Oh yeah, I watched the games last year, and I agree we definitely weren't the same team the 2nd half of last season as what we got used to seeing from Clawson. Largely that was due to Greene breaking out and turning our running game into more than a ball control threat, but an actual big play threat from the run. Plus Johnson got so freaking good as the year went on.kdog27 wrote: Look man, usually I think you're pretty spot on about college and the NFL, but I'm having a tough time wrapping my head around what I have seen out of the offense and defense. Did you watch the last 6 or so games last year? After the first half of the UT game we weren't winning games with classic Clawson ball. It was a kickass offense that was scoring from anywhere on the field that won those games. We were blowing teams out, not winning 21-13 bore fests. I'll take that offense over this one. I can see the advantages of it, I definitely do. When it works it is great but the problem is when it doesn't you just put your already gassed defense back on the field and 40 seconds is gone off the game clock. Yeah he can have the attitude that the offense should score every time they have the ball. That's all great to say but not realistic whether we're in the fourth game of this offense or the 40th. Sometimes the offense needs to win games, sometimes the defense needs to win game, sometimes it's special teams and more often than not it's a combination of all three that matter.
I don't know what I'm even trying to get at. I know you don't like what you saw Saturday any more than me. I guess you can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I'm just not seeing it.
I am defending Babers for several reasons. One of which is that the two teams that I actually enjoy watching play college football (other than BG) are Baylor & Oregon. I LOVE the speed they run plays, and when it starts to work it can really roll...it blows teams out. I'm willing to put up with growing pains as we transition from a more pro-set offense to this speed of play. I realize it is going to take time to fully implement.
More importantly, I realize that while you're struggling to implement this system the defense is going to look even worse for it. Now I agree I hated what I saw Saturday. I also agree that the defense is playing well. I don't agree with some people here that are saying defense didn't get proper priority in practice, or the defense system is so flawed it's doomed to failure, etc. I see a defense that is learning a new system, is seriously lacking in talent/experience/skill, and is not getting any favors from the offense.
Hence my position on Saturday's game. This team is built to control the game through offense. The offense failed to exert their control on the game, and the defense actually did okay in the first 15-20 mins of the game (albeit largely UW shooting themselves in the foot). When the offense started faltering and turning it over the defense fell apart completely. The part that disgusted me was that the effort seemed to not even be there. THAT is a problem Babers & Co. must fix, and it's the problem that ultimately led to giving up a record day. It wasn't poor talent, poor scheme, or mistakes that lead to something like that...it's poor effort. To me that is inexcusable. The effort went into the dumper WAY too quickly for my taste.
I'm still very confident that when Babers gets his offense running the way it should the defense will NOT look like the trainwreck we've seen so far. However, they really need to figure out how to start making tackles. I'm not (and I doubt anybody else is either) in a position to blame the poor tackling on coaching. You can run all the drills in the world, but if the guys aren't making tackles in games, I gotta put it on them. They've been in good position to make plays, and nobody is making plays. I put that largely on a lack of experience at this point, but maybe that 2nd wave of defenders from last year just wasn't as good as we all thought.
Let's hope we can keep some guys healthy and start getting them comfortable in the system so they can start making plays. I really think if the defense started tackling and the offense started humming we would be much happier fans.
