Yards per Point

[Mavric]

[No message]

 

[LaunchCode]

We just need to score on 1st or 2nd down because we are not good on 3rd down.

63 3rd down attempts only 20 conversions.   122nd in nation.

 

[Mierin]

I think he might be oversimplifying by saying "that's what penalties will do." Untimely penalties and an offense that doesn't consistently convert on 3rd down, maybe? I don't even know if the last part is true about Nebraska. I just know there are heavily penalized teams that do well at scoring, like UCF last season. I suppose most of UCF's could've been on the defense.

 

[Mavric]

I think he might be oversimplifying by saying "that's what penalties will do." Untimely penalties and an offense that doesn't consistently convert on 3rd down, maybe? I don't even know if the last part is true about Nebraska. I just know there are heavily penalized teams that do well at scoring, like UCF last season. I suppose most of UCF's could've been on the defense.

I'm sure it's a bit of an over-simplification.  But i think it's been pretty true for us.  We had a big play against Purdue wiped out by Foster's illegal hit.  We were moving the ball a couple times against Wisconsin before penalties backed us up.  While not exactly what he said, we've often started in worse field position because of a penalty on special teams.

It's pretty much what I said three years ago during Riley's first year when we were heavily penalized.  Penalties aren't a good indicator of wins and losses.  But my theory on that is that's because good teams can overcome the penalties and still win - Ohio State is #120 in penalty yardage this year, Michigan is #116.  And bad teams that don't commit many penalties are still bad - 1-5 Old Dominion is #8 in fewest penalty yards.  But for teams that are right on the bubble and playing a lot of close games - like we are this year and like we did in 2015 - penalties can make a huge difference.  One more score for us or one less score for the opponents would have changed the game in our favor against Colorado or Troy and could have made things different down the stretch against Purdue or Wisconsin.

 

[Mierin]

I'm sure it's a bit of an over-simplification.  But i think it's been pretty true for us.  We had a big play against Purdue wiped out by Foster's illegal hit.  We were moving the ball a couple times against Wisconsin before penalties backed us up.  While not exactly what he said, we've often started in worse field position because of a penalty on special teams.

It's pretty much what I said three years ago during Riley's first year when we were heavily penalized.  Penalties aren't a good indicator of wins and losses.  But my theory on that is that's because good teams can overcome the penalties and still win - Ohio State is #120 in penalty yardage this year, Michigan is #116.  And bad teams that don't commit many penalties are still bad - 1-5 Old Dominion is #8 in fewest penalty yards.  But for teams that are right on the bubble and playing a lot of close games - like we are this year and like we did in 2015 - penalties can make a huge difference.  One more score for us or one less score for the opponents would have changed the game in our favor against Colorado or Troy and could have made things different down the stretch against Purdue or Wisconsin.

Ya I can agree with that. I think instead of studying all games someone should narrow it down to games that were within 10 points, or teams that had X+ games that had <= 10 point margins. Then figure out whether penalties are a top factor.