Anchor Drop, October 12, 2022; The defense needs consistency

Good morning.

Optional Musical Accompaniment

Clark Lea held his weekly press conference yesterday, and one of the themes was consistency on defense. That jibes with my thoughts on it as well: occasionally, some guys on that side of the ball will show they’re capable of big plays, like De’Rickey Wright’s two interceptions on Saturday; but at other times, they’re getting burned.

The thing is, I actually kind of like Nick Howell’s strategy with this defense. He doesn’t have the personnel to stop most SEC offenses on a down-to-down basis, so really the best thing to do is to try to get a turnover. Those just haven’t been frequent enough to make the defense look even competent most of the time. They shut down Hawaii, and put the clamps down on Northern Illinois in the second half; against the three Power 5 teams they’ve played, though, they’ve given up 45, 55, and 52 points.

Full remarks here:

New depth chart released as well; the only change appears to be removing Rocko Griffin from it.

New episode of the Dore Report is out too.

Sports on TV

All times Central.

• 3:35 PM: MLB: Phillies at Braves, Game 2 (FOX)
• 6:00 PM: NHL: Bruins at Capitals (TNT)
• 6:30 PM: College football: Louisiana at Marshall (ESPN2)
• 7:37 PM: MLB: Padres at Dodgers, Game 2 (FS1)
• 8:30 PM: NHL: Blackhawks at Avalanche (TNT)
• 10:00 PM: PGA Tour: ZOZO Championship, First Round (Golf Channel)

Scoreboard

MLB: Phillies 7, Braves 6 (Phillies lead, 1-0) ... Astros 8, Mariners 7 (Astros lead, 1-0) ... Yankees 4, Guardians 1 (Yankees lead, 1-0) ... Dodgers 5, Padres 3 (Dodgers lead, 1-0.)

NHL: Rangers 3, Lightning 1 ... Golden Knights 4, Kings 3.