claver2010 {l Wrote}:siriuz, my issue w the cushion was throughout the game. Hackenberg reminded of the ND game from 2009 where Clausen just threw to the wide side of the field incessantly as our corners played 10 yards off
I have a major issue with using the cushion the way it was used in the bowl game also. I also think this was the worst defensive performance we've seen from this group and staff all year (as an aside I also think the offensive game plan and overall game plan were wrong at least for enough of the game for it to make a difference and once again the D made a big stop in the first PSU possession of the fourth quarter only to have a signature Day too comfortable with Hilliman run up the middle three and out to have to get right back out there).
However, I find it frustrating that certain posters can't even keep their extraordinarily over simple argument straight. For the sake of some oversimplification of my own, Don Brown employed the cushion against Penn State and it went very badly. The cushion is the antithesis of the "Don Brown defense" that is traditionally railed against by certain lesser posters as "making every quarterback look like Matt Ryan senior year."
All but the dumbest posters recognize that athleticism and speed deficiencies in the defensive back field has become an Boston College football institution since really the entire time I've watched this team. There are a few obvious notable exceptions, which I can count with one hand and none are currently on the roster.
Spaz dealt with the defensive backfield deficiencies by taking steps to keep the play in front of his DBs, most notably he employed a cushion between DB and WR at the line of scrimmage and accepted a certain amount of essentially uncontested short yardage passes. It worked pretty well overall if 1) the defense excelled against the run; and 2) the front four were able to generate a modicum of pass rush absent blitz. The cushion relied in large part on the inaccuracy and stupidity of most college QBs. A somewhat accurate and more importantly, smart QB, would pick it apart and slowly but steadily score at will (notables: Chris Turner, Riley Skinner). Spaz's defenses were also reliably poor against mobile QBs.
Brown, mostly deals with the defensive backfield deficiencies by limiting the QB's time to make a decision through a lot of blitzing, and holding the receivers on the line with bump and run. It works pretty well overall if 1) the blitz is effective; 2) the CBs can effectively delay the WRs for some amount of time; and 3) the DBs can occasionally handle isolation. It does not work at all if the pressure on the QB isn't effective.
I don't know if Brown turtled and called a Spaz game (yes, this is lazy) because the early blitzes weren't reaching Hackenberg and players like Godwin who had done nothing all year disengaged and took off in the time it took for a lineman to get to Hackenberg, or if this was simply a game plan decision that evolved once we took a multi-score lead. I don't know if he stuck with it because Williams got hurt, Johnson came into the game hurt and with Jones booted we don't even have our usual stellar defensive backfield in place. Regardless, it was clearly the wrong plan.
Especially after Dieffenbach got hurt, I would have like to see how the defense known for "making ever quarter back look like Matt Ryan senior year" worked instead of the defense known for making Riley Skinner an object of TRE's affection.