Invisible linebackers taking horrible angles.

Sorry to piss in the Wheaties, but was I the only guy screaming at my TV tonight about how absolutely HORRIBLE our linebackers are? Can someone explain how John Houston is even on the field, let alone wearing the C?

How many times did he run himself into traffic and then get caught out of position?

How many times did our linebackers over-run a play, turning a 7 yard run into a 15 yard run?

Third and long -- can SOMEONE, ANYONE please spy the QB and not let him break contain? Oh look, there goes Houston up into a gap that's already covered, finding himself once again out of position as Huntley rans wild for another first down?

If it wasn't for our safety and d-line play, it would have been a different outcome tonight.

 

It’s been happening since Fresno game. Overall the defense played well especially in the red zone.. just enjoy the win brudah!

 

Maybe we can change Bru's mind - he could be a very good OLBer.

 

Man, I thought Gaoteote was going to be the second coming of Dick Butkus, but boy was I wrong....talk about disappointing!!! Wole's emergence as a pass rushing terror could have taken some of the sting out of that disappointment had Clancy and Co. not chased him off to Illinois. When did winning start making me sad?

 

I have been saying this from game 1. Man these LBs look lost most the time. EA clearly wants to do his own thing and JH does not appear comfortable in the middle. If they can shore this up this front 7 can be dangerous.

 

Our best LB tonight was Hufanga

 

Makes you wonder -- would we be better if we moved Hufanga up from safety to a rover-back, and put someone else in at safety? We certainly wouldn't be any worse than we are now.

Our linebackers are killing us.

 

My thoughts exactly. Have him play the way Sua used to play. The kid can terrorize an opponent if the don’t know where he will line up....

 

Sua was pretty much the whole defense in his last season. Great memories of him just playing where he wanted to, kid had no position, just a defensive terror.

 

Hufanga essentially plays rover, or LB when we move to that package. Our base is 2 backers, but almost half the time we bring Hufanga up to the box as part of our scheme. That's what we did last night. Conventional wisdom is you don't want your safety being your leading tackler. But Hufanga is that as part of our defensive package.

Clancy needed to go as DC last year, but FYI, his system uses the safety as a hybrid LB. Hufanga is the the best we've had in this role under CP, IMHO.

Our base backers, Houston and IE, do over pursue at the edge. But there were a lot of holding penalties against Utah on the perimeter for a reason. We figured out more at the point of attack as the game went on.

 

Thank you for validating my own thoughts and opinions voiced in another thread. The guy somehow finds a way to miss the play in front of him....it's almost as though he avoids it. Truly strange. Lot's of strength I'm sure, but doesn't seem to know how to use it, seems to lack a killer instinct and attitude. Maybe I'm wrong.

It has to be the coaching. Someone has to see what we see and do something about it.

 

Hufanga (sp) played like a beast tonight.

 

EA has explosiveness but doesn't bring dude down. He did help cause that fumble. Dude plays with violence but not the greatest technique. It's coaching and discipline. I think he has AA potential.

Houston played decently. He had a couple bone-jarring hits. He mixed it up. He's a bit slow and out of position at times.

 

Hufanga needs to build on this performance and not disappear at times. One of his tackles for loss reminded me of Polamalu...came out of nowhere and put the runner down immediately.

 

Even the knucklehead announcers were talking about EA not tackling and his bad routes

 

Perhaps the coaches need to stop focusing on simply raw talent and bring in kids who have better football instincts.

Our LB’s were not real good yesterday.

 

Who is EA? Is that Gaoteote by another name?

Agree that Gaoteote appears to have Rey-Rey capabilities but suffers from that "big-hit" mentality which sometimes leads to undisciplined play. Too bad USC does not have the same level of LB coaching they had in Ken Norton Jr. during the PC years where guys like Rey, Lofa Tatupu, Brian Cushing, David Rivers, Clay Matthews Jr. and Kaluku Maiva were developed.

 

Obviously, you must be watching the game sober. Take a shot of Cabo Wabo to ease your nerves. Otherwise, you're going to go completely insane. In addition, it's not just our LB's Palo is tackling his hot ass. Last week against BYU he made contact with the RB at the line of scrimmage but did make the tackle until 9 yards later down field. Almost had to get a new remote.

 

My hope and PRAYER is the we are able to sign Justin Flowe and Solo finally comes back next year 100% healthy. Adding those two monsters to our linebacking core would be a HUGE infusion of talent.

 

Nor was Hufanga perfect. He flubbed on that play at the goal line when Huntley threw to the TE. Hufanga bit on the run, instead of maintaining cover of that part of the field. But as has been talked about, the Elephant in the room is the DT's (actually Rector) and the Linebackers who completely disappear on some plays. Houston looks like a Rag doll and is afraid to hit anyone. It's absurd that he's the MLB. Gaoteote is better suited for that role. I could go on and one.