I haven't seen a lot of talk about the overall defense yesterday. Yes, Kameron Jackson has received quite a few accolades for his 3 Int performance, but no one seems to be talking about the whole package.
The thing that I noticed most was the growth of the team. For the first time since Southern Utah, the pass rush was not only evident, but was making an opposing QB uncomfortable. Also Cal appeared to play man coverage far more often than normal, and the UCLA OC didn't appear to have a response.
But the biggest surprise is that the team keeps getting younger on defense.
At the start of the season 6 seniors were regular starters
DL - Tipoti,Payne
LB - Hurrell, Mullins
DB - Hill, Anthony
Due to injury and other players playing well, only Payne and Hill were getting significant playing time by the end of the UCLA game.
Tipoti - injured, so Cal switched to a 2-4-5 defense.
Hurrell - lost starting spot to RS Fsh Jalen Jefferson
Mullins - lost starting spot to So Nick Forbes
Anthony - injured, replaced by So Kameron Jackson
And Jr Alex Logan has lost his starting spot to So Avery Sebestain.
This is a young and talented defense. As of now, we most likely return 8 starters next season and will have experienced players filling the holes left by graduations.
We're still going to see the team make mistakes, but we should see more teams struggle to score more than 20 against us as the season wears on. (Oregon will still probably put 40+ on the board though.)
The thing that I noticed most was the growth of the team. For the first time since Southern Utah, the pass rush was not only evident, but was making an opposing QB uncomfortable. Also Cal appeared to play man coverage far more often than normal, and the UCLA OC didn't appear to have a response.
But the biggest surprise is that the team keeps getting younger on defense.
At the start of the season 6 seniors were regular starters
DL - Tipoti,Payne
LB - Hurrell, Mullins
DB - Hill, Anthony
Due to injury and other players playing well, only Payne and Hill were getting significant playing time by the end of the UCLA game.
Tipoti - injured, so Cal switched to a 2-4-5 defense.
Hurrell - lost starting spot to RS Fsh Jalen Jefferson
Mullins - lost starting spot to So Nick Forbes
Anthony - injured, replaced by So Kameron Jackson
And Jr Alex Logan has lost his starting spot to So Avery Sebestain.
This is a young and talented defense. As of now, we most likely return 8 starters next season and will have experienced players filling the holes left by graduations.
We're still going to see the team make mistakes, but we should see more teams struggle to score more than 20 against us as the season wears on. (Oregon will still probably put 40+ on the board though.)