AU! 0 Posted November 4, 2010 Share Posted November 4, 2010 Alright guys, I think it's time to admit something. That is... this defense is not as bad as everyone thinks it is. We've heard a lot about it, especially in the media. Auburn has a superior offense but can they really go all the way on that poor excuse for a defense? And I, for one, have had enough of it. In fact, I'm not convinced that the defenses that we saw against Ole Miss and LSU were even bad. You see, in those two games, it was the defense that put the nail in the coffin. You may think it was OMac turning the corner and burning LSU for 70 yards and 6 points, or Dyer punching one in from 20 yards out against Ole Miss, but in those games, it was the defense we have to thank. With 5:05 left in the LSU game, they get the ball and start in on what could have been a game tying (or knowing Les Miles game winning after a 2 pt conversion) drive but are instead held to 4 and out by a surprising Auburn Defense. And against Ole Miss, I know Demond's INT was in the second QTR, but afterwards we went on a 20-3 scoring run until the Second String Defense came in. And its not just clutch defense that they've been playing either. Our defense played so well against Ole Miss that we put in the second string! IN AN SEC GAME!! ON THE ROAD!!!! And then consider what Ole Miss actually did against our first string D. That is, an early TD on the second play from scrimmage. A well deserved TD after an 80 yard drive that was essentially two passing plays and in. And then what? They didn't get in the end zone again until 2:30 left in the 3rd quarter. Well they took out the First Stringers. You take away that first TD Run and our defense effectively held their offense to ONE TOUCHDOWN! Here's how each of Ole Miss' Possessions ended: TD Punt TD Punt INT FG Turnover Half Punt Punt <<Second Team Defense>> TD Punt TD So out of 9 possessions against our first team D (we wont count the :06 second possession before the half), only 3 ended in points and only one of those was a full on TD Drive. Sounds pretty good to me! Lets compare! Now Alabama never really put Ole Miss away. The final score was 23 - 10 and that was their biggest lead: 13 points, so I didn't watch the game but I'm going to make the assumption (also considering that no points were scored in the 4th qtr) that Alabama had to leave their First String Defense on the field the whole game. Here are Ole Miss' Possession ends against Alabama: Punt Punt Punt Punt Punt Fumble FG Punt TD Punt INT Turnover That's 2 for 12, or one fewer Scoring Drive than our Defense allowed. Yet while Alabama's Defense is lauded as perhaps the best in the SEC, Auburn's is spoken of as trash? I dunno, we should probably do another comparison between these polar opposite defenses. Who's another common opponent? Oh, I know! South Carolina! USCe Drives against Auburn: Punt TD TD Punt TD Half Punt TD Fumble Fumble INT INT USCe Drives against Alabama: TD TD TD Punt Half TD INT TD Punt USCe was 4 of 11 against Auburn and 5 of 9 against The might Crimson Tide. Another way to put that is, we allowed 1 fewer TD on 2 MORE Possessions. Auburn got 4 Turnover's, Alabama got 1 Now I'll give you that one of USCe TD's against Alabama was after Alabama fumbled the ball. But USCe still had to drive 43 yards to the end zone. Alright, now back down to reality. The more intelligent Alabama fans will be screaming into their monitors at this point: "WHAT ABOUT ARKANSAWWWWWW?" Ok, I get it, Arkansas was a poor showing by the Auburn defense. Much to my chagrin, it would be unfair of me to not review the same stats: Arkansas Drives against Alabama: TD Punt FG INT Punt TD FG Punt INT INT and against Auburn: Punt TD Punt TD Punt TD TD TD TD Fumble INT INT Turnover Okay, thats 4 of 10 against Alabama and 6 of 13 against Auburn. Wait, that means against Alabama they came away with points 40% of the time, and against Auburn, they came away with points 46% of the time. So we could argue that they scored so much against Auburn cause we scored so quickly against them! Had we held on to the ball a little longer each drive, perhaps this game wouldn't have looked so poor for our defense. Honestly they must have been exhausted there at the end of the game when they allowed... er well, when they forced 4 turnovers in a row... Well, maybe they just made some mean adjustments and stepped up their game at the end when we need them to. Either way, I should point out to you people that the whole purpose of this exercise is not to attempt to prove that Auburn's defense is better than Alabama's. In fact, I don't believe that myself. I think that Alabama has a much better defense. But what I am saying is that perception does not create truth. And that the media's perception of this Tiger defense as a poor excuse is not as accurate as you all may think. You guys should be excited. We've allowed a lot of points and yardage up to the Arkansas game, but I'm convinced that we've since turned a corner. In the coming weeks, Auburn's defense is going to surprise some people, and one of those people will be Jim McElwain. (Another will be A.J. Green, but thats another discussion altogether.) P.S. After reading what I've wrote above, I realize that the major difference between Auburn's Defense and Alabama's is not how often an opponent comes away with points, but rather how many points they come away with. While Alabama is forcing a lot of FG's, Auburn's red zone defense seems to be... well, porous. But in the middle of the field, they can run with almost any offense in the country. The bonus is that Auburn's offense if league's above anyone else we've played thus far and while our offense is the reason we're undefeated, without such a potent offense, I'm convinced that we would still have won most of the games that we've played so far this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TecmoBoJackson 65 Posted November 4, 2010 Share Posted November 4, 2010 Alright guys, I think it's time to admit something. That is... this defense is not as bad as everyone thinks it is. We've heard a lot about it, especially in the media. Auburn has a superior offense but can they really go all the way on that poor excuse for a defense? And I, for one, have had enough of it. In fact, I'm not convinced that the defenses that we saw against Ole Miss and LSU were even bad. You see, in those two games, it was the defense that put the nail in the coffin. You may think it was OMac turning the corner and burning LSU for 70 yards and 6 points, or Dyer punching one in from 20 yards out against Ole Miss, but in those games, it was the defense we have to thank. With 5:05 left in the LSU game, they get the ball and start in on what could have been a game tying (or knowing Les Miles game winning after a 2 pt conversion) drive but are instead held to 4 and out by a surprising Auburn Defense. And against Ole Miss, I know Demond's INT was in the second QTR, but afterwards we went on a 20-3 scoring run until the Second String Defense came in. And its not just clutch defense that they've been playing either. Our defense played so well against Ole Miss that we put in the second string! IN AN SEC GAME!! ON THE ROAD!!!! And then consider what Ole Miss actually did against our first string D. That is, an early TD on the second play from scrimmage. A well deserved TD after an 80 yard drive that was essentially two passing plays and in. And then what? They didn't get in the end zone again until 2:30 left in the 3rd quarter. Well they took out the First Stringers. You take away that first TD Run and our defense effectively held their offense to ONE TOUCHDOWN! Here's how each of Ole Miss' Possessions ended: TD Punt TD Punt INT FG Turnover Half Punt Punt <<Second Team Defense>> TD Punt TD So out of 9 possessions against our first team D (we wont count the :06 second possession before the half), only 3 ended in points and only one of those was a full on TD Drive. Sounds pretty good to me! Lets compare! Now Alabama never really put Ole Miss away. The final score was 23 - 10 and that was their biggest lead: 13 points, so I didn't watch the game but I'm going to make the assumption (also considering that no points were scored in the 4th qtr) that Alabama had to leave their First String Defense on the field the whole game. Here are Ole Miss' Possession ends against Alabama: Punt Punt Punt Punt Punt Fumble FG Punt TD Punt INT Turnover That's 2 for 12, or one fewer Scoring Drive than our Defense allowed. Yet while Alabama's Defense is lauded as perhaps the best in the SEC, Auburn's is spoken of as trash? I dunno, we should probably do another comparison between these polar opposite defenses. Who's another common opponent? Oh, I know! South Carolina! USCe Drives against Auburn: Punt TD TD Punt TD Half Punt TD Fumble Fumble INT INT USCe Drives against Alabama: TD TD TD Punt Half TD INT TD Punt USCe was 4 of 11 against Auburn and 5 of 9 against The might Crimson Tide. Another way to put that is, we allowed 1 fewer TD on 2 MORE Possessions. Auburn got 4 Turnover's, Alabama got 1 Now I'll give you that one of USCe TD's against Alabama was after Alabama fumbled the ball. But USCe still had to drive 43 yards to the end zone. Alright, now back down to reality. The more intelligent Alabama fans will be screaming into their monitors at this point: "WHAT ABOUT ARKANSAWWWWWW?" Ok, I get it, Arkansas was a poor showing by the Auburn defense. Much to my chagrin, it would be unfair of me to not review the same stats: Arkansas Drives against Alabama: TD Punt FG INT Punt TD FG Punt INT INT and against Auburn: Punt TD Punt TD Punt TD TD TD TD Fumble INT INT Turnover Okay, thats 4 of 10 against Alabama and 6 of 13 against Auburn. Wait, that means against Alabama they came away with points 40% of the time, and against Auburn, they came away with points 46% of the time. So we could argue that they scored so much against Auburn cause we scored so quickly against them! Had we held on to the ball a little longer each drive, perhaps this game wouldn't have looked so poor for our defense. Honestly they must have been exhausted there at the end of the game when they allowed... er well, when they forced 4 turnovers in a row... Well, maybe they just made some mean adjustments and stepped up their game at the end when we need them to. Either way, I should point out to you people that the whole purpose of this exercise is not to attempt to prove that Auburn's defense is better than Alabama's. In fact, I don't believe that myself. I think that Alabama has a much better defense. But what I am saying is that perception does not create truth. And that the media's perception of this Tiger defense as a poor excuse is not as accurate as you all may think. You guys should be excited. We've allowed a lot of points and yardage up to the Arkansas game, but I'm convinced that we've since turned a corner. In the coming weeks, Auburn's defense is going to surprise some people, and one of those people will be Jim McElwain. (Another will be A.J. Green, but thats another discussion altogether.) P.S. After reading what I've wrote above, I realize that the major difference between Auburn's Defense and Alabama's is not how often an opponent comes away with points, but rather how many points they come away with. While Alabama is forcing a lot of FG's, Auburn's red zone defense seems to be... well, porous. But in the middle of the field, they can run with almost any offense in the country. The bonus is that Auburn's offense if league's above anyone else we've played thus far and while our offense is the reason we're undefeated, without such a potent offense, I'm convinced that we would still have won most of the games that we've played so far this season. No I am not exactly ready to forgive Ted Roof or the defense...yes they do have their moments but I still think our secondary is very suspect, blown assignments, and not being able to get off blocks on simple screen passes is something that still needs to be fixed. Now maybe I am just spoiled by some of our more recent defenses but that Arkansas game was ridiculous. And we have the defensive coordinator from our 2004 season standing on the sideline every game....at least in the past when our offenses weren't spectacular we could always depend on the defense...all I can say now is I am glad we have a high-octane offense...but as always I will cheer our team on none the less....War Damn Eagle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgufcm 4,107 Posted November 4, 2010 Share Posted November 4, 2010 Actually, the starters gave up three TDs. One on a busted play. One on the third drive. One following the Pass Interference called on Neiko. We had our starters in the game for that drive. The starters were pulled after our last score. The starting unit got scored on to start the fourth then forced a punt following the onside. They played better against Ole Miss, but somehow skewing a 24 point performance into 7 points... um, no. We were gashed by the outside run (not just the big play; they had 218 rushing yards. Only 34 yards came in the final drive), and we allowed big pass plays (including the PI, we gave up 5 pass plays of 15 yards or more). We had a very, very solid stretch in the 2nd and 3rd quarters (four 3 and outs, one turnover following a turnover, only 3 points allowed). The defense is getting better, but they didn't play a great game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TecmoBoJackson 65 Posted November 4, 2010 Share Posted November 4, 2010 Actually, the starters gave up three TDs. One on a busted play. One on the third drive. One following the Pass Interference called on Neiko. We had our starters in the game for that drive. The starters were pulled after our last score. The starting unit got scored on to start the fourth then forced a punt following the onside. They played better against Ole Miss, but somehow skewing a 24 point performance into 7 points... um, no. We were gashed by the outside run (not just the big play; they had 218 rushing yards. Only 34 yards came in the final drive), and we allowed big pass plays (including the PI, we gave up 5 pass plays of 15 yards or more). We had a very, very solid stretch in the 2nd and 3rd quarters (four 3 and outs, one turnover following a turnover, only 3 points allowed). The defense is getting better, but they didn't play a great game. And that's what bothers me...the big play...because I know that coming up we are playing two teams with two good receivers (A.J. and Julio) that are capable of making such plays...and I know at least UGA will 9 times out of 10 give us their best shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AU! 0 Posted November 4, 2010 Author Share Posted November 4, 2010 I should reiterate that I'm still not ready to call this a great defense. But it is not a terrible Defense. In fact, I find this to be a defining statement about our defense: They will not allow more points than our offense can score. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgufcm 4,107 Posted November 4, 2010 Share Posted November 4, 2010 Agreed. I just maintain that statement is more a credit to our offense than our defense. I'm not willing to call them awful, but I'm not close to calling them good either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AU! 0 Posted November 4, 2010 Author Share Posted November 4, 2010 Agreed. I just maintain that statement is more a credit to our offense than our defense. I'm not willing to call them awful, but I'm not close to calling them good either. I'll do it. Our defense is Good, not Great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AU! 0 Posted November 9, 2010 Author Share Posted November 9, 2010 Time for more! You guys feel free when you're ready to tell me that Auburn's defense and Alabama's defense aren't all that far apart. LSU Drives vs. Auburn: INT FG Punt TD Punt Punt Punt Punt TD Punt Turnover Vs. Alabama Punt FG Punt Punt Punt Half FG Miss TD FG TD FG Punt Thats 2 TD's, 1 FG, 6 Punts, and 2 Turnovers against Auburn and 2 TD's, 3 FG, 5 Punts, and 0 Turnovers against Alabama LSU had 433 Yards against Bama and 243 against Auburn LSU had 208 Passing Yards against Bama and 128 against Auburn I sure am glad we have that "terrible" secondary! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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