Too much size is not the problem at LB…8 is not real good diagnosing and 31 at edge just gets dominated against the run when he’s on the play side. Expect to see a heavy dose of power until the Ags show they can line up and make some basic run fits. 9 last year cleaned a lot of things up.
While we may need work on run defense, we should also acknowledge the great job they did - 6 TFL, 5 sacks, and 1 INT. I can't recall the last game we got 5 sacks, maybe Biggs last year?
Looking at Weber-Butler highlights (with a little Weber-McNeese sprinkled in), I don't know if it's my computer or that the Wildcats look slow. The QB is skilled, big TE, but overall team speed on O doesn't impress. Butler, with zero scholarships, has several drives in the 4th quarter to take the lead and can't get it done. One Weber TD is on a gimmick where they lined the Offensive Tackle up in the slot and hit the TE on a pop pass from the OT's spot. 52 of the Tailback's 195 yards came on a run late in the 4th where he can't outrun the Butler secondary. Defensively, they look light. Aggies ROLL in this one.
David Meyer was really good last year and so was Bains. Tacking against SUU left a lot to be desired. Last year the Aggies were very good at tackling. Better pass rush so far this year but don’t want that at the expense of rush defense. Most of the poor tackling seemed to come at the edge and secondary against SUU from what I saw/remember.
We do have a lot of new faces on D and we seem to be playing more people. As long as we keep winning, developing depth, and staying healthy, i think we have the opportunity for a deeper playoff run.
But I do agree, it is difficult to see our D give up so many yards on the ground.
from the press conference and from my eyeball test, there was an emphasis on getting to the QB -> it seemed like we were blitzing more in the first half than i can remember use doing. that led to some pickups on 3rd downs that extended drives and kept the defense on the field a long time. i think that led to them getting worn down which led to poor tackling. SUU seemed to attack the edges, especially in the second half, and got big gain after big gain.
That being said, we held them to 7 non-garbage time points in the 2nd half.
There are 23 players listed on the defensive depth chart for the Weber game, 11 of them are new to the program, 4 of those are true freshmen. Having some growing pains.
Shout out to the Poly transfer David Meyer, who in his lone UC Davis season accomplished all of the following at Inside Linebacker:
- 2024 Buck Buchanan Award Finalist
- 2024 Walter Camp FCS All-American
- 2024 AFCA FCS All-American
- 2024 FCS Football Central All-American
- 2024 STATS Perform FCS All-American
- 2024 First Team Big Sky All-Conference
- Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 9, 2024)
- Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week (Nov. 5, 2024)
- FCS Nation National Defensive Player of the Week (Nov. 5, 2024)
...and was a key member in a defense that made it to the FCS Quaterfinals.