In '97, their defense gave up less than 10 points a game.
In both of his tenures, the offense averaged more than 30 PPG once.
DeBord may be a great guy and a great mentor, what he has never done is put a high powered offense by today's standards on the field.
This year, there were 58 teams that had offenses that scored more than 30 ppg as a point of reference.
So, we compare 1997 scoring to 2014 scoring. I don't have stats, but I will about guarantee that scoring is higher now than in 1997. I do know that 4 Big 10 teams outscored Mich in ppg in 1997....OSU, Iowa, Purdue, and PSU.
Iowa 34.25
Purdue 33
Penn St 30.5
Ohio St 30.3
Maybe Michigan didn't feel the need to score 30, and didn't have to come from behind, so they played ball control. I think that you are grasping at straws while trying to put a negative spin on Debord.
EDIT:
1) Would you think that it is reasonable that Chaney tried to score as many points as possible in 2012, knowing that when his offense sat down, that the other team would probably score? Do you think that he was aggressive calling plays?
2) If you agree that is a reasonable assumption, would the opposite not also be true? Since Michigan had a defense that some said gave up only 10 points per game, wouldn't the offensive coordinator be less likely to take chances , and call a wide open game? That could result in the 7 points fewer per game than the Big 10 leader Iowa.
By the way, there were 12 teams in the Big 10 in 1997, so Michigan scored more ppg than 7 of them, and less than 4.
