UConn's Opponents' Defenses

[UConnJim]

After 7 or 8 games, college football stats are normalizing so we can better judge teams. Stats can be somewhat misleading as they can be heavily impacted by game plans and level of competition, but I think we can use the stats to draw some conclusions.

Here are the passing and rushing defensive rankings of each of UConn's FBS opponents and the number of yards that UConn gained against them.

Passing Defense:

#9 Rice 128 yards
#13 Duke: 135 yards
#22 Temple: 272 yards
#33 FAU: 121 yards
#102 Buffalo: 280 yards
#128 Maryland: 222 yards
#130 Wake Forest: 264 yards

In other words, UConn's passing offense has struggled against good passing defense teams and has done better against the teams that have below average pass defenses.

Rushing Defense:

#19 Maryland: 88 yards
#74 Wake Forest: 40 yards
#87 Rice: 184 yards
#88 Duke: 179 yards
#93 Buffalo: 257 yards
#122 FAU: 421 yards
$124 Temple: 99 yards (the ranking is skewed by playing Army and Navy)

As you would expect, UConn has run better against teams that have below average run defenses.

I don't want to draw too many conclusions from the data, but Evers has started against 3 of the top 4 most difficult pass defenses that UConn has faced: Rice, Duke, and FAU.

Where do the next 4 opponents rank?

Georgia St. #82 passing defense and #118 rushing defense
UAB: #4 passing defense and #131 rushing defense
Syracuse: #63 passing defense and #36 rushing defense
UMass: #6 passing defense and #100 rushing defense

Georgia State is a great opponent to see if Evers can perform as they don't have a good pass defense or rush defense. If he can't perform against Georgia St., I think we need to see Fagnano, at least for some series.

 

[Jetskies]

TY Jim, insightful info -

Personally I don't think we'll see Fagnano ever if Nick is able to play and the game is not a blowout in the 4th quarter.

If 1 of those conditions is "false", then Joe will come in. The reps are gold and coach has shown he wants his guy in no matter what. I don't think Nick is "it", but I get what they're doing.

 

[DoctorWho85]

After 7 or 8 games, college football stats are normalizing so we can better judge teams. Stats can be somewhat misleading as they can be heavily impacted by game plans and level of competition, but I think we can use the stats to draw some conclusions.

Here are the passing and rushing defensive rankings of each of UConn's FBS opponents and the number of yards that UConn gained against them.

Passing Defense:

#9 Rice 128 yards
#13 Duke: 135 yards
#22 Temple: 272 yards
#33 FAU: 121 yards
#102 Buffalo: 280 yards
#128 Maryland: 222 yards
#130 Wake Forest: 264 yards

In other words, UConn's passing offense has struggled against good passing defense teams and has done better against the teams that have below average pass defenses.

Rushing Defense:

#19 Maryland: 88 yards
#74 Wake Forest: 40 yards
#87 Rice: 184 yards
#88 Duke: 179 yards
#93 Buffalo: 257 yards
#122 FAU: 421 yards
$124 Temple: 99 yards (the ranking is skewed by playing Army and Navy)

As you would expect, UConn has run better against teams that have below average run defenses.

I don't want to draw too many conclusions from the data, but Evers has started against 3 of the top 4 most difficult pass defenses that UConn has faced: Rice, Duke, and FAU.

Where do the next 4 opponents rank?

Georgia St. #82 passing defense and #118 rushing defense
UAB: #4 passing defense and #131 rushing defense
Syracuse: #63 passing defense and #36 rushing defense
UMass: #6 passing defense and #100 rushing defense

Georgia State is a great opponent to see if Evers can perform as they don't have a good pass defense or rush defense. If he can't perform against Georgia St., I think we need to see Fagnano, at least for some series.

So we run the ball on everyone but Cuse and we win out.

Good analysis Jim. Really puts into things into perspective. Even with shooting ourselves in the foot a lot, these numbers defintely show that we are still on the right path.

 

[maple]

If we're not able to get a big rushing games going against GA St, UAB, and UMass, I'll be very disappointed. Though I do think we need to have at least a somewhat decent passing game to keep defenses against us honest. QB play (if it's indeed Evers, which I assume it is) needs to be on point.

 

[AllHusky]

Some of the passes that he misses on are so easy. Nothing but tosses. He just seems to get the willies. If he just converts the gimmes, and the wr have 1/3 to 1/2 the drops, we are a completely different offense. The plays are there to be made!