Arizona State Sun Devils Case Study

However, it was all defense from there on out. Tony Gibson's dawgs forced seven tackles for losses, broke up six passes and recovered a fumble in the red

After having some miscues in a young secondary during the first game, the focus then turned to Tennessee in hopes of having a better performance from the unit.

Last season, it was obvious the Buccaneers defense seriously lacked in several areas. The defensive line struggled to get a sufficient pass rush and in turn forced a struggling secondary to play on it's heels. However this off season, the Bucs made several moves that, in theory, should help both areas improve tremendously.

"Our corners have had a few good practices, especially Hakeem Bailey," defensive coordinator Tony Gibson said. "He's a guy that keeps making play after play. He's got some picks. He's got some nice pass breakups. I think he's doing a really good job. Elijah Battle is solid, doing everything he needs to at this point. Mike Daniels. So we got some guys. Corey Winfield is a new addition. He's learning and I think hopefully as we get deeper in camp, he will be able to make some more plays for us. Trying to bring some young guys along, too."

The Toronto Raptors, while not to be confused for a title contender just yet, once bolstered a defensive unit capable of shutting down the league's elite, finishing 2013-14 ranked ninth in efficiency at 102.4.

Luckily for him, the strength of this team is its wealth of offensive talent, particularly on the offensive line. They feature what may be the best offensive tackle in college football in Ronnie Stanley, future NFL draft pick Nick Martin (brother of Zach Martin) at center, and 4-5 star talent at left guard, right guard and right tackle. This is the unit that paved the way for Notre Dame to run for 263 yards on 5.2 a carry and three touchdowns against LSU, which was only giving up 152 yards a game on the ground and 4.3 a carry. Notre Dame returns junior running back Tarean Folston, who in his first two seasons sharing time; he’s run for 1,359 yards, 5.1 a carry and 10 total touchdowns. Moving to back him up is converted receiver C.J. Prosise, who has some experience out of the backfield, and has even pushed Folston for first team carries in fall camp. At receiver, Notre Dame returns a core that has 223 career catches, 3,383 yards and 28 touchdowns. That group is led by one of the most underrated players in college football, Will Fuller, who finished his breakout sophomore season with 76 catches, 1,094 yards and 15 touchdowns. He’s a guy who teams, um, had trouble keeping up with. Right, Michigan? Notre Dame is going to look towards the Ohio State model on offense this year, they are going to hit teams hard with the run, and gash teams with

Linebackers: Summerville has quite a bit of depth at linebacker. Ulvevadet will be the rock of the group, but Prevost, Hudson, and Marquez are being looked at to play to the same level as Ulvevadet.

For Houston, the turnover battle was their friend last season as their turnover margin was plus-1.5 per game. When you have a turnover margin at that rate, you will win a lot of football games.

"I tell you, looking at it from last year, it’s arguably the best d-line, defensive front. It’s arguably one of the best defenses that I’ve ever seen," head coach Dana Holgorsen said. "One of the linebackers, NFL guy. Another one of the linebackers has a ton of starts but where the real, real good dudes are, the d-line. Not only were they, just like with the one guy the Harris kid obviously, he’s top-10 pick, but they have some young d-tackles who are going to be big time guys. They’re depth was really good.

Despite the defense being one of the best in the country, the Owls' offense wasn't too shabby either, thanks to the backfield combination of quarterback P.J. Walker and running back Jahad Thomas. Walker had a solid season, improving from his sophomore year, passing for 2,972 yards, 19 touchdowns,

Heading into the 2017 season, the offensive line might be the biggest question mark for the Wolverines. Starters Ben Braden, Kyle Kalis, and Erik Magnuson graduated and all are moving on to play professionally. With Grant Newsome’s health uncertain right now, sophomore Ben Bredeson and senior Mason Cole will lead an otherwise inexperienced group this fall.

While BYU is a physical team, the Cougars have struggled to play good pass and run defense at the same time.

Russel Wilson is a very constant quarterback and they have one of the best defenses in the league. They are at a little struggle at offensive line and their running backs. Their team will never reach the potential they had when they had Marshawn Lynch .

Offensively we were able to open up our passing game. We are a solid running ball club, but we do have the ability to pass the ball effectively. We always try to "stay ahead of the sticks (gain 3+ yards on 1st down)." Friday night we were able to gain positive yards not only on the ground, but through the air. Blake Hays has a much better understanding of the passing game. His quick decision making, along with some sure handed receivers, created a great deal of offensive versatility.

The frontcourt should receive a boost with Zack Irvin returning from a back injury that cost him his junior season. And Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman is an exciting option at shooting guard, who should see an expanded role in LeVert’s stead. They could make some noise in March, but they need Derrick Walton Jr. to step up in his senior season both as a distributor and more importantly as a consistent scoring threat.