Inside the Boxscore - Homecoming Edition
Michigan homecoming is the traditional game of the season where old people return to their alma mater, break out the old "Block M" sweater, and reminisce about the good old days. The good old days for Michigan football include the National Championship winning team from 1997. I saw one comment comparing the 1997 team to this year's edition. The MGoUser stated that the defense this year was as good as the '97 defense, but the '97 offense was better. My recollection is that the '97 defense carried the offense who did just enough with bootleg passes to Tuman and the occassional pass to Woodson to "squeak" out 12 wins during the regular season.
So I decided to compare this year's offense to the '97 offense. It's hard to do apples-to-apples comparisons because the season is not over yet, but we can still learn some things by comparing per game stats.
| Category | 1997 | 2016 |
| QB Rating | 138.2 | 150.8 |
| Points per game | 26.8 | 48.7 |
| YPC RB#1 | 4.8 | 8.5 |
| YPC RB#2 | 4.1 | 5.2 |
| YPC RB#3 | 4.4 | 8.3 |
| YPC RB#4 | 4.6 | 5.3 |
| Yards per game | 356 | 483 |
| #1 Receiving yards | Tuman 404 (12 games) | Darboh 499 (7 games) |
The '97 offense is an interesting comparison because both teams utilize four running backs. '97 clearly had a #1 guy in Chris Howard, but 4 guys ended up with over 250 yards on the season. The '16 team splits carries among 4 guys. All four are already above 300 yards.
The '16 team has advantages in the receiving corps. Chesson and Darboh >>> Streets and Shaw. Tuman was great, but Jake Butt may be the best TE in Michigan history. The '97 offensive line had Steve Hutchinson, Jeff Backus and Jon Jansen, but center and right guard were merely good. If the '16 line is not as good as the '97 line, how are we averaging more than a yard per carry than the '97 team? If you claim '16 Offensive Coordinator(s) >>> '97 Offensive Coordinator, you'll get no argument from me.
Granted, we have some difficult defenses on the schedule that could suppress the offensive numbers, but a cursory glance at the stats suggest that the '16 offense is quite a bit better than the '97 offense. Remaining defenses:
| Team | Total defense rank |
| Michigan State | 54 |
| Iowa | 48 |
| Maryland | 42 |
| Indiana | 49 |
| Ohio State | 5 |
Yes, the worst defense remaining on our schedule is MSU's. Of note, we've already played total defenses ranked 9 (Wis,) 12 (Colorado,) and 36 (UCF?!?) So maybe our offensive numbers won't drop that much.
One last stat for homecoming, there's been some discussion about QB being the big question mark for us relative to the other top teams. Let's look at the numbers:
| QB | Rank, Rating |
| Hurts, 'Bama | 51, 140.1 |
| Speight, UofM | 22, 150.8 |
| Watson, Clemson | 37, 146.4 |
| Browning, UofW | 2, 199.6 |
| Jackson, UofL | 12, 159.5 |
| Barrett, OSU | 21, 150.8 |
I'll take our defense-QB combo over any of the other top 6 teams.
October 24th, 2016 at 11:57 AM ^
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October 24th, 2016 at 11:59 AM ^
You think you're excited? Feel these nipples!
October 24th, 2016 at 12:40 PM ^
Ok Larry, that actually made me a little less excited.
October 24th, 2016 at 2:37 PM ^
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October 24th, 2016 at 11:58 AM ^
Two points:
- I can't believe that the team only averaged <27 ppg and 356 ypg. I remember them being a decent, efficient offense that scored whenever needed. I guess there really are lies, damned lies, and statistics.
- Memories of Griese to Tuman warm my heart, but lets not forget Tai Streets coming through as a deep threat in the Rose Bowl! I couldn't believe that hit that play for TDs twice!
October 24th, 2016 at 12:06 PM ^
That was also before the spread too over. Average scores and yards have gone up by a good amount since then.
October 24th, 2016 at 12:43 PM ^
Makes our defense even more impressive.
October 24th, 2016 at 12:11 PM ^
October 24th, 2016 at 12:15 PM ^
The 1997 offense didn't make a lot of mistakes, but definitely wasn't a consistently efficient offense. We only scored 21 points against a 7-6 Notre Dame team, 23 points against a 5-7 Northwestern team, 23 points against a 7-5 MSU team despite the defense getting 6 interceptions, and 24 points against a 3-9 Minnesota team. Ohio State pretty much shut our offense down; we needed two return TDs to win. And we only scored 21 against Washington State. The 2016 offense is definitely better, if for no other reason than Harbaugh.
October 24th, 2016 at 12:01 PM ^
I think our offense gets overlooked a bit because of how dominant the defense is. They are scoring 48 per game and that includes the backups getting more PT this year than I can ever remember.
October 24th, 2016 at 12:02 PM ^
Thanks for putting this together; I always loved your Inside the Boxscore diaries.
October 24th, 2016 at 12:03 PM ^
Only issue I have with listing QB rating to compare the QBs is it doesn't factor in the rushing yards the other QBs get.
October 24th, 2016 at 12:33 PM ^
I loved watching Denard run the ball, but there's no debating that the running QBs take a beating during the regular season. I'd rather have a clean, healthy, QB back there zipping darts than a running QB with bruised ribs. But you are right, the ratings are for passing stats only.
October 24th, 2016 at 12:04 PM ^
October 24th, 2016 at 12:16 PM ^
October 24th, 2016 at 12:25 PM ^
I decided to take a year off and just enjoy the games without having to think about "what am I going to write" while the games were going on. It's been such an enjoyable season so far. In the past, I was deathly afraid of the "trap" games on the schedule. Harbaugh doesn't allow the team to fall into the trap. We may still lose a game here or there along the way, but it's not because he doesn't have them ready to play.
October 24th, 2016 at 12:19 PM ^
...I have either watched or been at every Michigan game since 1980, when I was ten. That's when I started watching the games all the way through and paying attention.
We kidded my dad because he left the Wangler to Carter Indiana game a little early. The first game I saw in person was Harbaugh leading the win against OSU in '85. That is the frame of reference I have.
I have never seen a Michigan offense like this. I read about Bo's teams from the seventies that had an obvious advantage in skill, but no Michigan teams since then have had this kind of offensive firepower. That stat analysis is cool. I know the game has changed, but this team has basically played one quarter of questionable ball (Colorado), and then absolutely stomped the hell out of everyone.
Wisconsin excepted. Then they stepped into a time machine with '70s Michigan against '90s Wisconsin and just slugged the crap out of each other.
These are great days we are living in, my friends.
October 24th, 2016 at 12:30 PM ^
The first game I went to was maybe in '76 or '77. I vaguely remember Michigan stomping one of the academies 63-0, or something like that. This team resembles those 70's team except that Jim has added a much better passing game to the total package. He's taken from the best and added to it. It's like Bo taking from Woody and Parseghian. Jim's got the great line play he took from Bo and added creativity to the offense from NFL passing schemes.
October 24th, 2016 at 12:28 PM ^
Speights QB rating is really good but think that is more of a testament to our run game, who we played and harbaugh calling harbaugh plays.
October 24th, 2016 at 1:11 PM ^
I love that chart comparing teams yet to face. Indianas defense > spartys defense = lol
October 24th, 2016 at 2:01 PM ^
and I have concluded: we are the best team ever.
there, i said it.
October 24th, 2016 at 2:13 PM ^
If you agree that this team keeps getting better every week, just imagine how good they'll be by the end of the season.
This is truely a special team having a special year.
October 24th, 2016 at 2:13 PM ^