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Post by midwestsader05 on Oct 30, 2023 10:37:03 GMT -5
Since there’s been several mentions of this re. “How did we get here on Defense”, I figured this made sense. I’ve laid it out in detail in other threads. As a reminder, we started FOUR 5th year Seniors in the secondary last year - John Smith, Walter Reynolds, Terrell Prince and Cristos Argys. Couple that with three 5th year studs in the front 6 - Liam Anderson, Dan Kuz, and Jake Reichwein - this was always going to be a year of transition for the Defense as many of us tried to set expectations before the season. Remember, DeMorat had his worst stat line all last year in our game minus the TD passes (both completion % and total yards way under his season avg). It was Sneed and Louthbridge that killed us when forced to run a 3-2 front with the Rams 4 WR wide stack sets.
Recruiting misses happen in every program. They are part of the business when you have 85 kids on any roster receiving some sort of scholarship money. AT MOST, there have been 2 DBs and 2 DL that have not lived up to expectations either from underperformance and/or an inability to stay healthy. The true freshman led secondary is much more a function of injuries to key upperclassman starters. Preseason - Jon Wood / In Season - Jarmo, Haskins and last week no Curtis HL. Those 4 would have likely been the starters last week w/ Spence as the 5th DB if healthy. Injuries have been way more a killer than 2 players that were expected to have a bigger role at this point in their careers.
There is promise in this young defense and there will come a time in the next 2-3 years where they keep us in games when the Offense is not close to a Top 5 group in the country.
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Post by alum on Oct 30, 2023 10:47:51 GMT -5
Thanks, Midwest.
Thoughts on Pesansky? How were his mechancics? What about his vision of the field?
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Post by timholycross on Oct 30, 2023 11:11:38 GMT -5
Is it general knowledge at this point it was Matt's shoulder that kept him out? Wonder if it was hurting him even before the LC game; seemed like his throws were not particularly good. However, that might have had a lot to do with the defense LC was playing, which seemed committed to shutting down HC's passing attack (while at the same time allowing HC's ground game to be overwhelmingly successful).
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Post by hcpride on Oct 30, 2023 11:20:05 GMT -5
Is it general knowledge at this point it was Matt's shoulder that kept him out? Wonder if it was hurting him even before the LC game; seemed like his throws were not particularly good. However, that might have had a lot to do with the defense LC was playing, which seemed committed to shutting down HC's passing attack (while at the same time allowing HC's ground game to be overwhelmingly successful). One of our fellow cross porters wrote after the game that it was a bit curious we didn’t have success thru the air (7-21-85 yards) v Lafayette considering their secondary. |
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Post by lou on Oct 30, 2023 11:28:11 GMT -5
Is it general knowledge at this point it was Matt's shoulder that kept him out? Wonder if it was hurting him even before the LC game; seemed like his throws were not particularly good. However, that might have had a lot to do with the defense LC was playing, which seemed committed to shutting down HC's passing attack (while at the same time allowing HC's ground game to be overwhelmingly successful). One of our fellow cross porters wrote after the game that it was a bit curious we didn’t have success thru the air (7-21-85 yards) v Lafayette considering their secondary. It was really a miserable day, rain & wind. Clearly didn't bother LC. But could very well have been a factor for us. |
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Post by newadvisor on Oct 30, 2023 22:30:48 GMT -5
IMHO, we should leave Joe P in this week giving Matt minimum of 2 weeks to get healthy. Bucknells QB had all time high stats vs Lehigh secondary. Thus forcing Army to prepare for 2 completely different QB's...
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Post by hcnj on Oct 30, 2023 23:17:13 GMT -5
Since there’s been several mentions of this re. “How did we get here on Defense”, I figured this made sense. I’ve laid it out in detail in other threads. As a reminder, we started FOUR 5th year Seniors in the secondary last year - John Smith, Walter Reynolds, Terrell Prince and Cristos Argys. Couple that with three 5th year studs in the front 6 - Liam Anderson, Dan Kuz, and Jake Reichwein - this was always going to be a year of transition for the Defense as many of us tried to set expectations before the season. Remember, DeMorat had his worst stat line all last year in our game minus the TD passes (both completion % and total yards way under his season avg). It was Sneed and Louthbridge that killed us when forced to run a 3-2 front with the Rams 4 WR wide stack sets. Recruiting misses happen in every program. They are part of the business when you have 85 kids on any roster receiving some sort of scholarship money. AT MOST, there have been 2 DBs and 2 DL that have not lived up to expectations either from underperformance and/or an inability to stay healthy. The true freshman led secondary is much more a function of injuries to key upperclassman starters. Preseason - Jon Wood / In Season - Jarmo, Haskins and last week no Curtis HL. Those 4 would have likely been the starters last week w/ Spence as the 5th DB if healthy. Injuries have been way more a killer than 2 players that were expected to have a bigger role at this point in their careers. There is promise in this young defense and there will come a time in the next 2-3 years where they keep us in games when the Offense is not close to a Top 5 group in the country. I'll expand the term freshmen to younger players and say that I thought by now that 3 of 4 younger DL players would have been further along with the PT they've had. DB, I'm ok with the season one has had, another I thought would be further along with the opportunity. The CB position I had hoped 1-2 guys would have emerged as contributors. The non-Dobbs LB positions has been another spot where I thought one or two younger players would have gotten more PT given our performance. The defense was better two yrs ago than last year IMO, and as you point out better last year than this year even before injuries. Our DL has been mediocre fr-sr. At LB we hung in there really well last year post-Dobbs. I thought we'd have been in much better shape now with Jake and those guys back plus a great LB recruit and maybe a second good one and a soph. |
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Post by sader1970 on Oct 31, 2023 5:53:25 GMT -5
Saw the Fordham game live and again on replay. Our defense is obviously not as good as last season. Too many big plays for long gains and/or TDs. But Fordham does continue to have an excellent offense post-DeMorat with their who QB is outstanding and young. With the exception of our pick 6, he was sensational.
I have decided that I will make no comment on neither the play of the defense as a whole or individuals and leave it to our proven successful coaching staff to deal with any real or perceived holes in recruiting or talent.
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Post by rgs318 on Oct 31, 2023 6:11:11 GMT -5
I saw some strong individual plays by the HC defenders. This should be a strong week of lessons to be learned by the defnse to go even farther in a positive direction. Montes was good for the Rams, but - IMHO - Pesansky was just as good for the Crusaders. In going back over the replay of the game (nice to see those two rebroadcasts on SNY), I saw only three passes that were clunkers - most were right on target and very catchable. He also for most of the game had time to look over the field and pick his receiver. He could put up some good numbers this Saturday against Lehigh.
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Post by hcpride on Oct 31, 2023 6:52:11 GMT -5
I saw some strong individual plays by the HC defenders. This should be a strong week of lessons to be learned by the defnse to go even farther in a positive direction. Montes was good for the Rams, but - IMHO - Pesansky was just as good for the Crusaders. In going back over the replay of the game (nice to see those two rebroadcasts on SNY), I saw only three passes that were clunkers - most were right on target and very catchable. He also for most of the game had time to look over the field and pick his receiver. He could put up some good numbers this Saturday against Lehigh. Thanks to a crossports post I was able to watch the replay also. I was at the game Saturday but TV shows some details/replays. Joe P. has quite an arm (accurate and strong), knows the playbook, and has the full confidence of the players and coaches. I understand he is no Sluka when it comes to speed/dodging (who is?) but am hoping he has at least average FCS QB escapability/footspeed. Not much opportunity to display that v Fordham. That'll be absolutely key against stronger opponents this year (Army, if he plays) and in the future. |
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Post by rgs318 on Oct 31, 2023 7:12:01 GMT -5
hcpride, I agree with your observations. IMO the only way to fully develop those skills is in actual game situations. We will see in future games (perhaps at Lehigh) just how much Joe has learned and will ddevelop. That is an area where Matt can be of great help to Joe P. - both by example and through his advice.
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Post by sader1970 on Oct 31, 2023 7:43:02 GMT -5
Let’s not forget that Joe is not a first year player and knows the playbook inside and out and has been on the sidelines for years doing all those hand signals and gyrations and been practicing against our defense.
I had no doubt he could handle the position and had an apparently justifiable reputation for a very good arm, probably better than Matt’s which if you recall was suspect early in his career.
For perspective, recall that Jake Dobbs said his injury that sidelined him was a hidden blessing as he was able to see things he couldn’t during the game and great in-game insights from the coaches? So, Joe has had 3 years of that.
While only on field play tells you what he can actually do, his head was likely there from the first snap.
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Post by hcpride on Oct 31, 2023 8:25:49 GMT -5
/\ I’m sure he has been diligently working on his skills (including agility/footspeed) the past 3 years so perhaps that is not a concern with Joe.
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Post by Ignutz on Oct 31, 2023 9:39:01 GMT -5
If Sluka is the least bit questionable for Saturday, I think we should take the conservative approach and give him an extra week to mend - whatever the issue might be. I am fully-confident that Joe P. can handle the situation for another week, and maybe beyond, but I'd feel better knowing that we're at Michie on 11/11 with Sluka being completely ready. Especially since Fordham will be dropping an "L" on the Leopards that same afternoon.
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