Stats Check: 2010 Taylor vs 2011 Taylor

[jsneb83]

Another thing to take note is that in 2010, 19.8% (323 yards) of Taylor's passing yards and 50% (5 TDs) of his passing TDs were in one game against Okie State. Taylor was definitely more consistent this year than last.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Good lord, we could have one helluva statistics worksheet with a sweet comparison graph if we wanted to work that out. We'd make our college statistics professors proud!

[Warrior10]

Good lord, we could have one helluva statistics worksheet with a sweet comparison graph if we wanted to work that out. We'd make our college statistics professors proud!

 

[krill]

I still think Taylor's stats are quite skewed compared to contemporary college QB's because for whatever reason, we hardly ever utilize various receiver screens, or backs for check down passes. Maybe that's just not the direction Beck wants to go, but they are high % stat boosters and umm...well I don't understand why we wouldn't want to try getting the ball out to guys like Bell, Enunwa, Turner, Rex...the freshman trio not getting carries. That always mystified me with Helu too.

[zoogs]

Another thing to take note is that in 2010, 19.8% (323 yards) of Taylor's passing yards and 50% (5 TDs) of his passing TDs were in one game against Okie State. Taylor was definitely more consistent this year than last.

 

We can very clearly note when Taylor's development as a player fell off track last year, and it was after he got hurt.

[bshirt]

He has improved a lot this year, but doesn't play well in big games.

Wisc was the only really bad game he had this year. The rest of the time he was somewhere between OK and good. Northwestern he played well, the defense gave the game away, and Mich was a total team failure.

 

Ohio State was the only game I was impressed, and I was very impressed. Other games he did play from OK to good besides Wisscy and Mich, but those were two big games. I'd like us to let him throw more on the run and not be under center as much. Abdullah, Turner, Rex, Bell, Enunwa are all guys that need the ball and only Rex received those touches.

 

Agree about the use of personnel which is a Beck issue. I also don't like his use of Martinez in the run game most of the time. The old school option stuff gets the fans going from a nostalgia standpoint but doesn't suit Martinez's running skill which is a straight ahead burst or nothing. Zone read option suits him much better but then he will do things like run into the back of three linemen and completely miss a hole like he did in the Michigan game when they run it. Even with that I think that is what he is best suited for. He did manage to limit mistakes after the Wisconsin game but I'd like the coaches to try and turn him loose and be a real threat again. If he's all we've got at QB then let Taylor be Taylor.

 

Very true. To execute the option, you need to have a physical guy playing QB. Martinez is not that guy. The QB needs to step up and into traffic in order to force the edge to commit to him or the RB. Martinez runs back and out instead of into pursuit and outside. He doesn't really force the pursuit to commit as more often than not, Martinez runs towards the RB.

 

I a hoping that in the bowl game he is unleashed. There are no more games left this season so no real reason to "protect" him by the staff. Let him go at it 100%. I am sure there are significant designed QB runs we haven't seen or Beck wasn't willing to run do to fear of an injury.

 

I am too. Obviously Bo played it safe this year as I assume he didn't think Carnes was ready. We hardly ever called his number and then did the sliding thing the few times he did get the call. But the bowl game is the last game of the year so let him run, Bo.

[Landomatic]

I don't think a slight improvement over last year is anything to get too pumped up about. Good lord, I would hope he'd improve over last year. He was a freshman last year and he's a year older this year. Talk about celebrating something that should be a given with any college quarter back in the country.

 

That all being said, I think T-Mart is serviceable but I'm not seeing anything that makes me think he's the answer for the type of quarter back we need at the level we want to be at. I actually saw more signs of brilliance which lead me to believe he might be something special last year than I did this year. Last year at least he had some brilliant big play making abilities with his feet. I know that's not all on him and they are trying to keep him healthy. But take away his big play running game and he is just an okay quarter back.

[zoogs]

I agree with that, Landomatic. Don't anyone take this as a diss on Taylor, but he seems like a serviceable option at QB who improved mostly in shoring up some big liabilities due to his inexperience from last year. That is very promising, but he needs to get that extra oomph back into his game! - it is obvious he has playmaker potential, but if he hasn't already yet, he will next year, be evaluated on his overall quarterback play.

 

I agree especially with this: "But take away his big play running game and he is just an okay quarter back."

 

If Taylor is just an okay quarterback with his passing and contributes some solid running production, it seems his potential as a jolt of electricity into the offense is being misused. He could be a matchup nightmare on every single play. At QB, that is not the case.

[Warrior10]

I agree especially with this: "But take away his big play running game and he is just an okay quarter back."

 

Not bashing you because you are entitled to your own opinion. But I would say that the effort and focus put in by opposing defensive coordinators and players to stop his running is still causing problems. They have to game plan and play like at any given moment he could go 80 in a heartbeat.

[zoogs]

No doubt it causes problems because of his running threat, but on the flip side, they have to worry a lot less about confusing him with blitzes and coverages. That is where he is still very average - JMO. I forget which team it was this year, too, one of the players afterwards said it was the simplest defensive GP they'd ever put in.

 

Taylor may have that running ability, but so far, at least, he is a limiting factor on the O. (Just my opinion, again, and whether or not we may have anyone who could be better...) - I think that is why we have all these promising WRs, but we don't get a ton of production out of them. Why we have a TE matchup nightmare like Reed, but he is way underutilized. Why we have three stud freshman RBs, but none of them get significant carries after Taylor and Rex get their share.

[Warrior10]

I forget which team it was this year, too, one of the players afterwards said it was the simplest defensive GP they'd ever put in.

 

Probably Northwestern! Stealing plays was a walk in the park for those kids! haha

[hskrfan4life]

If he improves more (which he will I believe) over the off season and into next year, we should be great offensively. I'm just interested to see the defense.

 

(null)

[junior4949]

Last year, he played like a Heisman contender the first four or five games. This year, he somewhat struggled against the cupcakes. I think more than anything the stats highlight how hamstrung he has been to some extent by the coaching staff. Last year, we had QB's to come in and play if he got hurt. This year, we do not. He doesn't run as much, and he slides rather than making contact for an extra yard or two. For the most part, I think he's grown into the QB position more this year. However, his stats don't look much/any better because he doesn't play like he was allowed to last year because we don't really have a #2 QB. Our season would have been completely hosed this season had Martinez gone down with a season ending injury.

[beanman]

I forget which team it was this year, too, one of the players afterwards said it was the simplest defensive GP they'd ever put in.

 

Probably Northwestern! Stealing plays was a walk in the park for those kids! haha

 

It was Wisconsin. One of their players said afterward that it was the simplest game plan they ever put in (one of 3 calls was all they ran the entire game IIRC)

[funhusker]

I did the stats of average team defense we faced this year vs. last year. The rankings go to 120 and both Chattanooga (2011) and South Dakota State (2010) were not in the top 120 so I just had them cancel each other out. So here you go.

 

 

2010 Average Rank of Defense we faced- 68.69

 

2011 Average Rank of Defense we faced- 53.09 (that is excluding the currently ranked #4 South Carolina Defense we will face soon)

 

 

Total Team Defense 2011

(South Carolina #4)

Michigan State #5

Wisconsin #8

Penn State #10

Michigan #18

Ohio State #25

Iowa #68

Minnesota #77

Northwestern #80

Washington #94

Wyoming #98

Fresno State #101

Chattanooga did not make top 120 which is all that ranked.

 

Total Team Defense 2010

Missouri #6

Texas A&M #27

Oklahoma #35

Texas #51

Oklahoma State #69

Idaho #73

Kansas State #75

Iowa State #76

Colorado #90

Washington X2 #94

Western Kentucky #99

Kansas #104

South Dakota State did not make top 120

Thanks for your work so far................I went ahead and did the average defensive number of both season. Obviously we didn't have a championship game that we attended this year and I went ahead and left Washington out and South Carolina out, bowl games, so the numbers I was comparing were as close as possible. Can't help, but include Oklahoma in last years defensive hardness numbers. I came up with the following stats:

 

2010 average rank for defense: 66.58333

2011 average rank for defense: 53.09091

 

That's a pretty good difference IMO and shows that Taylor has gotten better this season despite the similar stats between 2010 and 2011.

 

If you take Oklahoma out of the equation from last year and compare the numbers they are:

 

2010 average rank for defense: 69.45455

2011 average rank for defense: 53.09091

It is a big difference as far as ranking but not necessarily by product.

 

Current stats per NCAA.com

53rd ranked defense: Western Kentucky @ 373.75 ypg

69th ranked defense: Purdue @ 388.5 ypg

 

(Which defense would you rather face?)

 

A difference of 14.75 ypg, that is not quite 1.5 first downs per game. (Granted, those first downs could be very important in determining the outcome of a game) My point is, it is hard to put too much stock into rankings. Rankings depend too much on who you play and what style you play. To quote every football coach that ever lived, "the only important statistic is our win/loss record.

 

I do think Martinez is much better this year, but I feel that it is the things that stats don't necessarily show that he became better at, aka "better decisions".