Team glass half-full
It's not too early to check team stats at http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-footbl/stats/2010-2011/confldrs.html.&nb…; Michigan leads the conference in total offense, averaging 502 Yds/G.. Alas, we are dead last in total defense, allowing 439 Yds/G, 47 more Yds/G than Indiana. We achieved the latter distinction with the conference's worst pass defense, allowing 293 Yds/G and the second-worst rushing defense, allowing 146 Yds/G. Only Indiana allowed more rushing Yds/G.
On the bright side, our offensive stats are quite good on some measures--First Downs, Pass Offense, Time of Possession, turnover margin (we're holding onto the damn ball), 4th Down Conversions, and we rock on Red Zone Offense and Rushing Offense. Big surprise. And a pleasant surprise: we rank 5th on Pass Defense Efficiency, 3rd-DN Conversions, and Red Zone Defense. And we're doing great on Sacks Against and very good on 3r-DN Conversions.
Until we are well into the conference part of the season, these stats won't take on a hard edge. At best, after two games across a very wide selection of teams that includes some very tough cookies like Florida and Alabama, and many cupcakes, the week 2 stats might indicate a few tendencies. But regardless of the opponent, I'll be looking to see how how we stack up against Indiana MSU stack up in a couple weeks.
September 12th, 2010 at 8:35 PM ^
Most of the conference has faced nothing but cupcakes and tomato cans. Conference stats are meaningless at this point. Our numbers aren't great on defense, but 2-0 is all you need to know.
Bring on our cupcakes and tomato cans and watch us jump up in the comparisons.
September 12th, 2010 at 8:39 PM ^
I was fact checking... we're the only team to have played 2 BCS opponents. Indiana, Iowa, Sparty, Minnesota and Wisconsin have played 0.
September 12th, 2010 at 8:40 PM ^
We are also the only team thats played 2 legit opponents. I'm not as worried about our defense as i was preseason. They aren't great....but i think they can get the job done.
September 13th, 2010 at 12:26 AM ^
......with every game. They have the right attitude and don't fold after getting gashed occasionally. They will start to feel more comfortable in their positions - especially after the next two games - and will understand their roles better as well as see the entire field better. Better angles, more sacks, more picks, and less gashes. Wait and see...
September 12th, 2010 at 8:48 PM ^
September 12th, 2010 at 8:57 PM ^
Mathlete? Points per possession? Sabremetrics?
September 12th, 2010 at 9:34 PM ^
nor could I ever come close to doing what he does. However, Notre Dame had 17 possessions, of which they scored 3 td's, 1 fg, 8 punts, 3 interceptions, and 2 time expired. Michigan had 16 possessions of which they scored 4 td's, 2 missed fg's, and 10 punts. Thats 23% for ND, and 25% for Michigan. The real key would be plays ran for both teams. Too tired to do that.
September 12th, 2010 at 9:05 PM ^
About 150 yards of the pass defense comes from two plays, the 96 yarder to ND's TE and UConn's bobble and go. It will even out, starting next week when Umass never sees the ball.
And by the way, team's pass when they're behind. I'm more concerned with the run defense.
September 12th, 2010 at 9:20 PM ^
A lot of the yards against UConn came in garbage time on their last couple of drives. Then in the ND game there was 2 un-mistakeable secondary mistakes that led to the 95 yard TD and the big pass before half time. Take those away with the fact that we're +4 in the turnover battle against two solid BCS teams and the defensive stats are not as bad as they look. They should get better after the next 3 weeks with upcoming games against UMass, Bowling Green, and Indiana.
September 12th, 2010 at 9:30 PM ^
Mike Martin's claim that he was being held thoughout the game and the most the ref gave the holder was a gentle warning. So if that's true, add that to the no-cupcakes factor...
September 12th, 2010 at 9:54 PM ^
We are last in pass defense if you only consider yards per game. We gave up about 150 yards on two Cam Gordon mistakes against ND, so take 75 yards per game off that total, and all of a sudden we rank 7th, right behind Penn State. Also, we give up a lot of passing yards when we are ahead by two scores in the first half, so the other team has to pass to catch up. We actually have the second best completion percentage against in the Big Ten (47.6%; thanks, UConn receivers). Yards per attempt put us 8th in the conference, again skewed by those two big plays, which account for over 25% of all the yardage we've given up.
To me, the 4.7 yards per carry rush defense is a bigger concern. The secondary is young, and a position-switching deep safety let two people behind him, just missing breaking up both passes. A little more experience (and a lot of GERG) should fix that. Plus, we just don't face a lot of great passers in the conference schedule. Going into the Big Ten season, we have to get better against the run if we want to have a chance to beat Iowa, Penn State, or Wisconsin.
September 12th, 2010 at 9:59 PM ^
Thanks to the ND refs, we have the most penalty yardage and least opponent penalty yardage in the Big Ten. This after the UConn game, where we had one penalty the entire game.
September 12th, 2010 at 11:52 PM ^
Agree with the points made below - we haven't been awesome on defense but we played better teams than those you are comparing us to. We should get better with a little more experience.
The only stat that matters is we are 2-0.
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