I'm just waiting for the NC State game, I said from Day 1 it will take a 1 1/2 years to flip the defense and that is around the NC State game. If we get to FSU and VT game and we're still clueless, we have to look into something different.
I can get on board with this.
Also, after the Maryland game last year everybody was saying the same thing. By the end of the year, it was the defense that was winning us games, like USF where we won 6-3. Honestly, I'm concerned with the way D'Onofrio begins seasons at this point, and I hope that a weak defensive showing in the first game of the season will not become the norm from here on out, but I am confident the defense will improve dramatically over the course of the year. The biggest improvement should come against K-State this week, although the NC State game is where I too expect us to gel as a unit.
This team, once again, is loaded with young talent. Key word is young, these guys are going to make a lot of mistakes, and these mistakes make D'Onofrio look bad. It doesn't help when guys like McGee and Telemaque ***** up as well, and while I have a lot of hope for the younger guys, I hold out little for these two. Hopefully the freshmen begin pushing them to play better or snatch the position for themselves.
I'm still concerned about the defensive line. I believe they too will improve, but it is definitely our weakest position as a team. However, despite all of this I believe we will end up with an alright defense at the end of the year, with massive potential to kill **** next year. If some of these young D-linemen we have begin to flash potential, watch out.
While the BC game highlighted many problems with the defense, it also, IMO, showed that we are a better team than most of the nation thinks. If the defense plays just a little bit better (which will happen with a young defense like this), we could find ourselves back to ACC Championship relevance this year. No more finishing 4th place in the Coastal.
