Of the many things over the past few seasons that I’ve been impressed with by Stanford football, perhaps the number one item is how well it’s defended Oregon’s fast paced offense. That’s probably why I’m so taken with this piece on how Derek Mason plans to transfer what worked for him as Stanford’s defensive coordinator to Vanderbilt to deal with the rise of the HUNH in the SEC.
There are so many aspects to the program he’s altering that it’s going to be a fascinating learning experience to see how Vandy’s defense evolves over the coming years. And if he’s successful, you can damned well be sure there will be other SEC defenses adopting what works.
Definitely worth a read.
Get The Picture 
Lots on interesting stuff here…I did not read a lot about flying towels.
But there is one thing that caught my eye: “The up-tempo offense offers teams more opportunities to put points on the board and fans in the stands.”
Does anybody in the SEC (other than, of course, Vandy) actually worry about attendance having anything to do with anything other than winning?
The SEC is the land of if you win they will come and they won’t care what offense you are using.
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I think CDM is a very good coach, and after 3 years of Franklin and his psychology degree, it’s interesting to listen to a coach who doesn’t seem to have one ounce of BS in his body, for better and worse. I also have no doubt that there will be growing pains this year as our existing guys — who weren’t recruited for this specific defense — adjust. But this was going to be a rebuilding year for us regardless of the coach, and the new staff just adds a new wrinkle. While I generally favor a 9-game conf. schedule and at least one solid non-conference opponent, I think our 2014 slate (Temple, UMass, Charleston Southern, Old Dominion) is suitable for us this year — plus no Alabama, LSU, Auburn or A&M!
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For what it’s worth I think you hit a homer with this hire. He has shown that he can take the smart guys and stop the whacky Ducks O. After that the SEC should be a piece of cake.
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FWIW I think Vandy is going to be better this season than most are predicting.
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Season almost over. Will have a life again. No more 80 hour week, 24/7. Is Derek related to Hutson. Amazing how fans are behind what has been happening in football. HS are already there re up-tempo…they been there. So for personnel, would think these kids have seen this from a development and learning curve. Coaches like Pruitt out of Hoover understand the game. Do not think D Mason has cornered it all by any means. Just go back and watch FSU’s D against Auburn. They were there from the opening whistle, unfortunately their ego-tripped Heisman QB had not got off the bus. Remember texting some friends that FSU would win because of their D. Thanks to coaches like a Pruitt, a Mason, and a Rush Probst at CCHS for moving the game forward. Damn fun to watch. But why did it take so many to even understand the dimensions of the field and schemes? Guess once they got their degrees they hung them on the wall and stopped thinking and working.
Congrats to Bubba Waston. And keep rolling Diamond Dawgs. There is a coaching staff in place. Thanks AD for that group. Now lets see if CMR can get his butt in gear again!
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“Damn fun to watch. But why did it take so many to even understand the dimensions of the field and schemes?”
Because Jimbo was unclear on the concept of towels?
http://thebiglead.com/2014/01/10/video-auburn-was-stealing-florida-states-offensive-play-calls-according-to-kelvin-benjamin/
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The linked article is a very good discussion about how very different HUNH offenses are from previous offensive thinking and the impact that difference has on the game of football. The question is: Do we want football to morph into this–a nonstop game more like rugby? College football will become more like arena football. Is that what we want? I’m not as sure as some that it is an improvement. It will be interesting to see what the studies show about increase/no increase in injuries when using the HUNH. I’m betting on the former if only because logically the increase in number of plays increases the number of opportunities for injury.
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That was a good read. Thanks.
~~~
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Agreed, enlightening read; thanks for sharing, Senator.
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