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Let's resolve something this year, as fans.
No hype, no labels, no "bulletin board material", no crowing about how amped up these guys are going to be and all of the other arm-waving crap we've been doing as fans for the past two seasons.
Let's focus on results -- results that come one game at a time.
Let's not get overblown about a team just because they hang a ton of points on the Poor Sisters of the Blind. Let's not go using season stats to rate a defense that played against half of the MAC.
Instead, let's qualitatively look at what we have and what we need. Nine starters and two guys returning from injury makes for one hell of a core group. The fact that they're all coming off of a pretty good defense from last year is a cause for optimism, but we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves.
Pass rush from the line needs to improve. VG was a monster coming from the end, and his presence needs to be replaced and added to. The DT spots need to get more push, as stated. We need to see better containment of mobile QBs (Juice) from the front seven so that the back four don't get pulled out of their coverage. Generally, we need to see better pass coverage.
Yes, this defense has the potential to be one of the greatest we've ever seen here, but there's a lot of work to be done between now and the game in L.A., never mind next January.
Part of that work means not giving up 38 points in the biggest game of the year; part of that work means getting Illinois off of the damned field in the final eight minutes.
The 2002 defense was brilliant because they stepped up and stopped you when they need to do it. They had great stats, but the story wasn't the stats -- it was the STOPS. Right up until the final stop against Miami, they showed up and made it happen on big downs.
That comes from more than talent. It comes from attitude.
We can talk about how "nasty" this defense is if they go into L.A. and shut out USC. That's "nasty". Everything else is message board talk.
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-Mark
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