The answer is turnovers

[jkleno]

Why are we 5-3 instead of 7-1? Turnovers. Our defense has held their own even playing 2nd and 3rd stringers for most of the year. The blame is not all on the coaches or the players, if we had better ball control and even forced a few more turnovers on defense, we would be ranked #7 in the nation. The USCe game epitomized this as well did the TAMU game. Looking forward to the rest of the season and finishing strong!

 

[zidanefan]

I hate to be a broken record, but the turnovers don't answer the issue of not being prepared to play at the start of games or poor coaching/playcalling, use of skill guys, etc...

 

[Phil-A-Man Jaro]

I hate to be a broken record, but the turnovers don't answer the issue of not being prepared to play at the start of games or poor coaching/playcalling, use of skill guys, etc...

True. But if we don't make turnovers, we cover up most of that stuff based on pure talent alone.

Underachieving year. Kinda sad.

 

[KBVol]

Why are we 5-3 instead of 7-1? Turnovers. Our defense has held their own even playing 2nd and 3rd stringers for most of the year. The blame is not all on the coaches or the players, if we had better ball control and even forced a few more turnovers on defense, we would be ranked #7 in the nation. The USCe game epitomized this as well did the TAMU game. Looking forward to the rest of the season and finishing strong!

Yes and no. Yes, Turnovers definitely cost us the TAM game and hurt us again vs SCar, although we should've been able to absorb 3 TOs vs a bad SCar team and still win.

But, IMO, the defense has no held its own all year long, with exception of a few drives here and a half of football there.

We're giving up nearly 10 more points per game and our national rankings in all categories are all down significantly compared to last season. Yes, we've had injuries, but we've seen the exact same defensive issues/deficiencies every game this year from App State, whether we were playing with our starters or with their backups.

 

[jkleno]

With the injuries along the defensive line, LBs and corners, do we really have that much more talent than USCe? USCe was +3 in turnovers. I think we lose more than 1/2 the games we play if we turn the ball over 3+ times than our opponent.

 

[OrangeIsLife]

Why are we 5-3 instead of 7-1? Turnovers. Our defense has held their own even playing 2nd and 3rd stringers for most of the year. The blame is not all on the coaches or the players, if we had better ball control and even forced a few more turnovers on defense, we would be ranked #7 in the nation. The USCe game epitomized this as well did the TAMU game. Looking forward to the rest of the season and finishing strong!

Turnovers are just one of the questions.

OFFENSE
* Scoring: 68th
* Total: 92nd
* Yards per play: 95th
* Rushing: 75th
* Rushing yards per attempt: 96th
* Passing: 81st
* Passing efficiency: 69th
* 1st downs: 101st
* 3rd-down conversion percentage: 78th
* 4th-down conversion percentage: 121st
* Long scrimmage plays (20+ yards): 67th

DEFENSE
* Scoring: 76th
* Total: 69th
* Yards per play allowed: 68th
* Rushing: 99th
* Rushing yards per attempt: 99th
* Passing: 37th
* Passing defense efficiency: 59th
* Red zone: 60th

SPECIAL TEAMS/OTHER
* Punt returns: 54th
* Opponent punt returns: 122nd
* Opponent KO returns: 49th
* Turnovers: 123rd
* TO margin: 108th
* Fewest penalty yards per game: 71st
* Time of possession: 95th

 

[CourtJester]

Why are we 5-3 instead of 7-1? Turnovers. Our defense has held their own even playing 2nd and 3rd stringers for most of the year. The blame is not all on the coaches or the players, if we had better ball control and even forced a few more turnovers on defense, we would be ranked #7 in the nation. The USCe game epitomized this as well did the TAMU game. Looking forward to the rest of the season and finishing strong!

Maybe, but you could also say TO's are why we're 5-3 instead of 4-4. I doubt we beat VT without recovering 5 of their fumbles.

 

[volboy81]

TOs are the reason we're not 7-1, but if we had of given our all for Tennessee on Sat night, we'd be 6-2 (and by we, I mean the players) They acted like we couldn't have cared less about playing, for the most part.

 

[BeardedVol]

Why are we 5-3 instead of 7-1? Turnovers. Our defense has held their own even playing 2nd and 3rd stringers for most of the year. The blame is not all on the coaches or the players, if we had better ball control and even forced a few more turnovers on defense, we would be ranked #7 in the nation. The USCe game epitomized this as well did the TAMU game. Looking forward to the rest of the season and finishing strong!

You seem to have blocked the first three games of the season from your mind. You know, when the defense was pretty much at 100%, and still struggled.

 

[Glocker_Alum_2005]

No doubt we have played sloppy. I remember after that long run by Kelly on Saturday in the 4Q. I thought next we'll throw a INT, instead we had that fluke fumble where the backup RB hit Dobbs arm while he was winding up.

 

[Johncarter53]

Why are we 5-3 instead of 7-1? Turnovers. Our defense has held their own even playing 2nd and 3rd stringers for most of the year. The blame is not all on the coaches or the players, if we had better ball control and even forced a few more turnovers on defense, we would be ranked #7 in the nation. The USCe game epitomized this as well did the TAMU game. Looking forward to the rest of the season and finishing strong!

If we only tackled better, didn't drop the ball, made the right reads...or had the other teams committeded more penalties, missed their tackles, and dropped their passes... We would be the #1 team in the nation

 

[jkleno]

Maybe, but you could also say TO's are why we're 5-3 instead of 4-4. I doubt we beat VT without recovering 5 of their fumbles.

That was very true about Va Tech.