Post-training camp grades: Defense

Part 3 of 3: Defense

Offense wins games, but defense wins championships, yada yada yada...

Look at USU football in the Andersen/Wells era though. The offense was very good from the start back in 2009 with the likes of Robert Turbin, Diondre Borel, and Stanley Morrison racking up stellar numbers and putting up points. 2010 wasn't as great with the injuries to pretty much everyone who mattered. But in 2011, the offense was back at it.

As good as the offense was though, USU only racked up a combined record of 15-22 from 2009-11. Put in an elite defense, and the 2012 Aggies win 11 games and a WAC championship. No other evidence is really needed. So let's get at the grades after camp.

Football: Highs, Lows and I Don't Knows - 10/11

Talking any more about that game last Friday is something I don't think I'm alone in dreading. But part of moving forward is getting better on where we were previously lacking, and hopefully keeping up what we've been great at.

So let's just get into it, and please excuse the inordinate amount of Lows this week, but really they're kind of relevant.

THE HIGHS

Linebackers - Kyler Fackrell was the WAC's Defensive Player of the Week, which speaks for itself, as if his 10 tackles and interception weren't enough. Zach Vigil added 10 tackles too. Jake Doughty, Bojay Filimoeatu and Tavaris McMillian all were solid too, reaffirming what we already knew about this unit.

Safeties - McKade Brady finally got a fair crack at BYU this year and finished with a game-high 14 tackles. Brian Suite racked up nine stops of his own, again, reaffirming what we already knew about this unit.

THE LOWS

The defensive line - I doubt I'm alone in hoping that the USU defensive line takes last Friday personal. The only place to go from that game is up. Aside from not really getting any push all game, USU didn't register a single tackle for loss on Friday. And that was against a BYU offensive line that has been pounded by injuries this year.

Dropped passes - Too damn many of them... I hate to single a guy out, but Chuck Jacobs has got to get the routine down of catching THEN running. He's going to cause tons of problems for opposing teams when he has the ball in the open field, but it seems like he's trying to look upfield before he's secured the ball. Rough game for everyone though, not just Jacobs.

Matt Wells - Maybe I was overly ambitious in the whole idea of Wells bringing the best of both worlds of what Dave Baldwin did well, while patching Baldwin's holes. Wells has still been good at keeping most games out of reach from other teams. Every team in the country is going to struggle scoring at Wisconsin or at BYU like the Aggies did, but we shouldn't have struggled THAT bad. Hopefully this is just part of the learning curve for him taking over a whole offense for the first time this year.

Second half turnovers - This shit has got to stop... Another turnover on the first possession of the third quarter, and a really costly interception on the Cam Webb pass. That kind of stuff will take USU right out of almost any tough game. Some serious refocusing needs to be done there.

THE I DON'T KNOWS

Chuckie under pressure - It's sometimes easy to forget that only now does Keeton have a whole season's worth of games under his belt after missing half of last year. Still, like at Wisconsin, Keeton was all over the place with a lot of throws against BYU. Obviously it's not easy out there, especially against such tough defenses who are good at pressuring quarterbacks. Still, the team needs a few more of these passes under pressure to be completions rather than balls that the receivers can barely adjust to, if at all. Still young though, and he should continue to improve.

The running game - I mean... What happened? I expected BYU to hold USU to maybe only 80 yards or so on the ground. Held to 41 though?? Something like that kind of has to fall on the whole offense, and really is maybe the most head-scratching thing about Matt Wells' calling. Was there really no hole in that defense that we could have exploited for a few more yards on the ground?

So close... Again...

It’s almost like every Utah State fan knew deep down that if the Aggies were going to win that game, they couldn’t let it come down to kicking. None of the kickers on the roster have shown any consistency, or really even capability to make kicks from anywhere outside of a PAT, and even that is never a guarantee.

As amazing as this team’s defense has been so far this season, and as good as the offense has managed to be despite playing back-to-back games against teams who could very well end up playing each other in the Rose Bowl, we’re one solid special teams performance away from being 3-0

Before I go on though, let’s get one thing clear: DO NOT be the kind of asshole that goes and harasses Josh Thompson at wherever he lives, or dishes out hate on Facebook or Twitter. Yeah, he hasn't been very good at kicker, we’re all well aware of that by now, and to talk about that among company online or whatever is totally ok. He can’t be loving life right now as is, and having some overly-reactive stranger who goes out of their way to tell him he sucks won’t do him or the team any good. Plus, it just kinda makes you look like an asshat if you’re that guy. Just respect the guy’s space. He's still a member of this team, and who knows, maybe he'll come through with some kind of epic heroics later this season (a winning field goal at BYU would suffice Josh). 

Preseason Previews and Vibes, Part 3: Defense

Part 3 of 4: Defense

Offense wins games, but defense wins championships. Even with all the crappy rule adjustments in this era of football that make it practically illegal to hit quarterbacks or play pass defense, you still need a great defensive unit to go places.

Luckily for USU, it looks like we finally have exactly that! We knew it was only a matter of time with Gary Andersen at the helm, and the last two years have shown flashes of being great, but I think this year is where they finally take the next step. With the tenacity shown by past defenses under Andersen, coupled now with what looks to be a great complimentary philosophy of creating turnovers brought on by Dave Aranda, this defense should be the best USU has seen in a long time!

So let's break it down...

DEFENSIVE LINE
How this unit performs is about as essential as anything to this team in my book. Connor Williams is ready for prime time after two quality years of backing up Quinn Garner and Levi Koskan. And on the opposite side of Williams is Al Lapuaho, sliding over from the tackle spot to get rough on the outside. His attitude is the kind that seemed to get into opposing players' heads last year, and even if he lost his cool a few times too, his mean streak will be great to have out there. B.J. Larsen and Jordan Nielsen should get plenty of run there too.

The tackle position is a lot less clear cut. Travis Seefeldt opened camp as the projected starter, with Havea Lasike and Elvis Kamana-Matagi right up there with him. A duo of Snow College guys should be in the mix too with Sini Tauauve'a and AJ Pataialii, both were somewhat of unexpected additions to the team going into camp, but bring great size to the table.

10 crucial Aggies: No. 8 - Brian Suite

Much like Kellen Bartlett, Brian Suite looked to be a major player for the Aggies last season until injuries derailed things. Back in 2010, Suite was arguably THE prize of that year's recruiting class, and after a redshirt year, looked primed for a big role in 2011. But injury hit him after drawing rave reviews from coaches throughout spring practices more than a year ago.

With Walter McClenton and Alfred Bowden gone from the defensive backfield though, now it's crucial that Suite can stay healthy. And if the praise he has earned in practices during his first two seasons here weren't enough to convince people of what he can bring to the table, he's already shown off tons of talent in the first week of practices.

With excellent height and solid athleticism to go along with what appear to be excellent instincts and a general nose for the ball, Suite looks to have "superstar" written all over him. His health has been the concern all along, but if he manages to keep on the field, he'll play a major role in making sure opposing offenses aren't out there for long.

With McKade Brady moving to free safety, one has to assume the coaching staff views Suite as more than capable of Brady's shoes as a run-stuffer. If there was any knock on Brady last season, it's that he sometimes got mixed up in reading run vs. pass, enough so to let defenders get behind him. Brady was tremendous against the run, and likely will still be that from the other safety spot. If he's able to focus primarily on not allowing the deep ball rather than having to adjust on the fly, he and Suite should make for a dominant combo at the safety positions.

Obviously it sounds like I've talked up Brady to be crucial too, and he is. But Suite still has something to prove and all the capability to do so. The better Suite performs, the more freedom Brady has to play back and ideally make a handful of major plays from the defensive backfield. So it's definitely a team effort, but Suite looks primed for a major breakout season.