Dismal record in turnover margin

kchusker_chris said:
Lost on top, gained on bottom...2008 through this year. That 13 is pretty rough. 26 seems about in line w/ where we've been. We took the risk from the zone-read exchange to the air so we're throwing INTs versus fumbling, but all-in-all about the same. Need to improve certainly, but not as dismal as some make this season out to be. The D needs to figure things out in this area more than the O IMO.

28, 23, 24, 19, 35, 29, 25, 26,

17, 28, 23, 18, 23, 18, 23, 13
Click to expand...
D definitely needs to clean things up. Struggling to get consistent pressure on the QB, mixed with a suspect secondary that is non existent at times= minimal INTs, fumbles are more of a luck thing IMO

It also wouldn't hurt if Tommy could cut down on the INTs, its a mix of play calling and reducing the bone headed throws into triple coverage. He was 2nd in the country in picks this year and probably would have been #1 if he hadn't missed the Purdue game, that's simply unacceptable

 
Enhance89 said:
saunders45 said:
cornographic said:
The TO margin, I hate to say it, was mostly on TA this year as I don't recall us losing too many fumbles. Really, and I also hate to say this, TA shoulders a good deal of the blame for a number of our losses this year. The INTs just killed us.

Penalties also a big issue again this year.
Click to expand...
I'll give him blame for some of it, but the coaches have to put him in position to succeed. He's never been a precision passer, and asking him to transform into one is reckless. It's like asking a 7' guy to be your point guard, or a 5'6" guy to be your center. It's ill advised.
Click to expand...
Nailed it.

To me, it's a pretty 50/50 split for blame. I do feel some pity for TA this season simply because I don't think he's being asked to play to his strengths all the time. At the same time, he has to be better than some of the lame duck throws he likes to put up.

The team's 0-4 record this season when he throws 40 or more passes should be the big red flag.
Click to expand...
Agree with all this. It's not a mystery to most fans that they should have been running much more read option with TA--I mean, look at tOSU and Barrett. So, yeah, it's on the coaches too.

 
gossamorharpy said:
It also wouldn't hurt if Tommy could cut down on the INTs, its a mix of play calling and reducing the bone headed throws into triple coverage. He was 2nd in the country in picks this year and probably would have been #1 if he hadn't missed the Purdue game, that's simply unacceptable
Click to expand...
the Purdue game - where 20% of our turnovers occurred...

the thing with Tommy's INTs this season is almost every one of them was preventable. It wasn't a tipped pass, or a spectacular play by a defender - it was a LBer standing in the middle w/ his thumb up his a$$ getting a packaged gift from TA - or a heave and a prayer into triple coverage. I don't remember that being as prevalent last year. I'd think it would be something that could be easily addressed. I'm surprised it was still happening the last week of the season, in 30 degree weather on a windy day. 4 INT's in those conditions is inexcusable and largely on the staff. those are pound the rock, take your points and don't give the game away conditions. You aren't putting up 60, you're lucky to get to 20. Don't put the team in a position to have to overcome a bunch of points offensively.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
How does this go on for years seemingly unaddressed? Is there another program that has such a long streak of turnovers? (I see the four mentioned above, but that refers to a 4 year span)

Has there been a program like this where it went on like this for years and then all of a sudden they snapped out of it? Just seems like it is in our DNA after this much time.

 
Sparker said:
How does this go on for years seemingly unaddressed? Is there another program that has such a long streak of turnovers? (I see the four mentioned above, but that refers to a 4 year span)

Has there been a program like this where it went on like this for years and then all of a sudden they snapped out of it? Just seems like it is in our DNA after this much time.
Click to expand...
A lot of it falls on quarterback play, unfortunately, a department they've been very inconsistent in. Martinez, for all the praise he saw and explosiveness he provided at times, led the NATION in turnovers.

Now, we have a quarterback who had the unfortunate responsibility of having to go through a complete offensive overhaul and isn't a great passer to begin with.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Sparker said:
How does this go on for years seemingly unaddressed? Is there another program that has such a long streak of turnovers? (I see the four mentioned above, but that refers to a 4 year span)

Has there been a program like this where it went on like this for years and then all of a sudden they snapped out of it? Just seems like it is in our DNA after this much time.
Click to expand...
We went from TMart to TArm. Both are not, how would you say, quintessential passers or decision makers thereof, to say the least, and they have/had been asked to throw alot. Sooo, the INTs aren't a huge mystery. We also had a few years of fumbleitis under Beck with Ameer and some of those other guys.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Illinois - 32.3%, 0 TD, 1 INT

Wisconsin - 39.3% 1 TD, 0 INT

Minnesota - 69.2%, 3 TD, 0 INT

Northwestern - 50%, 1 TD, 1 INT

Mich St - 57.6%, 2 TD, 2 INT

Rutgers 66.6%, 3 TD, 3 INT

Iowa - 55.6%, 0 TD, 4 INT

That's not going to get it done if you want to win a B10 championship.

His passing stats are the same or worse than last year, and he was sacked less this season. His rushing stats were also down from a year ago

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I've shared before that Oregon State's 2006 team had fantastic turnover margin stats. That was after just a few years there for Riley and Banker. I've also shared that the number of fumbles given up by the Corn this season is considerably better than the national average...but that's just one of seven stats within the turnover margin category. The z-scores, calculated to reflect all the games played through last weekend, are as follows for Nebraska for turnover margin:

fumbles gained per game: -1.253

interceptions gained per game: -0.680

total turnovers gained per game: -1.207

fumbles lost per game: 1.098

interceptions lost per game: -2.200

total turnovers lost per game: -1.178

turnover margin per game: -1.564

So, as you can see, the greatest difference from the national average is in interceptions lost per game. The z-score for fumbles lost per game is actually positive enough that you'd say Nebraska's in the top third statistically. To be precise, though, Nebraska's tied for 16th (when only considering games between FBS teams - they're 12th if you count all the games played by FBS teams this season).

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Sparker said:
How does this go on for years seemingly unaddressed? Is there another program that has such a long streak of turnovers? (I see the four mentioned above, but that refers to a 4 year span)

Has there been a program like this where it went on like this for years and then all of a sudden they snapped out of it? Just seems like it is in our DNA after this much time.
Click to expand...
My contention has been for some time that we've been the "victim" of a couple (now three) players that were particularly turnover-prone. But those players got a lot of snaps over several years.

Martinez threw his share of INTs and fumbled a lot. He started for 3+ seasons.

Abdullah was below average on ball security. He played a lot for 3+ seasons. He was better last year but wasn't very good his first three years.

TA doesn't fumble very much but throws a lot of INTs. He's started for almost 3 seasons.

That's our starting QB for the last six years being pretty turnover prone. Plus a RB who got a lot of carries for three years.

I'm not so sure it's as much of a program thing as we've just happened to have guys who are multi-year starters.

Fumbles are hard to manage. If you have players as dynamic as Martinez and Abdullah, you take the chance of the fumble as a (relatively) small offset to the game-changing plays they can make. Interceptions are another story. Coaches can manage them better with play-calling. With Abdullah improving last year and TA managed a little better, we were much improved in the turnover category. Not having Martinez and Abdullah around has lead to a great decrease in fumbles but TA has more than made up for it with bad passes.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top