September 19th, 2009 at 7:47 PM ^
why it needs Barwis.
September 19th, 2009 at 7:49 PM ^
When you score in under a minute and they can't stop you it doesn't really matter
September 19th, 2009 at 7:49 PM ^
380 yard rushing, best team effort since 2003 against Houston.
Almost all of our scoring drives were less than 3:30. This gives the defense more reps to get better in a hurry IMHO.
September 19th, 2009 at 8:31 PM ^
Wasn't really thinking about it that way, but I like your point. This type of offense is giving our defense, which I'd say is our weakest link at this point, a lot of reps and chances to improve. Also, our whole stable of HBs came to PLAY. Cox was even in the game at the end to show what he can do, and he even looked excellent. We'll be good at HB for quite a few years down he road. If anything right now, we are HalfBack U.
September 19th, 2009 at 8:59 PM ^
Best total yards since 2003, but our ypc in this game was 9.7, and in 2003 vs. Houston we had 392 on 51 carries (about 7.7 ypc) and 34 mins TOP.
All I can say is our defense better get it together because if the offense keeps scoring at the pace they had today, the D is gonna be on the field a lot.
September 19th, 2009 at 7:50 PM ^
When you score quickly, these things occasionally happen.
September 19th, 2009 at 7:51 PM ^
We lead the Big 10 in PF. PF 146 PA 58 Let's hope that continues, starting next week.
September 19th, 2009 at 8:29 PM ^
I think we'll have a good year if we can widen that margin a little bit every week.
September 19th, 2009 at 8:09 PM ^
It does not matter as long as you can score early and score often and dominate on defense time of possession doesn't mean anything. It's all about the PPG points per game
September 19th, 2009 at 8:11 PM ^
Time of Possession might be correlated w/ good offense, but today it wasn't even close to coincident.
I was surprised to see that EMU gained only 285. I'm guessing most of those, perhaps ~200, were gained in the first half. The defense sure left a very bad performance impression. Maybe it wasn't completely horrible in the second half. I'd already given out a D- by halftime (or whatever the worst grade you can give in a win).
September 19th, 2009 at 8:35 PM ^
EMU got 180 yards in the first half and their O-line shoved our D-line around the entire half. That is VERY discouraging. Looks like we will need to win a lot of shootouts in 2009.
Still...we are 3-0 right now.
September 19th, 2009 at 8:38 PM ^
Yeah after the half, EMU really didn't do much. IIRC, you are correct, EMU had close to 200 yards in first half.
I think the D made enough adjustments to throw EMU off. We did force a few three and outs in the 2nd half. Oddly, EMU didn't seem to pick on Cissoko like I thought they might and Warren looked great. I was expecting them to show more of a passing attack.
I'm hoping the 85 total yards in the 2nd half is attributable to the coaches (and our players) doing a good job and not EMU just floundering. (I.E. I want some hope that our D can adjust and grow to be more effective as the season goes on).
September 19th, 2009 at 8:52 PM ^
I don't think it matters against EMU, but in some of our tougher games, we will need to give the defense a rest. I like the no huddle, but I wish we would use a little more clock. More experience for the D is good right now, but against PSU and OSU, I hope we have more TOP.
September 19th, 2009 at 9:14 PM ^
Our short TOP today had little to do with the no-huddle. We had several possessions that ended quickly, because we either scored or turned it over within a couple of plays. One of our scoring "drives" took one play. Another took two plays, and another took three. It's safe to say that we aren't likely to score three times in drives of three or fewer plays against PSU or OSU.