As you know, those Wildcats are very proud of their defense. So proud, in fact, that in their heydey they named themselves the Lynch Mob. OK, moving on.

DL

Much like the rest of the team, this unit has improved steadily as the year has gone alone. On the year, they have 16 sacks - 12 of them have been in Big XII play (2 @ Tech, 6 v. A&M, 4 v. CU). The charge has been led by senior end Jeffrey Fitzgerald (6′4″ 280), whose 6 sacks lead the team by a wide margin and 5 of which have come in league play. Off the other end is Antonio Felder (6′2 250), who is next closest to Fitgerald with two sacks. Between the two, they’ve combined for 45 tackles. On the inside, they’ll start Daniel Calvin (6′3″ 310) at the nose - and all they want from him is to clog the middle. For the year, he has a sack and 22 tackles. At the other DT spot, they’ll start with Prizell Brown, who has done a little more lately, but hasn’t shown much of anything yet. He is much faster though.

LB

Across the board, they go with: John Houlik, Ulla Pomele and Troy Butler - none of whom should scare you at all. None of them are particularly large, or particularly fast. Their best attribute seems to be that Snyder has them in correct position. Houlik leads the bunch with 36 tackles on the year, and has yet to exceed six in a single game. Pomele and Butler come in at 35 & 32, respectively. Alex Hrebec & Kevin Roehleder will get in the mix as well, but neither bring much more to the table other than a breather. Houlik and Hrebec are the most adept at getting into the backfield, but neither makes a habic of doing so. This will be the least athletic set of linebackers we’ve seen since at least Iowa State, if not Duke.

DB

Far and away their strongest defensive unit, they have three bonafide players back here. Their top corner - and probably player - is Josh Moore. Moore has decent height for a DB (5′11″) and can turn and run with anyone. For the year, he has 41 tackles, 2 picks and 9 passes broken up. Go ahead and pencil him in across from Dez on nearly every snap. Their other corner spot remains a concern, as neither Stephen Harrison nor David Garrett have proved they can handle the job. Both will be given help on nearly every play and it will be our job to take advantage of what’s left open as a result.

At corner, they have Tysyn Hartman & Emmanuel Lamur, both of whom are extremely large and plenty fast. It’s not often safeties have a height advantage back there, but these guys often do. They also lead the team in tackles, with Lamur at 46 and Hartman at 43 - which should tell you plenty about the linebackers as well, but doesn’t take away from their ability. Lamur is their run support guy, while Hartman will play some centerfield and can capitalize (4 INTs, 6 passes broken up). As always, the more we can spread them out the better, be it by forcing them to help their weak corner or having to account for a running game. If we let them roam the middle, their plenty good enough to take away our early reads.

As a team, they have a mediocre defense that has been improving. They’re aggressive, especially with their secondary, but they don’t wreak a ton of havoc. On the year, they’re allowing about 3.6 YPC and over 108 YPG on the ground. Through the air, it’s about 234 per game on 6.8 per attemp and 12.3 per completion. They allow a 40% 3rd down conversion rate and 88% red zone success. They’re a ball-control offense both because they have to be and because they want to be. This defense has been extremely impressive on two occasions (CU and A&M) and for that they deserve a ton of credit. However, I think it will take about 30 points to win and if we can’t muster that on this unit, our problems are even bigger than we realize. If we take what they give us and protect the ball, that really shouldn’t be a problem.