Is it just because the schedule is much more difficult? Last year, the defense was bad, but not terrible. This year, its the worst in school history by a wide margin. Why so much worse given the players had a year in the system?
Why is Year 2 Defense so much worse than Year 1 Defense?
- Thread starter Sean Miller Fan
- Start date
Part of it I think is the step up in QB play. Trubitsky, Evans, Rudolph, Kayaa were a lot better than the guys we played against last year.
The schedule and talent of the ACC and BIG XII QBs are the difference. Many "experts" believe the ACC has by far the best group of QBs, with no other league remotely close.
And the schemes hurt us too. A lot of teams this year- Marshall included don't even look to run. If we played a B1G schedule I think we would have 7/8 wins at this point.
Here's how I see things:
The three key pieces of information are:
1. opponents ( except Okalahoma St) aren't that much better than last year/ no impact
2. our players on paper should be better than last year + or no impact
3. game plan, game day coaching, coaching in general - oh no not again! This seems to be the problem. And as we know not an easy fix!
The we don't have the players excuse doesn't hold water anymore. Not after the last two games and getting rolled over by Miami.
The three key pieces of information are:
1. opponents ( except Okalahoma St) aren't that much better than last year/ no impact
2. our players on paper should be better than last year + or no impact
3. game plan, game day coaching, coaching in general - oh no not again! This seems to be the problem. And as we know not an easy fix!
The we don't have the players excuse doesn't hold water anymore. Not after the last two games and getting rolled over by Miami.
We can make almost any QB look good. That said, the ACC is loaded with good QB play.
This is not the same conference it was 3 years ago when FSU went through it like a hot knife through butter without breaking a sweat.
This is not the same conference it was 3 years ago when FSU went through it like a hot knife through butter without breaking a sweat.
Pass rush isn't there and the cornerbacks have zero ball skills. Teams don't need to worry about running the ball when they can just lob the ball up and compete virtually every pass. The book is out and everyone has read it.
Last year the games appeared to be managed well. We lost some, won some, within a 12 pt range except for the bowl game against a ranked disciplined Navy team. It seemed like we were making slow but steady progress.
Lately something is missing particularly on D. Talent could be better but its good enough to win some of the games that we lost ( NC, VT, & MIami) all average to slightly above average teams.Plus it doesn't look like we have a clue as to how to mitigate the problems in the secondary which on paper looks better than last years group!
Our players are improved over last year yet in three key games we come up short:
-strong start against UN and fold as the game moved on
-we come out flat against a VT team coming up short in the end
-get blow out by a Miami team that hasn't demonstrated that its a good team so far this year
An improving team would have pulled out one maybe two of those games. I left the OSU game out but that was another where we had a chance to win in the closing minutes.
Lets hope thing improve and Miami is the low point of the season!
This is spot-on! Once you have been completely exposed, other teams get the films and they notice. They continue to attack the weakness until it is corrected. Our coaches have taken no steps to correct the problem and so we get a repeat every week.
I am shocked at how poor our defensive back play is. These guys run with the receiver and yet, never get their head around to identify where the ball is. It is impossible to play defensive back without ever seeing the ball. I do realize that sometimes you do have to turn your back to the QB and run all out to stay with a streaking receiver, but most of the time, using the propper technique(angling the hips) one should be able to not only run with the WR, but also be able to locate the ball at the same time.
Furthermore, WTF are we doing with Whitehead? Drop his run responsibilities and have him reading the eyes of the QB. Maybe this way, instead of taking up space, he could actually make a play that could have some impact on the game.
No studs on the d line. Slow linebackers, need speed. D backs young and no depth equals shitty defense.
Great question SMF
The biggest reason is we've created very little pressure on the QB. Last year we doubled our sack total from the previous year. This year, the QB's have all day to throw, exposing our weak DB's.
Agree a million percent on Whitehead. I wished Narduzzi would just officially make him a LB and be done with it. He is completely absent in pass coverage. What a waste of a player. Its not Whitehead's fault but he is being wasted.
Side note:
"Chris Dokish @ChrisDokish
Pitt started 2 players on defense against Miami that had 5+ P5 offers- Price & Whitehead. Narduzzi brought 14 in on defense last year."
It will get better...
"Chris Dokish @ChrisDokish
Pitt started 2 players on defense against Miami that had 5+ P5 offers- Price & Whitehead. Narduzzi brought 14 in on defense last year."
It will get better...
The point I was getting at is that the coaches just didn't forget how to coach over the summer.
Narduzzi said he sent his coaches to Florida early in week to recruit, based on the results, I would not do that again. Peterman had his worst game and losing 2 TDs really hurt, but it is clear, every Team knows how to have there QBs, WRs, TEs, and RBs ready for Pitt Defense, they don't care if the Run is stopped, so long as QBs make 3rd & 4th Downs and so far that has been Pitt Achilles Heel, and if QB Peterman is off, or WRs and RBs drop or fumble, Pitt can't win or even stay close?
In that case, the defense should have been fine except for the week Narduzzi sent the assistants out of town to recruit. If the problem was present in the weeks were the assistants were not sent out of town, then obviously that's not the problem.
Okay, but why hold back from getting at least a few more of those 14 kids (with supposedly more upside than some of the players struggling in games this season) some important game day experience which might have helped the team this year and which would surely help the team going into next year by having additional battle tested depth.
Ok got it. The reason the defense is worse is pitt is perpetually bad and will always be 6-6. U make a great point. Havent heard that from u before.
