NU coaches "teach awareness" regarding penalties

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Red Report: NU coaches "teach awareness" regarding penalties

September 29, 2015 8:00 pm • By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON | LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR, STEVEN M. SIPPLE | LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR

Husker offensive coaches have been giving their due attention with players in film study to all the penalties that have bogged down possessions.

As a team, Nebraska had 12 penalties against BYU, 12 more against Miami and 12 more against Southern Miss. The flags hurt Nebraska's offense plenty in the first half of the loss to the Hurricanes, and an illegal shift took a touchdown off the board that would have iced Saturday's 36-28 win over Southern Miss.

<snip>

We just got to continue to teach it. Get it on film, correct it and stay with it. "It's stuff we've got to clean up. It did hurt us in that game. It's going to hurt us in a close game."

Langsdorf agreed that officials seem to be calling the illegal formation penalty tighter across college football this year. But you have to adjust.

LINK
Yeah, I'd say it's something we need to work on. If we don't cut this down it's gonna cost us a game sometime. Maybe a couple. We had 43 penalties in four games. That ranks 127th in FBS. LINK
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[SIZE=8pt]RANK TEAM G PENALTIES PENPERGAME[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]1 Georgia Tech 4 7 1.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]2 UCF 4 13 3.25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Idaho 4 13 3.25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]4 North Carolina St. 4 14 3.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Ga. Southern 4 14 3.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Ball St. 4 14 3.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Arizona St. 4 14 3.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]8 Fresno St. 4 15 3.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]9 Navy 3 12 4.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Washington 4 16 4.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Pittsburgh 3 12 4.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]12 Mississippi St. 4 17 4.25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Syracuse 4 17 4.25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=36pt]14 Utah 4.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Northwestern 4 18 4.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]16 Army West Point 4 19 4.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- South Carolina 4 19 4.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- San Jose St. 4 19 4.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Old Dominion 4 19 4.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- North Carolina 4 19 4.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Middle Tenn. 4 19 4.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=36pt]16 Michigan St. 4.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- BYU 4 19 4.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Duke 4 19 4.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]25 Arizona 4 20 5.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- SMU 4 20 5.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Iowa 4 20 5.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- California 4 20 5.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]29 Auburn 4 21 5.25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Texas Tech 4 21 5.25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Tennessee 4 21 5.25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- South Ala. 4 21 5.25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Missouri 4 21 5.25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Michigan 4 21 5.25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Louisiana Tech 4 21 5.25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]36 Tulane 3 16 5.33[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Florida St. 3 16 5.33[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Washington St. 3 16 5.33[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]39 Texas St. 4 22 5.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- UConn 4 22 5.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Boston College 4 22 5.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Colorado 4 22 5.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Wake Forest 4 22 5.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]44 UNLV 4 23 5.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=36pt]44 Georgia 5.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Northern Ill. 4 23 5.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]47 Oklahoma St. 4 24 6.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Vanderbilt 4 24 6.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Kentucky 4 24 6.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Kansas 3 18 6.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Air Force 3 18 6.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Texas A&M 4 24 6.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]53 Louisville 4 25 6.25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Wisconsin 4 25 6.25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Oregon St. 4 25 6.25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Eastern Mich. 4 25 6.25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Illinois 4 25 6.25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]58 North Texas 3 19 6.33[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Tulsa 3 19 6.33[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Troy 3 19 6.33[/SIZE]

[SIZE=36pt]61 Notre Dame 6.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Stanford 4 26 6.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Rice 4 26 6.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Penn St. 4 26 6.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]65 Massachusetts 3 20 6.67[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]66 Southern California 4 27 6.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=36pt]66 Ole Miss 6.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Central Mich. 4 27 6.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Alabama 4 27 6.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Minnesota 4 27 6.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Florida 4 27 6.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Nevada 4 27 6.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Boise St. 4 27 6.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]74 Clemson 3 21 7.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- FIU 4 28 7.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Kansas St. 3 21 7.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Purdue 4 28 7.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- West Virginia 3 21 7.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Western Mich. 4 28 7.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- San Diego St. 4 28 7.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- UTEP 4 28 7.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]82 Utah St. 3 22 7.33[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- New Mexico St. 3 22 7.33[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]84 Arkansas St. 4 30 7.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- East Carolina 4 30 7.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Virginia 4 30 7.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Wyoming 4 30 7.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]88 Iowa St. 3 23 7.67[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- South Fla. 3 23 7.67[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- La.-Lafayette 3 23 7.67[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Georgia St. 3 23 7.67[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]92 Cincinnati 4 31 7.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=36pt]92 UCLA 7.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=36pt]92 TCU 7.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Arkansas 4 31 7.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Western Ky. 4 31 7.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- New Mexico 4 31 7.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Marshall 4 31 7.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=36pt]99 Ohio St. 8.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Fla. Atlantic 4 32 8.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Miami (OH) 4 32 8.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Memphis 4 32 8.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Temple 3 24 8.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Toledo 3 24 8.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]105 Colorado St. 4 33 8.25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Maryland 4 33 8.25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Indiana 4 33 8.25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Akron 4 33 8.25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Hawaii 4 33 8.25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]110 Miami (FL) 3 25 8.33[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]111 Oregon 4 34 8.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Texas 4 34 8.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]113 Houston 3 26 8.67[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Appalachian St. 3 26 8.67[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Oklahoma 3 26 8.67[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]116 UTSA 4 37 9.25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=36pt]117 LSU 9.33[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]118 Virginia Tech 4 38 9.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Rutgers 4 38 9.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Southern Miss. 4 38 9.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]- Buffalo 4 38 9.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]122 Ohio 4 39 9.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]123 Kent St. 4 41 10.25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]124 Bowling Green 4 42 10.50[/SIZE]

[SIZE=18pt]125 Nebraska 10.75[/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]126 La.-Monroe 3 33 11.00[/SIZE]

[SIZE=36pt]127 Baylor 13.00[/SIZE]

This is the list of Penalties per Game. Remember, some teams have only played 3 games, which would skew the stats. I highlighted teams that are currently in the top 10. See the pattern? The only 2 teams ranked highly are Utah and Michigan State, which have arguably the least amount of talent on their rosters.

​I'm not arguing that we shouldn't clean up the penalties. Just that you can still have success with penalties. It seems to matter the most to lower-talent teams that have a slimmer margin of error, as we do seem to have. The Military Academies and Northwestern usually rank high here.

 
Effort penalties are things you can live with if you don't have a couple of holdings a game than the officials just aren't calling it. If you don't have a PI every game than your DB aren't in tight enough coverage. The presnap stuff needs to be cut down on a lot as well as the stupid stuff like the unsportsmanlike penalties for late hits or spiking the ball. The PI on Kalu was a terrible call that really got the momentum for S. Miss going. To go from what you think is an INT and your ball on the 20 to their ball on the 2 is a real buzz kill.

If they are averaging 10.75 a game I would imagine the coaches will be shooting for 6-7 this game with maybe 1 being presnap. It really is a fine line, you want your team playing loose, but they have to be under control

 
Another thing you can look at when looking at penalties per game is the style of play. We are a huddle offense that slows the game down. We play a lot less plays than a no huddle team like Baylor, OSU, and UCLA, so we should have no excuse for leading the nation in penalties. Teams that play more plays should have more penalties per game than a slower paced offense.

 
Effort penalties are things you can live with if you don't have a couple of holdings a game than the officials just aren't calling it. If you don't have a PI every game than your DB aren't in tight enough coverage. The presnap stuff needs to be cut down on a lot as well as the stupid stuff like the unsportsmanlike penalties for late hits or spiking the ball. The PI on Kalu was a terrible call that really got the momentum for S. Miss going. To go from what you think is an INT and your ball on the 20 to their ball on the 2 is a real buzz kill.

If they are averaging 10.75 a game I would imagine the coaches will be shooting for 6-7 this game with maybe 1 being presnap. It really is a fine line, you want your team playing loose, but they have to be under control
agree. Using your criteria on the Southern Miss Game:

3 Holding Calls

3 Pass Interference Calls

1 Illegal shift

2 False Starts

2 Offsides (D)

1 Personal Foul

2 Unsportsmanlike

turn 12 into 6-7 by cleaning up the presnap stuff and the stupid ones

 
Another thing you can look at when looking at penalties per game is the style of play. We are a huddle offense that slows the game down. We play a lot less plays than a no huddle team like Baylor, OSU, and UCLA, so we should have no excuse for leading the nation in penalties. Teams that play more plays should have more penalties per game than a slower paced offense.
Is this an established fact or just speculation on your part?

Remember that number of plays applies to the defense as well. Therefore, if you play against more up-tempo teams on your schedule, you would be involved in more plays (on defense) than teams that play against more huddle offenses. This would be true no matter what offense you play.

 
for that matter, the number of plays you are involved with is a function of how good your defense is at getting off the field.

really too complex of a thing to just make a generalization based on what offense you run.

 
Another thing you can look at when looking at penalties per game is the style of play. We are a huddle offense that slows the game down. We play a lot less plays than a no huddle team like Baylor, OSU, and UCLA, so we should have no excuse for leading the nation in penalties. Teams that play more plays should have more penalties per game than a slower paced offense.
Is this an established fact or just speculation on your part?

Remember that number of plays applies to the defense as well. Therefore, if you play against more up-tempo teams on your schedule, you would be involved in more plays (on defense) than teams that play against more huddle offenses. This would be true no matter what offense you play.
Here are the stats on Penalties per Play. Seems to closely mirror penalties per game. Nebraska is #127.

 
Another thing you can look at when looking at penalties per game is the style of play. We are a huddle offense that slows the game down. We play a lot less plays than a no huddle team like Baylor, OSU, and UCLA, so we should have no excuse for leading the nation in penalties. Teams that play more plays should have more penalties per game than a slower paced offense.
Is this an established fact or just speculation on your part?

Remember that number of plays applies to the defense as well. Therefore, if you play against more up-tempo teams on your schedule, you would be involved in more plays (on defense) than teams that play against more huddle offenses. This would be true no matter what offense you play.
Here are the stats on Penalties per Play. Seems to closely mirror penalties per game. Nebraska is #127.
It does indeed. Nice find!

 
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