Brooks: Webb Sees Chance For Improved ‘D’

[cmgoods]

BOULDER – Derrick Webb is having a hard time keeping his optimism in check, which for a member of one of college football’s most downtrodden defenses seems pretty peculiar. When those belly laughs subside, hear him out.

Webb plays inside linebacker for Colorado, last season’s Pac-12 Conference punching bag and the target for a season’s worth of unflattering one-liners on the national scene.

In 2012, Colorado became Colora*_o – the school that inexplicably dropped its ‘D.’ The Buffaloes gave up points (46 per game, No. 120 of 120 FBS schools) and total yards (488.5 a game, No. 117) at a dizzying rate. Heads not only spun, they rolled. Second-year coach Jon Embree and his staff were let go at the conclusion of a degrading 1-11 season.

http://www.cubuffs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=208961460

 

[Dark Bohner]

That's about as big of a fluff piece as I've seen in a while. Just show me on the field.

 

[J.R. Ewing]

Asked how much better CU’s defense can be statistically, Webb offered this: “Realistically, top three – and that’s very realistic. When you think about the small differences that accumulate during a game – one turnover, a missed tackle – we probably move up to near the middle, just off a couple of simple things we have to fix. You have to fix them or be exploited in this conference. It’s going to be challenging but there’s not that far to go.”

We could improve by a staggering 10 ppg on defense, and we'd still be dead last in the PAC12.

 

[lawdogg]

That's about as big of a fluff piece as I've seen in a while. Just show me on the field.

Am I detecting some skepticism here?

 

[Darth Snow]

I hope Webb is at least half right. having a D squarely in the middle of the conference would be a GIGANTIC improvement.

 

[Lt.Col.FrankSlade]

I hope Webb is at least half right. having a D squarely in the middle of the conference would be a GIGANTIC improvement.

Improving to 7th or 8th in the league would be nice for this fall.

 

[Duff Man]

The first step is Webb actually stepping up.

 

[Duff Man]

Improving to 7th or 8th in the league would be nice for this fall.

Stop setting unrealistic goals.

 

[Lt.Col.FrankSlade]

Stop setting unrealistic goals.

I didn't proclaim it a goal or an expectation. I merely commented that it would be a nice improvement for this fall.

 

[Buffnik]

Regardless of the skepticism we fans will read the quotes, it's definitely a good thing if we're seeing belief.

That's different than confidence, though. Confidence only comes from actual success. This defense absolutely needs a couple good games to start the season to give them confidence they can build upon.

 

[Duff Man]

We only need to improve by about 25 points.

 

[Buffnik]

We only need to improve by about 25 points.

You can get a good chunk of that just by being more efficient on offense to keep the defense rested and fired up. I don't know that we can get to the point where we're considered "good" this year, but I believe that good coaching in all 3 phases will get everything looking "mediocre".

 

[Uncle Ken]

And the 2013 Ryan Miller award goes to...