Phil Steele preview

[jesterondirt]

I was skimming through Phils 2019 preview and noticed he has us picked last, however he does have us as the best chance to be the surprise team in the AAC based soley off Monty's past success with an adequate quarterback starting.

Very good opinions of our defense coming into the season.

One would think that above average defense and just an average offense would be enough to go bowling this year, but we have a pretty tough conference schedule to get through.

 

[alchemy]

I saw this too. If memory serves, our unit rankings were pretty low with the exception of special teams and linebackers. I thought our defensive front and running backs were a bit underrated.

 

[HuffyCane]

I saw this too. If memory serves, our unit rankings were pretty low with the exception of special teams and linebackers. I thought our defensive front and running backs were a bit underrated.

It feels that way, but the numbers tell a different story.

And these writers just look at the numbers and who we have back.

Those numbers also don’t tell the story of the pressure on the defense because the offense could not move the ball: fatigue, cumulative fatigue over a season, the need to call high risk plays to generate turnovers in some situations, persistent adverse field position situations etc. Hopefully, there will be improvement in this intangible statistic.

And there had better be. We’ve heard for four years from these coaches about the woeful depth and the lack of length and speed of BB players, albeit in a backhanded way. “We need to get faster, taller, and get better reach”, etc.

Well we’ve got plenty of guys back there now and nearly all of them can play. If they aren’t getting it done, the blame ain’t on the field at this point.

 

[aTUfan]

We are an unknown quantity.

4-8 or 8-4?

 

[HuffyCane]

We are an unknown quantity.

4-8 or 8-4?

Schedule disfavors 8-4. 7-6 after bowl would be a really really good season at this point. Anything else is gravy