YSU's first offensive TD of the afternoon came with less than a minute to go on the third quarter which is pretty good. It was the result of a 10 play, 82 yard drive. That was their only sustained TD drive of the game as their other TDs were the result of 1 and 2 play drives. You hate to give up big plays like that but big plays are usually more correctable than a team marching up and down the field. Honestly, I didnt think the D played that bad.
The D did only give up 1 TD drive
- Thread starter Sean Miller Fan
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Agree SMF. The defense had a few breakdowns, which should be corrected, at least partially, heading into Saturday's game.
What I want to see less of is the sloppy play of the offense putting the defense into tough situations. The fumble and Pick 6 from Voytik could have easily resulted in 14 points rather than 10 had the D not stepped up and held YSU to a field goal. Some of this will be corrected through better communication, however, part of the issue is Voytik playing like a freshman for long periods of time. I'm not sure if the coaches are holding him back from being more mobile or what, but he needs to roam the pocket to be more effective.
What I want to see less of is the sloppy play of the offense putting the defense into tough situations. The fumble and Pick 6 from Voytik could have easily resulted in 14 points rather than 10 had the D not stepped up and held YSU to a field goal. Some of this will be corrected through better communication, however, part of the issue is Voytik playing like a freshman for long periods of time. I'm not sure if the coaches are holding him back from being more mobile or what, but he needs to roam the pocket to be more effective.
We'll know in 11 weeks if the propensity to give up big plays is correctable. At the moment it just appears to be a continuation of what we saw last year.
The offense's productivity was also deceptive. They scored most points on big plays that aren't likely to repeat. The offense absolutely must become more consistent, not only scoring but absorbing some significant clock in doing so ... and of course, minimizing killer turnovers that giftwrap easy points for the opponent. We knew all along that the defense would be suspect, and that the offense needed to carry the weight. With Connor gone and Voytik looking suspect, that prospect is definitely in doubt at the moment.
This is the zack duke version of rationalization. Back when he was with the pirates, his post game comments (after one of his many 6 inning, 4 run starts) went something like this: "Gee whiz I felt pretty good out there, i just missed on one or two pitches and they took advantage of it."
...or kinda like saying, "Yeah, Abe Lincoln's bodyguard did a good job. Only one guy broke security in three years!"
They all say that. "I pitched pretty good, just left a slider or two up in the zone (I don;t need to mention that I walked a guy and gave up a single to the two previous batters) and they took advantage of it."
You're right, you can't say "if we didn't give up those 3 big plays, the D played pretty well." If the D gives up 2-3 big plays for scores in addition to a couple of sustained drives for scores, they played $hitty, period. There are no qualifiers that change the equation other than turnovers and big special teams plays. Giving up a 80 yard run or pass play is a failure of your defense whether you do it once or 10 times in a game.
The D didn't play that bad. Yes they gave up 37 points but as previously pointed out the offense put them in hard situations.
I put that more on coaching than on the D. As I also pointed out The D played well an stopped YSU on a crucial fourth and one. The next play is the touchdown pass. Pitt up 15.
We stop YSU on a three and out get good field position and the offense as instructed by the coaches get conservative with over 12 minutes left instead of trying to score again and putting the game away. That's when it all fell a part.
But bad D or not that series of plays changed the whole game. Go up by 18 or 25 and it doesn't really matter what the YSU offense does and I'm willing to bet they don't score like that and the D continues to have a good game, which they did up to that point.
So it wasn't just the D that played bad, the team as a whole could have had a better game.
I put that more on coaching than on the D. As I also pointed out The D played well an stopped YSU on a crucial fourth and one. The next play is the touchdown pass. Pitt up 15.
We stop YSU on a three and out get good field position and the offense as instructed by the coaches get conservative with over 12 minutes left instead of trying to score again and putting the game away. That's when it all fell a part.
But bad D or not that series of plays changed the whole game. Go up by 18 or 25 and it doesn't really matter what the YSU offense does and I'm willing to bet they don't score like that and the D continues to have a good game, which they did up to that point.
So it wasn't just the D that played bad, the team as a whole could have had a better game.
Didn't see the game, but i agree with you that bad offense leads to bad defense, and vice versa. Average starting field position is a big factor. From everything I''ve read it sounds like the coaches were intent on running the ball and keeping the play calling as vanilla as possible against YSU. Also sounds like Voytik really struggled.
I hope Narduzzi isn't too conservative, but I will give him the benefit of the doubt on that in his first game. The closer he mimics his old boss, the better as far as I'm concerned. Dantonio is well known for taking the calculated gamble or pulling out the surprise play call when the situation is right.
It was a strange game because I thought the O was bad, yet they scored 38 and the D was pretty good, yet they gave up 30. Mostly big plays on both sides
Yeah?? So?? I don't think anyone was saying we played amazing. Just saying the potential www there and can be seen. And that's why Zach Duke is still in the majors making several million a year.
I think having a solid consistent defense with the occasional big play (which we knew would be the case coming in) is better than just getting pushed around
By "occasional big play" do you mean 3 big plays by an FCS team in the final 20 minutes of a game?
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