What changes can and will SOS and the defensive staff make

[CoverTwo]

Golightly is no good. Undersized and doesn't have the talent level needed at SPUR. He got exposed so bad. Diggs needs to be the SPUR.

[conwaycock2]

I'm looking for who's suppose to be our best DL by far.....Surratt.

[CoverTwo]

Surratt doesn't bring any explosion or playmaking ability. He is a solid run situational player.

[ccured]

I honestly would like to see the 3 man front C2 listed. Bring four every time but vary where the 4th guy come from. Left, right, middle Send 5 or 6 sometimes. I like the concept but I'm not gonna say who should be were right now

[Blackland]

Nothing you can do but, "Coach em up" at this point. Gotta dance with the ones you brought.

[Pw00132]

Originally Posted by Kuhn

After watching the game film, Ward will be banned from football for life. Several starters on defense will be executed to set an example. Hey, it worked for the Aztecs.

I like your idea

[SCBLACKDOG]

1. Recruit better. Its all about the Jimmys and Joes. Top 20 recruiting (average) and then having a large percent of them not qualifty = what you witnessed Thursday.
2. Need a top level DC like Kirby Smart or Jeremy Pruitt.

We can improve but we have a Def Con 2 situation at defense this year. Going to take 2 to 3 years to fix (assuming we have great recruiting and more than likely a new DC).

[Roosterboy]

Honestly....dump the 3-4, we don't have the personnel...also, athletes do not equal good defensive players. You need good athletes on defense, but you more need guys that understand your scheme. We don't have the personnel to run the 3-4, nor does it look like our current guys understand the scheme.

Second, have got to play tighter coverage...can't give 10-yard cushions to guys. If you get beat, you get beat. But at least jam them and throw off the timing routes (something air raid offenses thrive on).

Also, WRAP UP!!!Stop trying to pull a DJ Swearinger and clean guys clocks. DJ could just naturally do it...it is one of those things you either naturally know how to do it, or you don't.

Third...for god sake's, stop trying to bull rush on the Dline EVERY DAMN PLAY. Dline is all about hand fighting, swim moves, hooks and speed rush. Guys like Mason Harris and Darius English strength is speed and getting around guys, not bull rushing them (which goes back to coaching, which Bull rushing is something Deke said he wanted to see more of when he was hired. Go back and listen).

Also, maybe move Brison back to safety and let him be more of a vocal safety valve for when our CBs get beat. At least if he is in the middle of the field he can help more than being off to one side in coverage.

Outside of that, as mentioned...got to continue to recruit better. I'd also think about starting TJ Gurley, guy actually played pretty well.

Also, is Ali Groves not available..I know Al is young, and i think he is going to be a good one, but physically he is just not ready..he was getting manhandled by guys that were 200-plus pounds. Also, I think we are seeing how not having Jamari Smith (who was a bigger CB) is hurting.

[Roosterboy]

I will say this, if the team comes out in a 3-4, especially against UGA, Ward should be fired on the smart. He is either too stupid to see it isn't working, or too proud to admit it isn't working.

[cockybusiness2]

I have read a lot of great ideas... But nothing that can work for this year... is there nothing we can do NOW

[sunbeam]

Man this is a tough one. I think it is easier to say what you could try with the offense than this, but I'll give it a go.

First off, I think I would go with the 3-4. Our linebackers aren't Bamas, but I think we have a better chance of players emerging from their than dl right now.

For the 3 man front, the Dixon brothers, Surratt, Lamin, Green, Griffin. I'd play them all a game or two, and start the ones who did the best, though I'd rotate heavily since they are going to take a beating.

I just don't think you have any room to play with trying to put Harris or Washington down in a 3 man front. Size does matter.

Linebacker I would start Walton and Moore inside, with Bryant and Williams outside. I'd move Cooper back to lb, to play the same position Williams does. Not sure who the backups would be right now.

Edit: I wanted to say Larenz Bryant might physically be the best athlete on the defense. Considering our situation, I really wouldn't have any choice but to put him on the field and hope he gets it in a hurry. I'd probably play him a few games no matter what to see. He is one of the few guys on our team that has the kind of athleticism we saw in the games with the teams like Bama and LSU.

I have a theme. Right now I don't care as much about what has happened in practice. I want size and athleticism on the field, and I want to see if the light comes on.

I'd drop the spur back and go with a regular 4 man backfield. Again the best athletes as I see it: Elder, Gurley, Harris, and Green or Lammons.

The tweener sized guys like Harris, Washington, Johnson (he actually might be big enough to play down) would get tried at that rush linebacker. Even if they don't fit the mold like Johnson I remember a guy without super athleticism that played middle lb in the nfl for a long time called Matt Millen. Sometimes instincts emerge when you put a guy in a new position, even if he is not ideal.

I'd probably still put them on the line in a 4 man front in obvious passing situations.

But my philosophy would be screw practice, put my best athletes on the field and hope it works. Basically try to hit a home run.

[gamecock1116]

Scrap 3-4 because we have not recruited players to run it effectively. Return to 4-2-5 and coach the crap out of pass rushing using scheme and finding the best talent combo. Pass rush solves a lot. In today's football the only defense that is effective is the ability to disrupt the QB and offensive backfield.

[kick_ball]

i think you have to establish some sort of identity as a unit ... they have no swagger, no unit cohesion... without that they wont develop

[kabercr2]

C2's scheme idea puts the best athletes on the field at the best positions, that what we need.

[darrena]

A few things can be done that will help cover up the defense until it can improve significantly (And it will improve):
1) Change things up on the Offense so that we use up the clock and grind away yards. Keep the defense fresh and give the coaches time to make adjustments to what they see on the field. No more lobbing it deep every 4th play, take the playbook from the 2nd half of UCF and pound away.
2) Play field position where possible so punt rather than go for it on 4th and 1 between the 50 and 40 yard lines. Tyler Hull had some good punts (Averaged 44 yards which is decent) so lets use him to pin the opposing team as often as possible and give the defense as many shots as possible to get a stop.
3) Simplify the defensive scheme, too often A&M would change something and our players would turn to the sideline at a loss for what to do.

This is similar to last year when the LB's were killing us and allowing Kentucky and Vandy to come back in games after we built big leads. Around week 6 things started to click and our Defense was again a strength. I would have rather avoided that same setup again but it is where we are now so we need to cover up those weaknesses until things shake out.

[MisterClowney]

Run the football. Keep the opposing offense off of the field. With a defense like ours, the best defensive weapon we have is our offense.

[CockyLifer]

Originally Posted by COCKDIESEL

Be more efficient on offense to keep these air raid hurry up offenses off the field.

End of discussion.

[NAGamecockFan]

Originally Posted by SCBLACKDOG

1. Recruit better. Its all about the Jimmys and Joes. Top 20 recruiting (average) and then having a large percent of them not qualifty = what you witnessed Thursday.
2. Need a top level DC like Kirby Smart or Jeremy Pruitt.

We can improve but we have a Def Con 2 situation at defense this year. Going to take 2 to 3 years to fix (assuming we have great recruiting and more than likely a new DC).

Hate to say it but I agree with this. No excuse for why USC hasn't recruited better with our recent success. In the short term, stress tackling fundamentals. WRAP UP!

[crowcutta]

Originally Posted by CoverTwo

As crazy as it sounds I would stick with the 3 man fronts. I would play 3 dtackles and stand English up at linebacker.

Something like a 3-3-5:

DL: Lamin, Griffin, Dixon
LB: Moore, Walton, English
DB: Williams, Elder, Lammons, Harris, Diggs

It'll probably never happen but that's what I would like to see.

i like it, i dont know if you were thinking about the variation where its a 3-3/4-2 hybrid and we can easily go from having english with his hand in the dirt to having him stand up. i like moody's potential, but it may be better for us to just let the young pups take their lumps on the outside while having brison back there as the last line of the defense and doing the checks. watching the 2nd half of the game i was thinking we'll be better off the 2nd half of this season and going into next season if lammons/harris/green are getting reps. hell, the 2nd half of the game i thought both lammons and harris looked better than mcwilliams.

golightly made a lot of flashy plays and he played well down the stretch of last season but running the 3-3-5 that we've been running with two de's, the youth, and the lack of experienced playmakers his flaws get magnified.

run that lineup and we're versatile while not being undersized. maybe he put on too much weight or maybe it was just a&m, but holloman looked a step slower.

[Cockypantherfan]

Are we redshirting DJ Smith? Doesn't he project as a safety long term?