Illinois Week Pressers

I think finding that true bell cow RB that can physically and successfully get 20 carries per game, that will go a long way to getting wins.  I would guess that a true starter helps the OL as well.  They learn the nuances of the “feature back”, how quick he hits the hole, which way he goes off the block, how quick he plants the foot and gets vertical etc....They all get into a groove.  RB learns the strengths and tendencies of the OL.....No different than a QB developing the relationship with receivers......Like dancing with someone you know or a complete stranger.  

 
Mavric said:
I'm not saying we don't need to be better with penalties.  We do.

But I also think it's a bit over-blown and magnified because we've lost a lot of close games.  

We were #91 in the country in penalties per game last year.  Not good.  But one fewer penalty per game would have moved us up to #56.  Still not great but pretty middle-of-the-pack.  Two fewer penalties per game would have moved us up to #19 in the country.  But would two fewer penalties per game really seemed like that much of a difference?  I'm not sure.

We were #93 in the country in penalty yards per game last year.  Not good.  But 10 fewer yards per game would have moved us up to #59.  Still not great but pretty middle-of-the-pack.  20 fewer penalty yards per game would have moved us up to #19 in the country.  Depending on when and what those yards are the probably makes a difference but really only on a couple possessions during the game.  So maybe that makes a lot of difference and maybe not.

Basically, I think the rankings make it seem worse than it really is because there isn't a lot of difference between teams that are ranked significantly differently.
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I think the bigger issue is that our team hasn't been able to sustain a drive after a penalty.  Our offense has been one where if the drive wasn't basically perfect, they couldn't over come what happened.  Hopefully, with an improved and older offensive line, that changes.

It also would be interesting to know how many of those were on offense vs. defense.

 
Penalties are much smaller potatoes than special teams (as a whole of the four phases) and fumbles.

Penalties are just one piece of the pie on our systemic problems with struggling on fundamentals.

 
Mavric said:
I'm not saying we don't need to be better with penalties.  We do.

But I also think it's a bit over-blown and magnified because we've lost a lot of close games.  

We were #91 in the country in penalties per game last year.  Not good.  But one fewer penalty per game would have moved us up to #56.  Still not great but pretty middle-of-the-pack.  Two fewer penalties per game would have moved us up to #19 in the country.  But would two fewer penalties per game really seemed like that much of a difference?  I'm not sure.

We were #93 in the country in penalty yards per game last year.  Not good.  But 10 fewer yards per game would have moved us up to #59.  Still not great but pretty middle-of-the-pack.  20 fewer penalty yards per game would have moved us up to #19 in the country.  Depending on when and what those yards are the probably makes a difference but really only on a couple possessions during the game.  So maybe that makes a lot of difference and maybe not.

Basically, I think the rankings make it seem worse than it really is because there isn't a lot of difference between teams that are ranked significantly differently.
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These penalties should never happen if you have a disciplined team.  

False start, illegal formation, illegal substitution (12 men on the field), running into the kicker, sideline interference, delay of game, illegal motion, intentional grounding, interference with opportunity to catch (punt), defensive offside, fair catch interference, illegal man down field (lineman/pass plays).

(However, I can sometimes understand if one of those penalties occur in a game (like, defensive offside or illegal man downfield).

These are typical penalties that are understandable, because it's a physical game. Usually obvious calls.

holding offense, holding defense, pass interference, face mask, chop block, roughing the passer, horse-collar tackle, illegal block in the back, illegal hands to the face, targeting.

These are legit penalties that can also be highly questionable at times (when it's not an obvious penalty)...

holding (referee's discretion), block in the back (questionable), face mask (grazed, questionable), targeting "leaning with helmet" (questionable, then reviewed), roughing the passer (referee's discretion). Plus, for years defenses will flop for calls at times, and referees might see that and immediately throw a flag.

The questionable penalties by referees can drive everyone crazy.

But the bottom line is, we need to become a more disciplined team (eventually), and avoid shooting ourselves in the foot with certain penalties that are avoidable mistakes (see first part mentioned).

 
Mavric said:
I'm not saying we don't need to be better with penalties.  We do.

But I also think it's a bit over-blown and magnified because we've lost a lot of close games.  

We were #91 in the country in penalties per game last year.  Not good.  But one fewer penalty per game would have moved us up to #56.  Still not great but pretty middle-of-the-pack.  Two fewer penalties per game would have moved us up to #19 in the country.  But would two fewer penalties per game really seemed like that much of a difference?  I'm not sure.

We were #93 in the country in penalty yards per game last year.  Not good.  But 10 fewer yards per game would have moved us up to #59.  Still not great but pretty middle-of-the-pack.  20 fewer penalty yards per game would have moved us up to #19 in the country.  Depending on when and what those yards are the probably makes a difference but really only on a couple possessions during the game.  So maybe that makes a lot of difference and maybe not.

Basically, I think the rankings make it seem worse than it really is because there isn't a lot of difference between teams that are ranked significantly differently.
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The ranking for penalties is pretty pointless imo.  What matters is WHEN are you making those penalties.  If you only make one penalty per game, but it is a dumb penalty that always extends the scoring drive for the opponent, that is way worse than 5 penalties per game that never make a difference because your offense still gets the next first down or your defense still stops the opponent.  Nebraska's problem the last few years is that the penalties are at times that mattered.  Drive killing or drive extending penalties that made it harder to recover.

 
Caven said:
The ranking for penalties is pretty pointless imo.  What matters is WHEN are you making those penalties.  If you only make one penalty per game, but it is a dumb penalty that always extends the scoring drive for the opponent, that is way worse than 5 penalties per game that never make a difference because your offense still gets the next first down or your defense still stops the opponent.  Nebraska's problem the last few years is that the penalties are at times that mattered.  Drive killing or drive extending penalties that made it harder to recover.
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Haha... its not when you are making them, its all about when the ref chooses to call them. 

 
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