Offfense: 2013 v. 2014

stylee

Ramblin' Wreck
Featured Member
Messages
668
Running a little analysis. This is all based on adding up individual numbers from ESPN. I only did a little bit of rounding and sometimes %s don't add exactly up.

2013 Total Yards (13 games): 5,098
2014 Total Yards (11 games): 5,176

How are we dividing these yards?

2013 Rushing - 3,916 yards:
* QB: 866 (22.1%)
* BB: 1,471 (37.6%)
* AB: 1,538 (39.3%)
* WR: 31 (0.8%)
* P: 10 (0.2%)

2014 Rushing - 3,617:

* QB: 1,031 (28.5%)
* BB: 1,313 (36.3%) [counted all of Days' yards as BB yards]
* AB: 1,167 (32.3%)
* WR: 96 (2.6%)
* P: 10 (0.2%)

We were an AB team last year. This year, we're a little more balanced across the board, with Laskey and Days leading the way for us. The most obvious difference is that the QB is taking much more of the load off the AB percentage this year. + Justin Thomas, - Robert Godhigh? Probably not that simple, but there's obviously something there. Thomas is leaps and bounds better running the ball than last year's starter. Godhigh is better than our best AB rusher this year (Tony Zenon has the most yards at 289 this year, v. 744 for Godhigh last year).


How about passing?

2013 Passing - 1,695
130 yards/ game, 12 passing TDs, 13 INT (one thrown by a WR)
Starter had a passer rating of 127.5

2014 passing - 1,559
141 yards/game, 16 passing TDs, 4 INT.
Starter has a passer rating of 161.2

Huge upgrade this season through the air, obviously.

Receivers:

2013 Receiving Yards - 1,695
ABs: 644 yards (38%)
WRs: 923 yards (54.4%)
BBs: 128 yards (7.5%)

2014 Receiving Yards - 1,559
ABs: 496 yards (32%)
WRs: 976 yards (62.6%)
BBs: 72 yards (4.6%)
QBs: 15 yards (1.0%)


The Godhigh factor, again? Partly. Percentages don't tell the whole story. We'll exceed 2013's numbers by a fair number this year and most of that will be because of Smelter's emergence. Our ABs haven't been bad catching the ball, we just have a really great option to the outside

AB rushing split, top five:

2013 - 1,538 yards:
1) Godhigh, 744 (48.4%)
2) Snoddy, 150 (9.8%)
3) Andrews, 140 (9.1%)
4) Hill, 119 (7.7%)
5) Bostic, 116 (7.5%)

2014 - 1,167 yards:
1) Zenon, 289 (25.8%)
2) Snoddy, 283 (24.3%)
3) Perkins, 272 (23.3%)
4) Hill, 134 (11.5%)
5) Bostic, 112 (9.6%)

Although it's safe to say Perkins would be near 350-400 yards if he hadn't missed time, you can really see here how much Godhigh meant to us last year. Now we're dividing things much more evenly.
 
Last edited:

AE 87

Helluva Engineer
Messages
13,016
@stylee interesting take, thanks ... although it's pretty cruel to post in the first paragraph, on a site with a bunch of engineers, that the numbers might not add up. It took me almost a minute to read past that first paragraph. o_O
 

SidewalkJacket

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,656
Interesting that our yardage looks so similar, but almost every GT fan feels our OFF is leaps and bounds better than it was last year (me included).
 

stylee

Ramblin' Wreck
Featured Member
Messages
668
It's similar despite being 2 games behind.
By my calculations, we're averaging 470ish yards per game this year, compared to 430ish last year. We've got nearly the same passing yardage through 11 this year as through 13 last year, despite having a QB less known for his arm.

We've also just made way better decisions this year. Barely any interceptions at all.
 

Fatmike91

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,264
Location
SW Florida
The difference is here in the yards per play:

2014:
JT -153 carries for 827 yards (5.4 yards per play)

2013:
VL - 182 carries for 513 yards (2.8 yards per play)

So JT keeps it less. When he keeps it, he is much more effective. I strongly suspect (not based on statistics) that there are far fewer broken plays this year (that result in the QB eating it).

I think we've played some tougher defenses in 2014 as well.

/
 

Js-showman

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
340
Love the comparisons. Any comparison on 3rd and 4th down conversions? Any data on yards gained on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd downs?
 

stylee

Ramblin' Wreck
Featured Member
Messages
668
The difference is here in the yards per play:

2014:
JT -153 carries for 827 yards (5.4 yards per play)

2013:
VL - 182 carries for 513 yards (2.8 yards per play)

So JT keeps it less. When he keeps it, he is much more effective. I strongly suspect (not based on statistics) that there are far fewer broken plays this year (that result in the QB eating it).

I think we've played some tougher defenses in 2014 as well.

/

Agreed with all of this, other than JT and Vad keep at just about the same rate.
I think the defenses this year have been much better. Someone could check for us if they wanted. Not playing BYU made things a little easier, but Pitt and Clemson had very good defenses.
 

GTJason

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,567
Offensive total for 2013 should be 5611 with 3916 rushing and 1695 passing. We're sure to eclipse that this year though
 

Longestday

Helluva Engineer
Featured Member
Messages
2,856
The 8 less interceptions is very significant. Go back and look at fumble differences in starting QBs and also team fumbles. I know we run the option better this year and we have slightly higher completion percentage, but the turnovers kill games.
 

Minawreck

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
623
turnovers were the story last year, and they're the story this year. We had a HORRIBLE turnover ratio last season. We got none on D and gave the ball away on O. This year it's a different story.
 
Top