Offense, Passing & Great Catches

[whaler11]

Come on. Just because the 5 best teams in the country are based on their defenses doesn't mean defense matters.

 

[huskymedic]

Come on. Just because the 5 best teams in the country are based on their defenses doesn't mean defense matters.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Again, we are not the SEC. We aren't close. Our goal should be to become at least somewhat relevant nationally.

It's great to say we're going to be "old school" and play with good fundamentals, but you don't win big like that unless you recruit really, really well. We don't. At all. For UConn's entire football history, we've been bringing in 2 stars. It's only been in the last two years that we've brought in more three stars than 2 stars in a class, and even then it's been very close.

But we'd rather be "smashmouth" cuz it sounds so "Frozen Tundra". Nevermind that whole part about bringing 2 star players. The better ones are going to places where the whole football scene is more exciting. Fans on this board forget that UConn needs to find a niche to start making a bigger recruiting splash, and exciting offensive football might be that edge. Certainly the snoozefests or the outright ineptitude on offense aren't getting it done.

 

[junglehusky]

I would concede the point that exciting WVU style losses might get a few more fans in the Rent. I would counter that getting to 9-10 wins and contending for a big east championship with quote-unquote boring football, excellent defense, balanced running/passing, would get a heck of a lot more season ticket packages sold. Fans will attend a "snoozefest" if they think there's a good chance of getting a win out of it. Currently we have snoozefests that are guaranteed losses. You are right that we need better recruiting, but it's not a problem exclusive to WRs and QBs, its the whole offense (and improving talent / depth on defense wouldn't hurt either.)

 

[Jax Husky]

The top 20 passing offenses in the country. Exactly 2 of them are in the Top 20 right now. It is a veritable who's who of college football. Most of these schools are just raking in recruits (not):

1 Baylor 6 228 150 10 65.79 2344 10.28 21 390.67 4.39 15.63
2 Marshall 7 362 255 7 70.44 2730 7.54 22 390.00 1.93 10.71
3 Houston 7 377 223 13 59.15 2547 6.76 13 363.86 3.45 11.42
4 Texas Tech 7 309 219 7 70.87 2532 8.19 30 361.71 2.27 11.56
5 Arizona 7 330 211 9 63.94 2466 7.47 18 352.29 2.73 11.69
6 West Virginia 7 306 224 3 73.20 2464 8.05 27 352.00 .98 11.00
7 Oklahoma St. 6 237 157 7 66.24 2106 8.89 15 351.00 2.95 13.41
8 Louisiana Tech 7 282 199 0 70.57 2337 8.29 20 333.86 .00 11.74
9 Washington St. 7 351 203 14 57.83 2256 6.43 14 322.29 3.99 11.11
10 San Jose St. 7 251 185 3 73.71 2253 8.98 17 321.86 1.20 12.18
11 Akron 8 391 237 11 60.61 2492 6.37 23 311.50 2.81 10.51
12 Arkansas 7 261 146 8 55.94 2180 8.35 16 311.43 3.07 14.93
13 UAB 7 265 156 4 58.87 2175 8.21 12 310.71 1.51 13.94
14 Oregon St. 6 227 143 4 63.00 1864 8.21 10 310.67 1.76 13.03
15 Syracuse 7 271 176 8 64.94 2164 7.99 13 309.14 2.95 12.30
16 Fresno St. 8 334 223 4 66.77 2427 7.27 22 303.38 1.20 10.88
17 Texas A&M 7 275 173 7 62.91 2123 7.72 14 303.29 2.55 12.27
18 Indiana 7 310 197 4 63.55 2122 6.85 14 303.14 1.29 10.77
- Troy 7 288 189 8 65.63 2122 7.37 13 303.14 2.78
11.23

 

[Jax Husky]

The top 20 scoring defenses in the country. 13 of these teams are in the Top 20:

1 Alabama 7 7 7 0 0 0 3 0 58 8.29
2 Notre Dame 7 6 6 0 0 0 8 0 66 9.43
3 Rutgers 7 8 5 1 0 0 8 0 79 11.29
4 Florida 7 9 8 0 1 0 7 0 85 12.14
5 Florida St. 8 12 11 0 0 0 6 0 101 12.63
6 Boise St. 7 12 9 1 0 0 4 0 95 13.57
7 Utah St. 8 12 9 0 0 0 10 0 111 13.88
8 BYU 8 14 13 0 0 0 5 0 112 14.00
9 Mississippi St. 7 12 11 0 0 0 6 0 101 14.43
10 LSU 8 15 12 0 0 0 5 0 117 14.63
11 Michigan St. 8 11 11 0 0 0 15 0 122 15.25
12 Oklahoma 6 11 9 0 1 0 5 0 92 15.33
13 Penn St. 7 14 14 0 0 0 4 0 110 15.71
14 Kansas St. 7 13 10 1 0 0 7 1 113 16.14
15 South Carolina 8 14 13 0 0 0 11 0 130 16.25
16 Michigan 7 12 11 1 0 0 10 0 115 16.43
17 Oregon St. 6 12 12 0 0 0 5 0 99 16.50
18 Southern California 7 14 12 0 0 0 7 0 117 16.71
19 Bowling Green 8 15 12 1 0 0 10 0 134 16.75
20 Cincinnati 6 10 7 2 0 0 10 0 101 16.83

 

[freescooter]

West Virginia's recent woes, two straight blow out losses, show that a passing offense can be just as ugly when it gets shut down as a running one can. Two straight weeks the Air Raid put up UConnesque 14 points, the final 7 coming in both games against the opponent's scrubs. And this a team that had been averaging over 50 points a game and had scored 69 and 70 points in games this year. You can throw it all over the yard and win. you can run it down there throats and win. the more important part of both those statements is that you win. Both can look awful when they get shut down.

 

[ZooCougar]

Imagine UConn's offense against WVU's defense.

 

[ZooCougar]

Also, if we played WVU this season, I am pretty sure that Coach P and Co. would spend the week practicing to defend the run.

 

[Jax Husky]

If you want to know what UConn's problems are, look at these statistical rankings:

The worst rushing teams in the country (we are the 5th worst):
101 Fla. Atlantic 7 252 834 3.31 6 119.14
102 Akron 8 247 941 3.81 6 117.63
103 East Carolina 8 267 940 3.52 9 117.50
104 Arkansas 7 213 810 3.80 9 115.71
105 SMU 7 205 806 3.93 5 115.14
106 Colorado 7 249 768 3.08 8 109.71
107 Oregon St. 6 210 650 3.10 9 108.33
108 Hawaii 6 198 640 3.23 5 106.67
109 Utah 7 256 735 2.87 4 105.00
110 San Jose St. 7 248 706 2.85 8 100.86
111 Colorado St. 7 227 698 3.07 3 99.71
112 Boston College 7 200 652 3.26 5 93.14
113 New Mexico St. 7 219 646 2.95 8 92.29
114 Maryland 7 282 634 2.25 9 90.57
115 Miami (OH) 7 196 625 3.19 4 89.29
116 Connecticut 8 278 695 2.50 7 86.88
117 UAB 7 245 579 2.36 11 82.71
118 Idaho 8 216 649 3.00 3 81.13
119 Washington St. 7 142 284 2.00 3 40.57
120 Tulane 7 157 190 1.21 0
27.14

 

[Jax Husky]

And, worst turnover margin (we are in the bottom 20 there as well):

101 Oklahoma St. 6 2 4 6 4 7 11 -.83
102 Western Mich. 8 7 8 15 8 14 22 -.88
103 Army 7 4 2 6 11 2 13 -1.00
- Colorado 7 8 3 11 8 10 18 -1.00
- New Mexico St. 7 5 2 7 7 7 14 -1.00
- Texas A&M 7 1 6 7 7 7 14 -1.00
107 Akron 8 6 3 9 7 11 18 -1.13
- Connecticut 8 5 4 9 7 11 18 -1.13
109 Syracuse 7 3 4 7 7 8 15 -1.14
110 Maryland 7 7 3 10 12 7 19 -1.29
- Nebraska 7 6 3 9 13 5 18 -1.29
112 Arkansas 7 3 4 7 9 8 17 -1.43
- Auburn 7 8 1 9 8 11 19 -1.43
- Houston 7 6 7 13 10 13 23 -1.43
115 Idaho 8 7 6 13 10 15 25 -1.50
116 Buffalo 7 1 2 3 6 8 14 -1.57
- South Fla. 7 5 0 5 7 9 16 -1.57
- Southern Miss. 7 1 4 5 10 6 16 -1.57
119 Hawaii 6 4 1 5 10 5 15 -1.67
120 Virginia 8 3 1 4 8 12 20 -2.00

 

[johnhuskies95]

No

The top 20 scoring defenses in the country. 13 of these teams are in the Top 20:

1 Alabama 7 7 7 0 0 0 3 0 58 8.29
2 Notre Dame 7 6 6 0 0 0 8 0 66 9.43
3 Rutgers 7 8 5 1 0 0 8 0 79 11.29
4 Florida 7 9 8 0 1 0 7 0 85 12.14
5 Florida St. 8 12 11 0 0 0 6 0 101 12.63
6 Boise St. 7 12 9 1 0 0 4 0 95 13.57
7 Utah St. 8 12 9 0 0 0 10 0 111 13.88
8 BYU 8 14 13 0 0 0 5 0 112 14.00
9 Mississippi St. 7 12 11 0 0 0 6 0 101 14.43
10 LSU 8 15 12 0 0 0 5 0 117 14.63
11 Michigan St. 8 11 11 0 0 0 15 0 122 15.25
12 Oklahoma 6 11 9 0 1 0 5 0 92 15.33
13 Penn St. 7 14 14 0 0 0 4 0 110 15.71
14 Kansas St. 7 13 10 1 0 0 7 1 113 16.14
15 South Carolina 8 14 13 0 0 0 11 0 130 16.25
16 Michigan 7 12 11 1 0 0 10 0 115 16.43
17 Oregon St. 6 12 12 0 0 0 5 0 99 16.50
18 Southern California 7 14 12 0 0 0 7 0 117 16.71
19 Bowling Green 8 15 12 1 0 0 10 0 134 16.75
20 Cincinnati 6 10 7 2 0 0 10 0 101 16.83

Nobody is saying that we need to give up defense for offense.

 

[Jax Husky]

No

Nobody is saying that we need to give up defense for offense.

To an extent, the type of passing exhibited by the teams in the "Passing Offense" list above do give up defense. They do not control the clock, and thus give their opponents too many chances. Thus, defenses wear down.

What is important is passing efficiency, not how many yards you pass for. My overall point anyway, is that UConn sucks balls this year because we are in the bottom 5 in rushing, not because of the passing game. UConn does not, as is implied by the OP, need to throw it all over the yard to get fans and recruits.

 

[sdhusky]

How'd your "smash mouth" running game go the other night? How bout the shutdown defense? The passing game, however humble it may be right now, was all the Huskies had. Better watch a few other college games to get better acquainted with how the games played today, Monte.

Alabama is #75 in passing offense.

I think they're managing somehow even though teams like Texas Tech have "passed them by"

 

[sdhusky]

Alabama is #75 in passing offense.

I think they're managing somehow even though teams like Texas Tech have "passed them by"

ND is #100 in passing.

#2 in points against.

You claim passing is way more important but lets pretend each is only equal in value.

If you average them, you get #51, but ND is undefeated and a bit better than #51

 

[johnhuskies95]

To an extent, the type of passing exhibited by the teams in the "Passing Offense" list above do give up defense. They do not control the clock, and thus give their opponents too many chances. Thus, defenses wear down.

What is important is passing efficiency, not how many yards you pass for. My overall point anyway, is that UConn sucks balls this year because we are in the bottom 5 in rushing, not because of the passing game. UConn does not, as is implied by the OP, need to throw it all over the yard to get fans and recruits.

Look at the top 5 in rushing offense: Army, Air Force, Georgia Tech, Oregon, and New Mexico.

Team rushing success doesn't automatically equal team success either.

 

[ZooCougar]

Yardage generated is a measure of performance. It's not a true measure of effectiveness. If a team is low in yards generated and it is undefeated then who cares?


In 2007 we were outgained routinely in games that we won.

What is best for UConn is an offense that is dynamic and multi-dimensional.

 

[Jax Husky]

Yardage generated is a measure of performance. It's not a true measure of effectiveness. If a team is low in yards generated and it is undefeated then who cares?


In 2007 we were outgained routinely in games that we won.

What is best for UConn is an offense that is dynamic and multi-dimensional.

That's why I said you have to look at passing efficiency as the measure, not yardage and how much people throw. It is about throwing and running the ball efficiently.