I made a conscientious decision last night to stay away from the message boards and blog writing until I cooled off. I feel much better now, but am still a little bitter about the play of our defense.
I'll start with this thought- 49 points to an Auburn team that scored only 3 against us last year?
Wow, we are in some trouble. I never would have thought Auburn would hang half a hundred on us. None of our fans would. Nor would our coaching staff, or players. That's not a good sign.
Thought #2- 390 rushing yards?
Another wow. Auburn doesn't even have the best rushing attack we will face this season.
Thought #3- Is our defensive coordinator too blind to make adjustments?
Carl Torbush stuck with a 3-man front much of the night and played a zone secondary allowing Auburn to pick us apart, at will.
I'll elaborate on #3 first. Torbush flat out choked on his first big test. In no way is Auburn's offense that much better than our defense. However, their offensive schemes were much better than our defensive schemes. We know that we're not the most talented at corner. But dropping back in zone coverage is not the answer. At least it's not the answer without an effective pass rush. If we're going to try a cloud defense, we have to put substantial pressure on the quarterback so he doesn't have time to find the holes in our secondary. Our safeties are above average. They can make up for the corners mistakes if the corners get burnt. But to give our secondary a chance, we must make the opposing quarterback make bad decisions. We have to put him on the run. We have to get him rattled.
We lost all depth in our defensive backfield from last year. However, we upgrading our D-line. On the defensive side of the ball, our most depth is on the defensive front. Why, then, are we playing 3 guys up there? Stack the box. At least run a 4 man front, maybe a five man. Prevent the run with a strong front 7. We know our linebackers are better than they played last night.
The scheme had a little to do with their "bad" game. We can go, virtually, 8-deep on the d-line without giving up much. Rotate those 8 guys to stay fresh. Let our three good linebackers back them up. Mix in some blitz packages, PLEASE!
Going back to thought #1. If anyone had told me that we would put 24 points on the board against Auburn, I would have predicted a win. It is simply inexcusable for us to give up 49 points. They seemingly picked up positive yardage, every play. Never did I feel like we were going to stop them. Completely different from the same game a year ago. Yes, they have a new offensive coordinator. One with a passing background, though. Gus Malzahn does not make a 46 point difference in one season. There are growing pains in learning a new system. Heck, ask our offense. The mis-direction worked great for them. Faked me and the camera man out every 3 or 4 plays. Torbush has to get this figured out. We have a similar offense to scheme against for next week. I expect, no demand, a much improved performance. Giving up 400 yards rushing is not going to cut it.
Which brings me back to thought #2. Auburn has no where near the best rushing attack we'll face this season. Vanderbilt's may be better. Vandy has a very mobile QB along with very agile running backs. The same scheme as this week will not work, and we will be torched for half a thousand yards of offense again if adjustments aren't made. Georgia Tech has the best rushing offense in the country. Think we saw mis-direction last night? Wait til the Yellow Jackets' triple-option attack comes to Starkville.
If we don't find a pass rush soon then we will have a loss on HOMECOMING! Houston has one of the premier passing offenses in the country. Ask Oklahoma State about it. Houston went into Stillwater and upset the #6 Cowboys yesterday, hanging 45 points on them. Think we're as good as OK State? Not even close. Middle Tennessee State beat Memphis by hanging 30+ points on the scoreboard. If Torbush doesn't find a system that works or learn to make halftime adjustments then we're in for a long season. We won't be favored in another game this season if he doesn't make adjustments.
Understand this. I'm not upset at the players at all. They simply ran the defense they were told to run. This is on the defensive coordinator. No wonder Texas A&M fired him. I'm not fully on his case or his removal yet. But a few more performances like last night and a change will need to be made... Mid-season if need be. We have talent on defense. We just need a system that they can succeed in.
Now, to contradict myself, we do need some playmakers to step up. If the system is changed, then guys like Zach Smith and Charles Mitchell will need to make plays. Big, fumble causing hits. Athletic interceptions out of nowhere. Big pass breakups. Touchdown saving tackles. They can't get lost in all the ground they have to cover. They have to make up for the lacking talent at corner. Another guy that has to step up and make plays is Pernell McPhee. For all the hype surrounding his signing, it is a necessity for him to wreak havoc on the opposing quarterback. That's why he is here. Of course, that is more likely to happen if and when Torbush changes his system and runs one we can be successful in.
Our defense is good enough to not give up more than 35 points the rest of this season. To give us a chance to win they need to hold opponents under 30. Carl Torbush, this all falls on your shoulders.
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