One of my favorite sites Footballscoop.com is reporting that Wyoming defensive coordinator Marty English will be moved to linebackers coach while Dave Christensen searches for a new defensive coordinator. I was planning on running this piece questioning the effectiveness of English’s defenses this week but decided to hold off in the name of holiday spirit. Well this news from Football Scoop changes the game so here are my thoughts on the Cowboy defense under English.
Wyoming had a very solid season this year going 8-5 even though most Mountain West experts pegged the Pokes to be conference bottom feeders. This was for good reason though as Wyoming was unproven at quarterback and no one could have predicted Brett Smith would play as well as he did this year. The offense has gradually gotten better under Christensen increasing the points per game from 18 in 2009 to 19 in 2010 and jumping up to 26 this season. The defense on the other hand is stuck in neutral allowing 27 points a game in 2009, 30 points in 2010 and 27 points again this season. Looking at the points per game splits versus winning FBS teams the trend of our ineffective defense is even more alarming:
Points Per Game vs FBS Winning Teams
2009: 6 winning teams, 33 points allowed per game
2010: 7 winning teams 33 points allowed per game
2011: 7 winning teams 35 points allowed per game
Allowing over 30 points a game puts the offense in a very tight spot forcing the Cowboys to win versus winning teams in a shootout. Not surprisingly Wyoming’s record in these games the past 3 years is just 4 and 16. The main reason for this poor win loss record against winning teams is the inability to stop the run. Here are the numbers under English:
Rushing Defense: National Rank, Yards Per Game
2009: 90th, 171 yards
2010: 106th, 205 yards
2011: 115th, 232 yards
The rushing defense has become worse season by season to the tune of 30 yards in the wrong direction per season. I’m not suggesting that the Pokes will allow 260 yards per game in 2012 if English is kept. Yet, I don’t see a path to significant improvement with three of our best players in the front seven (Hendricks, Knapton and Biezuns) having played their last games in brown and gold. If as a Wyoming fan you are happy with those numbers be my guest but we all know this program is capable of so much more. If I were Christensen I would go in a different direction on the defensive side of the ball.
The bend but don’t break scheme used by English is broken. It did not allow many big plays but it did allow too many sustained drives that kept the defense on the field for too long. The main reason for our success this year was turnovers. The Cowboys did a great job with a +15 turn over margin during the regular season but we all know turnovers are a fickle thing. You can’t expect to force that many turnovers on a consistent basis. The only reason English was retained from Joe Glenn’s staff was to keep some kind of continuity and three years down the road the defense is in much worse shape than it was when Christensen took over. Christensen should bring in his own coordinator who shares his defensive philosophy. Until this happens the Cowboys will never reach the goals they wish to achieve.
Tags: Dave Christensen, Football, Marty English, new defensive coordinator, Wyoming
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