College Football 2011: Predicting the Top 25 Defenses for Next Year
We've all heard that defense wins championships. The old saying is usually true, despite the fact that we tend to focus on the more glamorous offensive stars on each team.
Usually if you look at a list of top defenses in the country at the end of the year, it's a who's who list of the top teams as well.
This truth will continue on into 2011, but which teams will populate the list?
From bottom to top, read on for the top 25 defenses in college football going into the upcoming season.
Note: All stats are from the regular season.
25. Texas Longhorns
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The Longhorns defense allowed 23.7 points per game last season, which was only the 49th-best average in the nation.
However, the fact that they only allowed 300.2 yards per game, the seventh-fewest in the country, shows that improvement is coming quickly.
Texas returns seven starters on the defensive side of the ball, including All-Big 12 players Emmanuel Acho and Keenan Robinson. The losses of Sam Acho, Curtis Brown and defensive coordinator Will Muschamp will hurt, but these Longhorns are quite talented.
24. South Carolina Gamecocks
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The South Carolina scoring defense ranked 43rd in the country, allowing 23.1 points on 335.8 yards per game.
Steve Spurrier is known for being more of an offensive-minded head coach, but his team proved to be quite adept at stopping the run last season, and a good recruiting class should help to make up for the losses up front.
Returning will be six starters, including All-SEC players Stephon Gilmore and Devin Taylor. Most of the returning players are in the secondary, which is where the improvements needed to be made last season.
23. South Florida Bulls
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South Florida's defense allowed just 20.0 points per game last season, the 22nd-best average in the country.
The Bulls allowed 319.7 yards per game and the unit that produced those numbers will return six starters.
It will be up to junior defensive tackle Cory Grissom to anchor a defensive line in which he is the last incumbent starter.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
22. Georgia Bulldogs
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Georgia's 22.08 points per game allowed ranked 36th in the nation, but the Bulldogs only allowed 335.8 yards per game and the defense was improving at the end of the year.
It will be tough to replace Justin Houston, as the linebacker was one of the best in all of college football. However, the Bulldogs return eight starters on defense.
One of those men, strong safety Bacarri Rambo, will need to play at least a little better than he did in 2010 in order to live up to the hype created by his name, which is by far the best in the country for a safety.
Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham will also have had a full year to implement his 3-4 defense and the players will be much more comfortable with it.
21. Central Florida Knights
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The team that beat the Georgia Bulldogs in the Liberty Bowl comes in one spot ahead at No. 21.
Central Florida allowed just 17.14 points per game last season, the eighth-best average in the country.
However, the Knights will have to overcome the loss of seven starters on the defensive side of the ball. Fortunately, three of the projected starters made the All-Conference USA team in 2010: Darius Nall, Josh Robinson and Kemal Ishmael.
20. Miami (Florida) Hurricanes
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The Miami Hurricanes allowed 20.69 points on 317.2 yards per game in 2010; the scoring defense ranked 21st.
Now Miami returns seven starters on defense, including All-ACC linebacker Sean Spence and All-ACC safety Ray-Ray Armstrong.
Replacing Allen Bailey and Brandon Harris will be quite difficult, but the Hurricanes have the ability to minimize those losses.
19. Boston College Eagles
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The 19th-best scoring defense in the nation, allowing just 19.5 points per game in 2010, belonged to the Eagles of Boston College.
Now the ACC school returns seven starters on defense, one of which is All-ACC middle linebacker Luke Kuechly.
It will be up to him and the other returning starters to make sure that the 310 yards per game allowed in 2010 drops even further down.
18. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
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Notre Dame in 2010 allowed 20.5 points per game, the 23rd-best average in the country.
Part of the reason that the Fighting Irish will have a lot more success in 2011 is because the defense is only going to improve.
Nine starters are returning, as Kerry Neal, Brian Smith and Darrin Walls are the only key losses. The defensive front remains intact and should be even harder to penetrate in the upcoming season.
17. Pittsburgh Panthers
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To play in the Big East and be successful, a good defense is almost required.
Pittsburgh fulfilled this requirement in 2010 and will again in 2011.
Eight starters are returning, including defensive end Brandon Lindsey and free safety Jarred Holley, both members of the All-Big East team.
Pittsburgh allowed just 19.8 points per game last season and that total should drop in 2011.
16. Iowa Hawkeyes
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Allowing just 16.4 points per game, the Iowa Hawkeyes ranked seventh in the nation in scoring defense over the duration of the 2010 regular season.
Now, they'll lose Adrian Clayborn and Tyler Sash along with four other 2010 starters.
The best of the returning players is All-Big Ten cornerback Shaun Prater. The senior will need to be a shutdown corner for Iowa's defense to have any chance of regaining its top-10 spot.
15. Texas A&M Aggies
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The Texas A&M Aggies only allowed 20.3 points per game, but they'll have to decrease their yards per game allowed significantly from 2010's 357.5.
Fortunately for them, they'll return eight starters. Missing will be Von Miller, the winner of the Butkus Award (awarded annually to the country's best linebacker), and fellow linebacker Michael Hodges.
Other than that, the defense is mostly intact, which will help the Aggies replace those two high-energy players.
14. Louisville Cardinals
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The Louisville Cardinals are another Big East team on this list.
They allowed just 18.7 points per game and will need to post similar numbers to make up for the losses of Adam Froman and Bilal Powell on offense.
Returning on defense are seven starters, including All-Big East and Freshman All-American free safety Hakeem Smith.
It will be up to them to make the incoming starters feel at home.
13. Stanford Cardinal
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The ninth-best scoring defense, allowing just 17.8 points per game in 2010, belongs to the Stanford Cardinal.
Only six starters will return, but the recruiting class should help make up for the losses. The key returnee is strong safety Delano Howell, who was a member of the All-Pac-10 team.
A new head coach will keep them motivated and a strong offense will help them stay off the field.
12. Clemson Tigers
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Just like Stanford, Clemson also allowed just 17.8 yards per game.
The reason Clemson is ranked higher is two-fold.
First, the Tigers allowed about three fewer yards per game, which is relatively insignificant but still worth mentioning.
Secondly, the Tigers return seven starters into a weaker ACC.
11. Missouri Tigers
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Missouri allowed just 15.2 points per game in 2010, the sixth-fewest in college football.
Jacquies Smith and Brad Madison are going to wreak havoc from the defensive end positions on a defense that returns six starters.
Both Smith and Madison were All-Big 12 members and should only improve on a defensive line that remains completely intact.
The difficulty will be replacing cornerbacks Carl Gettis and Kevin Rutland, but Gary Pinkel has shown that he can recruit well time after time.
10. Florida State Seminoles
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The first entrant in the top 10 is Florida State.
In 2010, the Seminoles allowed 19.8 points per game but they return eight starters, most of which are very good players.
Defensive end Brandon Jenkins and cornerback Xavier Rhodes both made the All-ACC team and Greg Reid should join them this year. The strong safety was the defensive player of the game at the Chick-fil-A Bowl and will terrorize offenses throughout 2011.
9. West Virginia Mountaineers
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The Mountaineers defense was absolutely stifling throughout all of 2010.
Allowing only 12.8 points per game, West Virginia was only out-defensed by TCU.
The problem is the lack of returning starters, but it's not enough of a problem to push them further down than No. 9. All-Big East cornerback Keith Tandy is the best returning player on the team, but he's joined by only three fellow starters from 2010.
8. Connecticut Huskies
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Yet another team from the Big East, the Connecticut Huskies got to their BCS bowl last season because of running back Jordan Todman and an incredible defense.
Connecticut allowed just 19.8 points per game in 2010 and looks to improve that average this season.
Its nine returning defensive starters should help immensely. All-Big East defensive end Kendall Reyes leads the defensive front and Blidi Wreh-Wilson bolsters a secondary that returns all its starters and quite a few backups.
7. Virginia Tech Hokies
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During Virginia Tech's 10-game win streak, it was the Hokies' defense that really stepped up its game.
Virginia Tech allowed just 19.1 points per game last season and that number should go down as the Hokies return seven starters on the defensive side of the ball.
All-ACC players Bruce Taylor and Jayron Hosley (who was also an All-American) are the leaders.
Because Hosley is a shutdown corner in a strong secondary, it makes Bud Foster's blitzing scheme work even better.
6. Boise State Broncos
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Boise State doesn't get much recognition for its stellar defense because the offense is good enough to take all the spotlight. However, that's not really fair.
The Broncos allowed just 13.6 points per game in 2010 and it's hard to see that average going up too much.
Seven starters return on defense, including All-WAC players Billy Winn, Shea McClellin, Byron Hout and George Iloka. The depth and experience on this aggressive defense should easily help replace the missing players despite the switch in conferences to the Mountain West.
5. LSU Tigers
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Playing in the tough SEC, the LSU Tigers still managed to allow just 17.8 points per game on 301.7 average yards.
Morris Claiborne is the best player on a strong squad; the cornerback made the All-SEC team last season.
Replacing Patrick Peterson and Drake Nevis is going to be very difficult, but come on now, LSU's defense is always good. There's pretty much a pipeline that funnels good defensive players right into the LSU program.
4. Nebraska Cornhuskers
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Nebraska allowed just 17.2 points per game in 2010, easily mitigating the damage done by the loss of All-Everything Ndamukong Suh.
Now the challenge will be replacing Prince Amukamara in the secondary. It's always tough to have one of the best cornerbacks in the nation leave, but Alfonzo Dennard, one of four All-Big 12 players on the squad, should be able to pick up the slack.
Also, as good as Jared Crick has been, he can only get better. That's kind of scary for other Big Ten challengers going up against arguably the best defensive tackle in college football.
3. Ohio State Buckeyes
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Ohio State had the third-best scoring defense in 2010, allowing a miniscule 13.3 points and 250.3 yards per game.
Now in 2011, the Buckeyes have to figure out how to replace Cameron Heyward and the other six losses on the defense.
Helping to replace Heyward will be Andrew Sweat. The senior linebacker will find the quarterback all season long. Etienne Sabino will do the same. You can see the two of them supporting Terrelle Pryor in the picture, but their defensive contributions will metaphorically do the same thing in 2011.
The real key to Ohio State's defense though is Jim Tressel's ability to come with unbeatable defensive schemes and that hasn't changed. At Ohio State he'll always have elite talent to work with.
2. TCU Horned Frogs
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The nation's top defense last season belong to the Horned Frogs of TCU during their undefeated campaign. They somehow allowed just 11.4 points and 215.4 yards per game in 2010, both tops in their respective categories. No other defense came within 30 yards of TCU.
While the Horned Frogs will have only five returning starters, three of them—Tank Carder, Tanner Brock and Stansly Maponga—made the All-Mountain West team.
TCU is a recruiting powerhouse in its conference and will easily be able to reload with defensive talent. Dick Bumpas' 4-2-5 defense will then utilize the talent to its maximum potential and the Horned Frogs will be just fine.
1. Alabama Crimson Tide
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The Alabama defense is always stellar and 2010 was no different. The Crimson Tide's 14.1 points per game allowed was the fifth-best average in the country and the 296 yards per game allowed was the sixth-best average.
Alabama will not skip a beat in 2011. In fact, it'll actually be much better.
Marcell Dareus will be the only starter not returning to the defense, as he'll enjoy playing on Sundays instead of Saturdays. Among the 10 returning starters are All-SEC defenders Dont'a Hightower, Dre Kirkpatrick, Mark Barron and Robert Lester.
Add to those players the incredible recruits that Alabama has annually and you'll realize that Alabama has the No. 1 defense in the country.
Truthfully, it isn't even close.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
