[NU Sports] The curse of the spread offense

[John A. DeGroat]

Jeff has it right, but unfortunately the people who make the key 
decisions, Bienen and Murphy don't seem to want to make the necessary 
changes from what I can gather reading all the postings here. 

Jeff Beamsley wrote:

>If this were a question of degree, I would agree with you.  But being worse
>than virtually every other defense in the country tends to wash away these
>issues of degree and nuance.
>
>There are a lot of teams that run some version of the spread.  They all had
>better defenses.
>
>There are a number of schools with high academic standards for their
>football players.  They all had better defenses.
>
>There were teams that went through coaching changes.  They all had better
>defenses.
>
>There are a lot of teams with no winning tradition.  They all had better
>defenses.
>
>There are a lot of teams that didn't go to a bowl game.  They all had better
>defenses.
>
>There are a lot of teams who lost more games than NU.  They all had better
>defenses.
>
>There were other teams with young players starting.  They all had better
>defenses.
>
>There were other teams who struggled with injuries on defense.  They all had
>better defenses.
>
>Seeing UCLA gash the worst defense in the country during the second quarter
>sort of brought the whole thing home.  
>
>Consistency is something RW promised next year.  Consistently having the
>worst defense in the country tends to simplify the whole discussion of what
>the problem is. 
>
>Jeff
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On
>Behalf Of Jim Leonard
>Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2006 11:48 AM
>To: nwu-sports at romaine.tssi.com
>Subject: [NU Sports] The curse of the spread offense
>
>All, 
>
>Looking back to the 95/96 teams, I remember having a very solid defense.
>However, it is probably fair to say that the guys on those defenses were
>about the same caliber of recruits that have played for the 04/05 defenses. 
>
>So, assuming the athletic talent is about the same, why has the defense
>gotten worse? My theory is that the amazing gains on offense have been at
>the expense of the defense. Consider:
>
>1) The 95/96 teams had a much more tradition 'ball control' offense. Schnur
>would often lead 6+ minute drives that kept the defense off the field and
>well rested. The spread offense does not rest the current defense nearly as
>much. 
>
>2) In practice, the defense 95/96 defense would face the 95/96 offense. Our
>current defense faces the spread most of the time in practice and therefore
>struggles against other offenses. Especially in situations where the is 1-2
>Tight Ends on the line and the team runs between the tackles. 
>
>I'm not saying NU should abandon the spread offense, but I do think that its
>success can (in part) explain why the defense has gotten worse. 
>
>Regards,
>Jim
>
>
>
>
>	
>		
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