Did Losing Pope Hurt Our Defense?

[Falconfreak90]

Denny,

Watched the game a few times now and honestly? That was one of the BEST power ground games I have seen in some time. Pulling guards, traps, that FB????
If it weren't BG playing, it would have been a joy to watch.

Alvarez said "We're gonna run all day. Try to stop us".

Clinic indeed.

Freak, I have not rewatched the game. I didn't tape it, and quite frankly don't want to see it again.

However, my impression watching it live was that it was, in fact, a clinic in OL play. I wasn't suprised that our DL got dominated by their OL, our DL has stunk for years. What really had me worried is how many tackles we missed. Didn't you notice how our LBs were trying to basically arm tackle Calhoun, even when they were in position to actually make a tackle?

Our poor tackling was absolutely the most disappointing part of the loss to me (a close second would be the STs play, but it wasn't unexpected). We kept hearing all summer how the defense was working on fundamentals and getting back to the basics. The first chance we get to display that was an absolute lowlight of poor tackling technique.

I know that we aren't as big & athletic as UW. Still we were in position to make a LOT of tackles that were not made. Now, I think Calhoun is a quality back, but he is not THAT good. More importantly, there are a LOT of backs in the MAC who will run through similarly poor tackle attempts. Names like Wolfe, McDougal, and Sherrill come to mind here.

Tackling is a tough thing to work on once the season starts as well, because you typically don't want your guys going all out so they're rested for the next game Hopefully it was an aberration, but after Saturday I'm not only doubting our DL, but moreso I'm wondering if we have any LBs that can tackle.


All that said, kudos to the defensive backs. One thing I said to my roommate was how disheartening it was that they racked up all those yards without having the one or two huge plays to skew them. That said, it was nice that our DBs were able to make the tackles when there were a number of times that it was either a solo tackle or a TD. I'm still skeptical about their pass coverage, and our defense as a whole, but they definitely proved to be more sure tacklers than our LBs; as disgusting of a thought as that is

You're exactly right, hammb. There were tons of missed tackles. And that only compounded the problem of going against a line and stable of backs like Wisky has. You BETTER make the tackle cuz you rarely get a second chance. We were extremely disappointing in that area.

Tackling in general seems to be a lost art on all levels of football these days...and that is too bad. Sometimes, the best thing about football is a bone jarring hit, arms wrapped and driving thru the ball carrier. Terrel White's hit on the Marshall kick return man last season at the Doyt was a perfect example.
Hopefully, this are gets corrected and pronto. Find 11 guys that wanna do anything and everything to stop the ball carrier. I don't care if they're Seniors or Freshman...find 11.