Defense Wins NC's

[Katy's Most Wanted]

Last night once again proved beyond a doubt that Defense wins NC's.
We can cry all we want about the O coordinator, play calling, etc... but until we return to the defensive prowess of old, the Sooners will continue to be a 2 to 4 loss team and on the outside looking in.
16th in Rushing Defense
40th in Passing Defense
16th in Overall Defense.

Read 'em and weep.

[Monster Zero]

It's true, the numbers don't lie. Our D doesn't dominate big games the way it did a few years back.

I don't know why...

[OU Adonis]

So true. People who just look at the score last night will think that Florida had a great offensive game. They had only 370 yards of offense. Their drives were really short because of great D.

[ruf/nekdad]

If I'm not mistaken we had 21 lost fumbles and 8 interceptions this season. Take a pretty tough defense to overcome that.

[TXBOOMER]

Florida D dominated. Offense did what they needed to do as well though. They made third downs and didn't give it away. There is no doubt Florida has one heck of a team. I was glad to see The osu join Michigan and nuter dome in the over rated category.

[kevpks]

We are not very far off. We don't need new personel or new coaches or new schemes. We need to execute. I think that we have several things working in our favor going into next season.

1. Stability in the secondary.
2. LB's: I know we lost a couple good ones but this is a position that we have recruited really well.
3. Granger/McCoy: Our best defenses were anchored by two dominant defensive linemen. We should be optimistic that these guys will get it done.

[Easy180]

Agree...Hopefully Granger or McCoy can become a beast next year...With Tommie and Dusty in there our DE's looked like all americans...This year not so good

[picasso]

good points but there's always a game or two where the offense has to save the other side's lack of performance. even in 2000.

you could still argue that in the Oregon and BSU losses we were inside the 10 yard line late, and ended up with field goals.:mad:

[Partial Qualifier]

Was Ryan Reynolds slated to start before his injury? Is he that good?

[8timechamps]

With the exception of the first 4 games, I thought our D stepped up big time. We finished the season with the 16th best defense in the country, and if you take out our poor start, we'd be in the top 10.

[Desert Sapper]

Offensive inconsistency (partially due to breaking in a mostly new OL and a converted WR QB -- bless his heart) put our D in some pretty terrible spots. Combine that with a youthful secondary (anybody think of how many underclassmen we had back there?) and an inexperienced Middle two DL, and you have those stats.

We have plenty to look forward to. The secondary should be better (juniors and seniors). All five OL starters (with Braxton) return. Our whole receiving corps and both TEs return. At least three of our RBs return (AP, Gute, and Brown) with another stud returning from injury (Murray). We have at least two proven LBs coming back (Lofton and Pleasant) and a stud (Reynolds) returning from injury with a JUCO stud coming in (Mike Reed) and a HS stud enrolling early (Box).

If we can figure out the QB in the spring, we have the potential to be very, very good.

[Bruiser53]

Was Ryan Reynolds slated to start before his injury? Is he that good?
He was, Curtis Lofton ended up starting in his place and seemed to do fine. Hopefully we can maybe see some improvment from him, I don't really recall a bunch of plays he made like I can recall a bunch of plays Rufus made.

And to the post above. Messner is the only o-line starter leaving, but we still do look really strong in that area.

Hopefully next year we will shore up all the secondary problems we had this year. I don't like having to constantly move people around when we are entering our conference schedual.

[Luthor]

Last night once again proved beyond a doubt that Defense wins NC's.
We can cry all we want about the O coordinator, play calling, etc... but until we return to the defensive prowess of old, the Sooners will continue to be a 2 to 4 loss team and on the outside looking in.
16th in Rushing Defense
40th in Passing Defense
16th in Overall Defense.

Read 'em and weep.



I ain't saying a word. I still can't figure out how we went from 1st to last in pass D in the space of 2 years and loosing only one DB.

[SunDevilSooner]

We need to stress the fundamentals... Hard hitting, wrapping up, gang tackling. NO MISSED Tackles. I can't tell you how frustrated I got this year seeing the 1st and 2nd man miss tackles repeatedly...allowing the opposing player to break off big gains...

[OUmillenium]

Lots of good posts above. We seem poised to be very strong defensively next year. A defense will always keep you in the game if its is good, but offense actually wins games.

[Desert Sapper]

And to the post above. Messner is the only o-line starter leaving, but we still do look really strong in that area.


Messner may be leaving, but we have two starting OTs returning in Williams and Braxton. Some people are even throwing JC OT Phil Loadholt into the mix. No matter how you slice it, we look pretty awesome for next year at OL.

[Desert Sapper]

I ain't saying a word. I still can't figure out how we went from 1st to last in pass D in the space of 2 years and loosing only one DB.

I think you are forgetting Cedric Griffin.

Ultimately, I think that may have hurt more than Huff.

[LSUdeek]

Keeping the other team off of the field with sustained drives also helps keep your defense fresh. Against ND, we came out in the 3rd quarter and held the ball for most of the quarter which allowed our fresh defense to force 3 and outs.

I think the bottom line for OU is probably recruiting. OU won't be top 5 until it starts getting top 5 classes back into Norman.

[Desert Sapper]

Was Ryan Reynolds slated to start before his injury? Is he that good?

From the Parade Magazine All America Team:


TOP LINEBACKER
Ryan Reynolds of Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas scored highest on an athleticism test that measured speed, power and agility at a football combine. On the gridiron, Ryan made 94 tackles, including 12 for losses, with six sacks in 10 games. “Ryan has the strength and size of a linebacker with the speed and athleticism of a defensive back,” says his coach, David White.

Get Ready.:cool:

[TheUnnamedSooner]

I thought scoring more points than the opposing team won NC's, but I'm not coach ;)

[OUmillenium]

Defense wins championships? What if Florida would have only scored 10 points? Hmmm...