I just thought I would break down how much we REALLY are upgrading at defensive coordinator.

1. Auburn had FEWER TOTAL yards against New Mexico State than Georgia State's 3rd string running back who entered the game with 6 carries for 31 yards on the year had against us alone AND FEWER TOTAL yards against New Mexico State than Georgia State had passing yards against us.

2. Alabama and Georgia surrendered more RUSHING yards to Auburn than New Mexico State surrendered in total yards. Auburn also had more passing yards against Mississippi State than total yards against New Mexico State, and LSU also allowed more total yards than NMSU.

3. Beyond Georgia State, 5 of our other opponents had more rushing yards against us than Auburn had total yards against NMSU.

4. Beyond Georgia State, 6 of our other opponents had more passing yards against us than Auburn had total yards against NMSU.

5. Beyond Auburn, New Mexico State had a three game stretch against Hawaii, Florida International and Sam Houston State that saw them combine to not only allow fewer rushing yards than we did against Air Force AND Boise State, but only 16 more yards than we allowed to San Jose State.

6. Our Defense only had 3 games allowing opponents to reach fewer than 350 yards. In contrast, New Mexico State did that in 6 games.

7. 24 was the fewest points we allowed all season long. In contrast, NMSU held their opponent under 24 NINE times with a 10th time allowing them to get to 24.

8. Surprisingly, our 3rd down defense was only at 42 percent as it seemed like it was worse. Maybe some possessions with opponents running the clock as well as weak offenses we got to play against made it look like we weren't as bad as we really were at 3rd down defense. New Mexico State was at 37 percent, but the gap between us and them would probably be bigger if you took out their games against Liberty which inflated their percentage.

He can't be any worse.

NMSU had/has a ball control, run-first, use a lot of play clock offense. Time of possession was highly-valued.

We'll have to see how the new DC jives with a hyper-fast play clock management philosophy. Fingers crossed that it works.

We've had a defense ranked worse than 100 3 of the last 4 years. I'm optimistic this will be an improvement.

There are some transitive properties inherent in your comparisons, but the point is well taken. Even a moderate improvement next year will pay dividends in the W/L columns. Defense used to be an exciting aspect of our game and had the potential to flip the momentum in our favor. That rarely happened this year. We were just hanging on best we can and praying we simply score more efficiently than the other guys. Hopefully that defense excitement comes back.

1TruAggie wrote: ↑

January 12th, 2024, 8:33 am

NMSU had/has a ball control, run-first, use a lot of play clock offense. Time of possession was highly-valued.

We'll have to see how the new DC jives with a hyper-fast play clock management philosophy. Fingers crossed that it works.

Alot of missed tackles and blown coverages had nothing to do with the type of offense we ran.

I like that we are getting back to the roots of what it takes to be successful at Utah State. High energy and young coaches.

I think that Cauthen was dealt a bad hand. But he was really just a plug. I’m happy for Banda and the success he’s had in Cleveland. But we had a lot of transfer outs and timing of Banda leaving didn’t give us the options we may have hoped for.

LFG!!!!

Imakeitrain wrote: ↑

January 12th, 2024, 11:03 am

I like that we are getting back to the roots of what it takes to be successful at Utah State. High energy and young coaches.

I think that Cauthen was dealt a bad hand. But he was really just a plug. I’m happy for Banda and the success he’s had in Cleveland. But we had a lot of transfer outs and timing of Banda leaving didn’t give us the options we may have hoped for.

LFG!!!!

Cauthen definitely didn't come into a great situation, but when the defense does not improve and arguably gets worse as the season goes on there is a problem. I'm glad he is gone and I'm excited to see what the new DC and staff can do with this group of players.

All of the excuses that were used last year are gone. This DC signed way before spring ball. We didn’t lose a ton of players to the portal. We increased our LBs and lbs. I actually think that our defense might be better than our offense next season. Only because I think teams figured out how to stop our offense the last few games of the season.

The only direction to go is up. That being said, having a great defense at USU is really tough given our offensive approach. It puts a ton of pressure on the D. Hope the new DC is up for the challenge.

Slim80 wrote: ↑

January 12th, 2024, 11:13 am

Imakeitrain wrote: ↑

January 12th, 2024, 11:03 am

I like that we are getting back to the roots of what it takes to be successful at Utah State. High energy and young coaches.

I think that Cauthen was dealt a bad hand. But he was really just a plug. I’m happy for Banda and the success he’s had in Cleveland. But we had a lot of transfer outs and timing of Banda leaving didn’t give us the options we may have hoped for.

LFG!!!!

Cauthen definitely didn't come into a great situation, but when the defense does not improve and arguably gets worse as the season goes on there is a problem. I'm glad he is gone and I'm excited to see what the new DC and staff can do with this group of players.

I don’t disagree.

My issue has always been how personally people go after coaches. But as a business decision I completely agree.

gomretat wrote: ↑

January 12th, 2024, 12:17 pm

The only direction to go is up. That being said, having a great defense at USU is really tough given our offensive approach. It puts a ton of pressure on the D. Hope the new DC is up for the challenge.

I think having a good defense is independent of having a good offense. (mostly - a crappy O means tired D...)
I think having good defensive stats is NOT independent of having a good offense. Our fast scoring offense does allow the other team more time of possession, more attempts to score, etc. But a few more stops on D means our offensive stats should go up...