stats

[pardonfan]

According to my math, we are giving up 52.7 ppg and 671 yards per game to teams not named VMI.
Last year we were a top 10 defense in the NCAA, not the MAC. What if Babers would have inherited a bad defense ?!?!
I get that you are going to give up more yards and points with this style, but I want Clawson back. The dog and pony show is not for me.

[pardonfan]

Sorry I can't help myself.
To give up 671 yards in one game in a season is embarrassing enough, but we have averaged that over 4 games....

[jpfalcon09]

According to my math, we are giving up 52.7 ppg and 671 yards per game to teams not named VMI.
Last year we were a top 10 defense in the NCAA, not the MAC. What if Babers would have inherited a bad defense ?!?!
I get that you are going to give up more yards and points with this style, but I want Clawson back. The dog and pony show is not for me.

If you want Clawson back you better start watching Wake Forest then. It's obvious the defense isn't good and the offense will have to compensate for it. We shall see how far it takes the team.

[MarkL]

We are 2-0 in shootouts. Now I don't like to make a living in shootouts but it is comforting to know our offense can do enough damage to make up for the D. The secondary has got to improve if we don't want to be in shootouts every week. And heaven help us if we play conference teams that can run as effectively as they can pass.

[Flipper]

That's just it...I think we have the best balance offensively in the entire conference. Our offense isn't 100% there yet and it won't be until Knapke gets it down and stops sailing balls and staring down WR's, but we have an incredible array of talent at RB and...even with Dieter hurt...WR. In a conference not known for defense, that's a huge advantage because the defense has to prepare for so much.

I think the defense is poised for a better outing...I wouldn't be at all surprised to see us hold Buffalo to 20-30 pts next week.

[Globetrotter]

Baylors numbers

Week 1 SMU 0 pts 67 total yards
Week 2 Northwestern St 6pts 202 total yards
Week 3 Buffalo 21pts 394 total yards
Week 4 Iowa State 28pts 339 total yards

[Flipper]

That's great for Baylor...it has no meaning or bearing for or on us..but that's awesome for them. It's great if you want to pick a stat that we will probably never look as good on since we face more plays and use a small sample size (five games) while you're doing it, knock yourself out.

[Globetrotter]

That's great for Baylor...it has no meaning or bearing for or on us..but that's awesome for them. It's great if you want to pick a stat that we will probably never look as good on since we face more plays and use a small sample size (five games) while you're doing it, knock yourself out.

Huh

They play the same system.

[Flipper]

Oh..well then..it's eactly the same then...same level of athletes...same experience in the system...same number of returning players with any experience in college football...yeah...that's not a superficial, meaningless comparison there at all

[gspointer]

That's just it...I think we have the best balance offensively in the entire conference. Our offense isn't 100% there yet and it won't be until Knapke gets it down and stops sailing balls and staring down WR's, but we have an incredible array of talent at RB and...even with Dieter hurt...WR. In a conference not known for defense, that's a huge advantage because the defense has to prepare for so much.

I think the defense is poised for a better outing...I wouldn't be at all surprised to see us hold Buffalo to 20-30 pts next week.

20-30 points? Wanna bet? We can split the difference at 25.

[Globetrotter]

Oh..well then..it's eactly the same then...same level of athletes...same experience in the system...same number of returning players with any experience in college football...yeah...that's not a superficial, meaningless comparison there at all

Not unless you want to completely ignore reality click your heels together make three really really strong hopeful wishes with all of your heart and wish away reality.

[Flipper]

More nonsense...thank you for reinforcing my point.

[hammb]

Baylor is 6 years into the system, and has also become THE premier, flashy program in one of the best HS football states in the country. That has built them into one of the best college football programs in the country, largely on the backs of an offensive system that we're trying to implement here.

If anything your consistent harping on Baylor's defense is a reason to shut the eff up about our defense and wait and see what we can become in a few years.

Similarly, Baylor really struggled in Briles's first year. They gave up 30+ points 8 times, all losses. Conversely in the games where they got the offense going the way it was supposed to, they pulled out some wins.

I firmly believe that Babers can win here, and can win much bigger than Clawson ever could have. Unfortunately our defensive players aren't making plays, we've been hit with a rash of injuries, and our new starting QB is really struggling at times. I still think we can win the MAC with this team, but the defense is going to have to start tackling to do it. Regardless, I have faith that Babers & Company will build this offense into one of the very best in college football, and the defense will become more than enough to win games.

[Globetrotter]

Baylor is 6 years into the system, and has also become THE premier, flashy program in one of the best HS football states in the country. That has built them into one of the best college football programs in the country, largely on the backs of an offensive system that we're trying to implement here.

If anything your consistent harping on Baylor's defense is a reason to shut the eff up about our defense and wait and see what we can become in a few years.

Similarly, Baylor really struggled in Briles's first year. They gave up 30+ points 8 times, all losses. Conversely in the games where they got the offense going the way it was supposed to, they pulled out some wins.

I firmly believe that Babers can win here, and can win much bigger than Clawson ever could have. Unfortunately our defensive players aren't making plays, we've been hit with a rash of injuries, and our new starting QB is really struggling at times. I still think we can win the MAC with this team, but the defense is going to have to start tackling to do it. Regardless, I have faith that Babers & Company will build this offense into one of the very best in college football, and the defense will become more than enough to win games.

My consistent harping? I brought them up once.

They are brought up because you, and others, have argued the horribleness of the defense is a necessity caused by the speed of the offense. That does not seem to be the case at all. Even when they were bad they were never this bad. This is worst defense in NCAA football in the last 2 years bad, if not more years.

[Falcon137]

It sucks having statistically the worst D in the country. But.....last years D wasn't exactly the steel curtain. The gave up points and yards to good teams and had trouble getting off the field at times **cough Toledo cough**. This years D is on the field for roughly twice as many drives. A much improved UMass had 19 drives compared to only 10 last year. It's the nature of the beast with this offense. Clawson grounded it out and wanted to own time of possession, Dino wants to score as many points as possible and doesn't care if it only takes 45 seconds to do it.

Missing Colvin and Lynch is huge. Those are 2 of the top 3 defensive players on this years team, IMO.

There were going to be lots of defensive growing pains this year before all the injuries happened. I thought from the beginning there would be a drop off in the secondary, Foster and Gates were the best and fastest players in last years secondary.

After the injuries look what has had to be replaced from last years defense -
Campbell and Colvin - Both DTs
Swan and Lynch - 2/3 of the LBs
Foster, Gates, Ward - 3/4 of the DBs

Granted UMass is UMass.....but they scored 38 on a Pac10 team and 31 on an SEC team. Frohnapfel has made them a much more dynamic team on offense.

If someone walked up to you in July and said, you are going to lose, Matt Johnson, Chris Gallon, Zach Colvin, and DJ Lynch for the year. And also have Ward and Dieter go down and miss significant time. Would you take a 3-2 start? Everyone would have said yes.

The MAC is not good this year, specifically MAC defenses. You've seen the worst of the BG defense, guys like Valdez, Sanford, Schwieterman, Nick Johnson, and Ballew are going to keep getting better. All freshman for what it's worth. 5 of the top 10 tacklers from Saturday. Hopefully Malik Brown can start working his way into the rotation...also a freshman.

This team can still go anywhere from 5-3 to 8-0 in conference play, all while playing with a ridiculously young defense.