8.67ppg....Salute to the Defense! Keep holding the fort down! Despite a pathetic offense that is DEAD LAST in T.O.P....

https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/28

If the D can continue this trend into SEC play, that would be outstanding.

Won't last if Offense isn't fixed.

Please explain to me the praise for the defense. I've set through 3 games and we've been gashed by the run. When we play against a QB that can hit the broad side of a barn, we will be in trouble. I know we haven't given up many points. Appalachian State dropped a wide open pass for a TD. Miami dropped several passes that would have been bigs gains including their final play. I know also know we were shorthanded Saturday but I'm not convinced this bend but don't break defense is really that good yet.

wahoo0185 said:

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Please explain to me the praise for the defense. I've set through 3 games and we've been gashed by the run. When we play against a QB that can hit the broad side of a barn, we will be in trouble. I know we haven't given up many points. Appalachian State dropped a wide open pass for a TD. Miami dropped several passes that would have been bigs gains including their final play. I know also know we were shorthanded Saturday but I'm not convinced this bend but don't break defense is really that good yet.

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You win games by not giving up points - period. Scoreboard is the only metric that matters for W-L.

Out of over 100 NCAA football teams, only 8 have given up fewer points than we have per game.

All of those other things you mention happen to every other team in America. We are not alone in their opponents missing some catches or making some decent plays.

wahoo0185 said:

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Please explain to me the praise for the defense. I've set through 3 games and we've been gashed by the run. When we play against a QB that can hit the broad side of a barn, we will be in trouble. I know we haven't given up many points. Appalachian State dropped a wide open pass for a TD. Miami dropped several passes that would have been bigs gains including their final play. I know also know we were shorthanded Saturday but I'm not convinced this bend but don't break defense is really that good yet.

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I agree.

We shut out Sam Houston but then Sam Houston only scored 3 points against Northern AZ.
We gave up 17 to App St but Troy held App St to 24 (outside that silly hail mary play).

Gutsy performance against Miami but still glaring holes. And only 1 sack the last 2 games??? App State had more sacks against us then we have had the last 2 games combined.

Obviously the Offense is the biggest problem but the defense (especially the D-line which was supposed to be our strength) needs to step it up.

This is the difference between looking at an .xls spreadsheet and watching the games. This defense has some things to fix, and if they don't fix them fast the .xls is soon going to catch up with what our eyes have been telling us these last 3 weeks

Jack Friday said:

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8.67ppg....Salute to the Defense! Keep holding the fort down! Despite a pathetic offense that is DEAD LAST in T.O.P....

https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/28

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Particularly impressive when considering time of possession.

aggiebrad94 said:

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wahoo0185 said:

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Please explain to me the praise for the defense. I've set through 3 games and we've been gashed by the run. When we play against a QB that can hit the broad side of a barn, we will be in trouble. I know we haven't given up many points. Appalachian State dropped a wide open pass for a TD. Miami dropped several passes that would have been bigs gains including their final play. I know also know we were shorthanded Saturday but I'm not convinced this bend but don't break defense is really that good yet.

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You win games by not giving up points - period. Scoreboard is the only metric that matters for W-L.

Out of over 100 NCAA football teams, only 8 have given up fewer points than we have per game.

All of those other things you mention happen to every other team in America. We are not alone in their opponents missing some catches or making some decent plays.

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Those stats don't mean much right now.

Michigan has been destroying teams and shutting them down but have you seen their schedule so far? A bunch of pansies. Not a fair comparison across the board.

No way the Aggies will be shutting down SEC teams.
Let's make a bet...

At the end of season if A&M is still top 10 in scoring defense then I ban myself. If they are worse than 10 then you are banned.

Deal??? (I really hope you are right and win this.)

DamnGood86 said:

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Jack Friday said:

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8.67ppg....Salute to the Defense! Keep holding the fort down! Despite a pathetic offense that is DEAD LAST in T.O.P....

https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/28

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Particularly impressive when considering time of possession.

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Time of possession has alot to do with how poor we have been on defense getting off the field on 3rd downs. Can't you see that?

Anyone up for a BAN bet? I really hope I lose this one.

At end of regular season if A&M still top 10 in scoring defense then I am banned.
If they are worse than top 10 then you are banned.

third deck said:

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This is the difference between looking at an .xls spreadsheet and watching the games. This defense has some thing to fix, and if they don't fix them fast the .xls is soon going to tell us what our eyes have been telling us these last 3 weeks

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Agree - the stats line only tells part of the story. Miami's QB was struggling mightily with his passes, but there were SEVERAL passes that he nailed to guys that were wide open...and dropped the ball.

I believe in the "bend don't break" philosophy which is hard to watch in the moment but impressive upon reflection. Seemed like Miami had quite a few situations where our defense held them to 3rd and long and they busted out a long gain (usually on the ground) for the first down.

The lack of sacks and the fact that our top five tacklers were DB's is the canary in the coal mine for me. Our linebackers played really well in pass coverage, but seemed to be nonexistent on running plays. The few running plays that I focused on watching the LB's, they got sucked in to a gap that wasn't where the play was - they weren't getting blocked, they were just making bad decisions. The lack of tackles by our DL is a little scary.

Onionman said:

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wahoo0185 said:

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Please explain to me the praise for the defense. I've set through 3 games and we've been gashed by the run. When we play against a QB that can hit the broad side of a barn, we will be in trouble. I know we haven't given up many points. Appalachian State dropped a wide open pass for a TD. Miami dropped several passes that would have been bigs gains including their final play. I know also know we were shorthanded Saturday but I'm not convinced this bend but don't break defense is really that good yet.

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I agree.

We shut out Sam Houston but then Sam Houston only scored 3 points against Northern AZ.
We gave up 17 to App St but Troy held App St to 24 (outside that silly hail mary play).

Gutsy performance against Miami but still glaring holes. And only 1 sack the last 2 games??? App State had more sacks against us then we have had the last 2 games combined.

Obviously the Offense is the biggest problem but the defense (especially the D-line which was supposed to be our strength) needs to step it up.

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Most P5 teams have had easy schedules and yet they have allowed more points. Arky will be a test but there really isn't any proof that Miami wasn't a good test. Not enough data to make a call either way.

I will say that the defense not allowing Miami a TD, is impressive considering the number of contributing defenders we did not play. Hell, even if there weren't suspensions and injuries.

The question is, can they do that away from a rowdy Kyle Field?

Citizen Reign said:

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Onionman said:

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wahoo0185 said:

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Please explain to me the praise for the defense. I've set through 3 games and we've been gashed by the run. When we play against a QB that can hit the broad side of a barn, we will be in trouble. I know we haven't given up many points. Appalachian State dropped a wide open pass for a TD. Miami dropped several passes that would have been bigs gains including their final play. I know also know we were shorthanded Saturday but I'm not convinced this bend but don't break defense is really that good yet.

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I agree.

We shut out Sam Houston but then Sam Houston only scored 3 points against Northern AZ.
We gave up 17 to App St but Troy held App St to 24 (outside that silly hail mary play).

Gutsy performance against Miami but still glaring holes. And only 1 sack the last 2 games??? App State had more sacks against us then we have had the last 2 games combined.

Obviously the Offense is the biggest problem but the defense (especially the D-line which was supposed to be our strength) needs to step it up.

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Most P5 teams have had easy schedules and yet they have allowed more points. Arky will be a test but there really isn't any proof that Miami wasn't a good test. Not enough data to make a call either way.

I will say that the defense not allowing Miami a TD, is impressive considering the number of contributing defenders we did not play. Hell, even if there weren't suspensions and injuries.

The question is, can they do that away from a rowdy Kyle Field?

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I agree with you.

aggiebrad94 said:

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wahoo0185 said:

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Please explain to me the praise for the defense. I've set through 3 games and we've been gashed by the run. When we play against a QB that can hit the broad side of a barn, we will be in trouble. I know we haven't given up many points. Appalachian State dropped a wide open pass for a TD. Miami dropped several passes that would have been bigs gains including their final play. I know also know we were shorthanded Saturday but I'm not convinced this bend but don't break defense is really that good yet.

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You win games by not giving up points - period. Scoreboard is the only metric that matters for W-L.

Out of over 100 NCAA football teams, only 8 have given up fewer points than we have per game.

All of those other things you mention happen to every other team in America. We are not alone in their opponents missing some catches or making some decent plays.

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It's the only thing that matters when you look at W-L in the *past tense*. Because the game has already ended.

When you're trying to predict outcomes of future games, or determine if the defense is good or not (which is the point of the thread), all those other things matter too.

Try the flip side. Would you say that App St holding us to only 14 points (7 on offense) was a product of them having a great defense, or our offense just being inept? Just like how we gave ourselves a big pat on the back in Week 1 for shutting out an FCS team, only for them to manage only 3 points against NAU in Week 2.

Point being, 3 games is still too small of a sample size to get wrapped over PA and say the defense is elite. We've definitely had some help from opposing offenses (besides dropped passes, App St missed a FG, Miami missed 2, etc.). The poor performance on third down and against the run worries me that they will break more than bend in SEC play.

I will agree the defense is still the redeeming quality of the team, just like last year. But we also had a top ten national PA defense, IIRC, and were second in PA in the SEC only to Georgia, and still lost 4 games we should have won.

Onionman said:

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DamnGood86 said:

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Jack Friday said:

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8.67ppg....Salute to the Defense! Keep holding the fort down! Despite a pathetic offense that is DEAD LAST in T.O.P....

https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/28

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Particularly impressive when considering time of possession.

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Time of possession has alot to do with how poor we have been on defense getting off the field on 3rd downs. Can't you see that?

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Also has to do with offense. If your offense goes 3 & out consistently and your opponent gets a first down every drive, your TOP will be lopsided even if your defense is getting off the field after only 6-7 plays. Problem with App State was the offense couldn't stay on the field.

It won't hold up against the SEC.

If the offense can't start to pull their weight the defense is gonna start to wear down halfway through SEC play.

You can only be a one dimensional team for so long before the strong unit collapses under the strain.