jiggafini19
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Irish Defense
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jiggafini19
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I have to put emphasis on #1 and #3. Especially #3.
I think offensive coordinators know what Minter is throwing at them and, besides the fact that what he's throwing isn't very good, he isn't changing things up enough to keep them honest.
The philosophy of bend, but don't break and timely tunrovers (it makes me sick to type those words) will only work for so long. I call this the "I hope they screw up first and turn the ball over" defense.
Disguising coverages and throwing multiple defenses at an offense can be effective, especially when you lack speed, talent and experience.
I hope they work extremely hard to develop Talley.
I think offensive coordinators know what Minter is throwing at them and, besides the fact that what he's throwing isn't very good, he isn't changing things up enough to keep them honest.
The philosophy of bend, but don't break and timely tunrovers (it makes me sick to type those words) will only work for so long. I call this the "I hope they screw up first and turn the ball over" defense.
Disguising coverages and throwing multiple defenses at an offense can be effective, especially when you lack speed, talent and experience.
I hope they work extremely hard to develop Talley.
W
weisfaninmass
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I have this good feeling about Vernaglia - that he is a gamer. Love to see him develop into a Ned Bolcar type player.
scooper
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Minter always had tough defenses at Cincinnati, but it's important to note that he was not the coordinator. In fact, the Bearcats ran a few different schemes under different coordinators. I don't believe I ever saw them running what he's running now.
At one point under Buddy Ryan's son, they were actually running the old Chicago Bears 46-the antithesis to "bend don't break." Cincinnati defenses always attacked.
At one point under Buddy Ryan's son, they were actually running the old Chicago Bears 46-the antithesis to "bend don't break." Cincinnati defenses always attacked.
G
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We need Lambert to emerge, he was a bigtime recruit with offers from USC, FSU, Ohio State etc. Next year will be his third year on the team(redsirted) so hopefully it will be his breakout season. He was hampered by that arm injury he substained in the spring and had a cast on his arm most of the season, so I'm guessing thats what held him back.
Defense will improve next year, we'll need guys like Lambert, Ferrine, and some freshmen to stepup. I think Next season could be a big year for Victor A, he seemed to get better as the season went on. I also like Talley's potential. Bruton's a guy you should keep your eye on, he'd give us alot of extra speed in the defensive backfield if he can start at safety, and shift duke to the apache spot
Defense will improve next year, we'll need guys like Lambert, Ferrine, and some freshmen to stepup. I think Next season could be a big year for Victor A, he seemed to get better as the season went on. I also like Talley's potential. Bruton's a guy you should keep your eye on, he'd give us alot of extra speed in the defensive backfield if he can start at safety, and shift duke to the apache spot
guff
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I would love to someday see ND switch to an attacking 3-4 defense. I'm not sure why the 3-4 isn't used more college - only UVa and a couple others use it.
The 3-4 does a lot of good things. Most important is it replaces one of your least athletic players - defensive tackle - with one of your most athletic- linebacker.
The 3-4 does a lot of good things. Most important is it replaces one of your least athletic players - defensive tackle - with one of your most athletic- linebacker.
Vince Young
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For as much maligning as Minter's "bend-don't-break" defense got this year, let's keep in mind that, for the most part, it did it's job. When you're averaging 40 points a game, you can afford to give up 30.
Of course, "bend-don't-break" won't win you a national title, but it will limit the potential damage of a less-than-talented defensive squad. Minter had to work with what he had, and he got probably the best results he could've gotten.
The trick for NEXT year will be to take the increases in talent and experience in our defense and turn that into a competent and aggressive defense. I'm guardedly optimistic that Minter will be up to the task.
Of course, "bend-don't-break" won't win you a national title, but it will limit the potential damage of a less-than-talented defensive squad. Minter had to work with what he had, and he got probably the best results he could've gotten.
The trick for NEXT year will be to take the increases in talent and experience in our defense and turn that into a competent and aggressive defense. I'm guardedly optimistic that Minter will be up to the task.
scooper
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guff said:
guff, to run the 3-4 effectively you really have to have that element of unpredictability. To get consistent pressure requires a more diversified blitz package and coverage packages. The 3-4 gives you many more options, but with more options is needed more practice time and repetitions. In the pros, guys are for the most part developed. And it is their full time job to watch film and practice in preparation. In college, you only get 20 hours a week with the team, thus limiting reps. You're also trying to balance developing 85 guys for the future with preparting 22 to start on Saturday.
Not to mention the personnel requirements. To effectively run the 3-4, you damned well better have a dominant nose tackle-a guy who can clog up the middle play in and play out. There simply aren't that many great ones out there. In the pros, they only need a handfull, while there are many more college teams vying for talent.
I know Michigan tried to run the 3-4 a couple years back. That experiment failed miserably. UVA's defense wasn't all that either, in spite of having a couple NFL caliber linebackers.
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QueensNY said:
Yeah, I am disappointed with the lack of development shown by Lambert. Hopefully he does rebound from that arm injury and steps in to be a major contributor but until he does it, I just won't count on it.
jiggafini19
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Questions to be Answered: Part I
Mike Frank
Jan 24, 2006
The Irish will wrap up their recruiting class next Tuesday and Irish fans will then turn their attention to the current team. Spring practice will be all the rage, and plenty of questions will need to be answered between now and September 2. Let’s take a quick look at some questions the Irish and head coach Charlie Weis will try to answer during spring football this April.
Notre Dame’s 9-3 season in 2005, while exciting, ended on a sour note with Notre Dame’s loss to Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. The Buckeyes offensive explosion proved the Irish just weren’t in the elite category of teams at the present time, and the Irish will have to fill some holes to get back to that level in the future.
Weis and his staff will have plenty of questions and concerns they’ll want to address this spring. We’ll be taking a look at some that will probably be high on their list. We’ll first take a look at some questions that will need to be answered on the defensive side of the ball, and today we’ll talk specifically about Notre Dame’s lack of pass rush.
How can Notre Dame generate a pass rush?
The memory of Tom Zbikowski chasing Ted Ginn Jr. in the Fiesta Bowl is still a vivid image for many Irish fans, but not all of Notre Dame’s problems in 2005 started or ended with the secondary play. Notre Dame just couldn’t seem to generate a solid pass rush, especially against the better teams.
The Irish did finish the season with 31 sacks, but the 2005 defense was hardly swarming when it came to chasing opposing quarterbacks.
The Irish front four just couldn’t get it done by themselves, and Notre Dame often had to send linebackers, safeties and even corners on blitzes to put pressure on the quarterback.
When you gamble, sometimes you pay, and Notre Dame paid often in the Fiesta Bowl, and throughout the year, sometimes even when not gambling.
Senior defensive end Chris Frome will likely return in 2006 after being sidelined in Notre Dame’s sixth game of the season due to a knee injury. It will be nice to have Frome back, but he only registered six tackles and one sack after starting in six games. While a solid player, he hasn’t shown the ability to get to the quarterback on a consistent basis, either. And, will Frome be fully recovered from a knee injury?
Senior Travis Leitko could return in 2006 as well after sitting out the 2005 season. But like Frome, Leitko hasn’t proven he’s the answer recording just one sack and 12 total tackles in his career at Notre Dame. Also, Leitko will be out of football for an entire year and hasn’t spent much time working with Rick Minter’s defense.
While neither player has proven to be a great pass rusher, they do give defensive line coach Jappy Oliver options and competition, and usually competition brings out the best in everyone.
Sophomores Justin Brown and Ronald Talley have shown some promise at defensive end, but neither has shown glimpses they might be in the Justin Tuck mold. Brown, at 247 pounds, is undersized at defensive end, and Talley probably doesn’t have the foot speed to be a great pass rusher.
Senior Victor Abiamiri is Notre Dame’s best chance at a pass rush most believe, and Abiamiri did finish the season with eight sacks. But four came against a poor pass-blocking team in Stanford, and Abiamiri faced constant double-teams throughout the year. We don’t expect Abiamiri to see less double-teams in 2006, so someone else is going to have to step up and help out Abiamiri.
Interior players Derek Landri and Trevor Laws did a pretty good job of getting pressure up the middle last year. Landri recorded three sacks and seven tackles for loss and Laws chipped in 1.5 sacks and three tackles for loss. Both should have better seasons in 2006 and they’ll need to in order to help solve this problem.
Notre Dame does have three other players, Dwight Stephenson, Patrick Kuntz and Derrell Hand currently playing defensive line. So far none have stepped forward for consistent playing time, nor has it been said that they might be the answer for pressuring the quarterback in the future.
The Irish also have freshman John Ryan and Kallen Wade reporting this summer, but I doubt either will be able to play significant minutes next year. Wade is athletic enough to possibly be a good pass rusher in the future, but at 215 pounds, his time is somewhere down the road for the Irish.
Looking at the current group of players, and those reporting this summer, it appears the Irish will likely have to figure out how to pressure the quarterback with what they currently have. Will these players suddenly become much more effective getting to the quarterback? Not likely. So the coaching staff will have to find creative ways to get that done.
Unfortunately I don’t think Notre Dame has that speed rusher in the Justin Tuck mold anywhere on their roster. This allows teams to double-team Notre Dame’s best pass rusher, Victor Abiamiri, neutralizing him often during games.
The Irish don’t have a dominating pass rusher inside at this point, and that also allows teams to man-up against Notre Dame’s front four rushers.
When you look at the situation it doesn’t look promising that the Irish will suddenly become a dominating pass rushing team. But they can do some things scheme-wise that might help them.
What’s more troubling to me is the fact that Notre Dame often left all three linebackers in the game in obvious passing downs. You rarely saw the nickel back, and hardly ever saw a dime back in those situations. This should clue you in on how confident the Irish coaching staff was in their nickel and dime packages last season. They chose to keep traditionally slower players in to defend in obvious passing situations.
The Irish could find a smaller, quicker linebacker to line up at defensive end in obvious passing downs, and that very well may be a thing tried this spring. But more importantly, if you’re going to play as much zone coverage as Notre Dame does, they’ll need to find some quality nickel and dime backs to give them a chance to defend if they’re not going to sell out to get to the quarterback by blitzing.
Notre Dame could go to a 4-2-5 defensive alignment next year as well, especially since they have to replace two linebackers in Brandon Hoyte and Corey Mays. But the real question there will be: Do they have more faith in the fifth defensive back than they do in their third linebacker?
Some have suggested a 3-4 defensive scheme. With the Irish thin on defensive line, many would think that might be looked at, but Notre Dame also has to replace two linebackers. That would mean three new starters at linebacker learning a completely different scheme. I’d be surprised to see this in 2006.
With the offensive firepower Notre Dame will have next season, I don’t believe you’ll see the Irish gamble a lot on defense. Weis will know he can score with almost anyone, so expect to see a lot more conservative game plans on defense. But if they’re going to do that, they better be able to find a quality nickel and dime back to give them a chance to defend.
Mike Frank
Jan 24, 2006
The Irish will wrap up their recruiting class next Tuesday and Irish fans will then turn their attention to the current team. Spring practice will be all the rage, and plenty of questions will need to be answered between now and September 2. Let’s take a quick look at some questions the Irish and head coach Charlie Weis will try to answer during spring football this April.
Notre Dame’s 9-3 season in 2005, while exciting, ended on a sour note with Notre Dame’s loss to Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. The Buckeyes offensive explosion proved the Irish just weren’t in the elite category of teams at the present time, and the Irish will have to fill some holes to get back to that level in the future.
Weis and his staff will have plenty of questions and concerns they’ll want to address this spring. We’ll be taking a look at some that will probably be high on their list. We’ll first take a look at some questions that will need to be answered on the defensive side of the ball, and today we’ll talk specifically about Notre Dame’s lack of pass rush.
How can Notre Dame generate a pass rush?
The memory of Tom Zbikowski chasing Ted Ginn Jr. in the Fiesta Bowl is still a vivid image for many Irish fans, but not all of Notre Dame’s problems in 2005 started or ended with the secondary play. Notre Dame just couldn’t seem to generate a solid pass rush, especially against the better teams.
The Irish did finish the season with 31 sacks, but the 2005 defense was hardly swarming when it came to chasing opposing quarterbacks.
The Irish front four just couldn’t get it done by themselves, and Notre Dame often had to send linebackers, safeties and even corners on blitzes to put pressure on the quarterback.
When you gamble, sometimes you pay, and Notre Dame paid often in the Fiesta Bowl, and throughout the year, sometimes even when not gambling.
Senior defensive end Chris Frome will likely return in 2006 after being sidelined in Notre Dame’s sixth game of the season due to a knee injury. It will be nice to have Frome back, but he only registered six tackles and one sack after starting in six games. While a solid player, he hasn’t shown the ability to get to the quarterback on a consistent basis, either. And, will Frome be fully recovered from a knee injury?
Senior Travis Leitko could return in 2006 as well after sitting out the 2005 season. But like Frome, Leitko hasn’t proven he’s the answer recording just one sack and 12 total tackles in his career at Notre Dame. Also, Leitko will be out of football for an entire year and hasn’t spent much time working with Rick Minter’s defense.
While neither player has proven to be a great pass rusher, they do give defensive line coach Jappy Oliver options and competition, and usually competition brings out the best in everyone.
Sophomores Justin Brown and Ronald Talley have shown some promise at defensive end, but neither has shown glimpses they might be in the Justin Tuck mold. Brown, at 247 pounds, is undersized at defensive end, and Talley probably doesn’t have the foot speed to be a great pass rusher.
Senior Victor Abiamiri is Notre Dame’s best chance at a pass rush most believe, and Abiamiri did finish the season with eight sacks. But four came against a poor pass-blocking team in Stanford, and Abiamiri faced constant double-teams throughout the year. We don’t expect Abiamiri to see less double-teams in 2006, so someone else is going to have to step up and help out Abiamiri.
Interior players Derek Landri and Trevor Laws did a pretty good job of getting pressure up the middle last year. Landri recorded three sacks and seven tackles for loss and Laws chipped in 1.5 sacks and three tackles for loss. Both should have better seasons in 2006 and they’ll need to in order to help solve this problem.
Notre Dame does have three other players, Dwight Stephenson, Patrick Kuntz and Derrell Hand currently playing defensive line. So far none have stepped forward for consistent playing time, nor has it been said that they might be the answer for pressuring the quarterback in the future.
The Irish also have freshman John Ryan and Kallen Wade reporting this summer, but I doubt either will be able to play significant minutes next year. Wade is athletic enough to possibly be a good pass rusher in the future, but at 215 pounds, his time is somewhere down the road for the Irish.
Looking at the current group of players, and those reporting this summer, it appears the Irish will likely have to figure out how to pressure the quarterback with what they currently have. Will these players suddenly become much more effective getting to the quarterback? Not likely. So the coaching staff will have to find creative ways to get that done.
Unfortunately I don’t think Notre Dame has that speed rusher in the Justin Tuck mold anywhere on their roster. This allows teams to double-team Notre Dame’s best pass rusher, Victor Abiamiri, neutralizing him often during games.
The Irish don’t have a dominating pass rusher inside at this point, and that also allows teams to man-up against Notre Dame’s front four rushers.
When you look at the situation it doesn’t look promising that the Irish will suddenly become a dominating pass rushing team. But they can do some things scheme-wise that might help them.
What’s more troubling to me is the fact that Notre Dame often left all three linebackers in the game in obvious passing downs. You rarely saw the nickel back, and hardly ever saw a dime back in those situations. This should clue you in on how confident the Irish coaching staff was in their nickel and dime packages last season. They chose to keep traditionally slower players in to defend in obvious passing situations.
The Irish could find a smaller, quicker linebacker to line up at defensive end in obvious passing downs, and that very well may be a thing tried this spring. But more importantly, if you’re going to play as much zone coverage as Notre Dame does, they’ll need to find some quality nickel and dime backs to give them a chance to defend if they’re not going to sell out to get to the quarterback by blitzing.
Notre Dame could go to a 4-2-5 defensive alignment next year as well, especially since they have to replace two linebackers in Brandon Hoyte and Corey Mays. But the real question there will be: Do they have more faith in the fifth defensive back than they do in their third linebacker?
Some have suggested a 3-4 defensive scheme. With the Irish thin on defensive line, many would think that might be looked at, but Notre Dame also has to replace two linebackers. That would mean three new starters at linebacker learning a completely different scheme. I’d be surprised to see this in 2006.
With the offensive firepower Notre Dame will have next season, I don’t believe you’ll see the Irish gamble a lot on defense. Weis will know he can score with almost anyone, so expect to see a lot more conservative game plans on defense. But if they’re going to do that, they better be able to find a quality nickel and dime back to give them a chance to defend.
guff
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That's why I said sometime in the future. The 3-4 isn't too complex or too difficult to implement. If the offense managed to digest Weis' playbook, I think the defense could learn the 3-4. The problem is personnel. A team has to make the decision to switch then recruit to suit the 3-4 and be willing to suffer the growing pains. Landri would do well at nose but the team has no linebackers. And in the 3-4 the linebackers are the difference makers.
scooper
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Landri isn't big enough to hold up at nose in a 3-4. Landri would actually be an ideal 3-4 DE-a tackle/end "tweener" who is a slightly small but athletic DT. Laws would have to handle the nose and even he would probably translate better to an end in that package. Our DE's are traditional 4-3 guys. None is big enough to hold up in the 3-4, save for maybe Abiamiri.
The comparison of offense to learning the 3-4 is apples to oranges. For one, defense is much more reactionary, especially in a 3-4. There is a greater range of blitz options not just within the package, but on any given play. Who blitzes, drops from the line into a zone or covers depends on the offensive formation, situation, audibles, etc. The benefit of the 3-4 is obviously the pressure it brings from hidden places, so you have to bring somebody often for it to be effective, and who goes-as alluded to above-is often not called in the huddle, but predicated by the offensive formation. Yes, it would be complex to pull off in college with the limited practice and meeting oportunities. There's a reason more colleges don't run it. A few do, like you said, but none of them are elite defenses.
The comparison of offense to learning the 3-4 is apples to oranges. For one, defense is much more reactionary, especially in a 3-4. There is a greater range of blitz options not just within the package, but on any given play. Who blitzes, drops from the line into a zone or covers depends on the offensive formation, situation, audibles, etc. The benefit of the 3-4 is obviously the pressure it brings from hidden places, so you have to bring somebody often for it to be effective, and who goes-as alluded to above-is often not called in the huddle, but predicated by the offensive formation. Yes, it would be complex to pull off in college with the limited practice and meeting oportunities. There's a reason more colleges don't run it. A few do, like you said, but none of them are elite defenses.
jiggafini19
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I've got to jump in here since we're talking defense.
I agree with the writer of this article that Notre Dame should really stick to more conservative game plan on defense. 4-3-4 and 4-2-5 are going to be their best bets. There seem to be quite a few "tweeners" on this defensive roster that are close to linebacker/safety hybrids. I like the idea of Ndukewe moving to Apache and Crum going to the middle.
As far as the 3-4 itself, I never had the pleasure of playing in it. I haven't really even seen it much. I understand the nuts and bolts of it but am not all that familar with the ins and outs on an intimate level. I don't really recall the teams I remember using it ever really striking fear into opposing offenses, though.
I agree with the writer of this article that Notre Dame should really stick to more conservative game plan on defense. 4-3-4 and 4-2-5 are going to be their best bets. There seem to be quite a few "tweeners" on this defensive roster that are close to linebacker/safety hybrids. I like the idea of Ndukewe moving to Apache and Crum going to the middle.
As far as the 3-4 itself, I never had the pleasure of playing in it. I haven't really even seen it much. I understand the nuts and bolts of it but am not all that familar with the ins and outs on an intimate level. I don't really recall the teams I remember using it ever really striking fear into opposing offenses, though.