We spoke with linebackers coach Peter Sirmon today about what's been happening on defense, what happened vs. Stanford and what needs to happen at Arizona State.
What are some of the keys for this game that need to be cleaned up from last week?
PS: “We have to continue to win one-on-one match-ups. Every week we play, we’re going to get something that we haven’t seen from an offense, which is consistent, it happens every week. The offense puts new wrinkles in and we have to do a better job of defeating one-on-one blocks, when the ball is in the air, we have to knock the ball down. We don’t vary our techniques on who we play. You have to play technique on what the formation is and what the defense tells you to do. We just need to execute better.”
Where does the linebacker unit specifically need to improve?
PS: “We need to get better at some decision-making. We were involved in, unfortunately, we lost an edge as a contain rusher, we had a pass interference penalty. You never know when those things are going to impact and become pivotal plays on scoring drives. We need to do a better job. I love the way we’re playing in terms of our effort and our toughness. Between Su’a (Cravens) and Cameron (Smith), they had 25 tackles between the two of them. So the production’s there. I feel really good about the guys energy level, I think we played nine, 10 guys on defense on Saturday. I’m expecting that kind of energy level from them. I just need, I told them on Monday that I need better decision making.”
Are you guys being aggressive enough?
PS: “We play the defense as the defense is called. And the guys will play aggressive on blocks. When we play man, you saw Su’a up there having some pretty good match-ups with 18. We just have to continue to play the technique and the defense that’s called.”
Does it need to be called more aggressively?
PS: “We need to play the defense as it’s called.”
Cravens has clearly stood out. What is he comprehending that maybe the others are not?
PS: “He’s a very talented player. I think he stood out last year as well. He’s involved in tackles for losses, he’s involved in sacks. He does a good job using his hands, he’s a good blitzer, you saw the sack that he had on Saturday. He’s a good player. We try to feature the guys that can help us.”
But is it drawn up to only feature him? Among the linebackers, he's made the majority of plays in the backfield. Aren't there other players that can make those plays?
PS: “Yeah sure, we send ‘em and we have to make the tackle. We had some opportunities where we missed the tackle on a sack. And we don’t design up every tackle for loss for Su’a. When the plays come to you, when you have an opportunity with a basketball in your hand and you can make a layup, you have to make your layup.”
What are some of the keys for this game that need to be cleaned up from last week?
PS: “We have to continue to win one-on-one match-ups. Every week we play, we’re going to get something that we haven’t seen from an offense, which is consistent, it happens every week. The offense puts new wrinkles in and we have to do a better job of defeating one-on-one blocks, when the ball is in the air, we have to knock the ball down. We don’t vary our techniques on who we play. You have to play technique on what the formation is and what the defense tells you to do. We just need to execute better.”
Where does the linebacker unit specifically need to improve?
PS: “We need to get better at some decision-making. We were involved in, unfortunately, we lost an edge as a contain rusher, we had a pass interference penalty. You never know when those things are going to impact and become pivotal plays on scoring drives. We need to do a better job. I love the way we’re playing in terms of our effort and our toughness. Between Su’a (Cravens) and Cameron (Smith), they had 25 tackles between the two of them. So the production’s there. I feel really good about the guys energy level, I think we played nine, 10 guys on defense on Saturday. I’m expecting that kind of energy level from them. I just need, I told them on Monday that I need better decision making.”
Are you guys being aggressive enough?
PS: “We play the defense as the defense is called. And the guys will play aggressive on blocks. When we play man, you saw Su’a up there having some pretty good match-ups with 18. We just have to continue to play the technique and the defense that’s called.”
Does it need to be called more aggressively?
PS: “We need to play the defense as it’s called.”
Cravens has clearly stood out. What is he comprehending that maybe the others are not?
PS: “He’s a very talented player. I think he stood out last year as well. He’s involved in tackles for losses, he’s involved in sacks. He does a good job using his hands, he’s a good blitzer, you saw the sack that he had on Saturday. He’s a good player. We try to feature the guys that can help us.”
But is it drawn up to only feature him? Among the linebackers, he's made the majority of plays in the backfield. Aren't there other players that can make those plays?
PS: “Yeah sure, we send ‘em and we have to make the tackle. We had some opportunities where we missed the tackle on a sack. And we don’t design up every tackle for loss for Su’a. When the plays come to you, when you have an opportunity with a basketball in your hand and you can make a layup, you have to make your layup.”
