Defensive philosophy...

[BigRedballz]

I know the D played fairly well on Saturday and the O was our problem. However, just listening to Riley talk about the punt return troubles and particularly decisions when punts are around the 10 yard line got me to wondering about the bend but don't break philosophy. Seems to me that while we may not give up a huge amount of points we are constantly battling from poor field position because we allow so many drives to move down the field. From a philosophy standpoint, do you think a team is better off to risk giving up a big play now and then if it means creating short fields for the offense because you've created a 3 and outs more often?

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

I know the D played fairly well on Saturday and the O was our problem. However, just listening to Riley talk about the punt return troubles and particularly decisions when punts are around the 10 yard line got me to wondering about the bend but don't break philosophy. Seems to me that while we may not give up a huge amount of points we are constantly battling from poor field position because we allow so many drives to move down the field. From a philosophy standpoint, do you think a team is better off to risk giving up a big play now and then if it means creating short fields for the offense because you've created a 3 and outs more often?

Pros and cons with all philosophies and schemes.

If you have a quick strike offense, giving up points on defense and being uber-aggressive may not be a bad plan. With a ball control offense, you can't afford to give up a bunch of big plays (see Oregon)

 

[dinglefritz]

Pros and cons with all philosophies and schemes.

If you have a quick strike offense, giving up points on defense and being uber-aggressive may not be a bad plan. With a ball control offense, you can't afford to give up a bunch of big plays (see Oregon)

Welllllll personally we were playing a kid starting his second game at QB in the biggest stadium I think he has ever been in soooo I would have sent the house early and often and tried to get some take aways. Just me.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

Welllllll personally we were playing a kid starting his second game at QB in the biggest stadium I think he has ever been in soooo I would have sent the house early and often and tried to get some take aways. Just me.

You are talking about a single game? I took the OP as talking about general schemes and philosophy.

UNI has about 210 yards of total offense and about 3.94 yards per play. IIRC. The game against Maryland last season was about the only game I can think of that was close to that good.

 

[RedSea]

The general point is good though, good to think about not just how many points a D gives up (don't break), but also what it may do to the offense (bend). Not sure there is any really pattern though. Guess it depends on how much you bend and how often you break.

 

[otismotis08]

Bend but don't break is playing scared IMO. Gotta be more aggressive.

 

[NUSouth]

I know the D played fairly well on Saturday and the O was our problem. However, just listening to Riley talk about the punt return troubles and particularly decisions when punts are around the 10 yard line got me to wondering about the bend but don't break philosophy. Seems to me that while we may not give up a huge amount of points we are constantly battling from poor field position because we allow so many drives to move down the field. From a philosophy standpoint, do you think a team is better off to risk giving up a big play now and then if it means creating short fields for the offense because you've created a 3 and outs more often?

I hate Alabama but I have to give them credit in what they do to win games that nobody else does is play aggressive defense and special teams.

I honestly believe the Alabama offense and our defense and special teams would be an average football team.

Their defense gets turnovers and flips field position if they don't score themselves. Their special teams are a blocked punt waiting to happen.

I'd be thrilled to go back to the team of the "extra second" game. That teams offense was painfully inept to watch but they almost won the Big 12 because nobody could move or score on them.

More wins start with aggressive defense, not bend but don't break defense.

 

[headcard]

I hate Alabama but I have to give them credit in what they do to win games that nobody else does is play aggressive defense and special teams.

I honestly believe the Alabama offense and our defense and special teams would be an average football team.

Their defense gets turnovers and flips field position if they don't score themselves. Their special teams are a blocked punt waiting to happen.

I'd be thrilled to go back to the team of the "extra second" game. That teams offense was painfully inept to watch but they almost won the Big 12 because nobody could move or score on them.

More wins start with aggressive defense, not bend but don't break defense.

It comes from having studs that can make plays on defense. Our 2009 defense played two gap, bend don't break defense keeping two safties high all the time. But they had studs up front that made plays. Contrast that to Bankers defense, which was ultra aggressive, the guy played press coverage and never meet a blitz he didn't like. But we still couldn't get to the QB and gave up all sorts of big plays.

 

[TwinsRRUs]

Seems to me that while we may not give up a huge amount of points we are constantly battling from poor field position because we allow so many drives to move down the field.

That's definitely another way to look at that style of defense.

If your defense bends but doesn't break, the offense now is starting inside their own 25 yard line. That makes for a long field to drive for a score, whereas an aggressive defense might get the ball back for the offense around the 25-50 yard line more often than not.

Hard to win games when your field position sucks every time you get the ball. 80+ yard drives for TDs don't happen very often.

I would be curious to see how long our average drives were in the NIU game. Did our offense get 40-60 yards before punting/an INT? Or did we only gain about 15-25 yards per drive average? If our offense can consistently drive the field 50 yards before stalling, the 'bend' in the defense is what would cost us some games.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

That's definitely another way to look at that style of defense.

If your defense bends but doesn't break, the offense now is starting inside their own 25 yard line. That makes for a long field to drive for a score, whereas an aggressive defense might get the ball back for the offense around the 25-50 yard line more often than not.

Hard to win games when your field position sucks every time you get the ball. 80+ yard drives for TDs don't happen very often.

I would be curious to see how long our average drives were in the NIU game. Did our offense get 40-60 yards before punting/an INT? Or did we only gain about 15-25 yards per drive average? If our offense can consistently drive the field 50 yards before stalling, the 'bend' in the defense is what would cost us some games.

Considering the bend but don't break defense only gave up 7 points and 213 yards, I doubt that was the reason Nebraska lost.

Most offenses, ours included, aren't capable of consistently sustaining drives of more than 8 plays and more than 60 yards. The Northern Illinois offense only earned 12 1st downs in the entire game. That is about 1 per possession. The lack of punt return also aids in the poor starting field position. Against Oregon, we started at the 25 most of the time, especially in the first half, because we allowed them to score every time and they didn't punt. Bend but don't break is too simple of a term and probably doesn't do the defensive style justice. It's not as though the plan is to allow the team to get to the 20 before really defending them. If that was the case, there would be 11 FGs and 2 TDs allowed rather than the opposite.

 

[oldjar07]

I really don't think we play a bend, don't break philosophy. We play Diaco's philosophy and he refuses to change. NIU's offense is dogshit, I don't think we've improved at all from the first half of the Oregon game. I'm not a fan of blitzing a lot or having an attacking defense. We need to play a lot smarter. That means not playing 10 yards back when the screen game is killing us. That means not sitting in base 3-4 defense when they have 4 wr's on the field. Our inside linebackers need to drop back in coverage when they see that all the receivers are behind them. Our inside linebackers just stand there where they started 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage and the middle of the field is wide open in front of the safeties.

 

[redwine65]

https://www.landof10.com/penn-state...io-state-penn-state-commitment-date-sec-visit