In 2016 UH gave up 34 first half points, held Memphis scoreless for a quarter and half and then gave up 14 points in last 7 minutes. 2017 gave up 0 points first half and 35 Defense points in 2nd half
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I agree that Orlandoâs defense was really fun to watch and is a style I prefer. However, I wonder how he would have done with this yearâs players which were younger and less experienced. We also lost a ton of talent. I would hope that DâOnofrio would be more aggressive had he had the same talent as we had last season and in 2015. To compare our defense with UTâs is kind of apples and oranges. Other than Oliver, we just donât have the same talent, that is if you give any credence at all to the professionals whose job it is to evaluate HS talent and to all the football coaches â including ours â that tried to get those UT players.
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So I thought about this thread and remembered that CMD had Artie Burns on his last Miami defenseâŠhe was a 1st Rd pick at CB by Pittsburgh 2016 draft. I wanted see how CMD used him. I looked at 1st half of 2015 Sun Bowl vs Washington StâŠMiami was lame duck staff as Golden was fired mid season. WSU won 20-17. CMD last game as DC at Miami.
So I found that CMD played Burns in press coverage mostly. He played Burns in man and rest team in zone as well. It appears he almost always played boundary CB in press. And then I found these 2 plays in same series, 3rd and 5, & 4th and 5 in 2nd quarter.
Burns is at bottom screen. CMD has safety on slot to bottom. He has two DBs at top screen in press with single high safety.
CMD pressures with 5 and plays man on all 4 WRs
QB throws slant to WR started top screenâŠincomplete
Next play 4th and 5
Miami again in press man with single high safety
CMD rushes 4 drops 7âŠplays combo man and zone
QB ultimately throws to WR that started in slot at bottom screen on crossing pattern.
Point to considerâŠ5 of his DBs here wound up in NFL
Burns Rd 1 2016
Tracy Harris UDFA 2016
Corn Elder Rd 5 2017
Rayshawn Jenkins Rd 4 2017
Deon Bush Rd 4 2016
Pass defense wasnât UM issue in 2015. It was run defenseâŠ201 yards/gmâŠ#103
Pass D was #38âŠ204 yards
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The current D.C. lays back and waits for the other team to make a mistake; classic playing not to get beat. The previous D.C. attacked the ball and the line of scrimmage; playing to win. I like the later and seems like other do too.
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If Orlandoâs defense is that good and presumably better than most, then why doesnât any good DC study Orlandoâs defensive strategy and duplicate it?
Weâre not talking rocket science. Itâs Xs and Os. There is plenty of UT, UH and Utah State game film for any DC (including our DC) to examine and study.
Itâs short term memory. When candidates were being brought up, there were a lot of complaints about Orlandoâs defense. They held Orlando responsible for the losses against Navy and Memphis as well as saying he went to prevent in the 4th against Tulsa.
Comparing what Orlando is doing with the talent he has at UT and the talent DâOnofrio inherited at Houston is not fair.
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I take Orlando any day of the week !!!
In case anyone forgot, it was DâOnofrio who wrote in his leaked follow up letter to Major that he would spend the necessary time visiting both Dave Aranda (LSU) and Orlando to learn their defense if thatâs what it took to get the job. You be the judge if those defenses resembled each other this year.
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waste of time comparison when TO had better talent to work with than CMDâŠIf CMD had Bowser, Richards, Stewart, Hightower, MacDonald, Jackson, H Wilson, B Wilson, Malveaux and Singleton like Orlando did, i am sure our defense would have been better. Our experience and talent on defense this year was markedly less than previous 2 yearsâŠ
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Whose fault was that that supposedly the talent was less ?
Well since DâOnofrio was hired January 6th of 2017, you certainly canât blame him. Well you can, but you would have to be completely insane.
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Much like every QB weâve faced this season.
How many of those translated to wins this year?
How much better since heâd have them out of position and will refuse to make adjustments? Look, the guy is not good. Heâs mediocre. It has little to due with talent when youâre losing to less talented teams! Itâs scheme and adjustments. You can line your men up and continuously get the same results. Thatâs fine. Or you can game plan and adjust like the âeliteâ coaches choose to do (see Kirby Smart 2nd half vs OU). Everything weâve seen this season from CMD has suggested he will continue to come up short.
I have some advice before you postâŠ
In the post quoted above, you did not follow Dwight Shruteâs advice.
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Right, you again. Do you care to expound? Or would you rather continue assuming I can read minds over the internet?
I donât think our talent was markedly less. We just had more unknowns and I feel the DCâs laid back attack exposed our weaknesses more than under Orlando.
You guys say that our LBs were worse, I say they were worse because instead of attacking plays, they were waiting for plays to develop. Wasnât Adams a second team All Conference player last season? Did he some how become less talented or did the change in style hinder his play?
We did not pressure the QB hardly at all this season and I donât care who you have in the secondary if you give a QB enough time someone is going to get open.
The loss of NFL caliber talent hurtâŠparticularly at CB. And thatâs the reason the D played off imo.
The LBs played well. Hines made All AAC in first year as regular starter. Adams was among top tacklers in country till got injured and missed 2 games. Was never quite sane with high ankle sprain. Austin Robinson had play vs Memphis with no experience. Ed won Outland.
DL lacked depth and pass rushers. Chevis was a stop gap and was replaced as soon as Carter was healthyâŠwhich unfortunately was game 9. He made a huge difference in run game and pass rush. Thurman was better than Chevis but so so. Turner is talented but was under weight this year . Fleming big big drop off from Ed at nose. And we got hurt when Ed needed breaks vs TT and Tulsa in extreme heat and vs Temple when Ed injured.
You have to look at the D in units. The DL was not less aggressive. They played 1 Gap . Which is shooting off ball and trying penetrate. CMD didnât blitz his LBs as much as CTO. He didnât blitz as often or as many as CTOâŠbut he protected the CBs.
CTO blitzes 5,6 or occasional 7. CMD 4,5 and occasional 6.
But CMD D had double the Ints and gave up half the pass TDs âŠless sacks âŠletâs see what 2018 looks like when corners have experience now.
The corner play was more aggressive early in year vs Arizona and TTâŠbut Johnson got beat long a bunch. TT receiver dropped TD right in his arms and IJ was 5 yards behind him. At Ariz he was beat deep in end zone and after review WR not have control as went ground. Also some pass interference calls I believe too.
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We will be losing NFL caliber talent yearly from now on, how will our program overcome that obstacle? Iâm not saying thereâs a not negative impact on future success, but other programs(good ones) tend to not use loss of NFL caliber talent as an excuse. We have fundamental issues with technique and scheme. It starts with the O-Line coach and CMD. They better fix it before next season or we will be up and down,âŠagain.
By protecting the corners you mean CMD played them 10 yards off and let receivers like Encalade run mesh routes, 5 yard slants, and collect YAC for first downs?
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Yes, when your secondary is not talented ( as is claimed in these posts), it is always better to give opposing QB more time to pick them apart.
A recipe for defensive success.
Just look at how Iowa State played defense against MemphisâŠpressure, pressure.
We made the ECU QB look like Tom Brady.
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From last year to this year, UH lost 2 NFL CBs. 2 of the 3 replacements, that saw extensive plays this year, had no prior D1 reps. Winchester had experience.
The previous regime apparently didnât prepare or anticipate Wilson leaving early. So a WR had be converted and former walk on given a scholarship.
The above situation is not a typical scenario for a âGoodâ program to have to go through. Thats my point. Does that mean I will give CMD the same amount of slack next year? No.
BTW, CMD doesnât coach defensive backs. Its the responsibility of the position coach to instruct his players on how to operate in the DCs scheme. Even though they may start 8 yards off, that doesnât mean they canât defend slants and hitchesâŠthat comes with route recognition and experience.
So according to your premise, Johnson, Winchester and Myers will all be NFL corners after next year?
I have no information to judge any other CBs on roster or in current recruiting classâŠthere could be future NFL players thereâŠmaybe not. I hope so.
What programs are you comparing UH to? Bama, Clemson? Other P5s that get more 3 4 and 5 stars? Obviously, P5s will have more NFLers year in and out.
Did you watch the corners when they played man? vs FSU Winchester got beat deep and IJ had 3rd down pass interference inside 10.
If there is a fundamental issue with the scheme, why was the defense not last in Scoring defense, yards per play, red zone, takeaways, etc? Conversely, the D was actually in top 25 to 33% in these categories. Because you donât like the scheme, doesnât mean its flawed. If the scheme was flawed, even a lowly team like Rice should have been able to expose it. Right?
If CMD defense allowed significantly more points, I would agree with you. UH limited several teams to much less points than their season average. Look at UCF defense vs USF. Look at UCF defense in AAC champ game vs Memphis. UH played better vs both. Yards and pointsâŠmost importantly points.
You love CTO and his scheme. I like it too and think heâs a great DC. But your allowing your dislike for style to cloud your judgement. If CMD plays same way next year and gives up many more points, I will congratulate you. Style and results are 2 different arguments. I think everyone prefers to watch aggressive defense. But how do you know what the results would have been if CMD played press man all year? I think they would have been significantly worse overall. Why? because i saw our corners play man and it wasnât pretty.
But you ignore the other factsâŠCMD defense gave up less points and TDs, had double the Ints(15 to 7) and gave up almost half as many passing TDs( 10 to 19)âŠso how does that happen if scheme is flawed.
Every time I show that both DCs had similar end results, you change the conversation.
CTO 2015 defense gave up about 275 pass yards per gameâŠCMD same this year.
Different styles but same result. And your a guy that puts big premium on yards.
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