** 2017 Opponent Previews: Purdue (Game 8) **
- Thread starter Saunders
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Boosted by a couple really big plays.
Wisconsin - 381 yards on 61 plays, 6.2 ypp; 1 80 yard TD - without that it was 5.0 ypp which would be #110 in the country for the season
Ohio State - 393 yards on 63 plays, 6.2 ypp; 1 77 yard TD - without that it was 5.1 ypp
Granted, those are two of the better defenses we'll see this year. So that's good. But 6.2 ypp would only be tied for 41st in the country for the year - we are actually at 5.6 which is 70th.
So there are two questions:
Can we continue to get the big plays to help boost our average and output?
We are currently #83 in the country in total plays run - 68.9 per game - so can we stay on the field more to be able to run more plays and take advantage of a better ypp?
Wisconsin - 381 yards on 61 plays, 6.2 ypp; 1 80 yard TD - without that it was 5.0 ypp which would be #110 in the country for the season
Ohio State - 393 yards on 63 plays, 6.2 ypp; 1 77 yard TD - without that it was 5.1 ypp
Granted, those are two of the better defenses we'll see this year. So that's good. But 6.2 ypp would only be tied for 41st in the country for the year - we are actually at 5.6 which is 70th.
So there are two questions:
Can we continue to get the big plays to help boost our average and output?
We are currently #83 in the country in total plays run - 68.9 per game - so can we stay on the field more to be able to run more plays and take advantage of a better ypp?
These two stats will often be an inverse of each other for good offenses simply because good offenses get more big plays thus limiting the number of plays ran. The top two offenses in yards per play (and high in most offensive respects) are Oklahoma and Central Florida and they have play per game numbers similar to Nebraska. Stanford is 4th in ypp and rank near the bottom in plays run. Ohio St is an example of a team that ranks high in both due to consistency in medium yardage plays, like we saw against them.
in general, plays ran has become an inflated statistic because teams are using high play totals to exploit substitution patterns and not so much because there is an intrinsic benefit to running more plays. It's a drive based game, not play based, and so the ultimate measure is drive success. Running more plays may or may not equate to more drives, depending on teams and conditions.
What Nebraska needs to focus on is better sustaining drives and lessening the strain to sustain drives by getting bigger plays, and that deficit as noted here and discussed last week is in the running game. The speed and acceleration of the current backs leaves a lot to be desired, IMO.
Generally speaking, all that is true.
But I don't think it's realistic to compare us to the best offenses in the country. We don't have to go from #70 in yards per play to #10. The 6.2 ypp from the last two games would be about #40 which would be a good improvement and get us to being at least an average offense instead of well below average.
And to make those improvements, we could use to be better at both. I wasn't talking about running plays faster. I was actually talking about sustaining drives which would lead to more points - though I admit that wasn't clearly stated in my previous post. We are currently #85 in the country in points per game, and that's what really needs to improve.
We are #70 in yards per play for the season at 5.6 which gets us 385.6 yards per game (#81). Other teams that have similar yards per play include Utah (5.66, 407.7), Texas (5.35, 401.7), Houston (5..69, 443.3), and Washington State (5.75, 448.9). They all have similar yards per play but are getting more yards per game because they are staying on the field more. I'm sure there are examples the other way as well. But I was just pointing out that having better ypp numbers have been a bit skewed over a small sample size and will really only be helpful if it leads to more yards - and, hopefully, more points.
Regarding 3rd downs:
If Nebraska defends like we've discussed in other threads, and like others have defended Purdue, then Nebraska will win out in this regard. As we all know, Nebraska's defense has gone up and down with regard to opponent, particularly with regards to the passing ability of the opponent. Purdue, however, has struggled in this regard consistently and even when they've otherwise had a decent passing day.
If Nebraska defends like we've discussed in other threads, and like others have defended Purdue, then Nebraska will win out in this regard. As we all know, Nebraska's defense has gone up and down with regard to opponent, particularly with regards to the passing ability of the opponent. Purdue, however, has struggled in this regard consistently and even when they've otherwise had a decent passing day.
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You can't remove our big plays without removing other teams as well. I get where you're coming from, but if you're taking away our two largest plays or whatever, due it for everyone.