Defense film study, a disappointing watch (kinda long)

As many here have said, the players seem to be disinterested and just go through the motions. The #18 jersey at LSU symbolizes the one player who will work his arse off and give every drop of blood, sweat, and tears for his team every single play. I hope he can turn it around, but Damone is not living up to the 18. I'm judging on effort alone. I don't expect him to be Devin White but I do expect effort. He's certainly not the only one loafing. Unless Mizzou is the most deceptive offense evar, then we have major problems seeing the ball and reading plays.

Not only are our DB's confused with coverages, etc but I believe our LB's and d-line are as well. If they aren't confused, then they have no discipline to fill their gaps. For example - I think (correct me if I'm wrong) that in the 4-3 defense, the MLB makes the call of which side is strong/weak. The strong side DE is supposed to set the edge and turn the play back inside. The weak side DE has an inside gap and the weak side OLB has the edge. What I've observed are multiple occasions where the DE and OLB are both crashing inside and literally no one is protecting the edge. It happens when we're in the base 4-3 and also when we're in nickel with only 2 LB's on field. You cannot play LB back-peddling constantly. You need to read the play and shoot a gap or step forward and take on the blocker. Taking on the blocker while you're moving backwards is never going to work.

The thing I hate the most is how our players are finishing plays. Multiple guys floating around, hoping someone else makes a play. They have no confidence and know they can't stop the other team. No fire. No one's pissed off.



1. Gaye does not set the edge, he gets driven 8 yards off the line of scrimmage. Clark runs around the outside and tackles an o-lineman while the runner continues upfield.




2. Ojulari dives inside, bites hard on the fake dive. Cox also takes an inside angle and gets caught up, then driven about 8 yards upfield.




3. Ojulari over-pursues the RB, the QB pulls the ball and no one is on the edge. Not a big gain, but you see the problem.




4. At least Cox tries to tackle the RB. Clark retreats heavily and then assumes Cox tackles him before the RB is on the ground. You can see the piss-poor effort as he pulls up before the play is over.




5. Clark retreats from the blocker and is 9 yds off the line of scrimmage before falling over the pile.




6. Nickel (I think). Only 2 LB's. Cox blitzes so Clark has middle but bites hard on the fake sweep and takes himself out the play.




7. Confusion with coverage. Clark takes a few steps to guard the TE from the opposite side. He then realizes the crossing route enters his zone but he's out of position and doesn't have the make-up speed to get there. Easy 3rd down conversion.




8. Clark again bites hard on the fake sweep and runs himself out of the play.




9. Two plays got saved into this one gif, not sure how. But it's fitting because both plays Anthony dives inside. Cox dives hard inside on the first play and then takes a ridiculous angle on the second play, both times leaving the edge totally exposed.





PS - and these are all from the 1st half