Rutgers defensive coordinator Robb Smith met with the media over a WebEx video on Tuesday afternoon.
Have a look at a quick rundown of what he had to say about the defense from last year and going forward.
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The Scarlet Knights went 3-6 last season with an all-Big Ten schedule. Much of that had to do with an improved passing game on offense, but the defense hung tough in games as well. Asked if there’s a specific area he expects a big jump from in 2021, Smith talked about every position.
“I'm really expecting all the groups to make a jump. That's the way you get better collectively on defense,” Smith said. “Excited to have Fran (Brown) back with us and I think those guys are working really, really hard with Jay (Butler). I think we're gonna play better football in the back end and that will be important for us. Very excited about the work that they put in. Linebacker, we've got (Tyshon) Fogg coming back as well so I think we can make another jump there. Up front, it's guys like Julius Turner and Mike Tverdov. We're expecting a jump at all three levels and that's the only way that you can get better as a group.”
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The whole year of 2020 was rough (and it continues to be this year), but in terms of football, Rutgers had a new staff and didn’t get a chance to have a spring practice and a true summer, and a complete, normal training camp. On top of that, the season was delayed and shorter. Back for a second year with the players, Smith feels that’ll make everything better as he now knows what the team can do in games and hopefully the Scarlet Knights are able to have a more normal lead-up to the season.
“It's exciting. I'm looking forward to get going with them in spring football and starting the process. Last year, we were kind of piecing it all together on the run like everybody else was. The second go-around, I think we have a pretty good sense of what we are and what we aspire to defensively. We know what we put on film last year on defense. There was some good stuff, and obviously some things that we got to improve upon, and that's what we'll start chipping away at and find a way to become a better defense each and every day.”
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As the campaign progressed last fall, Max Melton began starting at cornerback with Avery Young and Tre Avery as Rutgers started using more Nickel defense than just base 4-3. Smith talked about it just getting the best players on the field.
“We're gonna get 11 best guys we can on the football field. We got to put our guys in the best position possible whether they are a linebacker, a defensive back, or a defensive lineman. Number one we've got to have capable bodies and number two, they've got to be able to match up well against the offenses we're playing in terms of what they have in the game. As the year went on, we were able to do that more. That's something that we would like to explore.”
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Stopping the run in football is always a defense’s top priority. Rutgers gave up 206.1 yards per game on the ground in 2020, and it wore down as the season went on, giving up 269.3 yards rushing in the last three games, which was 11th worst in the country. Improving in that area, especially in the Big Ten, is vital.
“When we talk about our defensive philosophy, one of the top things we talk about is stopping the run and, we certainly got to get better at that. There's no one magic thing that we've had to do to correct that. It's all position groups working together understanding how we have to get better in certain areas and stopping the run is certainly one of them. We'll take a lot of pride and time and work on that in the spring.”
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TKR asked Smith about where he feels the defense excelled at, though we believe he heard wrong and talked about where Rutgers can improve other than run defense, and that includes stopping chunk plays from happening and getting turnovers.
“We got to do a much better job of eliminating big plays and we got to continue to be more consistent in creating takeaways. That's our defensible philosophy. Every year at this time we get a hard look at whether it's technique, personnel and how it all factors into those areas that we need to improve. We'll have a better plan from our standpoint as coaches and put our guys in a better position to be successful in all those areas. But we could be more consistent in the takeaway department. That would be one area that I think that can really help move this program forward. The ball is the program. That's everything for us and our job on defense is to get the ball back to our offense.”
He did, however, acknowledge the job the player did fighting through all the COVID protocals and playing nine Big Ten games in nine weeks.
“I was impressed with the group as a whole. I think it was nine- straight Big Ten games, and the guys showed up and worked really hard each week. I was just really impressed with the group and their mindset and I think that's that's a positive. That's what excites me for this year. Hopefully we can have more of a normal season. They battled.”
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisNalwasky.
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