Not trying to be a buzz kill, but more a topic for future expectations. I do think the defense has progressed over the season and to me started answering some of the questions some may have had about Coach Odom. Obviously this defense is not a roster filled with stars and some injuries and player availability issues made the job more difficult.
From watching Saturday night and I know that the second half defense was not the same as the first half defense, even though it seemed even in the first half we allowed some runs to turn into gash plays as well, so my questions are not just about the second half track meet. It seems that both Saturday and in numerous other games we do well on first and second down defensive plays and often give up big plays on third down. Further it seems that once the opponent is in the open field, we don’t usually run many down, more we seem to get run away from.
Missed tackles are part of the issue, but my real question is about speed. I think others have commented on McAdoo and noticed his ability to run down the opponent, but it seems by and large we are nearly as likely to see our defense run down someone as we are to see our offense being caught from behind or at least being pushed. I know speed is a big part of it and effort is also a contributor, and while I think our kids play hard, so I am not intending to say they are giving up on plays, but I hate to think we are that behind on speed.