My Questions for 2010 FSU Football

Defensive End: Early formations, with six- and seven-man lines, used the end as a containment player, whose job was first to prevent an “end run” around his position, then secondarily to force plays inside.

When most teams adopted a five-man line, two different styles of end play developed: “crashing” ends, who rushed into the backfield to disrupt plays, and “stand-up” or “waiting” ends, who played the more traditional containment style. Some teams would use both styles of end play, depending on game situations.

Traditionally, defensive ends are in a three-point stance, with their free hand cocked back ready to “punch” the offensive lineman, or in a “two-point stance” like a linebacker so they can keep containment. Some defensive ends play the position due to their size; they close down their gap so the running back has no hole to run through. Other ends play the position due to their speed and agility; they are used to rush the quarterback. These ends can time the snap of the ball in order to get a jump on the rush.

Most of the time it is the job of the defensive end to keep outside or contain, which means that no one should get to their outside; they must keep everything to the inside. The defensive ends are fast for players of their size, often the fastest and smallest players on the defensive line. They must be able to shed blockers to get to the ball. Defensive ends are also often used to cover the outside area of the line of scrimmage, to tackle ball carriers running to the far right or left side, and to defend against screen passes. Since the creation of zone blitz defenses in the late 1990s, defensive ends have sometimes been used in pass coverages, dropping back to cover routes run close to the line of scrimmage.

Defensive Tackle: Depending on a team’s individual defensive scheme, a defensive tackle may be called upon to fill several different roles. These roles may include merely holding the point of attack by refusing to be moved, or penetrating a certain gap between offensive linemen to break up a play in the opponent’s backfield. If a defensive tackle reads a pass play, his primary responsibility is to pursue the quarterback, or simply knock the pass down at the line if it’s within arm’s reach. Other responsibilities of the defensive tackle may be to pursue the screen pass or drop into coverage in a zone blitz scheme.

FSU’s QB rating against was 61.8, good for 5th in the nation (4 INTs, 0 TDs).

For comparison, Bama’s rating was 56.02 against, good for 3rd in the nation (1 INT, 0 TDs).

NCST 1 80 Owen Spencer 80 yd pass from Russell Wilson
GT 1 73 Demaryius Thomas 73 yd pass from Josh Nesbitt
at CU 2 48 Dye, X 43 yd pass from Parker, K
at CU 5 80 Spiller, C 58 yd pass from Parker, K

All came on 1st down or on 2nd and 5

Also happened in 2008 with Wisconsin.

But I think that was a bonus to having a high powered O. You start making the opposing team take more risks and play differently than they should. Just, thank-you-baby-Jesus, that Ponder was able to keep up with everyone else for the most part. What is our record last year if we score 6 less points a game? (rhetorical question)

And I have to think it’s going to pay off huge on the field.

The FSU offense was insanely effective last year, and just about everybody is coming back. Hopefully Ponder will stick around for more than 8 games. With the improvements in strength/conditioning/diet, and Jimbo Fisher taking control of the team, I think it’s entirely likely that the offense will take a few more steps forward.

In the event that they do…they’re going to be downright scary. If our defense had even played at a competent level, a C- level, we’d have won against Miami, Georgia Tech, USF, Boston College…maybe others I’m forgetting.

who else SHOULD give us a scare?