In the NFL, Oliver will be a linebacker, I predict.
Soooo many alternative facts here.
-â7 of the 15 interceptions came in 3 games.â Technically true. But lots of team stats arenât as impressive if you take out the best 25% of games, AND that also means we had 8 interceptions in the other 9 games, which still isnât bad. Another way of saying this would be, âwe had an interception in every game but 1.â
-âIf you take out Rice and Temple passing stats which were under 50% then the average completion against us was 84%â I hesitate to ask whence you pulled this stat, because itâs not even remotely true. The highest single-game completion % of ANYBODY against us was ECU, who completed 73% of their passes, not 84%. In case you need a refresher, we won that game by 30. Which maybe should cause you to reflect on how useful of a statistic completion % can be. Heck, Kyle Allen set a UH single-game record for completion % this year and got benched like two games later, and I donât recall anybody shedding any tears over that.
-âAgainst Fresno State we had the ball far less than Fresno in the second half. I donât have an exact number but likely we had the ball less than 40% of the timeâ We had the ball for 12:49 in the 2nd half, which works out to 43% of the possession, and a huge factor in that stat is the blocked kick-six which gave Fresno back-to-back possessions, and oh yeah, time of possession is about the 20th-most important stat in football unless youâre playing a service academy or something. Fresno didnât beat us by keeping the ball away. They beat us because theyâre one of the best defenses in the country at limiting big plays, and our offense needs big plays because we struggle to keep moving the chains with long possessions.
Our completion % allowed for the year was 62%, whereas the national average is 59%. We werenât that far off the average. And that was with a defensive scheme that was specifically designed to allow more, shorter completions so that our inexperienced DBs didnât get burned. (Which is why we allowed just 10 passing TDs.) I totally get that itâs frustrating to watch when you donât win the game, but watching your DBs play press coverage and get burned deep and giving up a million points when your own offense obviously wasnât going to be able to catch up isnât a lot of fun, either.
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UH defense had 3 ints vs Temple, 2 vs SMU and 1 vs Rice=6
So 9 in other 9 games, 2016 team had 7 picks in 13 games
2017 had key ints vs Arizona at end game, vs Memphis to set up FG, vs TT, vs Tulane to setup first TD,
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I mentioned this in the game thread but there was way too much showboating at opposing players last night. The defense would get burned, make a play, taunt someone, then get burned again. I havenât seen our guys do that nonsense consistently for years. Celebrating a play is fine, this was above that and it shows a lack of discipline from our coaching staff. Big Ed should be a captain next year he knows how to celebrate with fun and class.
My coaches always said when you make a play, donât act like itâs the first one even if it is. Another way of saying it is âDonât count your money when youâre sitting at the table.â
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Or âact like youâve been there beforeâ.
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Wait, are you trying to tell me that if we had Taylor, and Bowser, and maybe William Jackson III, Elandon Roberts, Brandon Wilson, Howard Wilson, and Cam Malveaux we would possibly be better? What do you base that non-sense on? Just because they play in the NFL and wreaked havoc on teams when they were here, you think we should miss them? Just because they shut down Florida State, OU and Lamar Jackson, you think we would be better with them?
Next thing you know, someone will suggest that Greg Ward made a difference â and WRâs like Demarcus Ayers.
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What I got and said before the game was that any qb who had watched film would have seen that soft zone we run and licked his chops. Tedford tried to go deep early and then dumped it. We were playing way off so the short plays were there all day long. I said we would make FSU QB have a really higher % and he did. I said we would not get as much time because FSU was better than East Carolina of defense and we did. I thought our superior athletes could overcome Majorâs bad play calling but it didnât work out that way as Major abandoned letting King have running plays until it was too late⊠Just like the Tulsa game we had a chance to go up two scores in the first quarter and blew the opportunity. From that point on I was really worried.
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This defense is totally wasting his talent
So how would you be using Edâs talent if you were the DC?
Ed had More total tackles in 11 and 1/4 games (only played a quarter vs Temple)than he had in 13 games last year. Same sacks and slightly less TFL. OhâŠand won the Outland Trophy. Maybe he could have played cornerback?
Fresno held Ed blatantly at least 3 times âŠhe was actually tackled twice in open after penetrating .
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Maybe those guys would not have even been on the NFL radar had they not had good coaching.
You do not need NFL talent to beat Tulane and Tulsa. All you need is coaching.
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Ed was tackled several times and triple teamed.
Also, let FSU burn you deep. Get those corners used to getting into the WR at the LOS. It takes away the quick hitting streak, fouls up timing on slants and letâs the DLine have a chance to get to the QB.
Jamming the WR means the QB has to hold the ball until the W
R gets into his route instead of laying pitch and catch. And that extra second is good for the DL.
Its all about pressure. We did not produce any. DBs get burned when QBs have time.
We could have the best DL in the league (oh wait we do!) but if we only rush 3 with the obvious 4th rusher being the strong side LB, we are screwed.
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I will bite. I would use Ed in a four man front and move him around on a
play by play basis.
I like that idea. Use him kind of like how the Texans use JJ. Maybe even drop him into coverage a few times while bringing an LB/CB. I think we should also bring a 5th and even 6th pass rusher. Unless we get much better at CB, we have to get more pressure on the QB.
I think itâs a great idea in theory but not so easy to implement. One, it requires other DL to learn multiple positions along the front. Two, with teams going hurry up, it would be tough to sub people in and out. You wouldnât want to have someone in a position you arenât comfortable with, just to move Ed. I believe he did lineup at DE few snaps vs FSU though