Nebraska’s Decade-Plus of Mind-Melting Turnovers

[Saunders]

Doesn't help having a run first QB the last few years. Obviously, if we want to win something of value this needs to be corrected.

I think that the QB with fumblitis was TMart due to him always trying to reach out the football to gain a half of a yard.

Martinez and Armstrong have the same instinct, whether running or passing, and it's what the NBA pundits call "hero ball."

You know you're an exciting player and you can make exciting things happen, but you never quite learn when it's smarter to tuck the ball and declare the play over.

Somehow the whole turnover issue on both sides of the ball goes to the same issue of fundamentals, discipline and desire. Especially since the turnover issue appears to parallel the spike in penalties.

Somebody with more discipline and desire can look up Nebraska's past decade of penalties.

But with penalties, there's no correlation between penalty rankings and winning percentage.

 

[MichiganDad3]

Doesn't help having a run first QB the last few years. Obviously, if we want to win something of value this needs to be corrected.

More precision at the QB position would do wonders. I think the team threw 21 interceptions overall last year, most of those obviously from TA.

NU finished the season with 6 fumbles lost in 2015, which puts them in the Top 37 of teams, which isn't bad.

I think it just goes to show how important it is to have better ball security at the QB position.

While I don't disagree with this, our defense has not come even remotely close to holding up their end of the deal either

Agree, not only do we not intercept many passes, we don't knock the ball loose very often.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Doesn't help having a run first QB the last few years. Obviously, if we want to win something of value this needs to be corrected.

I think that the QB with fumblitis was TMart due to him always trying to reach out the football to gain a half of a yard.

Martinez and Armstrong have the same instinct, whether running or passing, and it's what the NBA pundits call "hero ball."

You know you're an exciting player and you can make exciting things happen, but you never quite learn when it's smarter to tuck the ball and declare the play over.

Somehow the whole turnover issue on both sides of the ball goes to the same issue of fundamentals, discipline and desire. Especially since the turnover issue appears to parallel the spike in penalties.

Somebody with more discipline and desire can look up Nebraska's past decade of penalties.

But with penalties, there's no correlation between penalty rankings and winning percentage.

I didn't know that. A bit surprising if so.

Maybe there should be an auxiliary category: stupid penalties.

Fun Fact: Nebraska's #2 ranked 12-1 Big 12 Championship team from 1999 led the NCAA in fumbles.

 

[Saunders]

Doesn't help having a run first QB the last few years. Obviously, if we want to win something of value this needs to be corrected.

I think that the QB with fumblitis was TMart due to him always trying to reach out the football to gain a half of a yard.

Martinez and Armstrong have the same instinct, whether running or passing, and it's what the NBA pundits call "hero ball."

You know you're an exciting player and you can make exciting things happen, but you never quite learn when it's smarter to tuck the ball and declare the play over.

Somehow the whole turnover issue on both sides of the ball goes to the same issue of fundamentals, discipline and desire. Especially since the turnover issue appears to parallel the spike in penalties.

Somebody with more discipline and desire can look up Nebraska's past decade of penalties.

But with penalties, there's no correlation between penalty rankings and winning percentage.

I didn't know that. A bit surprising if so.

Maybe there should be an auxiliary category: stupid penalties.

Fun Fact: Nebraska's #2 ranked 12-1 Big 12 Championship team from 1999 led the NCAA in fumbles.

Yup. For instance, look at the top 20, and bottom 20 of this list:

http://www.cfbstats.com/2015/leader/national/team/offense/split01/category14/sort01.html

Now go back over the last few years. It's a wash.

 

[RedDenver]

Reset the turnover odometer at the start of the 2004 season and since then Nebraska is -76 in turnovers (156 games, 12 seasons) which ranks 113th nationally. No Power 5 team has been worse. The Huskers’ -0.487 turnover margin per game ranks 112th. Washington State (-0.490, 113th) is the only Power 5 school that has been worse on a per-game basis.

WJW....

What does WJW mean?

wow, just wow. Google is your friend

I did google it and got a fox tv affiliate, women's jeans wearer, and Walter Jon Williams; none of which seemed appropriate.

 

[huKSer]

Reset the turnover odometer at the start of the 2004 season and since then Nebraska is -76 in turnovers (156 games, 12 seasons) which ranks 113th nationally. No Power 5 team has been worse. The Huskers’ -0.487 turnover margin per game ranks 112th. Washington State (-0.490, 113th) is the only Power 5 school that has been worse on a per-game basis.

WJW....

What does WJW mean?

wow, just wow. Google is your friend

I did google it and got a fox tv affiliate, women's jeans wearer, and Walter Jon Williams; none of which seemed appropriate.

I typed in "what does wjw mean", wow, just wow was the first response. It was an "urban dictionary" article. I should have gone there first. I use urbandictionary.com all the time to figure out what my students are saying.

 

[RedDenver]

Reset the turnover odometer at the start of the 2004 season and since then Nebraska is -76 in turnovers (156 games, 12 seasons) which ranks 113th nationally. No Power 5 team has been worse. The Huskers’ -0.487 turnover margin per game ranks 112th. Washington State (-0.490, 113th) is the only Power 5 school that has been worse on a per-game basis.

WJW....

What does WJW mean?

wow, just wow. Google is your friend

I did google it and got a fox tv affiliate, women's jeans wearer, and Walter Jon Williams; none of which seemed appropriate.

I typed in "what does wjw mean", wow, just wow was the first response. It was an "urban dictionary" article. I should have gone there first. I use urbandictionary.com all the time to figure out what my students are saying.

weird. Urban dictionary gave me women's jeans wearer. I typed in "wjw" and then "wjw acronym"

 

[Mavric]

Doesn't help having a run first QB the last few years. Obviously, if we want to win something of value this needs to be corrected.

I think that the QB with fumblitis was TMart due to him always trying to reach out the football to gain a half of a yard.

Martinez and Armstrong have the same instinct, whether running or passing, and it's what the NBA pundits call "hero ball."

You know you're an exciting player and you can make exciting things happen, but you never quite learn when it's smarter to tuck the ball and declare the play over.

Somehow the whole turnover issue on both sides of the ball goes to the same issue of fundamentals, discipline and desire. Especially since the turnover issue appears to parallel the spike in penalties.

Somebody with more discipline and desire can look up Nebraska's past decade of penalties.

But with penalties, there's no correlation between penalty rankings and winning percentage.

I didn't know that. A bit surprising if so.

Maybe there should be an auxiliary category: stupid penalties.

Fun Fact: Nebraska's #2 ranked 12-1 Big 12 Championship team from 1999 led the NCAA in fumbles.

Yup. For instance, look at the top 20, and bottom 20 of this list:

http://www.cfbstats.com/2015/leader/national/team/offense/split01/category14/sort01.html

Now go back over the last few years. It's a wash.

I don't know how you'd ever prove this, but it's been my contention for some time that the reason there isn't much of a correlation is because the other factor often have significantly more impact than penalties.

For example, in a lot of their games Baylor, TCU, UCLA, USC, etc. (at the bottom of the standings) are so much better than their opponents than having a few more penalties per game can be overcome by superior talent. On the other side of the coin, teams like San Jose State, Old Dominion, Fresno State, etc. (with the fewest penalties) were overmatched so often that the difference in penalty yards wasn't nearly enough to make up for their lack of talent.

However, if a team was like Nebraska where a bunch of their games came right down to the final play, penalties can make a huge difference.

 

[cm husker]

My understanding is that offensive penalties sometimes correlate with wins/losses, but defensive penalties don't. Also, it';s possible that dominant teams have high penalties because they can play 2nd and 3rd string guys more, leading to more errors.

I haven't read them yet, but here are some links on point:

https://unclepopov.wordpress.com/2011/09/25/throwing-the-flag-on-the-impact-of-penalties-on-winning-in-college-football/

http://www.footballstudyhall.com/2014/2/10/5397380/penalties-and-defensive-performance

And a random tweet... didn't realize NU was so heavily penalized in those first games last season.

http://247sports.com/Bolt/How-do-penalties-correlate-with-college-football-wins-39771706