It all just goes to show you how meaningless stats can be sometimes. I don't worry about opposing teams' ability to run the ball on us nearly as much as I worry about their ability to throw on us.
Run D has been pretty solid this year.
And yet the evidence would suggest otherwise. LSU piled up over 200 yards rushing on us, and Cincy ran all over us on their first two drives. The stats don't lie, actually, I don't think.
I think there is a perception that we are weak vs. the pass, but I think that's all it is. Only against bammer in the second half have I seen us yield to the pass. USCe did almost nothing. A lot of posters on here seemed to think LSU threw the ball all over the field, but they only got 123 yards.
Let me repeat that. 123 yards. Less than all but 4 teams in the NCAA average per game (or to put it another way, if that was LSU's average they would be 117th in the country).
I don't think our run D sucks, but I find the perception that we suck on pass D in the face of stats puzzling. I watched the same games, and other than the second half vs. bammer, I just don't see it.
Perceptions can vary I guess, but at the end of the day "style points" don't win games. I'll take stats over "style points" any day.