Are Our Defensive Numbers As Bad As They're Made Out To Be?

[Drew]

Taming Narratives: Even Comparison of Conference Defenses - CFB Matrix

Top Conferences in Defensive Pace of Play (Plays defended per game)

1. Big 12, 76.1
2. American, 74.2
3. Sun Belt, 73.7
4. Pac 12, 73.2
5. CUSA, 73.0
6. MAC, 72.1
7. SEC, 71.7
8. Mountain West, 70.4
9. ACC, 70.2
10. Big Ten, 69.9

Was reading the above article and noticed this stat that really stood out. AAC defenses face on average the second most plays per game in the country!

Then you go to the stats to look at the number of plays run per game. AAC has 3 teams in the top 10, Tulsa #1 overall, ECU #3 overall, Houston #7 overall.

College Football Stats - College FB Team Plays per Game on TeamRankings.com

UConn has played #5 Syracuse, #7 Houston, #28 Virginia, #29 Cincinnati, #48 UCF, #81 USF, #102 Navy, and plays #3 ECU this weekend on the road. Maine does not have a ranking as they are FCS. So we've faced 2 of the top 10 offenses in plays per game and now face a third this weekend- are our defensive/yardage totals really that bad in comparison to the amount of plays we face per game? What can be done by the staff to help improve the stats on the defensive side of the ball i.e. yardage given up and turnovers?


Edit- I didn't realize we rank 56th in the country in plays per game. If you would've told me we were in the top half of FBS in terms of # of plays run before looking at that I would've been absolutely stunned

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

Taming Narratives: Even Comparison of Conference Defenses - CFB Matrix

Top Conferences in Defensive Pace of Play (Plays defended per game)

1. Big 12, 76.1
2. American, 74.2
3. Sun Belt, 73.7
4. Pac 12, 73.2
5. CUSA, 73.0
6. MAC, 72.1
7. SEC, 71.7
8. Mountain West, 70.4
9. ACC, 70.2
10. Big Ten, 69.9

Was reading the above article and noticed this stat that really stood out. AAC defenses face on average the second most plays per game in the country!

Then you go to the stats to look at the number of plays run per game. AAC has 3 teams in the top 10, Tulsa #1 overall, ECU #3 overall, Houston #7 overall.

College Football Stats - College FB Team Plays per Game on TeamRankings.com

UConn has played #5 Syracuse, #7 Houston, #28 Virginia, #29 Cincinnati, #48 UCF, #81 USF, #102 Navy, and plays #3 ECU this weekend on the road. Maine does not have a ranking as they are FCS. So we've faced 2 of the top 10 offenses in plays per game and now face a third this weekend- are our defensive/yardage totals really that bad in comparison to the amount of plays we face per game? What can be done by the staff to help improve the stats on the defensive side of the ball i.e. yardage given up and turnovers?


Edit- I didn't realize we rank 56th in the country in plays per game. If you would've told me we were in the top half of FBS in terms of # of plays run before looking at that I would've been absolutely stunned

A couple things here:

We are probably top half because we run a ton of plays in the final third of games trying to catch up. we've been down in games more than most teams. every team hurries when losing, but not every team is losing in Every Game.

Also, people keep saying we have a good defense because of the avg ppg numbers. This is very false. If you adjust for time of possession WHERE THE OTHER TEAM ACTUALLY HAS TO SCORE TO KEEP THEM IN IT, OR HAS TO SCORE, and make it something close to the national average, I bet we would be close to the bottom 20 percent of FBS (I don't have the energy to do the research during this crap season, and don't care nearly enough to at the moment). This is Bobby's design for the offense, and it skews the defensive numbers like crazy.
Add however many plays per game that the average team runs (maybe 20-30 more than we actually allow is my guess), then figure out how many points per play are scored against us now, and I bet we give up about another 10 points per game or so. now our defense allows 30+ ppg ish...and it's just another number I was contemplating today.
I know it's tangential to this thread a bit, but I figured I would just spew everything I could think of here instead of posting new stuff in other threads.

Basically every team has been beating us by 2 scores, and usually early in games. This dramatically alters the other teams play calling. Aside from the last game.

I know I just talked is circles a bit, and i may not have made my point very well...but who cares. I would love to post a good statistic, but there isn't one available.

I hate us

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Taming Narratives: Even Comparison of Conference Defenses - CFB Matrix

Top Conferences in Defensive Pace of Play (Plays defended per game)

1. Big 12, 76.1
2. American, 74.2
3. Sun Belt, 73.7
4. Pac 12, 73.2
5. CUSA, 73.0
6. MAC, 72.1
7. SEC, 71.7
8. Mountain West, 70.4
9. ACC, 70.2
10. Big Ten, 69.9

Was reading the above article and noticed this stat that really stood out. AAC defenses face on average the second most plays per game in the country!

Then you go to the stats to look at the number of plays run per game. AAC has 3 teams in the top 10, Tulsa #1 overall, ECU #3 overall, Houston #7 overall.

College Football Stats - College FB Team Plays per Game on TeamRankings.com

UConn has played #5 Syracuse, #7 Houston, #28 Virginia, #29 Cincinnati, #48 UCF, #81 USF, #102 Navy, and plays #3 ECU this weekend on the road. Maine does not have a ranking as they are FCS. So we've faced 2 of the top 10 offenses in plays per game and now face a third this weekend- are our defensive/yardage totals really that bad in comparison to the amount of plays we face per game? What can be done by the staff to help improve the stats on the defensive side of the ball i.e. yardage given up and turnovers?


Edit- I didn't realize we rank 56th in the country in plays per game. If you would've told me we were in the top half of FBS in terms of # of plays run before looking at that I would've been absolutely stunned

Been playing catch up every game which helps.

 

[Milo65]

Offense: We do run a number of plays, our problem is finishing drives. Once UConn hits the red zone, its over. Also, the offense has no real homerun threat, so they are forced to dink and dunk down the field in order to move the ball.
Defense: Very misleading stat, as Diaco's bend but don't break philosophy should force teams to run a lot of plays and prevent the home run ball and pounce on mistakes by forcing teams to attack out of frustration. The total opposite has happened, teams are killing UConn with big plays, very few plays are being run and few turnovers are forces.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

A couple things here:

We are probably top half because we run a ton of plays in the final third of games trying to catch up. we've been down in games more than most teams. every team hurries when losing, but not every team is losing in Every Game.

Also, people keep saying we have a good defense because of the avg ppg numbers. This is very false. If you adjust for time of possession WHERE THE OTHER TEAM ACTUALLY HAS TO SCORE TO KEEP THEM IN IT, OR HAS TO SCORE, and make it something close to the national average, I bet we would be close to the bottom 20 percent of FBS (I don't have the energy to do the research during this crap season, and don't care nearly enough to at the moment). This is Bobby's design for the offense, and it skews the defensive numbers like crazy.
Add however many plays per game that the average team runs (maybe 20-30 more than we actually allow is my guess), then figure out how many points per play are scored against us now, and I bet we give up about another 10 points per game or so. now our defense allows 30+ ppg ish...and it's just another number I was contemplating today.
I know it's tangential to this thread a bit, but I figured I would just spew everything I could think of here instead of posting new stuff in other threads.

Basically every team has been beating us by 2 scores, and usually early in games. This dramatically alters the other teams play calling. Aside from the last game.

I know I just talked is circles a bit, and i may not have made my point very well...but who cares. I would love to post a good statistic, but there isn't one available.

I hate us

You must also account for the fact our Offense doesn't score in the first half of most games. That forces our Defense to keep us in it with no support. It also allows opponents to use all of their playbooks because we can't force them to be one dimensional. Add in our inability to flip field position on Special Teams....many no punt return yardage, and our regular 3-and-outs....

I would say our Defense is better than most believe. While they are not stellar, under the above conditions Alabama would be vulnerable. You keep any Defense on the field that much with no support eventually they will get worn down. Tired players make mistakes. Mistakes lead to points. This Defense pitched a 1st Quarter shutout in Houston. Count the teams that can say that over the past 3 years. They held Navy in check in the 2nd half. Again, not stellar, but they aren't the problem.

 

[jdb50]

The lack of speed to run down opponent QB's is a glaring problem and the brain trust refuses to fix this. The same can be said about LB's in pass coverage. Maybe there is no answer with our D-line group and that is on recruiting. If we can't cover with our LB's then put in another D-back and if you have to play a freshman you do it. At this point it is late to burn a redshirt but with Diaco's record and the lack of a Bowl game possible we will see how this plays out. Winning is job one for BD and that will be all that matters from here on out unless he get's his act together and earns a pass on a bad season by having produced winning records and a Bowl win. The defense is a problem not a statistical aberration.