For me, it's pressure on the QB, specifically, sacks. The Cards tallied 27 in '19, tied for 70th nationally. The national leader was Pitt, surprisingly, with 51 sacks. There was a time, not so long ago, Louisville could have made a case for being Pass Rusher U. Marcus Smith and Lorenzo Mauldin most recently, but Peanut, Dumervil, Dewayne White, and Michael Josiah before them. We had guys who could get after the QB. That's been missing for a few seasons now. I suppose Greenard could have been the guy had he not transferred. Perhaps incoming freshman Yaya Diaby will produce. I can hear Moth now: "Sack by Yaya!"
There are many, but what is one thing you'd like to see improved in 2020?
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Red Zone defense Satterfield mentioned early in the year he didn’t care how yard they gave up as long as they forced FG’s or created a turnover.
51 red zone 38 TD to only 5 FG’s. They didn’t get many stops.
As the defense improves there will be less visits but 51 is a lot.
It can be a misleading stat because FG’s are in the calculation. Clemson is really good in the Red Zone but they are only ranked 16th. They gave up 11 FG’s to 10 td’s. Notre Dame and Kansas St are dead last in the percentage but it is because they gave up FG.
Everyone is going to give up yards but forcing FG’s wins games especially with a good offense.
51 red zone 38 TD to only 5 FG’s. They didn’t get many stops.
As the defense improves there will be less visits but 51 is a lot.
It can be a misleading stat because FG’s are in the calculation. Clemson is really good in the Red Zone but they are only ranked 16th. They gave up 11 FG’s to 10 td’s. Notre Dame and Kansas St are dead last in the percentage but it is because they gave up FG.
Everyone is going to give up yards but forcing FG’s wins games especially with a good offense.
Ability to tackle in space, one on one and creating turnovers. Can that count as one?
In fact he does both place kicking and punting. Averaged 44 yds on his punts and hit 128 of 130 PATs. Plus he was 28 of 35 on FGs and hit a 55 yarder at a kicking camp. Highly regarded by the “experts” and he will start school here in January. Sounds like he is just what we need.
GO CARDS - BEAT EVERYBODY!!! God Bless America!!!
Endurance.
When coach Scott has time to prepare and we had rest, we did great. We were the best 3rd quarter team in the nation, which means he could adjust well at the half.
But we were the worst 4th quarter team. We were always gassed and hanging on for life late in games. BC, Wake, and UVA were way too close for comfort late in the game. Even Cuse made a late push.
If we don’t improve in being able to finish out games (depth is where it counts), you possibly could flip a few of those games the other way.
If we just are able to finish off teams late, we will have a comfortable 6-8 win season. Maybe better.
Comes down to 3 things
1. Depth. I mean he’s bringing in bodies. Hopefully they just develop more in the offseason.
2. Strength and endurance training. Get bigger and faster while getting in better shape is how it’s going to start.
3. More ball control on offense. We score quick or go 3 and out. We have to be able to find some clock control on offense to give the defense a rest. Hawkins is a big play back and you don’t want to keep risking Micale taking hits.
When coach Scott has time to prepare and we had rest, we did great. We were the best 3rd quarter team in the nation, which means he could adjust well at the half.
But we were the worst 4th quarter team. We were always gassed and hanging on for life late in games. BC, Wake, and UVA were way too close for comfort late in the game. Even Cuse made a late push.
If we don’t improve in being able to finish out games (depth is where it counts), you possibly could flip a few of those games the other way.
If we just are able to finish off teams late, we will have a comfortable 6-8 win season. Maybe better.
Comes down to 3 things
1. Depth. I mean he’s bringing in bodies. Hopefully they just develop more in the offseason.
2. Strength and endurance training. Get bigger and faster while getting in better shape is how it’s going to start.
3. More ball control on offense. We score quick or go 3 and out. We have to be able to find some clock control on offense to give the defense a rest. Hawkins is a big play back and you don’t want to keep risking Micale taking hits.
Speaking of Greenard, he's all class. I wish he would have remained a Cardinal, but stuff happens. Good luck to him in the NFL.
Scoring defense. The offense under Satterfield will put points on the board and usually win the t.o.p. battle. Will be all for naught if the defense can't force more FG's instead of TD's and more 3-and-outs. Once that starts happening, we will likely become the biggest threat to Clemson in the ACC.
The number one thing that I want to see in 2020 is us recruiting at a higher level. It’s okay for the majority of our recruits to be 3-star players, but if we truly want to contend for conference and national championships, we will have to sign a few top 300 recruits in each class.
And to be clear, I don’t want our coaches to attempt to sign players with high ratings just to achieve a better recruiting ranking. What I want is to see this coaching staff capitalize on the success they had on the field in 2019 to allow them to target, get visits from, and sign the higher ranked recruits that they like.
And to be clear, I don’t want our coaches to attempt to sign players with high ratings just to achieve a better recruiting ranking. What I want is to see this coaching staff capitalize on the success they had on the field in 2019 to allow them to target, get visits from, and sign the higher ranked recruits that they like.
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Obviously it is defense in general but run defense in particular. We were ranked #111 allowing 212 YPG. Believe it or not that is about 75 YPG better than 2018. A similar improvement next year would move us into 30s but it is very difficult to make that much improvement 2 years in a row.
You can cite some other more specific problems (e.g., scoring defense, RZ defense, sack/TFL rate, etc.) but I think most defensive problems emanate from poor run defense.
Peace
You can cite some other more specific problems (e.g., scoring defense, RZ defense, sack/TFL rate, etc.) but I think most defensive problems emanate from poor run defense.
Peace
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Hopefully WildCard some of our recruits will be able to enhance our ability to stop the run more regularly. But we won’t know until next season. Good post young man.
GO CARDS - BEAT EVERYBODY!!! God Bless America!!!
