I really don't understand why people are not talking more about how good this defense has been so far...
Texas State - which is a pretty good offense- drove the field only once, late in the game. This is a team that hung 50 points on Southern Miss. Yeah- Southern Miss isn't very good, but Texas State put TWO TOUCHDOWNS more on the board than either Mississippi State OR Nebraska did against USM. The fact is, Texas State is a legitimately good D1 offense.
USF - Not an elite performance by the defense but pretty solid. The USF offense is prettty awful and we let them move the ball some, but USF was only 1 of 13 on third downs- which is pretty stellar when we needed them to be.
BC - BC hung 41 points on Howard in the first quarter and 62 in the half. The beatdown was so bad, they shortened the second half to TEN MINUTE QUARTERS. Yes, it's an FCS team- but lots of D1 teams play lots of FCS teams and this was a massive beatdown and BC rushed for 347 yards. They are not a GOOD D1 offense by any stretch, but they are average and we completely dominated them. That's what elite defenses do.
If this defense continues to play at this level, all we need is a QB that can make reads and run the offense and Dalvin Cook and we are good enough to be a playoff team this year. I am somewhat concerned about the offense, as well (for different reasons than most), but I have total confidence that Jimbo will get this offense going, at least to the level needed to control the ball and put some points on the board- and let this defense do it's thing.
I'm not completely sold on this defense being elite yet, but the signs are very positive and I think NoleNation is nearly ignoring them so far because we are too busy worrying about a sub-par offense.
Texas State - which is a pretty good offense- drove the field only once, late in the game. This is a team that hung 50 points on Southern Miss. Yeah- Southern Miss isn't very good, but Texas State put TWO TOUCHDOWNS more on the board than either Mississippi State OR Nebraska did against USM. The fact is, Texas State is a legitimately good D1 offense.
USF - Not an elite performance by the defense but pretty solid. The USF offense is prettty awful and we let them move the ball some, but USF was only 1 of 13 on third downs- which is pretty stellar when we needed them to be.
BC - BC hung 41 points on Howard in the first quarter and 62 in the half. The beatdown was so bad, they shortened the second half to TEN MINUTE QUARTERS. Yes, it's an FCS team- but lots of D1 teams play lots of FCS teams and this was a massive beatdown and BC rushed for 347 yards. They are not a GOOD D1 offense by any stretch, but they are average and we completely dominated them. That's what elite defenses do.
If this defense continues to play at this level, all we need is a QB that can make reads and run the offense and Dalvin Cook and we are good enough to be a playoff team this year. I am somewhat concerned about the offense, as well (for different reasons than most), but I have total confidence that Jimbo will get this offense going, at least to the level needed to control the ball and put some points on the board- and let this defense do it's thing.
I'm not completely sold on this defense being elite yet, but the signs are very positive and I think NoleNation is nearly ignoring them so far because we are too busy worrying about a sub-par offense.
