Why is the Defense so Bad?

Georgia Tech's triple option is tough to defend... but allowing 477 rushing yards?  Sheesh.

We have been blown out in three games this season -- against FSU, at GT, and against UNC.  Last week, we lost to Duke for three reasons:  1) Turnovers.  2) Penalties.  3) Bad defense.

Heading into this season, with Mike London and Jim Reid at the controls, I was pretty certain that if the Hoos had a team strength, it would be the defense.  Despite strong efforts against Richmond, USC, and Miami, that clearly has not been the case --- if anything, the defense has been the damning weakness of the team.

Cumulative National Rankings
Stat -- National Rank (out of 120) -- Actual Value
Rushing Defense -- #111 -- 210 yards/game allowed
Pass Defense -- #23 -- 187 yards/game allowed
Total Defense -- #80 -- 397 yards/game allowed
Scoring Defense -- #68 -- 27.00 points/game allowed
Sacks -- tied at #81 -- 1.67 sacks/game
Tackles For Loss -- #46 -- 6.22 TFLs/game

So you can see, it's pretty bad.  Especially the rush defense.  But why is the defense so bad?

I have a few theories.

Theory 1: Lack of Talent
We have one sure-fire future NFL player on the defense -- Ras-I Dowling.  He hasn't played much at all, and never at 100% this season.  Chase Minnifield looks like he might be on an NFL trajectory, but beyond he and Ras-I, do any of our other defensive players jump out at you?  It's no secret that Al Groh's recruiting tapered off badly as he entered lame duck status here at UVA, and it's also no secret that Mike London's recruiting focus has been on the defensive side of the ball so far.  Out of 22 current commitments for the 2011 class, 15 project to the defense.  That reads to me like a coaching staff desperately trying to restock a unit that has fallen behind the curve in terms of pure talent.  You can see it on the field.  We struggle to generate a pass rush, and we struggle in pursuit.  These are two areas where pure talent tends to bubble to the surface, and where a lack of talent can be exposed.

Theory 2: A Dearth of Discipline
Of the 20 players who have seen regular action on defense, only 8 had played extended reps prior to this season.  8 of the 20 are working through some sort of position change.  And the entire unit is working through the change in scheme from the 3-4 to the 4-3.  That's a lot of potential for break-downs.  Instead of fine tuning the players and teaching them how to make proper reads and reinforcing proper tackling technique, the coaches have had to be focused on installing their basic system and philosophies.  As a result, the basic fundamentals have likely fallen behind the curve.

Theory 3: Playing Fast
The new emphasis on playing fast included the publicly-stated caveat "it's okay to make mistakes, as long as you're playing fast."  Well, I think it's pretty clear that the defense has been faster... and also that it has made a lot more mistakes.  I assume (read: hope) that as the team gains experience in the system and gets more comfortable with the "play fast" philosophy, those mistakes will begin to decrease in number.

Theory 4: Not Enough Numbers
Bluntly, I don't think we have enough players on the defensive side of the ball.  Or a least, we don't have enough game-ready players on D.  As a result, when a starter makes a mistake that he shouldn't make, he's forced to play through it, instead of facing the consequence of leaving the game and receiving in-game coaching on the sidelines.  The lack of reserves has hurt the defense as a whole.

Theory 5: Mediocre Play at the Mike
The key to an effective 4-3 defense is always going to be having a stud middle linebacker.  Entering the season, we had high hopes in Steve Greer, but he has visibly struggled with the scheme change after he missed spring ball rehabbing an injury.  Aaron Taliaferro has been a nice story, but this season marks the first extended game action of his career.  He's green.  And frankly, I think he's only a marginal talent.  Mike London is recruiting his ass off, looking to find that stud MLB.  For now, we just have to hope that Greer has the light flicker on.

Theory 6: No Free Safeties
Rodney McLeod and Corey Mosley are both good players who have shown flashes of brilliance.  But both are better close to the line of scrimmage, playing in the box, playing more of a strong safety role.  We sorely lack the rangy centerfielder type of free safety.

Theory 7: Need More Turnovers
A defense that purposefully gets smaller in an effort to get faster is obviously relying on one thing: creating turnovers.  In fact, forcing turnovers is usually the entire premise of a run & hit style of defense.  When the turnovers have come, our defense has been good, and we've won games.  Look at the win against Miami.  Other than in that game, we haven't generated enough turnovers.  With Dowling not on the field, with no centerfielder-type free safeties, and with almost the entire linebacking corps learning on the fly, we just haven't had enough people in the right spots to make these game-changing plays.  Only Chase Minnifield has been able to produce a steady supply of turnovers, but it's not enough.  He needs help.


These are just theories.  But I bet I'm hitting on some truth in one or more of them.  Add it up, and our defense just isn't very good right now.

But reinforcements are coming.

Give 'em four years, and I bet we'll be back to the level of defense we have come to expect in the orange and blue.

Saturday's game against Maryland could be the beginning of the turnaround...

GO HOOS!