What a stupid overreaction. We lost to a pre season top 10 team after having 14 points spotted to Baylor by the stripes. This team isn't in danger. Parity amongst the Big 12 is at its greatest now, but there isn't anything I've seen from any other team that has made me think we can't be a top half finisher let alone a "10th place team".
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The blocking below the waist on our defender was one of the worst calls I’ve seen in a long time. And I’ll never understand the inconsistencies in reviewing targeting calls.
Right or wrong, penalties killed us yesterday.
Right or wrong, penalties killed us yesterday.
If we are gonna continue the 3 man front we absolutely have to blitz alot more often or its gonna be a long year defensively. Big 12 qbs are too good to give that much time and the wrs are too athletic to cover that long. We definitely need to be less predictable on that side of the ball.
Agree, but every unique offense or defense eventually gets exposed so the defense needs to evolve.
I’m guessing the staff was trying to create a free lane to the QB for another player given they seemed to be rolling multiple OL to block WM. Maybe it has been done in other games this year, not sure, but I believe they lined him up at LB a couple times yesterday. I suspect they are just trying to create opportunities by moving him around. May or may not be successful strategy.
Beating the two Kansas teams in next two weeks would be quite the turnaround. We can do that, just have to play a more complete game.
Last time I checked this is a fan message board and not the DM Register. So fans questioning coaching decisions and approaches is part of the discourse and reason this board exists.
It's interesting that it is OK to question Manning's coaching decisions, but not Heacock. In 7 of our last 19 Big12 regular season games (2020-2022) the Cyclones have given up 30 or more points. That doesn't all fall on our defense, but the staff needs to find a way for our defense to be more dominating. Giving up 30+pts in nearly 40% of our games makes it tough to be a top 25 team.
What are your solutions to our defensive woes?
Personally I hate the soft coverage. Savvy teams take advantage these days. I think our players are good enough to tighten it up, but I could be wrong there. After all, we haven't seen our secondary get drafted.
I mostly watch games on TV where you can't see coverage downfield until after a throw, but you CAN see the gigantic cushion at the LOS.
I also am not loving the results we're seeing with what they're trying with moving Will McD around. Don't feel like it's generating any real pressure.
And one more thing--i think we're really missing Enyi's presence in the 3 man front. IDK if what we were doing before is sustainable without him, but it's still early.
I mostly watch games on TV where you can't see coverage downfield until after a throw, but you CAN see the gigantic cushion at the LOS.
I also am not loving the results we're seeing with what they're trying with moving Will McD around. Don't feel like it's generating any real pressure.
And one more thing--i think we're really missing Enyi's presence in the 3 man front. IDK if what we were doing before is sustainable without him, but it's still early.
On a different note one thing I'll say about yesterday. Seeing Texas and OU lose made up for some of the disappointment from our game. I live in Oklahoma and OU fans are in shock this morning. Texas fans probably less so because they're used to stinking up the joint. But it's fun to watch them and their giant SEC-sized egos take a hit.
Our defense has been reasonably highly ranked, so I wouldn't call them woes. Two of the touchdown drives yesterday were stopped, only to be continued by bad penalty calls. Beyond that, I'd just like to see a little more random pressure, as sending three guys over and over tends to give opposing quarterbacks too much time to pick apart the zone.
Honestly here is my main worry about yesterday...
we hear all the time about depth - yet displayed none at least offensively.
We had 2 carries other than Brock.
We had 0 receptions till the 4th quarter other than 3 players - Noel, Stanley and X and Brock out of the backfield.
Yes, you want to get the ball to your best players. But if you contrast that to Baylor - 11 players combined for 19 receptions and 2 players with 10+ carries.
To some degree defensively too although I think they rotated more there. We likely are going to need more depth than that and that was just as disappointing as the overall loss.
That and while I like Dekkers a lot, he really needs to start protecting the ball better. He's young and it comes with experience but he also takes a lot of chances relying on pure arm talent, of which he has a ton but he also needs to start not forcing the ball.
we hear all the time about depth - yet displayed none at least offensively.
We had 2 carries other than Brock.
We had 0 receptions till the 4th quarter other than 3 players - Noel, Stanley and X and Brock out of the backfield.
Yes, you want to get the ball to your best players. But if you contrast that to Baylor - 11 players combined for 19 receptions and 2 players with 10+ carries.
To some degree defensively too although I think they rotated more there. We likely are going to need more depth than that and that was just as disappointing as the overall loss.
That and while I like Dekkers a lot, he really needs to start protecting the ball better. He's young and it comes with experience but he also takes a lot of chances relying on pure arm talent, of which he has a ton but he also needs to start not forcing the ball.
When we rush 3 (which is 70% of downs), teams double will McDonald - and then we don’t get to the QB. At a certain point that needs to be questioned. Who wants to play DE in that system? It’s a mistake against a qb like shapen because he’s pretty accurate and can make the throws
