caveman99
All-American
Not coincidentally that is also right around when McBride convinced TO to let him convert from a 5-2 to a 4-3 and they started recruiting and assigning back 7 position players based on speed.I had a hard time finding Total Defense Rankings since 1973, but I got these numbers from the NCAA archived stats (in .pdf form) on their website for some context (offensive rank followed by defensive):
1989: 2nd, 8th (10-2)
1990: 10th, 7th (9-3)
1991: 3rd, 49th (9-2-1)
1992: 3rd, 24th (9-3)
1993: 7th, 12th (11-1)
1994: 8th, 4th (13-0)
1995: 1st, 13th (12-0) 53.2 ppg
1996: 3rd, 7th (11-2)
1997: 1st, 5th (13-0)
If anyone knows where to find 1973 - 1988 I would love to see that as well. I think what is undeniable is that (as stated by the OP) Tom Osborne was an offensive guru. But I do think what helped him get over the hump was a defense that significantly improved after 1992. In 1995, I think our team was not in the top 10 defensive only because our 2nd or 3rd team would be in by the 2nd half. If that assumption is correct then from 1994 - 1997 we had a top ten defense and offense every year.
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