SB Nation - Justin Mincey

Florida State vs. Maryland: The Final Score and Why I Want To Go Bowling

FrankDNole — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:16:55 -0000

I thought this might be a good time to resurrect what was once a weekly series that I started at the beginning of this football season with an optimistic viewpoint, which was known as "THE FINAL SCORE," probably for the last time this year. This was the weekly prediction column that I mercifully killed due to the fact that everyone pretty much knew what was going to happen after the ball was kicked off on any given Saturday.

Since this upcoming game should be our easiest challenge this season, I thought I would give our self-proclaimed expert staff here at Tomahawk Nation, probably their last opportunity to match our thorough and in-depth understanding of the game, our analytical skills, our wisdom, and our football knowledge, against the wild guesses of you, the TN members.

This game against Maryland, while it may be our easiest challenge this year, IMO may very well be the most important must-win for the Seminole's in decade's, for the following reasons.

A) A win will keep alive our nation leading streak of 27 consecutive bowl appearances. This is very important to me, and I think it should be important to every Seminole, despite some differences of opinions on this subject which I will address shortly.

2) It will be Senior Day and the last home game for the 17 seniors who endured less than desirable coaching for their entire time in Tallahassee on the defensive side of the ball, and for all but the last 2.8 years on the offensive side. These are the seniors who will be playing their last game on Saturday;

Zach Aronson, Louis Givens, Richard Goodman, Korey Mangum, Kevin McNeil, Justin Mincey, Daniel Parvin, Caz Piurowski, Jamie Robinson, Patrick Robinson, Kendrick Stewart, Jeff Taccetta, Budd Thacker, Jeremiah Thompson and Recardo Wright.

D) It will be the last home game for one of the greatest defensive coaches of all time, Mickey Andrews, after a 26 year career building one defensive juggernaut after another. Since we, as well as all the other media, have already written at length about MA, I would just like to add the following:

Thank you Mickey for your loyalty to our program. I truly believe without you and your terrific defenses, we may still be seeking our first NC. And especially thank you for coming back these last 2 years, even though you did not really want to, to save us from the alternative.

I only hope that the FSU administration and athletic department do Mickey right in his finale, and not put on a half-assed dog and pony show similar to the joke of a presentation they recently put on to honor the 1999 National Championship FSU team.

VII) While the consensus has changed dramatically during the past week or so, this could possibly also be Bobby Bowden's last game as coach at Doak. This is not the forum to discuss Bowden and the pro's and con's of his tenure, but even if it is his last home game, I am sure there will be tributes to him next year, and I would like to thank him for dedicating the majority of his life to helping shape FSU's legacy.

Green) While this may truly be a stretch, a win on Saturday would also move the Seminoles another step closer to extending their nation-leading streak of consecutive winning seasons to 33.

On Saturday, our Noles will be playing the last home game of the season against the Maryland Terrapins. (Terrapin defined: any of various edible North American web-footed turtles living in fresh or brackish water).

As always, I expect our Nole's to give a relentless, non-stop, fast and furious, three hour pounding, to the turtles from Maryland, which will undoubtedly leave them with a surprised look on their faces, which can probably be best demonstrated as:

(Another attempt on my part to bring culture, class, and to educate the readers of this site with topical works of art)

Before getting to the predictions, I would like to take this opportunity to discuss my reasons for wanting to go to a bowl game once again this year, which we will be eligible for after we molest the turtles. I am only bringing this up because several authors and members, up until our win over Wake Forest it seems, had expressed their opinions and reasons why it would be in FSU's best interest if we did not go to a bowl game this year. Make no mistake, there is some logic to the reasons they give, which by now we all know ad-nauseum.

So I am going to reprint a comment I made recently in response to the following statement. Keep in mind this statement was made before the Wake game, when the bowl possibility looked bleak, at which time most of the authors and members predicted we would lose the game, except for a handful of glass half-full, kool-aid drinkers, myself included, who went on record as predicting a FSU win over Wake.

Does FSU really want to make a bowl game? Personally, I don’t give a damn about bowl games. I want to compete for championships. Caring about silly stuff like wins records and bowl streaks got FSU to where it currently is. Rooting for your team to miss a bowl game can be seeing the forest from the trees.

Here was my reply to that statement at the time, which I think best expresses my strong belief in the importance of us continuing our bowl streak.

I agree that we should be competing for championships. No debate there. However,

A) Wins, records, and streaks are what made FSU a national powerhouse and helped us achieve our 14 year dynasty, but I don’t think that has anything to do with where our program currently is. The only common denominator is Bowden wanting 400 wins and the most wins records, but his hiring decisions are what caused us to be where we are today. I would be OK leaving him in Tally while the rest of the team travels, but that is not a option.
Therefore, no negatives, IMO.

2) A bowl, no matter how insignificant, is a reward for the players who have been working their asses off for the past 9 months trying to bring FSU back into prominence. It is a thank you to the players for the effort. F*ck the coaches. I want a bowl to thank the players for their contributions to our program despite the fact that our season sucked. I want a bowl so that the younger players know what they need to do to go to a better bowl next year. IMO, they deserve to go to a bowl and play, instead of watching teams that we should have been better than, and that we should have beaten, on TV over the holidays. There is no down side to going to a bowl and it will probably not cost us any money when you subtract the expenses from the payout. The extra practice time, while it may not do anything for the D, will not hurt either side of the ball and can only help.
Therefore, no negatives, IMO.

D) Most of the Defensive coaches we are considering hiring will be playing in bowls. While there is a month where we can interview and negotiate behind closed doors with their agents, MOST of these coaches would not be able to step foot on campus until after the first week in Jan at the earliest due to their bowls and the holidays.
Therefore, no negatives, IMO.

VII) While it may not mean much to you and others, I want to keep the bowl streak alive and going on 28 because that is really all we have at this time, and probably just as important, I don’t want the f*cking gaturds to have any chance of getting it. I think we will continue going to bowls every year in the future under Jimbo and with the relative ease it is to get into a bowl nowadays, there is no reason we can’t maintain this streak for a long time to come.
Therefore, no negatives, IMO.

玖) I don’t want a losing season. Again, screw Bowden. I don’t want FSU to have a losing season on the books, as a alumni and as one that bleeds G & G.

Obviously a win over the Maryland will make all of this a moot point. Nevertheless, I just wanted to share my thoughts on why a bowl game this year should be important to all of us who love the Noles, and from my personal POV.

***PLEASE HIT THE JUMP TO CONTINUE READING***

Here are some fun facts about this weeks match-up against the Maryland Turtles.

-FSU leads the series 17-2.

-Florida State enters the game ranked second in the ACC in total offense at 437.8 yards per game (294.1 yards
passing and 143.7 yards rushing).

-The 2009 FSU offense is gaining more yards per game than Florida State’s 1999 National Championship team that finished with a perfect 12-0 record.

-The 2009 Seminoles offense is the fourth most prolific in terms of total offense since the 1995 season.

-FSU's offense has gained at least 400 yards of total offense in eight of 10 games and surpassed the 500-yard mark three times this season.

-Jermaine Thomas is the first Seminole runner since former great Greg Jones (during the 2001 and 2002
seasons) to rush for 100 yards or more in three consecutive games.

-Bert Reed has caught 51 passes for 565 yards.

-Senior Rod Owens has caught 48 passes for 600 yards.

-Reed and Owens are looking to become only the second pair of receivers in school history to both catch at least 60 passes in the same season. They are looking to join the duo of Andre Cooper (71receptions) and E.G. Green (60 receptions) who both caught at least 60 passes during the 1995 season.

-Five of Florida State’s wide receivers – Bert Reed (51), Rod Owens(48), Jarmon Fortson (32), Taiwan Easterling (29) and Richard Goodman (27) – all have at least 20 receptions through the first 10 games. It marks the first time since the 1992 season that five FSU wide receivers have had 20 or more receptions in one season.

-FSU's tight ends, Caz and Beau, have caught four touchdown passes in the first nine games. They have more touchdown catches this season than our tight ends have had in the past five seasons combined (three).

-The FSU defense has 13 picks this season. The Nole's have more interceptions this season (13) than they did last season (nine) and Ochuko Jenije leads the team with four int's. FSU’s defense has at least one interception in each of the last four games and in seven of its 10 games this season.

-Greg Reid's punt return for a touchdown was the first since Tony Carter's against W. Carolina on Sept. 6, 2008, and the first time since the 1995 season that a true freshman had returned a punt for a touchdown.

-Shawn Powell is doing an outstanding job punting, while averaging 41.1 yards on 18 punts.

-Dustin Hopkins has booted 36 percent (21 of 59) kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks. He has kicked at least one touchback in nine of 10 games and leads his nearest competitor in the ACC by eight. He has also made 26 consecutive PATs and is 10-of-12 on field goal attempts, including five-of seven from 40+ yards.

-In what was expected to be a year of regression for the special team's kicking unit, these 2 have done a spectacular job replacing Graham Gano(matic). If Hopkins is able to stay healthy, I see no reason why he won't be our next Groza winner in the next few years.

OK enough of the fluff, let's get on to the predictions of our illustrious staff that you have been clamoring for.

So far this week it is almost a unanimous decision that FSU will win from those staffers that have already replied. Almost all of us authors are officially kool-aid drinking, glass is half-full, homers, who we will call the GOOD GUYS.

Then we have on delusional author who is apparently trying to use reverse psychology as a means to an end, who we will call a BAD GUY.

And finally, there is MattDNole, with his, how can I say this delicately and with all the respect he truly deserves, a "different" perspective of reality, who we will call "DERANGED AND POSSIBLY IMPAIRED."

-The K-Man= FSU 38 - Turtles 27

-Ricobert1= FSU 37 - Turtles 17

-oline0175= M.I.A. and will be added when he snap's out of his self induced coma due to Hudson's injury.

-nolesblogger= FSU 38 - Turtles 24

-Fsued= M.I.A. and will be added when he leaves his other job at the National Weather Service.

-TrueCubbie= FSU 31 - Turtles 27

-pbysh= FSU 31 - Turtles 21

-NoleThruandThru= FSU 34 - Turtles 16

-Castauch= FSU 49 - Turtles 20

-DA2= FSU 37 - Turtles 24

-FSU44= FSU 41 - Turtles 35

-MissouriNole= FSU 41 - Turtles 21
-SWFLNole= FSU 60 - Turtles 3
-FSUSOM= FSU 83 - Turtles 73
-FrankDNole= FSU 41 - Turtles 24

Here we have the delusional author who is apparently trying to use reverse psychology

-Nattylite= Turtles 38 - FSU 35

And finally, there is the deranged and possibly impaired MattDNole with his "different" perspective of reality.
-MattDNole= FSU 387 to 80.

OK, I'll play along. Please Matt, enlighten us on why you picked this score.
"I was predicting Bobby's wins vs Bobby's age. The prediction article needs me more than I need the prediction article. You will have to print it, unless you have the guts not to."

Sounds like Matt has got the hots for Ann B. something fierce.

And FSUn= FSU 40 - Turtles 24 as per his Game Preview.

Looks like me and Bud are on the same page for this game. But then again, most of the scores are all in the same ballpark. We shall see who gets a shiny prize this time around. Will it be one of the authors, or one of the members?

Finally, to get you psyched for the game I will leave you with some more art to help you expand your horizons and to class up the joint. After all, nothing gets football fans more ready for a game than throwing babies, shaking off baby tacklers, and kicking field goals using babies.

Image removed due to NSFW complaints.

Click here to view image.

And a few different angles of the "surprised" Maryland Terrapin.

Florida State Coaches Continue to Push the Seminole Offense

FSUncensored — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:52:56 -0000

More photos » by Phil Coale - AP

Florida State University assistant head football coach Jimbo Fisher continues to push his offense towards perfection. Fla. (AP Photo/Phil Coale)

Browse more photos »

We haven't done a practice update piece in a while, so I figured with 12 days until the battle with the scUMbags from Miami, we should update. Now, we don't watch practice, so all of our information is second hand, and no, we won't reveal all of our sources.

Make sure to check our FrankDNole's excellent series on the Miam-FSU rivalry.

Reading the Andrew Carter and Steve Ellis stories, and talking with others, it seems the coaches went out of their way to call out the offense after yesterday's practice. I'm not buying it. The offense has routinely worked the defense, both in practice, situational, and scrimmage settings. Let's take a look at what they told Carter:

-On offense, lining properly is still a concern for the coaching staff. There have apparently been a number of issues with personnel being in the right spots at the right time. A little disconcerting, given the start of the season is less than two weeks away. Andrew Carter- Orlando Sentinel

And Ellis' article talks about the offense not lining up correctly. FSU can't practice more than the NCAA mandate, but they damn sure can tell their kids to study their film and playbooks more. There's also some give and take here. You can't have all positive press or all negative press. Coaches are master motivators (or they try to be) and when you have one unit that is more talented, better coached, and just all around better, you have to find a way to keep them motivated. If it's not showing them how a defense beat them in practice (which isn't happening often), it's through use of the media. On the same token, coaches know what the defense is doing, but they are smart to alternate positive and negative press.

I have no concerns about lining up correctly. FSU is pretty much done with serious contact in practice and they have plenty of time to work on the finer points of alignment. This is something you know if you played football. In fact, I find it encouraging that the coaches are harping on alignment for the offense. It tells me there aren't serious other concerns. Sure, each unit has some question marks, but they aren't glaring. On the other hand, espousing concerns about the defense to the media might not do much to help them. They see in the film room how the offense is routinely ripping off 25yard+ plays.

But Fisher knows this offense has a lot of potential and once they reach a certain plateau, he has to point out the new goal and push them toward that new height. Part of that is mastering the expanded playbook, but a lof of this are these young players not realizing how good they can really be.

-Talked with offensive line coach Rick Trickett briefly after practice and he said the right side of his line is still undecided. There are some good position battles going on there for first-team spots. Zebrie Sanders is likely to win the job at right tackle, but he is getting challenged by Rhonne Sanderson. At right guard, Brandon Davis is challenging incumbent David Spurlock, Trickett said. Andrew Carter- Orlando Sentinel

Ditto Trickett. This David Spurlock v. Brandon Davis battle is real. Davis made good progress over the summer. When I first heard about that, I dismissed it, but Spurlock did have his arm surgery and Davis probably passed him for a time this summer. While I do think Spurlock has the higher ceiling, this is about who starts for the Miami game and for that game, ceiling be damned. Play the best current player (the same applies to the Greg Reid debate). I believe this Andrew Datko stuff to be just a motivational ploy. Rhonne Sanderson has a chance to be a good college player, but unless Datko has an injury I am not aware of, Datko will start at Left Tackle.

I wanted to comment on another excellent Andrew Carter article. Read it. We've been pretty steadfast in our contention that last year's passing game problems were mostly on the offensive line's inability to pass protect, and not Christian Ponder. While some will argue that it's easier to throw in a non-contact jersey in practice, I'll argue the opposite- if the QB is at all touched, the play is dead. How often is a QB brushed in the pocket in a real game before making a great play by stepping up and firing? Particularly a mobile QB like ponder. As AC says, the pass protection has improved, Ponder has time to throw, and the offense is making big big plays. Our 1st team passing game numbers have been insane, something along the lines of 70% completions, almost 18 yards per completion, and a near perfect QB rating, with no interceptions.

And Carter rightfully hypes the wide receivers, because they have had a lot of poor press over the past year. The most encouraging thing for me is the emergence (re-emergence?) of slot wideout (the Y) Rod Owens, who now gives another option than Taiwan Easterling, and Senior Richard Goodman, who has big play potential and has the demeanor of a grown man.

As for the defense, it is more talented this year than last, but I still have my concerns. They were destroyed in the 1st scrimmage, and in the 2nd scrimmage, the headlines read that they improved, but my take on them is that they did well on the goal line (4 plays out of 60), and they crowded the box to stop the run game, which they did, but they gave up 3 or 4 scoring strikes of 35+ yards! Stopping the run is obviously essential, and FSU's offense should again be the best in the ACC so their competition is pretty good here, but overall I think the secondary will take an inordinate amount of blame for some failures that are a result of being put in a poor situation. What situation? The defensive line and linebackers can't stop the run without significant help from the safeties, and when safeties are playing run only, the cornerbacks are hung out to dry. Failure by cornerbacks in this situation against modern passing games should be expected, unless the offense is vastly inferior to the defense. But there is some encouraging news here as well, as the defensive tackle play is better this year than last, some crucial defensive backs are now back from injury, and most teams don't have a run game like FSU. I'm just saying to temper your enthusiasm and read the reports for what they say and what they don't say. I don't buy that the defense played well because they had a few tackles for loss as a result of blitzing their head off and a few sacks (which could be touching the QB with one hand due to the non-contact jersey), when then a few paragraphs later that the offense averaged 10 yards per play and the defense had zero interceptions. Temper the enthusiasm on the defense, but also realize that Mickey's defense is built to play with a lead! That's a flawed design, but our offense just might be good enough to give the defense a big lead in a few games this year.

With summer camp drawing to an end, it's been a great off-season. Only one off-season arrest, on a bogus charge which was later dropped. Only two injuries to key players (DT and possible starter Justin Mincey who will miss at least a month, and backup RT Antwane Greenlee whose knee injury information is yet to be released). Player participation and attendance in voluntary activities is at an all-time high (so I'm told, I am not there to mark who is showing up).

At this point, I feel great going into the Miami game. People overrated FSU last year entering the season, but they might be underrating the 'Noles this year. Miami is going to be without DE Adequle Ojomo. They will have DE Eric Moncur, but he hasn't practiced in almost two weeks and could be rusty coming off this complex groin injury.

Other opponent news: NC State lost their #2 Tight End Mario Carter. Big deal? Think again, they were going to use him a lot and this definitely helps FSU.

FSU Defensive Tackle Justin Mincey Suffers Knee Injury as the 'Nole Offense Dominates the Defense Again

FSUncensored — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:56:34 -0000

More photos » by Phil Coale - AP

Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder torched the defense in the 'Nole's first day in pads, throwing about 10 20+ yard passes. (AP Photo/Phil Coale)

Browse more photos »

"It was a very good day for the offense, a terrible day for the defense, and a bad day for FSU overall. (because of the injury)" _ Someone who watched practice today.

I'm told that the beatdown given by the offense today was similar to the drubbings administered throughout the spring. Christian Ponder looks very good, and that is in no small part because the pass protection is there. A pocket is forming. There were fewer long runs than in the spring, but the passing game more than made up for it. Let's link to Andrew Carter at the Sentinel today, as he had the first practice report up.

Justin Mincey injured his knee. I spoke with three people who attended practice and their responses were "definitely not good", "it looks like a big one", and "let's hope for a miracle." That's not encouraging to say the least. Mincey is important for the 'Noles because they have very little depth on the defensive interior, and he really came on at the end of last season. I am sure they will know more when the swelling goes down but Mincey definitely can't walk right now.

The offense did a great job attacking the middle of the field today. They picked on middle linebacker Kendal Smith and Strong Safety Korey Mangum. Of course, Mangum plays the rover, which FSU uses too heavily in run support, thus leaving that player vulnerable to the pass. Nobody has outplayed Mangum, however, so for now the spot is his. The defense played better against the run today than they did in the spring, but as Andrew points out, there were many many big plays made in the passing game. It appears the defense is really selling out to stop the run, and over-committing their secondary to help stop it. Of course, teams have to do that when their front-7 isn't capable of handling the run by themselves. I've heard from someone who was not keeping official stats, that there were "probably 10 or more 20+ yard passes." That's encouraging for the offense, but the defense must play better than that. To be honest, however, we've told everyone for months now that this offense, which was already the best in the conference, was going to be very good. The main question in the minds of coaches who had watched FSU's film, and undoubtedly FSU's coaches, was the pass protection. It appears that at least on the first day in pads, the protection was there.

Go read Carter's article and then come back. We'll comment on some of the tid-bits and update when more info trickles in.

Commenting here.

Progression, Stagnation, or Regression? Noles Defensive Line

FrankDNole — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 03:55:46 -0000

Every day while catching up on my daily Nole must reads, I very often wonder to myself, "Are my 2009 Noles going to be better than last year’s team?"

Recently I came across a similar series that I thought I could apply to our 2009 Seminoles, which might make for entertaining reading to some of our TN members. While this series may not actually answer my question, it might at least give us something to discuss and debate until more information starts rolling in once the practices actually start.

What I will attempt to do, is to project how our 7 basic units (defensive line, linebackers, secondary, backfield, offensive line, receivers and tight ends, and special teams) of the 2009 Noles will perform as compared to last season team.

The way we will try to come up with a possible answer is to address each of the 7 units above individually, by using the projected 2 deeps as of today, in comparison with last years starters. We will look at who was there last season, analyze the roster changes, if any, and then we will all decide if these changes will result in progression, regression, or if we can expect little or no change.

We must remember that with the kickoff still over a month away, and the start of practices still over one week away, it will be impossible to reach definite conclusions at this time. There could very well be injuries, promotions, demotions, and incoming freshmen who might surprise us all. I will ask you the TN members to project via poll, (your favorite way and the easiest and most accurate measure available to us) how well you expect the 7 individual units will perform this season. At the end of the series, I will report back to you, the TN readers, what your expectations of this team are at this point in time.

Recently NoleThruandThru gave us his projected two-deep lineup and asked you for your thoughts on the 2-deeps. While there were some very good comments and opinions posted as to what may happen before and during the upcoming season, for the purpose of this series I will be using only the official Seminole 2-deep lineups posted along with some projections and input I received from FSUncensored.

Please remember that while we lost some very good individual talent, we want to look at the each unit as a whole when we finally vote on whether that particular unit has progressed, stayed stagnant, or regressed, in comparison to last years unit.

Today we will start with the DEFENSIVE LINE.

2008 DE=Benjamin Lampkin (really a LB) started the first 3 games, then was replaced by Neffy Moffett who started the rest of the season. In 10 games played, Moffett had 19 Total Tackles of which 11 were for loss, 5.5 sacks, 1 int, 2 QBH, and forced two fumbles and recovered one. Both players are now gone.

2009 PROJECTED DE=Kevin McNeil and Jamar Jackson

2008 NG=Moses McCray started the first 2 games then was replaced by Budd Thacker who started every remaining game until the Champs Bowl when Paul Griffin started his last game as a Nole. Griffin is the only one gone and only had 11 Total Tackles, 1 for loss, 1 QBH, and 1 FR.

2009 PROJECTED NG=Moses McCray and Budd Thacker

2008 DT=Kendrick Stewart started 8 games and Justin Mincey started 4 games, 3 of which were the last 3 games.

2009 PROJECTED DT=Justin Mincey and Kendrick Stewart

2008 DE=Everette Brownhas left and taken his 36 total tackles of which 21.5 were for losses, 13.5 sacks, 2 pass BU, 3 QBH, 4 FF, and 1 FR.

2009 PROJECTED DE=Markus White and Toshmon Stevens.

OTHERS EXPECTED TO CONTRIBUTE: Everett Dawkins (SDE), Brandon Jenkins(WDE), Jacobbi McDaniel (DT), Demonte McAllister (DT/SDE)

Well there you have it. I guess the real question is not if Brown and Moffett can be replaced, but whether their replacements will be able to keep up the kind of pressure on the QB we saw last year, to prevent the rest of the defense from being shredded.

MY PROJECTION: REGRESSION.

What is yours? Please vote now.

Become a fan of us on facebook! http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/TomahawkNationcom/63264950770

New Readers: please read through the Tomahawk Nation Welcome Guide! We put a lot of work into that and it should enhance your experience.

Get your official Tomahawk Nation T-SHIRT! ORDER NOW!

via assets.sbnation.com (Click to enlarge)

Poll

2009 FSU DEFENSIVE LINE-PROGRESSION, STAGNATION, OR REGRESSION? Please read the whole article before voting. Poll closes Friday July 31 at 7:00 PM

PROGRESSION

180 votes

STAGNATION

117 votes

REGRESSION

58 votes

355 votes | Poll has closed

Monday Morning Tomahawks: Wednesday 07.01.09 Freshmen Workout Edition!

FSUncensored — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:30:12 -0000

Welcome to July! We have a lot of exciting things coming for you as there only 69 days till Florida State takes on Miami... and Hurricanes don't hit Tallahassee anymore. We will probably have about 100 articles in the remaining offseason. For now though, let's get caught up on some 'Nole News.

Important Dates

Jul. 18- Seminole Showtime- BE THERE FANS.
Aug. 6 - players report
Aug. 7 - first day of preseason practice
Aug. 9 - media day (which is also traditionally fan day)
Aug. 10 - first day of full contact practice

Orlando Sentinel - Easterling's recovery a positive for maligned FSU receivers
After one day of watching Easterling, Stroud isn’t doubting that he will play in the season-opener against Miami. "No question," Stroud said. "After what I saw today, there’s no question he’ll be back." His rehab is going better than anyone could have expected. My enthusiasm is slightly tempered, but this is really encouraging. You'll remember that our resident pediatrician and amazing writer TrueCubbie wrote: Inside the Treatment Room: Taiwan Easterling and his Achilles. I suggest reading that.

MORE INSIDE!

Scouting the 2009 Football Opponents

If you didn't know, we have designated a specific page to post information about our opponents. This helps us to write better previews and helps keep you abreast of our opponent's programs. Currently, there are a lot of links in the comment section that will be added to the main page. I've been slacking on that but it will happen soon. Of note are some recent items:

Nate Irving of NCST, the ACC's best linebacker after Marrk Herzlich was diagnosed with cancer, was in a big car wreck. Broken leg and collapsed lung. He might be back by midseason but it's very much up in the air.
The Quad Countdown: No. 69 Wake Forest - The Quad Blog - NYTimes.com Wake Forest must rebuild much of its defense after losing two first-day N.F.L. draft picks in Aaron Curry and Alphonso Smith- only three starters return. They will have to depend on an offense that has floundered over the past few years.
FlexBoner!!! Numerous sites break down Georgia Tech's flexbone offense. OTHER PEOPLE’S RIVALRIES AND THE FUTILITY OF DEFENDING AGAINST THE WISHBONE " The Birddog Fundamentally, the mechanics of your basic triple option play are the same whether you’re running it out of the wishbone, I-formation, spread, or whatever. Each of these formations, however, imply different overall philosophies. The underlying theme of the wishbone– bringing blockers to the point of attack to support a power running game– is very different than that of the spread. In the spread, you want to stretch the defense, both vertically and from sideline to sideline, in order to create running lanes. You might think these are just platitudes, but they aren’t; this difference, coupled with the threat of the pass, is why wishbone defenses don’t work against the spread option. The spread allows an offensive coordinator to use a greater variety of formations in order to create the space he wants for his ballcarriers. Smart Football: Why you can't just play "assignment football" against the flexbone/triple-option That term gets thrown around by announcers a lot, with the implication being that all you have to do is "assign" one guy to the dive back, one to the quarterback, and one to the pitch back. The problem is that Johnson will figure out your assignments and change his blocking schemes accordingly. For example...
Luckily, one of our writers is a state championship Flexbone offensive coordinator who has studies Johnson extensively. He will be breaking down PJ's offense as well.

I'm really glad I didn't write the previews for our opponents yet. As offseason injuries mount, it makes more and more sense to hold off on the previews until the last minute.

Florida State Football Summer Conditioning - FLORIDA STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE
The guys were back on the field yesterday and a few of our guys went out to watch. 100+ photos of the new freshmen! And a video of Ponder mastering his coach speak. Check out that link! Some notes from what I gathered:

Jacobbi McDaniel looks huge. I heard he weighed in at 295lbs. He's a bit softer than the coches want right now (it's not all good weight), but if he can get down to a solid 286-287ish, he'll be the rare freshman defensive tackle to make an impact.
DeMonte McAllister (ladies man, lock city), has a huge frame and he is not filled out. He can get a lot bigger. He has big arms right now, but his legs have room to grow and grow.
Jarmon Fortson, Nigel Bradham, and Tavares Pressley are extremely well put together.
Moses McCray, despite battling that hip injury continues to look good physically. He has a great balanced frame.
Gerald Demps, Lonnie Pryor, Dan Hicks, look like freshmen body-wise.
Ryan McMahon looks tiny. Glad he's healthy though...
Greg Reid is a great guy to talk to but he has a tiny tiny head.
Chris Thompson looks extremely agile and should be an immediate weapon.
Everette Dawkins has added some good weight and is probably 265-270ish, but he still needs to be playing defensive end and not defensive tackle.
JaJuan Harley is a full grown man and he is extremely fast.
John Prior (lineman from Ohio) ha a phenomenal frame. He's also a lumberjack (seriously, his family has a logging business). Huge forearms and in good shape.
Willie Haulstead and Rodney Smith are both impressive structurally, but have a lot of room to add good muscle weight. Haulstead has that Anquan Boldin look, where you can see him adding 25lbs in a year.
Henry Orelus does not look good. He is quite obese and Trickett is going to have a field day shrinking him down to size. The kid didn't quit though, and he will get to where Trick needs him.
Justin Mincey really has an opportunity to make MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. You hear that Justin? Work your butt off every day this offseason, get to 295lbs or so, start, flash your potential, and get noticed. This is your last chance and FSU really needs you. Even one day of slacking is too many.
Lonnie Pryor looked a bit average.
Aubrey Phillips looked huge.
A big thanks to those who went out to practice.

FSU leads for both Brandon Willis and Corey Miller, per Tharinger.com (thanks NoleT&T). That's a very good thing. FSU is going to have an elite recruiting class.

NFL Forum :: - Zone blocking scheme there's some more on zone blocking.

I suspect that we haven't yet heard the last of Marcus Sims at Florida State. Good thing, he'd be an idiot to leave for a DII school.

Back to Basics: A Detailed Look at Defensive Line Play

TrueCubbie — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:07:58 -0000

Like offensive lineman, defensive lineman typically don't attract much attention from the casual fan, seen as the brutes up front that simply run into each other over and over. As FSUn demonstrated so nicely in his recent piece, offensive line play is a coordinated series of movements based on real time interpretation of the defensive front. Without an understanding or appreciation the subtleties required to play on the offensive and defensive line, it's understandable why many overlook these players during the game, except when they make a significant error.

In this piece, we take a closer look at the subtleties of defensive line play, providing an understanding of what really goes on down in the trenches and some important things to look for when evaluating recruits.

Image from here.

Continue reading this thread to learn more about what is some of the most exciting play on the football field.

If you can't control the line of scrimmage your chances of winning a football game significantly decrease. A dominating defensive line, or even lineman, will impact the outcome of a game. If a quarterback has no time to throw the ball, if the running back can't turn the corner, if the offensive line can't control the line of scrimmage, it's over. In this article, we will take a look at some of the basics about defensive line play followed by a discussion about effective line play.

In general, most teams will use 3 or 4 defensive linemen in their base defensive fronts. When announcers and coaches talk about a 3-4 front or 4-3 front, the first number refers to the number of true defensive lineman. The second number refers to the number of linebackers. Occasionally, teams will go to a five man defensive lineman front, but I would say this is exceedingly rare as most teams will walk line backers up to the line of scrimmage to load the line. A four man front typically includes two defensive tackles and two defensive ends. The three man front is a little more flexible, but will generally include a pure nose tackle, a defensive end and a defensive tackle. In a 3-4 scheme, a line backer typically walks up as the fourth defensive lineman. Again, this is a very basic discussion about basic alignment and the schemes and personnel will vary from team to team.

The Basics: Techniques and Gaps

Before getting into the details of defensive line play one must have an understanding of alignment. The image below illustrates the typical numbering system that is used to identify the position of the defensive lineman:

It's not the clearest image but it is probably the most comprehensive one that I could find. The circles represent offensive linemen, with the center being the filled in circle. The letters define the "gaps" between the offensive linemen. The numbers, also referred to as the "technique," identify the locations at which the defensive players line up. For example, a "0" technique is lined up directly on the center, the "1" technique is on the inside shoulder, meaning the side closest to the center, of the guard. You will frequently hear commentators say that a player lined up in the 3 technique or 1 technique; the above image illustrates to what they are referring. Many teams will use the numbering schems in play calling. For example, when I played, the initial part of the play call referred to the base front. If the coach called "431," it meant we were using a 4 man front with the strong side tackle in the 3 technique and the weak side tackle in the 1 technique. Strength refers to the balance of the offense and generally identifies which side of the offense has more players or the tight end or the best player or however the defense identifies strength for their particular scheme.

You will also hear that specific players are responsible for a specific "gap." The gaps are identified by the letters between the offensive players: A gap is between the guard and center, the B gap is between the guard and tackle and so on. Depending on the scheme, a player may be responsible for collapsing a specific gap, blitzing through a gap or occupying a gap. Most defensive line schemes will have the defensive tackles lined up in the 3 and 1 technique. Again, this varies depending on the type of personnel a team has. For example, with a BJ Raj like player, you may have that individual line up in the 0-technique, shaded to the strong side of the play with the intention of occupying the A-gap requiring a block from both the center and guard. I can't tell you how hard it is to play center with a guy right on top of the ball.

Stunts

Stunts refer to predefined movements of the defensive line. Defensive linemen do not simply go straight ahead on every play. Sometimes they will play straight up and try to maintain their responsibility. On many occasions, a defensive coordinator will call for a specific stunt, making it more difficult for the offensive line to block. These stunts can be done as an entire defensive line with every player crashing to he weak or strong side, or it could be limited to the tackles or individual players. Stunts will change the specific gap responsibilities of the lineman as well as the backers behind them. Often a stunt will be used in combination with a blitz, using the stunt to pull a lineman away or distract the lineman from the linebacker that is now blitzing.

For example, here is a play in which all of the lineman pinch towards the center. This may be used in short yardage situations.

Here is another one in which only the tackles pinch:

And here is an example of a "loop" or "twist" play:

Here is an example of a play that demonstrates a stunt with the linemen combined with a linebacker blitz:

This play demonstrates some sophisticated line play. Look how far the Right defensive end (the one on the left side of the page) is expected to crash down the line. The purpose of this is to pull the offensive tackle toward the center, with the hopes of him turning his shoulders toward the crashing lineman, making it almost impossible for him to pick up either linebacker blitzing from the outside. The whole purpose of this play, if you look at the lineman alone, is to pull the offensive line to their right with the hope of leaving the left tackle alone to block two blitzing linebackers. Defensive lineman do a lot of dirty work to allow the linebackers to play free behind them. A good defensive lineman should be very difficult to block one on one. If a defensive lineman is able to occupy more than one offensive lineman, you are decreasing the number of players available to block the linebackers.

Stance

A lineman's stance is exceedingly important in football. Offensive lineman need to be well balanced and not tip off which direction they are likely to step first; they have to be able to move in all directions from a set position. Defensive lineman take a more aggressive stance as they are trying to accelerate off the ball. Here is an example of a typical defensive end stance. This is also referred to as a three point stance. Notice how the player has his head up, has most of his weight on his down hand and has his free hand up.

Photo from here.

Having the free hand is important for getting the hand forward on the initial movement. The player above, Mark Anderson of the Chicago Bears, is in a bit of an exaggerated stance. He is primarily a pass rush specialist and his weight is a little more forward than you would want, but he demonstrates a lot of the principles of a good three point stance. Here is an excellent picture of Jason Taylor demonstrating a more balanced stance.

Photo from here.

A good lineman will not tip off the direction of his initial movement from his stance. Clearly, in a pass rush situation a player will take a more aggressive sprinting stance to get up the field. As I mentioned previously, it is important for a defensive lineman to keep his hands forward or in a good position to fire forward. By getting the hands firing forward on the initial move it prevents the offensive lineman from engaging. You will see a lot of offensive and defensive lineman working on what is called "hand play". Here is a video of Julius Pepper's training session. Notice how much of the work out includes hand strength and that explosion out of the stance, getting the hands forward and the body extended. Here is a video that highlights our own Everette Brown. Take a minute to not only watch Everette's athletic ability, but look at the different stances of our entire defensive line, watch the way they move, watch their hands, watch how the explode out of their stances. Look at the different stances that Everette takes, it changes depending on the situation. This may be getting into the minutia, but I think this is where some of the most exciting plays in football happen.

For comparison sake, here is an example of a good offensive lineman's stance:

Photo from here.

Balanced and head up. Notice how his weight isn't placed on his front hand. If you were to swipe that down hand out from underneath the player, his stance shouldn't budge. It may seem that too much time is being spent on a lineman's stance, but it is key to their success. If you give anything away or are out of control because you don't have a good stance, you will not be successful.

Reading Blocks

Typically, you can tell what kind of play the offense is going to run based on the initial step/movement of the offensive line. Part of being a successful defensive lineman is having the ability to react to that initial step, reading the play before it fully develops. Here is a video of USC's defensive line drills. Watch the explosion the players have with the hands, engaging the pads. At the end of the video they show some basic rip/swim moves that players use to shed blocks. Listen carefully to the coach as he gets on his players about keeping the offensive players away from them.

As the offensive and defensive player engage, the defensive player should get some sense of how the offensive lineman is trying to block him, meaning is he trying to hook him, is he trying to drive straight up field, is he settling into pass protection, is he pulling? The defensive lineman has to counter those moves. Imagine yourself as the defensive lineman. Now imagine that the offensive player is trying to pin/hook your left shoulder and drive you to your right. As a defensive lineman, your objective is to extend your left arm and drive the offensive player back into the hole he is trying to create. As a defensive end, if the offense is trying to seal the outside and get around you, you have to fight the offensive lineman and cause the play to move lateral, forcing it further outside while maintaining good leverage to get back inside if needed. I have tried to find good videos on this but I haven't as of yet. But I hope this demonstrates the importance of extending the arms and taking control of the offensive lineman. You will also note that a lot of defensive lineman are wearing smaller and smaller jerseys, having a large part of their arms exposed. This is to give the offensive lineman the least amount of jersey to hold; it's not to show off their biceps. Yes, offensive linemen hold on every single play.

A key block to read is that of the pulling offensive lineman. Defensive lineman are taught to get in the "hip pocket" of the pulling offensive lineman. If you are lined up in the three technique and the guard pulls, follow him as he will take you to the play. Easier said than done as the tackle or center is crashing down on your legs to cut you and prevent you from doing so. Keeping your legs is also a key part of reading blocks. Getting cut makes you useless. Recognizing that a player is trying to cut block you before he gets into your legs is a difficult skill as it happens so fast.

Pass Rush Moves

Watching the battle that develops between defensive ends and offensive tackles through a game is one of the most exciting parts of a football game. One could equate it to a pitcher trying to set up a batter to chase a pitch out of the zone. There are a variety of moves that are utilized by defensive linemen to get past their offensive opponent: swim move, rip move and bull rush. Here is a nice video from Mac Brown illustrating a couple of these moves. There are multiple variations on all of these moves.

There is the pure speed rush in which a defensive end basically tries to run past the tackle. You will see an end use this a few times in a row, getting the tackle to be extremely nervous about being beat to the outside. The tackle will try to set deeper and deeper and start to turn his shoulders outside. As soon as that happens and if the end recognizes that anxiety, he will use a spin move or rip move to come underneath the tackle. Defensive tackles will typically use more of bull rush technique as they have limited space with which to work. A really important part of a pass rush is recognizing if you're not going to get to the quarterback. If you're not, then you have to get your hands up, particularly on quick drops.

Here is a nice video of Simeon Rice demonstrating the spin move back to the inside. Here is a series of clips of Julius Peppers. Another outstanding video of our own Everette Brown. Here is one of BJ Raji's highlight tapes. The first two highlights demonstrate the classic bull rush move. One of the greatest pass rushers ever: Reggie White.

This is a video from Elite Football Academy showing multiple players using a variety of pass rush moves. It's a nice demonstration of the various moves players will use. Here is Jared Allen explaining a good pass rush stance and initial movement and here he is explaining the speed rush.

And last but not least this is an excellent video of the NFL's elite pass rushers explaining how they get it done. It illustrates the hand play and importance of the initial move off the ball. (By the way, I typed my baseball analogy before watching this video)

Positions

Classically, there are two defensive line positions: tackle and end. Unfortunately, the readers at TNation are way to sophisticated and well read to recognize that is an over simplification. One could argue that the following positions are represented on the defensive line: strong side end, weak side end, defensive tackle and nose guard. Within those positions, one could break it down even further into run and pass specialists. It is no longer surprising to watch groups of linemen run on and off the field depending on the down and distance. Some teams will flip flop there defensive line from play to play depending on the strength of the play or line up their best defensive end on the weakest tackle or line up their best defensive end on the right side of the defense. The last option typically results in the end rushing from the blindside of the quarterback as most quarterbacks are right handed. This is the reason that left tackles in the NFL get paid so much. A bad left tackle will get a quarterback seriously injured.

In general, a strong side defensive end is the leverage point of the defense. He cannot allow his outside shoulder to get pinned and allow an offense to turn the corner. In general, defensive ends are responsible for containing an offense and stretching plays laterally. Typically, again depending on the scheme, the strong side end is your larger/stronger end as he is playing at the point of attack. The strong side end will typically line up on the inside shoulder of the tight end, again this depends on scheme. He must be able to handle double teams and disrupt the outside of the line, allowing the strong side and middle linebackers to run free behind him. On passing plays, he must disrupt the tight end's release of the line.

Your weak side end is typically where you see your speed and where you will see your one on one match ups. Again, the weak side end must maintain leverage at the point of attack and contain the quarterback. It takes a lot of discipline to play on the weakside of the ball as it is easy to start chasing plays down to early or getting caught inside (see the Boston College game) and allowing teams to reverse the field to the outside. It is imperative that the weak side end stay at home until he is absolutely sure that the play is not a reverse.

Your nose tackle or nose guard is a special breed of player. They need to clog up space, occupy blockers and be disruptive: think BJ Raji. The nose guard will be your largest player on the line. A successful nose guard will allow the middle line backer to roam free behind the line of scrimmage. If you get to the point that your interior lineman are successfully blocked one on one, a team will run all over you and your line backers will be miserable. This position is about power, aggressive behavior and being down right nasty.

Defensive tackles are becoming more and more specialized, meaning they are pass or run specialists. Again, the key to being a successful defensive tackle is being disruptive.

For a more detailed discussion, I would like to share our own CaStauch's take on our defense from a few months ago:

The 43 under- one gap scheme denotes particular responsibilities to each player. Concurrently, each of these responsibilities are themselves the foundation their teammates responsibilities: each position reflexively impacts and allows each other position to function. Starting from strongside and going to weakside, with respect to the defense's point of view of the offense (in that the strongside of the defense lines up opposite the strongside of the offense, usually the one with a Tight End), the first position to analyze is the Strongside Defensive end. The SDE lines up on the outside shoulder of offensive tackle to his side. His position is important because it cuts off the angle from which the offensive tackle can move without resistance. This is the form of protection that he bestows upon the LB behind him: because of the angle of his lineup, the OT cannot easily block down on the second level LB without either going through the SDE or amidst the congested middle of the line. In order to make the former as difficult as possible, the SDE must possess some method of holding his ground. Most naturally, this would imply weight. Usually SDE's range from 270-285 pounds. E.J. Wilson, of UNC (Coached by John Blake, one of the foremost DL minds in the collegiate game) weighs in at 280 lbs. Tyson Jackson at LSU clocks in at 285. Southern Cal's SDE, on the other hand, weighed in this past season at 6'6" 275 lbs.

In addition to weight, the SDE needs some form of body composition that utilizes this girth. There are two options. The first, is two evenly distribute the weight in a lankier frame, like USC's Moore. A longer body implies longer limbs. This, in combination with the greater amount of space that a longer body eats up, allows the SDE to control the line of scrimmage by dictating the movement of the OL with his longer arms. Another model for this method is Carlos Dunlap from UF. If you were with us earlier in the season, you may remember my piece on spatial and temporal playmakers (http://www.tomahawknation.com/2008/11/23/668913/strategy-session-did-the-d). A lankier SDE is an example of such a spatial constriction: his control of his opponent and longer frame shortens the negative space between him, his opposite OL, and the next D-Lineman, thus constricting the space in which the offense has to exploit.

The second option for an SDE to utilize his size is a stockier frame to produce leverage. This requires a slightly heavier player, like UNC's to exasperate the adequate leverage over what is no doubt a much taller OL.

The moral of the story for the SDE is that his job is to be a clogger. He prevents the Linebackers behind him from being blocked by the OL and TE opposite him. His angle of deployment, that on the outside shoulder of the OT and inside shoulder of the TE, along with his girth and size, allow him to do this. FSU has suffered the lack of an SDE for much of this decade. Our SDE this past season? Neefy Moffett. As admirable he performed at times, his size (256 lbs) preventing him from consistently manning the clogger role needed. Behind him, we have Kevin McNeil and Everette Dawkins, both of whom may be able to weigh in at the necessary weight (at least 275). We're also recruiting a bevy of diversity at this position, including David Perry (6"6 240) and Darious Cummings (6'2 260) both in their junior years.

Next in line is maybe the most integral man in the 43 under front, the Nose Tackle. He lines up in the gap between the center and guard on the SDE's side. More than any other, his role is singularly that as a clogger. It is imperative that his physical presence prevents either the Center and Guard to a) defend him 1 on 1, freeing up one of the blockers, and b) bypassing the NT to the Mike or Will LBs behind him. To meet this responsibility, the NT, like the SDE, has choices. Either actually clog the middle of the line with his immense girth (this is the popular approach within the NFL and was clearly illustrated by B.J. Raji and Boston College), or prove to be strong enough and have enough of a competent knowledge of technique and leverage that the same goal is accomplished. The latter is more likely for FSU: not only is it easier to teach technique and develop strength on top of necessary bulk, but we've one of the better technical NT coaches in the country. Coming in at a mere 262 lbs, Coach Haggins turned Brod Bunkley into a chiseled 290 lb NT worthy of first round draft pick and pro bowl consideration. Southern Cal's analog was Averall Spicer, 6'2" and 295. Last year, we played with Budd Thacker, who weighed in at 275, and Paul Griffin, at 280 (doubtful). This was the most direct reason for our porous run defense.

The future, however, looks bright if not tenuous. Moses McCray is expected to play at ~305, and will add that impressive bulk with the mechanical muscle memory imbued from wrestling in high school that will make learning the technical skills much easier. Behind him, Jaccobi McDaniel should start at 280 but gain weight steadily from there, and every coach that has witnessed his domination at the last two All Star games has come away incredibly impressed with his technical ability already.

The Strongside Defensive End and Nose Tackle serve as the foundation upon which the 43 under front is built. They are the necessary brick and mortar that enables the next two pieces, the Defensive Tackle and
Weakside Defensive End, to perform as disrupters that cut the spatial and temporal advantages inherent in the Offense.

The Defensive Tackle lines up on the outside shoulder of the Guard on the weak side. His position, labeled a Three Technique affords him the luxury of a one on one matchup with the Guard. Shielded both by the
body of the Guard with whom he’s matched up, and his Nose Tackle’s clogging responsibility tying up the center, it is the Coach’s responsibility to recruit and develop a player that accentuates this disruptive potential. Here, Florida State has traditionally excelled. Darnell Dockett, arguably the MVP of the Cardinals late season surge,
exemplifies this most clearly, as does Travis Johnson. Southern Cal’s Fili Moala weighs in at 6’2" 290, and possesses the necessary fast-twitch acceleration and understanding of technique and leverage to consistently beat the OG he’s opposite and disrupt the play

Florida State’s answer to this need is Justin Mincey. So as long as he develops mentally (stays eligible) and physically (fills out), Justin is potentially the next in a long line of first round picks produced by Coach Haggins. His width and length, at 6’5", allows him to control and dictate the contact with the likely shorter and slower OG. His speed isn’t gone to waste; shielded by his angle and the NT, he is provided an ample two gaps worth of protection with which to work.

Alongside him, the Weakside Defensive End also serves as a disruptor. He deploys on the outside shoulder of the left tackle, and the inherent disruptive qualities and unrivaled spatial isolation are the reasons Left Tackles
are paid more than any position in Football. While the DT is also matched up against a single blocker, he is not awarded the space with which to work like the WDE. As such, he is the principle source of pass rush in this scheme. His size and physique must illustrate this principle goal: normally between 250 and 260 lbs, allowing him not to sacrifice speed and agility with which he can attack an environment (one blocker and nearly ~30 yards of space) that is unrivaled by any other frontal configuration. While Souther Cal has Everson Griffin, FSU counters with Everette Brown and now Markus White. For all of our struggles these past seasons in fielding satisfactory SDEs and NTs, the WDE position has not been a source of angst, at least personnel wise (schematically however, has caused some frustration, but that is the seed of another article for another day).

Final Thoughts

If you have made it this far, congratulations and thanks for reading. Defensive line play is one of the most exciting parts of football. Hopefully this article provides you with a basic frame work with which to watch the line play and to think about the recruiting process. It takes time to develop into an outstanding defensive lineman, but there are basic skills required. Acceleration, explosiveness and body type are key. When watching recruiting videos, watch for the way a kid comes off the ball, what does he do with his hands, how does he shed blocks, does he stay low, what is his first movement off the ball, does his head pop up or does he move across the line. I would argue that shuttle times and agility are more important for defensive lineman than 40 yard times. Strength is key and a kid has to have the right frame to develop his body to endure the punishment of playing on the line. There has been an evolution in the style of play at each position on the line. As CaStauch nicely stated, "Each position has a specific responsibility and players must be recruited that can fill these roles as best as they can. There cannot be any square peg in round hole recruiting here."

I look forward to hearing your thoughts about our defensive line and defensive line play in general. Clearly, a lot of this article is a gross simplification of defensive line technique, but a summary of some points that I find important.

And don't forget that Florida State has a history of developing some of the best defensive linemen in the country, many of whom go on to play in the NFL:

Photo from here.

Go NOLES!

Size Matters Part Deux: Evaluating ACC Run Defenses by Sacking the Sack

FSUncensored — Mon, 11 May 2009 07:09:50 -0000

In the second part of the "Size Matters" series, we attempt to better gauge run defense by focusing only on running plays. Obvious enough as that may sound, it's not quite that easy.

Note: If you haven't read part one, you need to do that first.

Despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary, many fans still believe last year's defense was an elite unit. It's not that these fans are dumb or lazy. They just don't know what to look for.

The defense had good total numbers last year, finishing 2nd in the ACC in yards allowed, but that's not the important stat. Why? Total defense doesn't account for how many times the opponent had the ball, which is as much a function of a team's offense as it is a team's defense. Simply put, FSU's offense held the ball for long stretches last year, averaging the 2nd most time per game in ACC play. In fact, FSU's defense faced the second fewest offensive plays per ACC game. It is much easier to have a "good defense" if your defense faces fewer plays per game than everyone else, if you define “good defense” in terms of total defense. The mainstream media is just catching on to this, but I expect Tomahawk Nation readers to understand that yards per play is a much better measure than total defense.

But this article is about run defense, and even those who rely on aggregate numbers can see that last year's run defense was not special. And I hope that they are willing to step out on the ledge and accept "yards per carry" as a measure of rushing success. Well, how about Yards Per Carry Allowed? To the Chart!

NOTE: Numbers are from ACC games only, as out of conference scheduling varies wildly from team to team.

Name	Att	Yards	Avg.
Boston College	298	830	2.8
Wake Forest	254	784	3.1
Virginia Tech	312	996	3.2
Virginia	327	1097	3.4
Florida State	265	995	3.8
Georgia Tech	270	1018	3.8
Duke	333	1265	3.8
North Carolina	297	1140	3.8
Clemson	285	1121	3.9
North Carolina State	256	1027	4.0
Maryland	317	1345	4.2
Miami (Florida)	344	1497	4.4

So, FSU was tied for 5th, along with 3 other teams allowing 3.8 yards per "carry". That's certainly not what we expect from a Mickey Andrews defense. We wish we could say FSU's run defense was better than that 3.8 yards per "carry" suggests, but that is not the case. There's a reason why we used quotation marks around carry. FSU's 2008 run defense was broken.

In American football, a carry is a statistical term equivalent to a single rushing play. A sack is defined as tackling a ball carrier who intends to throw a forward pass. A sack is also awarded if a player forces a fumble of the ball, or the ball carrier to go out of bounds, behind the line of scrimmage on an apparent intended forward pass play.

For reasons that are probably rooted in the college game's option roots, the NCAA counts a sack as a running play. The NFL does not. This us dumb, especially when you consider that official scorers denote sacks in the same way (see above definition). Can we all agree that a properly scored sack is not a running play?

While conceding that there are differences in each stadium's official scorer, let's have a look at run defense against running plays. Let's sack the sack. A sack is an outcome of a passing play, and in a later article we'll include sacks where they belong. Here are the sack results from the 2008 ACC season:

Team	Sacks	Yards Lost
Virginia Tech *	27	240
Boston College *	25	161
Florida State	24	179
Miami (Florida)	19	134
Duke	18	95
Georgia Tech	17	128
Maryland	17	85
Virginia	16	125
Wake Forest	15	92
North Carolina State	14	94
North Carolina	12	66
Clemson	9	65
* Includes ACC Championship Game

Florida State had the conference's best pass rush in 2008, led by All-American Everette Brown. The goal here, however, is to find the most accurate gauge of run defense. To do that, we need to sack the sack.

That's atrocious. 2nd worst in the conference isn't an off year. It's a serious problem that needs to be immediately addressed. The problem is, we're not even sure FSU knows it has this problem.

That's 1174 rushing yards allowed on 241 carries, for an average of 4.87 given up per carry. We really can't underestimate the magnitude of this problem.2nd worst in the conference is not an off year, it's a systemic issue.

This chart illustrates how much each team benefited from their sack numbers being included in their run defense totals.

In Part One (see link in lead paragraph), we discussed the reasons for FSU's poor run defense. Simply put, FSU's defense lacks the minimum bulk in its front 7 defenders to stop the run without dedicating another defender (from the secondary) to the cause. Committing an extra defender to the run overtaxes our secondary, leaving us vulnerable to play action fakes. FSU further complicates matters by misusing its resources and playing guys out of position (most notably at strong side defensive end and outside linebacker). See the first article for a huge explanation.

As a last check of our numbers, we put together a game-by-game chart.

Opponent	YPCA w/o Sacks	Carries (w/o Sacks)	Rush Yards Allowed (w/o Sacks)	Att	Yards	Avg.	Sacks	Sack Yards
Wake Forest	2.1	36	75	38	59	1.6	2	16
Miami	5.8	12	69	14	51	3.6	2	18
N.C. St.	7.9	21	166	22	157	7.1	1	9
15 Virginia Tech	4.2	28	117	34	82	2.4	6	35
Georgia Tech	6.4	45	288	45	288	6.4	0	0
Clemson	4.3	30	128	36	79	2.2	6	49
Boston College	4.0	46	185	47	176	3.7	1	9
Maryland	6.3	23	146	29	103	3.6	6	43

7 of the 8 conference opponents ran for 4 or more yards once sacks were excluded, and half the opponents ripped off over five and a half yards per carry.

You don't have to take our word for it, however, as there are far more advanced metrics saying the same thing: FSU's run defense was really poor. For instance, Bill Connelly of RockMNation (Missouri) and FootballOutsiders (where he writes the widely acclaimed Varsity Numbers column). Connelly's "Conference Report" is often referenced here, as it focuses only on conference games. Here we see Bill's Run Defense Efficiency Data and made it into a handy graph. Note that this data does include sacks as running plays, we think (though we hope Bill will exclude that next year). While it does include sacks, it is adjusted for opponent (some teams didn't have to play top running offenses like FSU or Ga. Tech) and doesn't include numbers after the game is already a blowout. The higher number is better. A score of 100 is about average. FSU scored a 95.6, a score placing them in the bottom half of the conference. VT and FSU clearly receive an undeserved bump due to their sack numbers here, jumping 6 and 3 spots ahead of their rankings in the "rushing yards per carry allowed without sacks" category. The key point here is that FSU is again not a good run defense.

If these numbers excluded sacks, FSU might be dead last (as opposed to 2nd to last in our less refined measure).

This problem likely won't be fixed this year as FSU doesn't have the personnel in its front 7 after the wasted 2006 and 2007 recruiting classes, and it could get significantly worse if injuries strike the 'Noles. It is up to Jimbo and the future staff to make sure guys play the proper position and to recruit the players the FSU needs to execute its defense of choice. As noted in part one, this includes having Everette Dawkins play his natural position (Strongside End), moving Nigel Bradham to the opposite side, and having a bigger middle linebacker.

GO NOLES!!

Become a fan of us on facebook!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/TomahawkNationcom/63264950770

Strategy Session: Size Does Matter... At Least On Defense.

FSUncensored — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 10:00:08 -0000

Florida State's defense has a problem. It's a problem that some might not have realized the 'Noles have. Others might have thought about this issue without realizing how big of a problem it actually is.

Over the course of the next five months we will get into the problems of the Florida State defense. We'll discuss the problems with the Noles scheme, personnel, coaching, and voice our concerns over something that should interest all Seminoles fans.

Mickey Andrews will go into the college football hall of fame as one of the best defensive coordinators in history. A past winner of the Broyles award, Andrews produced some of the better defenses in college football history.

Andrews was so successful that offensive coordinators began to design their schemes to beat the defense Andrews ran (along with the other great defensive coordinators of the day). Andrews almost snuffed out the I-Formation. Offenses had to find a way to combat defenses that stacked the box with 8 defenders with a bunch of speed. Of course, the solution was to spread out the formation (goodbye fullback) and utilize the quarterback as a running threat. By doing so, offenses were now able to play 11-on-11 as opposed to 10-on-11.

We'll discuss that further at a later date. What you need to understand is that teams who relied on stacking the box were forced to adapt. They did this in different ways, but the recurring component of the successful adaptations was the ability to stop the run without committing the extra defender to the box (the so called "8th man).

Unfortunately for FSU, this change was occurring right during the height of the "Nepotism Era." As head coach Bobby Bowden forced his nepotous hire down the throats of the concerned FSU family, the organizational disfunction began to permeate the defensive side of the ball. It wasn't as noticeable at first, but it definitely happened. During that period, FSU's recruiting dropped off somewhat, including defensive recruiting. The defensive coaches finally realized it was happening about a year later. They did not, however, realize the gravity of the offensive change that was occuring across the college football landscape. Where FSU formerly recruited speed and some size, they now recruited only speed. FSU made a choice that it might not have even realized it was making: they focused solely on speed in their attempt to stop the non pro-style attacks they were faced with increasing regularity. That move, along with an injury and an unexpected early departure would cost the 'Noles Defense dearly in the 2008 season.

A problem in the 2008 season? Believe it. By typical statistics, FSU's defense looked very good. Consider that those numbers were compiled in a very defensive minded conference, however, and read something I threw together in November:

Note: go here for an explanation of the advanced measurements we've used to gauge FSU's performance.

FEI is the best measure of performance we have, as it is opponent adjusted and breaks down the game on a much deeper level.

DEFENSE

In 2007, the Noles entered the UF game ranked 18th in Adjusted Defensive Efficiency (ADE), posting a 0.218 score.

In 2008, the Noles entered the UF game ranked 19th in Adjusted Defensive Efficiency (ADE), posting a 0.021 score

Hmm, not much improvement, but still a good score. What might account for this? Why then, are we still disappointed in the defense? This defense needed to be elite (top 5). It showed no improvement, sliding a spot from 2007 to 2008. Unlike the offense, who went with a clear youth movement, the defense was very talented and loaded with returning starters. The defense returned 7 of 11 starters from the 2007 team, and did not feature a sophomore of freshman! Additionally, the 2007 unit was constantly injured-- a fate the 2008 unit did not suffer. After the 2008 season, the Noles defense will suffer massive causalities. A minimum of 8 starters (out of a possible 11) will leave. All told, it is entirely possible that 13 of the top 22 defensive players (22 encompass the 1st and 2nd string) will not be with the Noles in 2009. This was an experienced, talented unit that stayed remarkably healthy and did not produce dominant results under the direction of Mickey Andrews, Chuck Amato, and Jodey Allen. The defensive staff has no excuse. They did not inherit a huge mess as Jimbo Fisher did.

NOTE: remember that FEI automatically adjusts for rules changes because it measures performance on drives, as opposed to only games. It also doesn't count non-competitive drives (drives where the game is locked up, for instance a drive when a team leads by 40 in the 4th quarter). This explains why FSU got little credit for crushing UAB and DUKE in the 2007 ratings. FSU received zero credit for their wins against the I-AA competition in 2008.

We can dig deeper still, but we need to consider a few things as well. First, the following numbers are not opponent adjusted. This is raw data. Second, the 2007 data includes a game against Duke (goes hand in hand with the lack of opponent adjustment). Third, the clock rules changed this year, giving offenses about 12 less plays per game (about 17% less opportunities).

in 2007, the Noles allowed 4.99 yards per play in ACC competition. Removing Duke, the Noles allowed 5.05 yards per play.

In 2008, the Noles allowed 4.86 yards per play in ACC competition.

These results bode well for those arguing to keep Mickey Andrews. In his favor they did show improvement against much tougher competition. Still, this is not enough improvement for a unit with this sort of talent and athletic ability.

What about offensive points allowed per play? Remember that First, these are not opponent adjusted. This is raw data. Second, the 2007 data includes a game against Duke (goes hand in hand with the lack of opponent adjustment).

In 2007, the Noles allowed 0.29 offensive points per play in ACC competition (0.32 if you edit out Duke).

In 2008, the Noles allowed 0.33 offensive points per play in ACC competition.

Again, these numbers show that the 2008 defense did not improve or reach an elite level, despite being deeper, more talented, more experienced, and much healthier than the 2007 edition.

NOTE: FSU ended up 20th nationally in Defensive Efficiency

Back in December, I tried to sound the alarm. People were very worried about facing Wisconsin's huge offensive line. I told everyone to relax:

I believe that FSU struggled against not huge offensive lines, but rather teams who ran something other than the pro-style offense (2-backs with a non-mobile quarterback). Why would I think this? Mostly because I've seen teams adapt their offense to counteract the schemes of Mickey Andrews and other legendary defensive coordinators of the 90's.

Why would I think this? Mostly because I've seen teams adapt their offense to counteract the schemes of Mickey Andrews and other legendary defensive coordinators of the 90's.

So, what teams run these offenses? NC State (with Russell Wilson and the zone read), Boston College (who ran that zone-read give out of the gun 20+ times), and UF. Georgia Tech Runs majority option, so I Included them as well. The results?

Against majority Pro-Style Offenses:

		Total Off.			Rushing				Passing
Opponent	PPG	Plays	Yds	Per Play	No	Net	YPC	TFL's	Att	Comp	Yds	TD	Int	Sacks	Dropbacks/ Sacks	QB Rating
Wake Forest(3-12)	12	68	276	4.1	38	59	1.6	9	30	17	217	0	0	2	16.0	117
Colorado(39-21)	21	73	278	3.8	37	124	3.4	10	36	17	154	3	1	4	10.0	105
Miami (Fla.)(41-39)	30	63	256	4.1	14	51	3.6	6	49	21	205	1	3	2	25.5	72
Virginia Tech(30-20)	20	56	243	4.3	34	82	2.4	10	22	12	161	1	0	6	4.7	137
Clemson(41-27)	27	71	316	4.5	36	79	2.2	14	35	20	237	2	1	6	6.8	127.17
Maryland(37-3)	3	60	252	4.2	29	103	3.6	10	31	16	149	0	2	6	6.2	79
Per Game	19	65	270	4.1	31	83	2.6	10	34	17	187	1.2	1.2	4.3	8.8	100

These numbers are excellent. 4.1 yards allowed per play is very good considering that these 6 games came against BCS competition, as I removed the two games against 1-AA competition. Note that we allowed only 2.6 yards per rush. If you don't think these numbers are impressive, just wait till you see the difference between our defense against a pro-style attack (like Wisconsin)and a Non- Pro Style scheme...

Non Pro-Style Schemes:

		Total Off.			Rushing				Passing
Opponent	PPG	Plays	Yds	Per Play	No	Net	YPC	TFL's	Att	Comp	Yds	TD	Int	Sacks	Dropbacks/ Sacks	QB Rating
North Carolina St.(26-17)	17	47	338	7.2	21	157	7.5	4	25	13	181	2	0	1	26	139.22
Georgia Tech(28-31)	31	51	343	6.7	44	288	6.5	2	6	4	55	0	1	0	NONE	110.33
Boston College(17-27)	20	74	357	4.8	46	176	3.8	13	27	14	181	1	1	1	28	113
Florida(15-45)	45	68	502	7.4	46	317	6.9	8	22	12	185	3	0	1	23	170
Per Game:	28	60	385	6.4	39	235	6.0	6.8	20	11	151	1.5	0.5	0.8	28	138

That's quite the difference. Every single category got significantly worse. Also note that removing UF's numbers don't significantly reduce the categories. I was shocked at just how well NC State's offense played. Clearly, our Offense won that game by holding the ball for a long time.

For those who want the clear comparison in table form, you are in luck...

		Total Off.			Rushing				Passing
Opponent	PPG	Plays	Yds	Per Play	No	Net	YPC	TFL's	Att	Comp	Yds	TD	Int	Sacks	Dropbacks/ Sacks	QB Rating
Against Pro-Style	19	65	270	4.1	31	83	2.6	10	34	17	187	1.2	1.2	4.3	8.8	100
Against SBGUNOPTION	28	60	385	6.4	39	235	6.0	7	20	11	151	1.5	0.5	0.8	28	138

Yeah... we get destroyed by anyone with an ounce of talent the the motivation to break away from the popular offenses of the 90's. The Noles own pro-style attacks. In other news, Clemson will shift into a non-Pro Style offense in 2009.

That answer is too simple, however, as the issue is deeper than the inability to adapt a once-dominant scheme to the modern day offense.

Florida State's absolute preference for smaller, faster defenders has not worked as a substitute for adapting to the more modern, non pro-style offensive schemes.

Below, you'll find a list of the best 20 defenses nationally, as measured by Adjusted Defensive Efficiency (the best available measure of defensive performance) and the combined weight of their front 7's.

4-3 Schemes (4 defensive linemen and three linebackers).

Note: I also included teams that run the 4-2-5 here and counted their largest safety as a linebacker for comparison purposes.

USC #5 Defense Total Weight: 1860lbs

2008 USC is obviously the model that every defense should endeavor to emulate. They total 1860lbs across the front 7. Owning the West Coast, it's probably a tad unrealistic to believe that any other team can get this combination of size and speed on the field at the same time, but I wanted to start with the best. Tomahawk Nation writer CaStauch chimes in on the excellent USC attack

Addressing the state of Florida State's defensive Front: USC as an Ideal Case

The basic schematic structure to the Southern California Trojan's defensive front is the 43 under. Within this basic framework, each of the front seven players are responsible for a single gap between the offensive line. Inherently, this is an unforgiving discipline, because a single missed responsibility could potentially lead to a big gain by the offense; there usually isn't any backup if we're not considering the defensive backfield.

So, coaches that utilize this front are forced to whittle out each and every efficiency-sapping imperfection. Not necessarily flaws, but things that aren't optimized in order to compensate for the unkind discipline with which this style must be played. In doing this, each position within the front seven has a specific archetype that has been tested and carved to its optimal level. Coarsely, these positions are: Weakside Defensive End (WDE), Nose Tackle (NT), Defensive Tackle (DT), and Strongside Defensive End along the defensive line, and; Weakside Linebacker (Will), Middle Linebacker (Mike) and Strongside Linebacker (Sam) make up the LB corps. Each position has a specific responsibility and players must be recruited that can fill these roles as best as they can. There cannot be any square peg in round hole recruiting here.

The 43 under- one gap scheme denotes particular responsibilities to each player. Concurrently, each of these responsibilities are themselves the foundation their teammates responsibilities: each position reflexively impacts and allows each other position to function. Starting from strongside and going to weakside, with respect to the defense's point of view of the offense (in that the strongside of the defense lines up opposite the strongside of the offense, usually the one with a Tight End), the first position to analyze is the Strongside Defensive end. The SDE lines up on the outside shoulder of offensive tackle to his side. His position is important because it cuts off the angle from which the offensive tackle can move without resistance. This is the form of protection that he bestows upon the LB behind him: because of the angle of his lineup, the OT cannot easily block down on the second level LB without either going through the SDE or amidst the congested middle of the line. In order to make the former as difficult as possible, the SDE must possess some method of holding his ground. Most naturally, this would imply weight. Usually SDE's range from 270-285 pounds. E.J. Wilson, of UNC (Coached by John Blake, one of the foremost DL minds in the collegiate game) weighs in at 280 lbs. Tyson Jackson at LSU clocks in at 285. Southern Cal's SDE, on the other hand, weighed in this past season at 6'6" 275 lbs.

In addition to weight, the SDE needs some form of body composition that utilizes this girth. There are two options. The first, is two evenly distribute the weight in a lankier frame, like USC's Moore. A longer body implies longer limbs. This, in combination with the greater amount of space that a longer body eats up, allows the SDE to control the line of scrimmage by dictating the movement of the OL with his longer arms. Another model for this method is Carlos Dunlap from UF. If you were with us earlier in the season, you may remember my piece on spatial and temporal playmakers (http://www.tomahawknation.com/2008/11/23/668913/strategy-session-did-the-d). A lankier SDE is an example of such a spatial constriction: his control of his opponent and longer frame shortens the negative space between him, his opposite OL, and the next D-Lineman, thus constricting the space in which the offense has to exploit.

The second option for an SDE to utilize his size is a stockier frame to produce leverage. This requires a slightly heavier player, like UNC's to exasperate the adequate leverage over what is no doubt a much taller OL.

The moral of the story for the SDE is that his job is to be a clogger. He prevents the Linebackers behind him from being blocked by the OL and TE opposite him. His angle of deployment, that on the outside shoulder of the OT and inside shoulder of the TE, along with his girth and size, allow him to do this. FSU has suffered the lack of an SDE for much of this decade. Our SDE this past season? Neefy Moffett. As admirable he performed at times, his size (256 lbs) preventing him from consistently manning the clogger role needed. Behind him, we have Kevin McNeil and Everette Dawkins, both of whom may be able to weigh in at the necessary weight (at least 275). We're also recruiting a bevy of diversity at this position, including David Perry (6"6 240) and Darious Cummings (6'2 260) both in their junior years.

Next in line is maybe the most integral man in the 43 under front, the Nose Tackle. He lines up in the gap between the center and guard on the SDE's side. More than any other, his role is singularly that as a clogger. It is imperative that his physical presence prevents either the Center and Guard to a) defend him 1 on 1, freeing up one of the blockers, and b) bypassing the NT to the Mike or Will LBs behind him. To meet this responsibility, the NT, like the SDE, has choices. Either actually clog the middle of the line with his immense girth (this is the popular approach within the NFL and was clearly illustrated by B.J. Raji and Boston College), or prove to be strong enough and have enough of a competent knowledge of technique and leverage that the same goal is accomplished. The latter is more likely for FSU: not only is it easier to teach technique and develop strength on top of necessary bulk, but we've one of the better technical NT coaches in the country. Coming in at a mere 262 lbs, Coach Haggins turned Brod Bunkley into a chiseled 290 lb NT worthy of first round draft pick and pro bowl consideration. Southern Cal's analog was Averall Spicer, 6'2" and 295. Last year, we played with Budd Thacker, who weighed in at 275, and Paul Griffin, at 280 (doubtful). This was the most direct reason for our porous run defense.

The future, however, looks bright if not tenuous. Moses McCray is expected to play at ~305, and will add that impressive bulk with the mechanical muscle memory imbued from wrestling in high school that will make learning the technical skills much easier. Behind him, Jaccobi McDaniel should start at 280 but gain weight steadily from there, and every coach that has witnessed his domination at the last two All Star games has come away incredibly impressed with his technical ability already.

The Strongside Defensive End and Nose Tackle serve as the foundation upon which the 43 under front is built. They are the necessary brick and mortar that enables the next two pieces, the Defensive Tackle and Weakside Defensive End, to perform as disrupters that cut the spatial and temporal advantages inherent in the Offense.

The Defensive Tackle lines up on the outside shoulder of the Guard on the weak side. His position, labeled a Three Technique affords him the luxury of a one on one matchup with the Guard. Shielded both by the body of the Guard with whom he’s matched up, and his Nose Tackle’s clogging responsibility tying up the center, it is the Coach’s responsibility to recruit and develop a player that accentuates this disruptive potential. Here, Florida State has traditionally excelled. Darnell Dockett, arguably the MVP of the Cardinals late season surge, exemplifies this most clearly, as does Travis Johnson. Southern Cal’s Fili Moala weighs in at 6’2" 290, and possesses the necessary fast-twitch acceleration and understanding of technique and leverage to consistently beat the OG he’s opposite and disrupt the play

Florida State’s answer to this need is Justin Mincey. So as long as he develops mentally (stays eligible) and physically (fills out), Justin is potentially the next in a long line of first round picks produced by Coach Haggins. His width and length, at 6’5", allows him to control and dictate the contact with the likely shorter and slower OG. His speed isn’t gone to waste; shielded by his angle and the NT, he is provided an ample two gaps worth of protection with which to work.

Alongside him, the Weakside Defensive End also serves as a disruptor. He deploys on the outside shoulder of the left tackle, and the inherent disruptive qualities and unrivaled spatial isolation are the reasons Left Tackles are paid more than any position in Football. While the DT is also matched up against a single blocker, he is not awarded the space with which to work like the WDE. As such, he is the principle source of pass rush in this scheme. His size and physique must illustrate this principle goal: normally between 250 and 260 lbs, allowing him not to sacrifice speed and agility with which he can attack an environment (one blocker and nearly ~30 yards of space) that is unrivaled by any other frontal configuration. While Souther Cal has Everson Griffin, FSU counters with Everette Brown and now Markus White. For all of our struggles these past seasons in fielding satisfactory SDEs and NTs, the WDE position has not been a source of angst, at least personnel wise (schematically however, has caused some frustration, but that is the seed of another article for another day).

Behind the defensive line, the Linebackers serve as the second source of necessary aggregate size. It could even be said that Southern Cal’s line, while holding the minimal compulsory weight, was still a little light along the defensive line. However, they make up for that lack with bigger, while still retaining the athleticism to cover ground, linebackers.

Smallest among these is the Weakside Linebacker, the Will. Lining up in the gap between the NT and DT, the Will is provided unequaled protection and shielding from blockers in an ideal case. In fact, unless the Offense purposefully allows either the DT or WDE to come unabated (on a screen, for example), there cannot be a blocker to interfere with the Will. As such, in typical economic fashion, Southern Cal accentuates and enhances the advantages of this situation with a personnel choice that allows the Will to take advantage of this freedom. Maiava, at 230 lbs, has the requisite ability to read the direction and momentum of the play and the speed and agility to make the play once it is read.

Florida State, too, hasn’t been shy in its production of Weakside Linebackers in the past. Geno Hayes is the most recent; Derrick Brooks the most acclaimed. True to the running theme that FSU produces these freelancers and disruptors in droves while neglecting the equally necessary cloggers and holders, The 2009 FSU defense is well represented at this position: Nigel Bradham, Recardo Wright, and maybe the most talented of the bunch, newcomer C.J. Mizell.

Manning the middle of the park, the Mike Linebacker is often the most recognizable figure in a defensive front. Lining up in the gap between the SDE and NT, he is afforded protection from downfield blockers. However, his role is similar to that of a NT and SDE, in that he is first a clogger and holder and second a disruptor. As such, he must carry enough weight to provide the physicality this inherently congested spatial and temporal (in that everything happens faster in the middle) responsibility requires: anywhere from 240-260 lbs. Southern Cal's Rey Malauaga tipped the scales at 260 lbs, compensating for the slight deficiency in overall weight at their NT position. The propensity of the offense to run its offense through the space the Mike occupies requires this additional size and strength in order to shed blocks and fulfill his role as a holder instead of consistently playing out of position.

As FSUn has referenced, our own Middle Linebackers are of less than ideal size. In a vain attempt to compensate for this, they consistently push themselves out of position either by not maintaining their position in the face of a block, not being able to shed a block, or voluntarily moving out of responsibility in an attempt to avoid a block. Compounded with the already mentioned too-light linemen, this provides the offense with an alleyway up the middle of the field with nary but speed bumps in the way. Unfortunately, Derek Nicholson served as one of these speed bumps at 230 lbs.

However, Jimbo Fisher has proved to be an observant foreman, and we've addressed our needs at this position more adequately of late. Vince Williams, the favorite to win the Mike position for 2009, will more than likely weigh in at 245 lbs. With an above average strength quotient, and a natural leverage that his weight stuffed into a 6'0" frame provides, future offensesshould find the stroll through the middle of the park a little less luxurious this season.

Finally, the Strongside Linebacker serves as the dictator of the LB group in a 43 under scheme. Lining up on the outside shoulder of the Tight End, his foremost responsibility is play-side contain and dictation. While the strongside defensive end holds the playside offensive tackle and cracks (chips) the Tight End or extra blocker, the SAM must also serve in this holding and clogging role. This responsibility is necessary in order to provide the force which turns the play inside for the free and pursuing weakside help to make the tackle unabated (the protected Mike and Will LBs.) To achieve this goal, he must be strong enough to withstand and ultimately redirect play-side pressure: if he's too small, then he will be unable to serve as the dam that directs the flow back inside. The blockade will burst, and the offense will gush through the opening, most likely for 6. Unfortunately, FSU has had a penchant for providing these aquatic tropes. In their decision to employ a SAM whose primary responsibility is coverage of the TE instead of play dictation and redirection, they have rendered the protection afforded to the Mike and Will useless and in vain. Instead, a stronger and bigger SAM would be ideal: Nigel Bradham if the beast is unleashed could swell up to 260 without losing his size (USC's CUshing played at 255). Dams and levee's aren't successful when built with twigs and mud, Dekoda Watson at 225 was composed as such.

The 43 under scheme is a complex, interconnected and interdependent defensive approach. Each position must be manned by a player able to physically fulfill his responsibility. If not, then not only is his singularly manned gap vulnerable, but those other positions that depend on his support are compromised. While Florida State has been a prodigious provider of the disruptive agents employed by this scheme, their effectiveness and utility is dulled by the inability to recruit and develop the foundational parts of the front: NT, SDE, and SAMs. These positions aren't glamorous or flashy. Without their ability to tie up blockers and dictate the space in which the offense can operate, the weaknesses of the WIlls, DTs, and WDEs are made all too easy to exploit. As such, it is the opinion of this blog, as FSUn has already
written at length, that FSU realign their recruiting efforts of the foundational pieces to reflect more closely the ideal case of USC along with a sizable contingent of the top 25.

USC did it not with huge defensive tackles, but rather with great overall size. Linebackers at 250 and 260, and a proper fit for the SDE position at 270lbs. USC is the a shining example for the theory that it's not huge defensive tackles, that matter, but rather the overall bulk of the front 7. In fact, it would be easy to argue that USC's interior linemen were on the small side.

Florida: #1 Defense, 1845 Lbs

The Gators #1 rated defense totaled 1845lbs in the front 7 and were probably the only unit to come close to equaling both the size and speed of USC. They did play better than USC when you factor in opponent adjustments.

People think of UF's defense as solely a speed defense. The numbers, however, show that this could not be further from the truth. The Gators rarely had to commit 8 men to the box (or 7 against a 4-wide set). They did not fall into the predictable coverage trap that the 'Noles found themselves in.

Boston College: # 2 Defense, 1902lbs.

At 1902 lbs, Boston College was able to compensate for their reported lack of speed by maintaining their leverage and being able to fight through blocks within the context of their scheme. They never put 8 men in the box and the size of their defenders allowed them to play slightly wider than a typical team could afford, as they could fight through blockers attempting to turn them out, while still compensating for the lack of burners on the outside.

Wake Forest: #3 Defense, 1875lbs

Wake's defense was truly special this past year. With 8 of the 11 defensive starters being seniors, Wake's defense was maybe the shining example of playing as a unit. Wake's size in the middle was probably under reported by the general media and certainly underestimated by me. They also had large linebackers.

Clemson: #4 Defense, 1785lbs

At 1785lbs, Clemson is one of the surprises from this group. They had a very experienced group Clemson ran more of a 4-2-5 scheme. Their excellent performance can be attributed to the work of Defensive Coordinator Vic Koenig, who utilized a wide variety of zones. Koenig's work is consistently under appreciated. One team that did spread Clemson out by running non pro-style sets was FSU, as they tallied the highest point total against the Tigers.

UConn: #6 Defense, 1738 lbs

The only Big East School on the list is a bigger mystery than Clemson. So, how did they do so well? They faced Rutgers, UVA, and West Virginia before those teams hit their collective stride.

North Carolina: #7 Defense, 1865lbs

CaStauch touched on UNC (above), but they are a model of consistent defense. Like Wake Forest, Boston College, UF, and USC, the Tarheels can take care of an opponent's running game without ever needing to call upon an 8th defender. When you can stop the run with only 7, life is easier. Better yet, UNC can use 6 against a 4-wide receiver set, pulling Quan Sturdivant off the field in favor of a 5th defensive back, while still knowing they have the run threat controlled.

TCU: #8 Defense, 1876

TCU plays a 4-2-5 attack and they play it well. They are 8th on the list because of their game at Oklahoma, in which they ran some very unorthodox packages, flustering the Sooners for a half before OU took over. They also handled Boise quite well.

Texas #9 Defense, 1807 lbs

Texas is an interesting case. Nearly every major team in the Big 12 runs an advanced version of the spread. From Kansas to Texas Tech to Oklahoma to Oklahoma State to Missouri, defenses in the Big 12 have a challenge. Granted, the Big 12's offenses are ovverated compared to their unreachable National Reputation, but they do present unique challenges.

Ole Miss: #11 Defense, 1800lbs

Ole Miss had some injuries on the defensive side rendering them a bit light, but at full strength they were larger. The Rebels did an excellent job against Texas Tech in the cotton bowl, holding Tech to their worst offensive game of the year.

IOWA #12 Defense, 1833lbs

Iowa is a very interesting case. They do not have a defensive lineman over 285lbs!! Iowa runs what I want to see FSU run. Because of their versatility across the line, Iowa is able to drop any lineman into coverage at any time (a crucial requirement of the zone blitz). They create a great amount of uncertainty. Iowa's defense was better than FSU's despite a complete lack of elite talent. Of course, they do have a lot of coaches influenced by Saban and Belicheck.

UTAH #14 Defense, 1707lbs

Utah had 10 seniors on defense and benefited from playing Michigan in it's first game as a spread team and faced Alabama without both of the Tide's starting offensive tackles. To call them a good defense would be accurate. To deny that they were the beneficiary of some circumstance is foolish.

Boise State #16, 1726lbs

Boist played pretty good defense. They don't have to face elite competition on a weekly basis, however, and their game against Oregon (when Oregon lost two quarterbacks) weighs heavily in their overall defensive efficiency ranking.

South Carolina #17 Defense, 1882lbs

South Carolina was big and good. UF did destroy them, but it's important to remember that 21 of the Gator's points came on South Carolina turnovers returned for touchdowns or on drives of 5 yards or less (resulting from a South Carolina turnover). Their defensive coordinator is excellent.

East Carolina: #18 Defense, 1829lbs

East Carolina was an extreme example of using huge defensive tackles and nothing else. Using really fat guys can work in a non-BCS conference when teams do not see quality offensive linemen on a weekly basis, but it's incredibly rare to find 18-21 yearold guys who have control over their bodies at 330+ lbs.

Ohio State: #19 Defense, 1811lbs.

Ohio State utilized a very stout strongside end to control the strong side. Ohio State did very well against every team except USC, including an impressive showing against Texas in the Fiesta Bowl.

3-4 Schemes (and the 3-3-5 Stack)

I won't discuss the 3-4 at length. Some argue that this is the defense we should run, but I vehemently disagree. Why? Huge men don't grow into their huge body until they are 25 or 26. It's extremely rare to find a Terrence Cody of Alabama or BJ Raji type player. Most of the players who are 330+lbs are uncoordinated and out of shape. The 3-4 defense is heavily dependent on having that fulcrum at the Nose Guard position, and the 'Noles should not bet their year to year defensive fate on consistently finding those kids. If one or two schools do it, that's fine, as they are exploiting somewhat of a market inefficiency.

CAL: #13 Defense, 1831lbs

Cal's 3-4 was a thing of beauty. With 5 seniors in the front 7, the Bears were one of the more underrated defenses in college football.

Historical Note: Cal's 3-4 was essentially the Bum Phillips 3-4 defense and is not the same 3-4 scheme that is run by most 3-4 teams. The Cowboys and Chargers run Cal's scheme, which is very difficult to teach, as it is the rare one-gap 3-4 defense. The rest of the 3-4 teams run Bama's.

Alabama #16 Defense, 1914lbs

Extremely young, but big and talented, Bama's defense excelled under the brilliant defensive scheming of Nick Saban. Nobody ran on Bama and the Tide were never forced to use the 8th man to stop the run.

But what about the 'Noles?

Florida State: #20 defense, 1735 lbs.

1735lbs is tiny and appalling. They did not improve or reach an elite level, despite being deeper, more talented, more experienced, and much healthier than the 2007 edition. While the injury to Dunbar and the early departure of Guion definitely hurt the 'Noles, the defense was still entirely comprised of upper classmen. Is 20th okay for a Seminole defense with 11 upperclassmen starters? Surely not. As CaStauch explained (above), the 'Noles were handcuffed by their lack of size and Andrew's scheme. Where other programs have the option of using the 8th man in the box, FSU has forced itself into using the strategy on a huge percentage of downs. With the current personnel, the 'Noles defense has become sort of a high school basketballesque "pack it in" defense. Of course, The "pack it in" doesn't work at the college level and neither does the 'Noles defense as it is currently comprised.

In Table Form, it's easier to see. (BCS teams only, as the small conference teams do not take the same week to seek pounding that the BCS squads do).

Team	Front-7 Weight (In Lbs)	Defensive Ranking
Alabama	1914	16
Boston College	1902	2
South Carolina	1882	17
Wake Forest	1875	3
North Carolina	1865	7
Sourhern Cal	1860	5
Florida	1835	1
Iowa	1833	12
California	1831	13
Ohio State	1811	19
Texas	1807	9
Ole Miss	1800	11
Clemson	1785	4
Florida State	1735	20

Look at how small Florida State is. That's very disappointing.

What I hoped to prove from this article:

Size in the front 7 is a crucial component of a successful defense
That size in the front 7 does not necessarily need to come from the defensive tackle position. Teams meet their size needs in many different ways.
The 'Noles get gashed by any offense other than the typical Pro-Style Attack.
FSU needs to adapt to stop the Non- Pro Style offense and the way they have chosen (solely speed) is ineffective.

Editors Note: We needed to write this before continuing with the Spring Previews on the defensive side of the ball so that our readers can understand where we are coming from when discussing the defense.

In the next installment, we will discuss possible long-term solutions as well as immeidate stop gap measures.