I'm certainly not defending his performance in Sunday's game, but he consistently had some of the highest ranked defenses in college football while at Cincinnati, regardless of 'level'. Even the announcers thought his 3 man front was a mistake, it's rare that you see them correct about something especially since that crew was decidedly biased toward the Seminoles.
He has his work cut out for him this year from all the missed tackles and just basic fundamental mistakes in execution I saw from the players on the field.