‘Press’ stymies defense
Coach says solution simple
BOCA RATON — In consecutive weeks, Miami’s Mark Walton and Kansas State’s Winston Dimel have tattooed their footprints in Florida Atlantic’s end zone, each scoring four touchdowns as FAU lost two straight games.
The parade to the end zone pointed to an inability to stop the run, the Hurricanes able to roll up 279 rushing yards in week two; the Wildcats, 336 in week three.
Kansas State’s output was the most allowed by FAU since coach Charlie Partridge’s debut in 2014, when Nebraska totaled 498 yards on the ground. Entering this weekend’s game against Ball State, the Owls’ rushing defense ranks 119th (out of128), surrendering 252.7 yards per game.
Defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni said fixing the run defense is straightforward: players just need to be in gaps and make tackles.
“I know that sounds simple, that’s all it is,” Bellantoni said. “I think, at times, that gets them in trouble where they’re getting their eyes [up] and looking for the running back instead of being where they’re supposed to be, because they’re pressing too hard to make plays.”
The Owls never led
against either Miami or Kansas State, something that Bellantoni said contributed to the defense trying too hard to make a play.
“It’s like trying, in baseball, to hit a five-run-homer when you’re down by six or something,” Bellantoni said. “I think they need to relax and play every play and let the game happen instead of just trying to get the sideline going by making a big hit or going to get the ball when they should just be hitting the B-gap.”
The Owls finished last season ranked 66th in the country in rushing defense (168.4 yards), but lost tackles Trevon Coley and Brandin Bryant to graduation. Tackle Ray Ellis is out for the season with a knee injury.
Defensive tackles Steven Leggett and Shalom Ogbonda have started all three games for FAU, while Josh Kendall and Denzel Whitfield have also rotated inside.
Defensive line coach Terrance Jamison said there are times where the linemen are in the correct gap, they just need to hold their position better.
“At times, you can require, you can want a little more strain to maintain it,”
Jamison said. “Sometimes, it’s not there. Then it’s just our job to figure out where we missed.”
A lack of gap integrity has a trickle-down effect across the rest of the defense. If a defensive lineman is not in the correct place, the linebacker behind him must account for that mistake. If the linebacker cannot rectify the error, the defensive back behind him is left cleaning up the mistake up front.
Safety Jalen Young leads FAU with 25 tackles, including 18 solo stops.
“Obviously, we want to cover up for their mistakes, butwe don’t want it to be a habit where we have to cover up for mistakes because that creates a lot of indecision,” Bellantoni said. “That’s when you don’t play fast.”
Ball State has been able to run the ball through its first three games, averaging 219.3 yards on the ground against Georgia State, Indiana and Eastern Kentucky. James Gilbert leads the Cardinals with 281rushing yards and three touchdowns.