This is the basic truth of the matter. Their QB play for them is sup par. The defense misses NarDuzzi. That wouldn't show up the first year it will show up in the second and beyond. It may happen to Wisconsin in the next few years without Aranda. I think they got a little compacent and have lost their edge.
What in the world has happened to Sparty?
- Thread starter chamrocck
- Start date
Probably a couple things with their defense. Obviously losing Narduzzi hurt. But there were already rumblings before last season that they might not have the elite DBs to run their Quarters defense. We found out last year that Quarters doesn't work very well if it's not run right.
Their defense has been on a bad trend, starting before Narduzzi left:
Total defense rank:
2011 - 6
2012 - 4
2013 - 2
2014 - 8
Narduzzi leaves
2015 - 26
2016 - 54
Their defense has been on a bad trend, starting before Narduzzi left:
Total defense rank:
2011 - 6
2012 - 4
2013 - 2
2014 - 8
Narduzzi leaves
2015 - 26
2016 - 54
#8 is nothing to sneeze at - and you can't go up very far from #2 - but 6-4-2 is headed up then it turned the other way to the "worst" in four years.
Plus, the rankings don't tell the entire story. In 2013, they gave up 252 yards per game for the #2 ranking. In 2014 they were still #8 but the yardage jumped to 316. That's a 25% increase.
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So are you going to go through the entire schedule and see which teams had better or worse offenses or just point out the good teams?
They also played Eastern Michigan and Rutgers who were particularly bad on offense.
The yardage allowed against Oregon and Baylor would have increased the average by about 40 ypg which would be about 65% of the total increase. But that's only if you assume that other the other opponenets were exactly equivalent to the year before and that the prior year's defense would have also given up the same amount of yards to those two teams. That's a lot of assumptions.
They also played Eastern Michigan and Rutgers who were particularly bad on offense.
The yardage allowed against Oregon and Baylor would have increased the average by about 40 ypg which would be about 65% of the total increase. But that's only if you assume that other the other opponenets were exactly equivalent to the year before and that the prior year's defense would have also given up the same amount of yards to those two teams. That's a lot of assumptions.
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Except that is absolutely the start of a bad trend. They moved down and have continued to move down the next two years. That doesn't mean that it would have done the same had Narduzzi not left but it was a down-turn none the less (albeit a relatively small one).
The context I provided was the defense's performance for the the entire season. It's imperfect because of a bunch of variables but is significantly more complete than just say "but they played Oregon".
Mierin
Donor
I know it's not too popular to say but the dude has annoyed me since that video came out. He was obviously a prima donna. And then he said he wanted to go to the SEC because it would help him get into the NFL, and the team he looked at was... Kentucky. What??
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Kiyoat Husker
New member
1950, 1951,1952, and 1953 would like to have a word with you.ColoradoHusk said:
1955, 1956, and 1957 are holding on line 2.
1965 and 1966 left you a voicemail, also.
teachercd
Well-known member
1965-66? Did they have voice mail? And in the 50's there was no line 2, was there?
Maybe carrier pigeon?
But, I get what you are saying and MSU had a few really years. In the last 50 years they have been pretty average at best.
They might finish with 3-4 wins this year.
ColoradoHusk
Donor
When you start referencing seasons over 50 years ago, you start losing me. That's like saying Minnesota has great tradition from all their amazing seasons from the 1930s and 40s.
Michiganball
New member
If you start ignoring the past games, you might as well ignore today's games, because the same excuses to take away legitimacy of a teams performance can be used 30 years from now. What? they used email? drove gasoline powered cars? Damn, that stuff just does not count.
And yes Minnesota does have an old tradition, hence it does have some old rivalries, even though they have not been able to be successful consistently.
Maybe I'm a history buff and thats just the way I look at it. But learning from history is one of the wisest things individuals or groups can do, it gives a much wider perspective then the tiny amount one has in he's short blurp of awareness and a lot more tools to come to well formed conclusions. Unfortunately most just think it's oldie stuff, yet as the old saying goes if you dont learn from it, it just keeps on repeating itself.........now excuse me,my soap box grew out of control there, we were talking football. Go Blue and all that.
And yes Minnesota does have an old tradition, hence it does have some old rivalries, even though they have not been able to be successful consistently.
Maybe I'm a history buff and thats just the way I look at it. But learning from history is one of the wisest things individuals or groups can do, it gives a much wider perspective then the tiny amount one has in he's short blurp of awareness and a lot more tools to come to well formed conclusions. Unfortunately most just think it's oldie stuff, yet as the old saying goes if you dont learn from it, it just keeps on repeating itself.........now excuse me,my soap box grew out of control there, we were talking football. Go Blue and all that.