rushing the passer AND too shallow to be in pass defense against even shallow crossing routes.
6. Defensive lineman who are 6'4"+ and 250+ lbs are more physical and better trained to be pass rushers than LB's ad DB's.
7. It is not a blitz to send 3 DL and 1 LB/DB against 5 OL and RB and maybe TE.
8. Our OL has struggled for much of Campbell's tenure. Does playing a 3 man d-line impact the development of a quality OL?

I feel like there was a time when the 3-3-5 worked because it was unique, but seems like teams have adjusted and identified its weaknesses. Or maybe teams with certain playing styles and strengths can more-easily take advantage of the 3-3-5.

I would love for ISU to adopt a 4-2-5. It would allow ISU to be more physical along the line-of-scrimmage AND still allow one of the safeties to be strong at run support.

Good post. #5 in particular. There were a few key plays when Lovett was in as a spy and he did not contribute anything. We effectively played a man short and gave up a 3rd and long or other big play each time.