Metrics and Nebraska football

[lo country]

Prior to the season there was a lot of talk about NU football hiring someone to track stats and metrics in an attempt, I am assuming, giving us an edge in our games with our own play calling as well as look at tendencies of our opponents. Was this a project to assist this year or next. If it was this year, have we used it yet or have we benefited yet?

 

Wanting to see if anyone has heard anything about it yet. Sounded pretty good reading about the possibilities.

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Prior to the season there was a lot of talk about NU football hiring someone to track stats and metrics in an attempt, I am assuming, giving us an edge in our games with our own play calling as well as look at tendencies of our opponents. Was this a project to assist this year or next. If it was this year, have we used it yet or have we benefited yet?

 

Wanting to see if anyone has heard anything about it yet. Sounded pretty good reading about the possibilities.

 

It's pretty hard to derive a benefit using a 2 (and now 3) game sample. I think this will be more beneficial with our conference opponents, who we'll play on a yearly basis allowing us to track information over time, see what trends develop, etc...

[Mavric]

Haven't heard anything else yet. They said for now (this year at least I assume) it would mostly be in a scouting type roll. I'm assuming looking for tendencies in opponents and also looking at our own team. So I would guess it would be mostly in the game planning stage for now.

 

But I don't know if they really have the ear of the coaches yet or not. Would be interesting to find out how their data is being used.

[lo country]

Haven't heard anything else yet. They said for now (this year at least I assume) it would mostly be in a scouting type roll. I'm assuming looking for tendencies in opponents and also looking at our own team. So I would guess it would be mostly in the game planning stage for now.

 

But I don't know if they really have the ear of the coaches yet or not. Would be interesting to find out how their data is being used.

Agree. Here is an interesting read about a HS coach in NC who used the statistics from every college game over three years and implemented what he found. HIs record? 124-22. Not saying its the answer, but an interesting view and his interpretation of the stats....

[Moiraine]

It's not a project, it's the Sports Analytics Department. I'm not sure how many employees they have but I know they're hiring interns right now. They can do much more than just track stuff in games. The possibilities are literally endless. They can test angles in the left and right legs when an athlete is doing a squat to see if one leg is used more than the other for the lift. They can do brain scans to see if the image patterns are different between people who've had concussion symptoms and people who haven't.

I realize none of that answers your question . I'm certain they're in contact with coaches though. The guy who runs it worked with the athletic department for his dissertation, so he's been around for a few years.

Here's a video. I haven't actually watched it yet. Just did a search and found it.

http://news.yahoo.com/video/tucker-zeleny-position-nebraska-athletic-131436071.html;_ylt=A0LEV77MVQNWdEEAkGYnnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTBydWNmY2MwBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwM0BHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--

[Lux]

There are so many variables to the game it will be interesting to see where it all leads.

[lo country]

I forgot to post the links about HS coaches and their studies:

 

http://www.citizen-times.com/story/sports/2014/10/13/high-school-coach-never-punts-always-onside-kicks/17213961/

 

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/high-schools/headlines/20150902-highland-park-s-arkansas-opponent-embraces-the-unconventional.ece

 

Another interesting fact from the second article. After going through tape and ESPN stats, teams that won the TO margin won 80% of the time. Teams that had more big plays (20+ yards) won 81% of the time. The coach uses these to avoid punts, kick offs and uses numerous "trick" plays to get the yardage. The concept of win the TO and big play margin are well know. I don't know that the percentages were that large.

[NUinID]

I doubt that they will share any of their findings in season with the general public.

[ColoradoHusk]

I forgot to post the links about HS coaches and their studies:

 

http://www.citizen-times.com/story/sports/2014/10/13/high-school-coach-never-punts-always-onside-kicks/17213961/

 

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/high-schools/headlines/20150902-highland-park-s-arkansas-opponent-embraces-the-unconventional.ece

 

Another interesting fact from the second article. After going through tape and ESPN stats, teams that won the TO margin won 80% of the time. Teams that had more big plays (20+ yards) won 81% of the time. The coach uses these to avoid punts, kick offs and uses numerous "trick" plays to get the yardage. The concept of win the TO and big play margin are well know. I don't know that the percentages were that large.

As a stat nerd, I have been interested in what the coach at Pulaski Academy does. Now, I think him going for it on every 4th down and kicking onside kicks every time is made an easier decision when high school kickers just aren't very good. In college and the NFL, when kickers can make more FG's and punters can flip the field position the math that he would use doesn't hold, as well.

 

I do think that teams should go for it on 4th down more often than they do. Once a team passes mid-field I think it's advantageous to have a strategy of planning to go for it on 4th down. Way too many times do coaches do the "conservative" thing by punting the ball away from the 40 yard line.

[BigRedBuster]

 

I forgot to post the links about HS coaches and their studies:

 

http://www.citizen-times.com/story/sports/2014/10/13/high-school-coach-never-punts-always-onside-kicks/17213961/

 

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/high-schools/headlines/20150902-highland-park-s-arkansas-opponent-embraces-the-unconventional.ece

 

Another interesting fact from the second article. After going through tape and ESPN stats, teams that won the TO margin won 80% of the time. Teams that had more big plays (20+ yards) won 81% of the time. The coach uses these to avoid punts, kick offs and uses numerous "trick" plays to get the yardage. The concept of win the TO and big play margin are well know. I don't know that the percentages were that large.

As a stat nerd, I have been interested in what the coach at Pulaski Academy does. Now, I think him going for it on every 4th down and kicking onside kicks every time is made an easier decision when high school kickers just aren't very good. In college and the NFL, when kickers can make more FG's and punters can flip the field position the math that he would use doesn't hold, as well.

 

I do think that teams should go for it on 4th down more often than they do. Once a team passes mid-field I think it's advantageous to have a strategy of planning to go for it on 4th down. Way too many times do coaches do the "conservative" thing by punting the ball away from the 40 yard line.

 

I agree. Many times those punts from the 40 go into the end zone so the ball is on the 25. So, there is a 15 yard gain. However, that advantage in the game is nowhere close to what you would get if you would get one or two yards and a 1st down.

[Bigred_inSD]

If you are coach Boone from remember the titans all you need to do is find a high school math teacher for this stuff.