First Down Play Calling - The Facts

[UConnRock]

UConn had 25 first down plays, including taking a knee at the end of the game. Here is the breakdown of the plays:

21 running plays all handoff to McCombs. This includes the first 10 1st down plays
3 pass plays - 1 incompletion and 2 completions (18 yards to Davis and 18 yards to Williams)
1 too knee to end game

Running plays on 1st down totaled 67 yards or 3.2 yards per carry. This was skewed upward by 2 8 yard runs late in the game.

Pass plays averaged 12 yards per play.

Disgusting for a BCS level team.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I don't disagree with the premise of your post.

But I love how we dismiss plays that contradict our conclusion as though they didn't count. If you're going to post about facts, nothing is "skewed" by two 8 yard runs.

 

[ruskin]

But we didn't turn it over!

The way PP glowingly described that statistic in radio postgame you would think that you are awarded points for not turning it over, not for advancing the ball into the other end zone

 

[UConnRock]

I don't disagree with the premise of your post.

But I love how we dismiss plays that contradict our conclusion as though they didn't count. If you're going to post about facts, nothing is "skewed" by two 8 yard runs.

Point taken and you are correct. Lets just look at the 1st half when Whitmer was throwing the ball well and a decent staff would be adjusting the play calling to how the opposition was reacting. UConn ran 12 1st down plays (11 runs and 1 pass). In the 1st half the run plays totaled 26 yards or 2.3 yards per carry. With a properly called 1st half I am confident that UConn could have put this game away early.

Interestingly, there were some adjustments made at halftime as 2 of the first 4 plays in the 2nd half were the two 18 yard pass plays. That shows some willingness to alter the game plan. However, there were no 1st down passes thrown after the 9:23 mark on the 3rd quarter.

The staff is coaching this team like Whitmer is McEntee and like there are no WR/TE weapons available. Whitmer is better than McEntee and the receiver corps is better than last year.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Point taken and you are correct. Lets just look at the 1st half when Whitmer was throwing the ball well and a decent staff would be adjusting the play calling to how the opposition was reacting. UConn ran 12 1st down plays (11 runs and 1 pass). In the 1st half the run plays totaled 26 yards or 2.3 yards per carry. With a properly called 1st half I am confident that UConn could have put this game away early.

Interestingly, there were some adjustments made at halftime as 2 of the first 4 plays in the 2nd half were the two 18 yard pass plays. That shows some willingness to alter the game plan. However, there were no 1st down passes thrown after the 9:23 mark on the 3rd quarter.

The staff is coaching this team like Whitmer is McEntee and like there are no WR/TE weapons available. Whitmer is better than McEntee and the receiver corps is better than last year.

I agree with all of that.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Yes it was a win.
Doubt any new fans were made yesterday. Danger of losing existing ones.
170 lb TB up the middle which is the weakest part of the line.
People will not be willing to sit through this stuff.
I hated Dean Smith's Four Corners O. There is a shot clock now.
Maybe the cuffs come off for the BE.

 

[UConnRock]

Maybe they did slam the playbook closed to keep things underwraps for Rutgers. However, there has to be some understanding that this team was on the verge of going to OT against Buffalo and opening the playbook a little to cement the win would have been the correct coaching decision. If that was an excuse it is just another sign of poor decision making.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

One thing that I'm 100% sure of is that we are NOT holding back this dynamic play book for the conference slate.

 

[uconnflyer88]

UConn had 25 first down plays, including taking a knee at the end of the game. Here is the breakdown of the plays:

21 running plays all handoff to McCombs. This includes the first 10 1st down plays
3 pass plays - 1 incompletion and 2 completions (18 yards to Davis and 18 yards to Williams)
1 too knee to end game

Running plays on 1st down totaled 67 yards or 3.2 yards per carry. This was skewed upward by 2 8 yard runs late in the game.

Pass plays averaged 12 yards per play.

Disgusting for a BCS level team.

So every time we ran it we gained about 3 - 4 yards per carry on first down leaving us with 2nd and 7 or 2nd and 6 meaning that 75% of the time we were left with a reasonable 2nd down which opens up the play book and subsequently creates a better 3rd down situation

So lets say we pass it 66.6% (2/3s) of the time and run in 33.3% (which I'm assuming is what you want)...

25 first downs......taking one away for the knee.....that gives us 24

66.6 % is 16 pass plays.....33.3% would mean 8

And lets be GENEROUS and say 20% of the time we get a completion of 8 yards or greater.....40% completion of 3 yards or greater......40% incomplete

8 yards or better - 3.2 approx. 3
3 yards or better - 6.4 approx 7 (i'll even give you it)
incomplete - 6.4 approx 6

so after all that math we are left with....

3 plays that got us to a 2nd and short situation (or a first down)

15 plays that got us to a 2nd and reasonable (6 or 7 yards to go)

6 plays that put is in a hole and now we have to pass on 2nd and 10

doing it your way on first down yields us 75% 2nd and reasonable

running it on first down yields us the EXACT same percentage and takes away the other option I did not even factor in here of a Whitmer INT....which we all know is a statistical probability

And of course these numbers can fluctuate based on the day Whitmer is having, but all in all there isn't much difference AND running takes away the INT option....where McCombs has been solid when it comes to not fumbling

 

[J187Money]

I just rewatched the game and have altered my opinion from yesterday. I really didn't have a problem the way it was called in general. We have moved from run-run-pass to run-pass-pass and we moved the ball well most of the game.

It also was a 10 point game until 4 minutes to go so there was really no reason to do anything else. And if the D hadn't given up that long pass play it would have been over then.

I'd still like to mix it up more on 1st down but I'm going to stand down on criticism related to this game. A vast improvement, including scores on our first 3 possessions.

One comment though - kill the wildcat. Whitmer has proven he is competent. And QB switching leads to penalties. And TFLs.

 

[RedSoloCup]

I just rewatched the game and have altered my opinion from yesterday. I really didn't have a problem the way it was called in general. We have moved from run-run-pass to run-pass-pass and we moved the ball well most of the game.

It also was a 10 point game until 4 minutes to go so there was really no reason to do anything else. And if the D hadn't given up that long pass play it would have been over then.

I'd still like to mix it up more on 1st down but I'm going to stand down on criticism related to this game. A vast improvement, including scores on our first 3 possessions.

One comment though - kill the wildcat. Whitmer has proven he is competent. And QB switching leads to penalties. And TFLs.

We only ran a few wildcat plays yesterday. It seemed that we executed it well on the goal line to the TD. I think that is the best place for it.

 

[huskymedic]

Was the Griffin TD not a pass on first down?

 

[J187Money]

Was the Griffin TD not a pass on first down?

2nd I think.

 

[J187Money]

We only ran a few wildcat plays yesterday. It seemed that we executed it well on the goal line to the TD. I think that is the best place for it.

The TD run was a straight handoff even though 11 was the QB. It was in spite of the 4 yard loss that almost killed the drive.

 

[Husky25]

So every time we ran it we gained about 3 - 4 yards per carry on first down leaving us with 2nd and 7 or 2nd and 6 meaning that 75% of the time we were left with a reasonable 2nd down which opens up the play book and subsequently creates a better 3rd down situation

So lets say we pass it 66.6% (2/3s) of the time and run in 33.3% (which I'm assuming is what you want)...

25 first downs......taking one away for the knee.....that gives us 24

66.6 % is 16 pass plays.....33.3% would mean 8

And lets be GENEROUS and say 20% of the time we get a completion of 8 yards or greater.....40% completion of 3 yards or greater......40% incomplete

8 yards or better - 3.2 approx. 3
3 yards or better - 6.4 approx 7 (i'll even give you it)
incomplete - 6.4 approx 6

so after all that math we are left with....

3 plays that got us to a 2nd and short situation (or a first down)

15 plays that got us to a 2nd and reasonable (6 or 7 yards to go)

6 plays that put is in a hole and now we have to pass on 2nd and 10

doing it your way on first down yields us 75% 2nd and reasonable

running it on first down yields us the EXACT same percentage and takes away the other option I did not even factor in here of a Whitmer INT....which we all know is a statistical probability

And of course these numbers can fluctuate based on the day Whitmer is having, but all in all there isn't much difference AND running takes away the INT option....where McCombs has been solid when it comes to not fumbling

Lies, Damn Lies and Statstistics (and a good portion of your stats are made up).

2nd & 7 is NOT reasonable. If it is, it's certainly not desirable. Look at it this way, If you gain 3 yards on each of 1st, 2nd and 3rd down, you end up with a 4th and 1, 3 and out, Punt. A decent run game should yield AT LEAST 4.0 yards/rush, not counting sacks (which count as a rush in the college game). Only converting 3 1st downs into an additional first down or 2nd & short is pathetic. 2nd & short affords you the opportunity to take a chance deep, which keeps the safeties and LB's honest.

So using your math, yes in a vacuum and premises (i.e. 2nd & 7 is a reasonable situation), running on first down yields a favorable percentage. But when an above average team KNOWS for certain that you are running, 2nd & 7 becomes 2nd and 8, 9, 10, or longer.

 

[Pudge]

Simple ... I don't like to watch it.

 

[ZooCougar]

Yes it was a win.
Doubt any new fans were made yesterday. Danger of losing existing ones.
170 lb TB up the middle which is the weakest part of the line.
People will not be willing to sit through this stuff.
I hated Dean Smith's Four Corners O. There is a shot clock now.
Maybe the cuffs come off for the BE.

Exactly, we are die hards (or at least I am) we couldn't avert our eyes if we wanted to. The casual fans will not tolerate getting kicked in the nuts every Saturday. They'll go pick apples. We could be at a real crossroads, or past it.

 

[SubbaBub]

3.2 ypc is a crappy average for a supposed running team. The average should be closer to 5. We should be able to get 3 yds at will.

Going on two years now, near the bottom of the BE in rushing. And, it's not as if we've turned into a passing juggernaut either. If you ask me what the biggest failing of the PP era has been to date, it is that we are no longer good at the one thing we were good at.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

 

[businesslawyer]

3.2 ypc is a crappy average for a supposed running team. The average should be closer to 5. We should be able to get 3 yds at will.

Going on two years now, near the bottom of the BE in rushing. And, it's not as if we've turned into a passing juggernaut either. If you ask me what the biggest failing of the PP era has been to date, it is that we are no longer good at the one thing we were good at.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

Exactly right. While it bugged TDH to death, I, and many others, took pride that we could line up, smash into people and run the ball with them knowing it was coming. We have totally lost the ability to play that way, which would be o.k. if we had developed some other style to play. But we haven't. At least yet.

 

[Dougsts]

Exactly right. While it bugged TDH to death, I, and many others, took pride that we could line up, smash into people and run the ball with them knowing it was coming. We have totally lost the ability to play that way, which would be o.k. if we had developed some other style to play. But we haven't. At least yet.

I actually came away from Saturdays game, well the first half anyway, thinking that we might have been on a road to a resonable passing game.

 

[ZooCougar]

The only fact you need is that we are 106th ranked offense in the country.

I think we may actually have a pretty good QB, and I suspect we will move up in that department. But it won't be because we ran on first down.

Right now we are basically wasting almost a third of our downs.

 

[CodyJ.]

Disgusting for a BCS level team.

The only FACT that is here is that you arent the coach no matter how much you think you are.
You arent qualified. You dont know what you are talking about. You just a wacko with a computer.

on a lighter note, i have no idea why i just verbally assulted you. you are right, they run too much with little success.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Exactly right. While it bugged TDH to death, I, and many others, took pride that we could line up, smash into people and run the ball with them knowing it was coming. We have totally lost the ability to play that way, which would be o.k. if we had developed some other style to play. But we haven't. At least yet.

Well said BL. It's perplexing to me. Quite so. It's pathetically bad where we rank right now, in average yards gained per run. FOr me it all comes down to simply playing with more fire.


Speaking of first down facts, let's do some compare and contrast.

For those that are so wound up about running on first downs. Louisville has run the ball a total of 104 times on first downs through 5 games, out of 351 TOTAL offensive plays (144 pass/ 207 run).

UConn has run the ball 106 times on first downs through 5 games, out of 328 Total offensive play ( 137 pass / 191 run).


But, all of you Pasqualoni haters, Deleone haters, go ahead and try to figure out what the difference b/w Louisville (4.09) and UConn (2.93) must be - got to be play calling right, systems? Wrong, Louisville is running the same kind of pro-set NFL concepts that we are, for those that care about that stuff.

The players on this team, especially the OL's and the ball carriers, need to look up on the walls in the facility, and look at the players that came before them, and go out on SAturday, and start filling in the freaking the shoes they've stepped into.

The OC in the booth, needs to stick with the original play call he makes in his game plan, and not make oddball calls when he's got time to think.

And we need to go out and give snooki a good kick right in the cooter and bring a win back to homecoming week.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Exactly right. While it bugged TDH to death, I, and many others, took pride that we could line up, smash into people and run the ball with them knowing it was coming. We have totally lost the ability to play that way, which would be o.k. if we had developed some other style to play. But we haven't. At least yet.

Perhaps that style of play never developed because of UConn's insistance in being one dimensional. Blue chip, high school playmakers weren't coming here if the QB was used for hand-offs and the WR's were decoys and blockers. So without those types of players, the passing game atrophied (hard to do considering it never was much to begin with after '04).

Modern college athletes are just too . . . "athletic" to be unable to shut down a run,run,run offense. The game,Biz, has become more wide open - unless, of course, you are Alabama and have the best player on the field position-by-position. So now UConn being even more one dimensional than ever before is going up against 8,9 10 players in the box. You're right about one thing they certainly know it's coming. So good luck with that "smashmouth" nostalgia, Biz.

 

[joey3$trike$]

The biggest problem is the o-lines zone blocking schemes and their delayed handoffs to McCombs. The center position has been atrocious,(haven't seen the buffalo game yet) but how many 3rd & short did they not gain a first down. Again whatever the play call, if you can't win the line of scrimmage you won't win the game period. In the past they mostly won these battles, hence the smash mouth style. With zone/blocking your waiting for the defender, with smash mouth you destroy the person in front of you. Get back to basics and pound RU like last year.