Are SEC defenses overrated?

RetroVK

RetroVK

This claim is disputed
Discuss

TAMU a non-sec offense. SEC defenses are recruited and designed to defend the power run game but they sure seem to have some problems defending spread looks. South Carolina had a very hard time stopping Michigan yesterday, Georgia was confused on defense for a half, Clemson was able to move it on LSU, Ncsu was able to move it on Vanderbilt but kept turning it over, Nw was able to move it on Mississippi State ( kind of )...........what do you think?

:thinking:
 
VK - I think they are designed to stop a certain type of style. And at this, they are pretty damn good. But against different schemes - they struggle. Some of these defenses are able to handle high flying spread style offenses better because of the speed and athletic ability of the guys on their defense. I find tonight's game and the NC matchup to be really interesting - for some of the reasons you allude to. I think LOU will have reasonable success against FLA tonight because of the style of offense they play. In the NC game you have a team like ND who is almost a mirror image of Alabama. They do a lot of the same things on offense and defense. I think Notre Dame does it well enough to stay within 10 pts of the Tide, but guess we'll see on game day.
 
The sec is... All rated waaaaay too high so when they lose the dont drop off...if Iowa state beats Oklahoma is it because the big 12 sucks. If Mississippi beats Lsu, it shows the "strength of the sec"....
 
A month to scheme for the offenses is a big help. However I do agree with the idea that the term "SEC Defense" is overrated.

One can also say the pass defense rankings of the B10 are a joke. Nebraska had the #1 pass defense in the country (statistically). Michigan hadn't given up over 200yds passing all year.

The biggest difference between the SEC and the rest of the country on defense is the guys on the DL.
 
I think it is more to what VK said. A team will design their defense to stop what they will see most, ie inter-conference teams. The SEC has very fast WR and power runners. Most of the teams run a conventional style offense that focuses on the run. Therefore, the defenses usually contain large defensive lineman and fast db's.

The spread, A&M, is tougher to stop for these types of teams, because you have a larger and slower front line that has trouble containing the outside runs, stretch plays, and sweeps.
 
Watch the line play of Oregon and KSU tomorrow. You will see what I mean when Oregon runs past them over and over.
 
Ask the guys that played them next day. Bet they are sore as hell.
The difference I see, the defensive backfield scrapes to the ball carrier with intent to stop, with extreme prejudice.
The linebacking corps are also bigger and faster.

FLa and LSU adjusted well to the spread at the half. Mostly because they had to shut down their own speed by just staying in their lanes and not over pursuing. The difference there , was daring a frosh QB to beat them with his arm. He couldn't prove that until later in the year.

It is more or less how the sips and 0U were the only losses TT would have every year. The corners get up in their face and aren't beat by the first step. They HAD the speed to play that way. Not necessarily the ability to break limbs while doing it.

When the UIL allowed 7on7 summer leagues here in the Great State, the game was on. The kids play this offense all year long. The way to stop it is to shut it down at the line of scrimmage. You want to get burned having 3 guys standing looking at each other while playing zone? or punk them at the line and see if a superior athlete can stay with them?
 
ljc_267 said:
I think it is more to what VK said. A team will design their defense to stop what they will see most, ie inter-conference teams. The SEC has very fast WR and power runners. Most of the teams run a conventional style offense that focuses on the run. Therefore, the defenses usually contain large defensive lineman and fast db's.

The spread, A&M, is tougher to stop for these types of teams, because you have a larger and slower front line that has trouble containing the outside runs, stretch plays, and sweeps.
Click to expand...

It honestly depends on the game....Ive seen other conferences try and go wide and it just doesnt work

cfb is parity ridden this year.....that is what i see mostly
 
There are better players on the sec side of the ball, thats for sure, but that doesnt neccessarily translate into a solod performance.
 
The SEC in general is over rated and its really no fault of their own. It's ESPN. They build the conference up every night of the the football season beyond reason. There are usually two or three great SEC teams a year and the rest of the conference is just OK. The same can be said of many of the conferences in the NCAA IMO. Did anyone who watched the rose bowl last night doubt that Stanford can play any day of the week with anyone from the SEC?
 
Coverdatspred said:
The SEC in general is over rated and its really no fault of their own. It's ESPN. They build the conference up every night of the the football season beyond reason. There are usually two or three great SEC teams a year and the rest of the conference is just OK. The same can be said of many of the conferences in the NCAA IMO. Did anyone who watched the rose bowl last night doubt that Stanford can play any day of the week with anyone from the SEC?
Click to expand...

Take the first two possessions away from Stanford and they didn't do dog doo doo. If you don't want to take the first two possessions away, they didn't do squat after them. Either way. :-)

But I agree with you that the SEC is awesome from 1-2/3. After that they are susceptible to losing to any team in the top 30 on any given night. I'm kinda cool with it, though. The conference has earned that right. So when you beat them it means more. #ClemsonvsLSU
 
i think the point with stanford is they can smash mouth and have the D to hang in games; i have seen much worse offense from the sec in big games, most notably last years part 1 and 2 of lsu bama. that was disgusting, just like a florida v bama game would have been, thank god nd went unbeaten
 
SEC is overrated, conference play starts early, teams jump higher in polls due to early season ranked match ups. Then they get to play garbage teams late in the year while everyone else plays rivalry/conference games. #SECmyth
 
1kstate said:
SEC is overrated, conference play starts early, teams jump higher in polls due to early season ranked match ups. Then they get to play garbage teams late in the year while everyone else plays rivalry/conference games. #SECmyth
Click to expand...

Although that doesn't address the question in this thread its actually a fair point. Much easier to maintain a high ranking late in the season against FCS tune-ups.
 
TheGarfather said:
Although that doesn't address the question in this thread its actually a fair point. Much easier to maintain a high ranking late in the season against FCS tune-ups.
Click to expand...

From what I understand, that kind of scheduling is the domain of each conference. The SEC is cool with it, and Urban Meyer perfected it. Now we all do it. Not sure why other conferences don't allow it. Although I'd love to see playing FCS teams banned. Really, what's the difference in playing Kentucky, Colorado, etc compared to Western Carolina?

As to the point of the OP, I think most truths have been already discussed. The SEC is overrated as a strong top to bottom conference, mainly due to the strength of the top. If a team like Ole Miss loses to Bama, LSU, UGA, aTm, and UF, they don't get as penalized because those teams are top 15, deserved or not. But they could just as easily lose to teams ranked 30-50, they just haven't played them. Twink had a great point, and one I've held all year, and that is that there is tremendous parity this season, and probably will be going forward. I think there's several teams that could beat ND or Bama on any given day. Also, it is pretty hard to look at bowl games and translate those results to anything general. Too many factors involved off the field for me to draw any real conclusions
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

VirginiaCavs
Week 1 Picks Preview Article
Replies
7
Views
289
JROCK1966
JROCK1966
VirginiaCavs
Clemson vs. Georgia Preview Article
Replies
8
Views
166
Frank Costanza
Frank Costanza
VirginiaCavs
Week 2 Picks Preview Article
Replies
1
Views
158
VirginiaCavs
VirginiaCavs
VirginiaCavs
Washington vs. Michigan Player Props Preview Article
Replies
0
Views
196
VirginiaCavs
VirginiaCavs
VirginiaCavs
Game 4 ECF and WCF Preview Article
Replies
1
Views
163
B.A.R.
B.A.R.
Back
Top