Most Improved Scoring Defenses

cowboyjoe · Post by **cowboyjoe** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 9:45 pm

We have moved up to number 7 this year...nice.

Team Improvement 2007 and 2008 Scoring Defense
1. Florida............14.2...........(25.5 in 2007, 11.3 in 2008)
2. N. Illinois........12.1...........(30.8 in 2007, 17.7 in 2008)
3. Fla. Inter.........11.9...........(39.1 in 2007, 27.2 in 2008)
4. Boise State........11.3...........(21.6 in 2007, 10.3 in 2008)
5. Northwestern.......10.8...........(31.0 in 2007, 20.2 in 2008)
6. Navy...............10.7...........(36.4 in 2007, 25.7 in 2008)
7. Bowling Green.......9.3...........(32.1 in 2007, 22.8 in 2008)

Rollo83 · Post by **Rollo83** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 11:01 pm

No s&it? Let's just extend Brandon another 3 years. What do you say?

VDub26Falcon · Post by **VDub26Falcon** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:07 am

Yeah, the Defense is only giving up 20+ points a game, but the offense is averaging less than that, and if they aren't it's because of games like Kent where they blow up and skew the numbers!! I've never really doubted our defensive strengths...it's the offensive playcalling!

tiznow · Post by **tiznow** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:17 am

VDub26Falcon wrote:Yeah, the Defense is only giving up 20+ points a game, but the offense is averaging less than that, and if they aren't it's because of games like Kent where they blow up and skew the numbers!! I've never really doubted our defensive strengths...it's the offensive playcalling!

Besides the 45 against Kent, don't forget the 27 against Pitt, 45 against Wyoming, the 37 against Akron and the 28 against Ohio, take out those games and they average below 20 points a game.

1987alum · Post by **1987alum** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:18 am

Can we at least give some props to Coach Ward for some improvement?

Warthog · Post by **Warthog** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:21 am

1987alum wrote:Can we at least give some props to Coach Ward for some improvement?

Yes, give credit where credit is due. Brandon is supposedly an offensive genius, so why would he have anything to do with our defense improving. Keep up the good work Coach Ward!

bgsufalcon24 · Post by **bgsufalcon24** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:57 am

VDub26Falcon wrote:Yeah, the Defense is only giving up 20+ points a game, but the offense is averaging less than that, and if they aren't it's because of games like Kent where they blow up and skew the numbers!! I've never really doubted our defensive strengths...it's the offensive playcalling!

Pittsburgh 27-17 (+10)
Minnesota 17-42 (-25)
Boise State 7-20 (-13)
Wyoming 45-14 (+31)
Eastern Michigan 21-24 (-3)
Akron 37-33 (+4)
Miami 20-27 (-7)
Northern Illinois 13-16 (-3)
Kent State 45-30 (+15)
Ohio 28-3 (+25)

BG Offensive Average - 26.0 ppg (-5.7 ppg from 2007)
BG Defensive Average - 22.6 ppg (+6.0 ppg from 2007)

*these numbers are regular season only, they don't include the bowl game

Clearly, the defense is better, and the offense isn't as good as compared from a year ago.

Given these averages, its a wonder why we are only 5-5, as 6-4 or 7-3 seems more like an appropriate extrapolated record when you outscore teams on average 3.4 per game. We had virtually the same average from a year ago and went 8-4. The difference is that we were blown out in a few of our losses (BC, Miami) and this year we've only been blown out really once (Minnesota), and lost a lot of close games (EMU, Miami, NIU). On the other side, the only team we've beaten by less than a touchdown is Akron.

The statistics side of my brain is forced to conclude that we are better than our record would indicate, and that we'll win these last two games to make up for it. Whether that will actually play out is another matter.

Rollo83 · Post by **Rollo83** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:34 pm

The statistics side of my brain is forced to conclude that we are better than our record would indicate, and that we'll win these last two games to make up for it. Whether that will actually play out is another matter.[/quote]

"They are who we thought they were."