The CheckerBoard

I just don't understand how we got so bad setting the edge this year. I don't think it has anything to do with the 3-4 either. I hope this is something that is repairable in a bye week and we won't have to deal with this the entire season. At the same time though you can't be the D coordinator and not take heat for a breakdown in fundamentals. Sal Sunseri has got to coach these guys up to do that every down. Guys are running directly into blocks and not getting leverage.

I'm not sure if failure to set the edge was the fundamental problem then, but last year UT's defense had problems defending sweeps from the best/fastest SEC backs, including LSU & Florida. In '10, when Dooley said we were small, weak & slow, we had trouble stopping any run anywhere. In '11, we beefed up the middle with Hood, Couch, Curt & AJ and Austin Johnson and teams started running around us rather than running through us. This year seems a repeat of '11. The fact it's the same problem under 2 different DC's makes me wonder if we're missing something common to both years. Maybe defensive speed on the outside?