I think a refresher course on Tenuta is in order

by BPH, San Diego, Thursday, April 23, 2009, 13:52 (6243 days ago) @ Kevin

A Jon Tenuta defense is designed to do two things:
1. Take away the run
2. Don't let the QB or OL get comfortable

He has become known for the latter, and many people seem to forget the former. But Tenuta defenses have a clear track record at stopping the run.

Here are the numbers since he was the DC at Ohio State in 2000.

2000 (OSU) - 91.6 ypg, 2.6 ypa (9th in the country)
2001 (UNC) - 124.8, 3.5 (31st)
2002 (GT) - 134.6, 3.6 (42nd)
2003 (GT) - 100.5, 2.9 (12th)
2004 (GT) - 104.6, 3.1 (13th)
2005 (GT) - 103.9, 3.1 (13th)
2006 (GT) - 104.8, 3.3 (20th)
2007 (GT) - 114.5, 3.2 (20th)
2008 (ND) - 134.2, 4.1 (45th)

The ND figure last year was a 60-ypg improvement over 2007, when we had one the most productive DL in program history. Before that, he posted five consecutive top-20 rankings and never was outside of the top third of the NCAA.

Based on playing Tech twice, we already know that he accomplished those figures with undersized but very quick DL, similar to what we'll have this year. And I have a hard time believing that in his long tenure at Tech, he didn't face youth issues in his front seven.

The kicker for us is that Tenuta has never had the kind of secondary talent he has this year. That gives him free reign to be even more of a mad scientist when it comes to causing havoc near the line of scrimmage.

Ordinarily, I would be very concerned about our run defense. Because of Tenuta's history and our secondary, I'm breathing much easier.

As for the player list, I think you're being unfair to Robinson. He's not pushing for a starting spot only because he was out this spring and ND has two senior starters. But he played pretty well in a tough spot last season, and he's a near lock for a starting job as a junior.