09-01-2013, 01:52 PM
The Arizona game last year definitely set off alarm bells about our ability to defend the spread.
But we showed significant improvement after that game (which I think has been attributed to Mason's decision to have our DBs give opposing WRs less cushion? and the fact that Matt Scott had the game of his life against us?). We gave up 14 points to Oregon, and 17 points in our first game against UCLA. Those were season lows for both the Ducks and the Bruins.
UCLA torched us in the first quarter of the rematch, but we made adjustments and gave up a total of 10 points in the final three quarters. I'm not concerned about the yardage totals against the Ducks and Bruins. Our defense was designed to prevent big plays, and opposing offenses usually struggled when they got into the red zone against us. Bend-but-don't-break was pretty effective last season.
But we showed significant improvement after that game (which I think has been attributed to Mason's decision to have our DBs give opposing WRs less cushion? and the fact that Matt Scott had the game of his life against us?). We gave up 14 points to Oregon, and 17 points in our first game against UCLA. Those were season lows for both the Ducks and the Bruins.
UCLA torched us in the first quarter of the rematch, but we made adjustments and gave up a total of 10 points in the final three quarters. I'm not concerned about the yardage totals against the Ducks and Bruins. Our defense was designed to prevent big plays, and opposing offenses usually struggled when they got into the red zone against us. Bend-but-don't-break was pretty effective last season.