Lil G
Ramblin' Wreck
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Yeah he’s going to be a load in coming years.#55 Lockett. He had a good Spring Game.
Yeah he’s going to be a load in coming years.#55 Lockett. He had a good Spring Game.
Noteworthy is the fact that our defense outscored our offense in that game.Here’s another place you can look for advanced stats https://www.cfb-graphs.com/. The defense wasn’t top 25, but it was respectable.
If you look at defensive EPA/play, here’s the ACC ranking. We were ahead of schools like Texas and LSU.
- Pitt
- Clemson
- Louisville
- Virginia
- Georgia Tech (31st overall)
- Florida State
- NC State
- Notre Dame
- Syracuse
- Va Tech
- Duke
- Miami
- Boston College
- Wake Forest
- North Carolina
There were a lot of bad games, for different reasons. Our first game against Clemson was not good—especially since their QB was playing a terrible game.
Against Ole Miss, they ran the ball, we knew they were running the ball, and we couldn’t stop it. I think Charlie Thomas went out with a targeting call in that game, which did not help.
Against UCF, they were beatable, and we lost 27-10. Offense could do nothing that game.
Against Pitt and Duke, the defense played well.
Against UVA, we lost 16-9. UVA had a solid defense, and we could do nothing on offense. Even so, 9 is terrible.
Against FSU, we had some positives—two fumbles, one recovered. We got burned in pass pro. We had a roughing the passer that really hurt us. The game was really never in doubt.
VT was a terrible team, and we barely won.
Miami abused us on both sides. Offense especially hurt.
UNC was a wonderful game on defense.
UGA beat us by two more points than Miami, but they were a much better team than Miami.
There were several bad games, Ole Miss was especially bad because Kiffin didn’t need to be creative. He could just run repeatedly and we couldn’t stop it. Miami and FSU were also bad on defense. I don’t think VT was a great showing, either.
I’m just curious, why do you think that?Kelly sure is a curious dude.
And they include all Division 1 schools. Compare us to P5 schools and things don't looks so good! Past the statistics it was clear the better teams we played had no trouble running on us. Last year's defense clearly looked better than the prior several years, however, it still didn't look like a good unit against good offenses.I was using FEI, not the NCAA stats. FEI adjusts for competition and looks at stats relative to average performance given the drive situations. Also, they get rid of garbage stats.
We were above average in the ACC, even with Notre Dame in the mix. We were ahead of factories like LSU and Texas. We compared well against P5 schools. (I ordered based on EPA/play. We were 41st in FEI)And they include all Division 1 schools. Compare us to P5 schools and things don't looks so good! Past the statistics it was clear the better teams we played had no trouble running on us. Last year's defense clearly looked better than the prior several years, however, it still didn't look like a good unit against good offenses.
I am very concerned with the DL. How they play will drive how well the overall D plays. We had 28 sacks last year near the lowest number in the ACC. We lost our best pass rusher in White (7 1/2 sacks).
They did play hard. The loss of White, Thomas and Ace is non trivial. Walton was also a good player.We were above average in the ACC, even with Notre Dame in the mix. We were ahead of factories like LSU and Texas. We compared well against P5 schools. (I ordered based on EPA/play. We were 41st in FEI)
We were in the middle in the P5 in FEI.
A number of the better defensive teams in FBS were G5 teams. Limiting comparisons to P5 doesn’t make as much difference as people might guess
In others, like SP+, we were below average, but still better than most any defense we fielded in about a decade.
We had weak areas and bad games, but if we have about the same defensive stats and improve to even below average in offense and special teams, we’ll be fine—possibly bowling.
Weak areas were sacks and success rate. We’re practicing different now—and you’d think our coaches are working on those areas.
I wouldn’t use raw scoring defense and total defense to judge a team that had, in virtually every advanced statistical model, one of the worst offenses in FBS. Stats are going to get biased when your defense is in the field more often than 3/4ths of other teams and is is worse field position.
I’m not saying they were the 1986 Bears defense or the Steel Curtain, but they were good and played their hearts out.
They could use an Aaron Donald and a Brian Urlacher, but so could almost any team in FBS.