kamoshika
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2008
- Messages
- 4,281
- Likes
- 20,265
Our losing streak to top 10 teams is the longest in the SEC.
Historically, what we saw on Saturday was every bit as bad as it looked. I went back to 2003 and could not find a worse offensive performance (total yards or yards per play). We were outgained by 431 yards; not sure when we've had a bigger differential. And Alabama rushed for 438 yards, their highest total since the Tennessee game in 1986. Like Butch Jones said, "We pride ourselves in stopping the run, and thats unacceptable." Even though we've been decimated by injuries, our backups shouldn't have given up more yards on the ground than the likes of Western Kentucky and Kent State, IMO.
More randomness...
* Unsurprisingly, our SOS ranks pretty high: 7th per The Power Rank's Ed Feng, 6th per teamrankings.com and 2nd per Jeff Sagarin.
* When you look at our overall stats, it's a wonder we're 5-2 and still ranked in the top 20: 80th in total offense, 93rd in yards per rush, 88th in total defense, 82nd in turnover margin. Our running game's per-carry average (3.98) is almost a full yard below the rest of the SEC cumulatively (4.88). Of course, the preceding point about SOS has been a factor.
* Our yards-per-play margin, a good indicator of the relative strength of a team, is in negative territory (-0.37). In an individual game, a team with a 0.0 margin wins 50% of the time.
* It gets bandied about a lot, but our screen passes are the worst executed I've seen from any team in the past few years.
I don't analyze film so I don't know if we're telegraphing these completely wasted downs, but it sure appears to be the case when the defender-in-waiting swallows our receiver for a loss 2-3 times a game. We seemingly never have a blocker in front of the receiver on these plays; why not?
It baffles me to think that our offensive brain trust dissects our game film diligently, poring over every play again and again...and then after seeing what's not working, calls for the same play again and again. And for a fan, few other things are as maddening.
* I believe we started last season as the most-crippled team in college football in terms of players out with injuries. That wasn't the case this fall but we're now back at or near the top in a category no team wants to lead in. To me, that screams loud & clear that something ain't right about something we're doing -- and it needs to be identified & fixed. IMO, two years of this in a row indicate something other than bad luck on the injury front.
Historically, what we saw on Saturday was every bit as bad as it looked. I went back to 2003 and could not find a worse offensive performance (total yards or yards per play). We were outgained by 431 yards; not sure when we've had a bigger differential. And Alabama rushed for 438 yards, their highest total since the Tennessee game in 1986. Like Butch Jones said, "We pride ourselves in stopping the run, and thats unacceptable." Even though we've been decimated by injuries, our backups shouldn't have given up more yards on the ground than the likes of Western Kentucky and Kent State, IMO.
More randomness...
* Unsurprisingly, our SOS ranks pretty high: 7th per The Power Rank's Ed Feng, 6th per teamrankings.com and 2nd per Jeff Sagarin.
* When you look at our overall stats, it's a wonder we're 5-2 and still ranked in the top 20: 80th in total offense, 93rd in yards per rush, 88th in total defense, 82nd in turnover margin. Our running game's per-carry average (3.98) is almost a full yard below the rest of the SEC cumulatively (4.88). Of course, the preceding point about SOS has been a factor.
* Our yards-per-play margin, a good indicator of the relative strength of a team, is in negative territory (-0.37). In an individual game, a team with a 0.0 margin wins 50% of the time.
* It gets bandied about a lot, but our screen passes are the worst executed I've seen from any team in the past few years.
I don't analyze film so I don't know if we're telegraphing these completely wasted downs, but it sure appears to be the case when the defender-in-waiting swallows our receiver for a loss 2-3 times a game. We seemingly never have a blocker in front of the receiver on these plays; why not?
It baffles me to think that our offensive brain trust dissects our game film diligently, poring over every play again and again...and then after seeing what's not working, calls for the same play again and again. And for a fan, few other things are as maddening.
* I believe we started last season as the most-crippled team in college football in terms of players out with injuries. That wasn't the case this fall but we're now back at or near the top in a category no team wants to lead in. To me, that screams loud & clear that something ain't right about something we're doing -- and it needs to be identified & fixed. IMO, two years of this in a row indicate something other than bad luck on the injury front.
