Retroactive UFRs?

Submitted by UMfan21 on

Upon reading the most recent UFRs, I was thinking... The UFRs are really what got me interested in mgoblog.  I know they consume much of Brian's time.  But I also know they are a good way for people (such as myself) to learn more about Xs and Os and grading players.

During my time at mgoblog, the football team has been "down" versus their historical level of play.  I think it makes the UFRs slanted towards the frustration end of the spectrum, and it left me with a curiosity- what would a UFR look like for a great UofM team?  What would it look like if we had UFRs for the 1997 season?  What about 1990 or 1991?  What would Carr's first two seasons (8-4 seasons) look like?

I guess it's kind of a Meta suggestion for this off season, but reading the breakdown and grading of some of our best years would be interesting.  I would love to see how our schemes changed form Bo to Moeller to Carr, and what types of things they deployed.

I know I'm asking a lot. 

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UFR request

Swayze Howell Sheen

November 22nd, 2013 at 12:57 PM ^

I've often thought it would be cool to do this for one other team, at least for a few games. Say OSU. I bet Brian would learn something to in the doing.

That said, I bet they are kind of a huge pain in the ass and take many many hours. Maybe Brian can tell us how many hours he spends on each, and then we can have a better idea of how much we are asking... ?

 

Joined: 10/05/2008

MGoPoints: 46879

EGD

November 22nd, 2013 at 5:16 PM ^

A couple years ago I tried to start a deep analysis blog for the Washington Huskies, since they really don't have anything approaching mgoblog in quality.  I gave up after a couple months because it wasn't catching on and I just didn't have the time to devote to it,.  But. I did try to do a UFR-lite type thing for just the first couple drives of each game, and it took hours.  Just the process of watching and re-watching plays repeatedly to figure out (i) what the offensive and defensive formations and play-calls are; (ii) what each player's assignment appears to be, based on the play, and (iii) how good a job each guy did of executing that assignment is ridiculously laborious and and difficult.  But Brian goes even futher and tries to figure out what guys should have done, assesses the play calls themselves for the RPS metric, charts everything with video clips--plus a pretty extended discussion after each game chart.  It's really incredible that he's able to put all of this together, week-after-week, and with the consistent quality. 

Joined: 09/16/2009

MGoPoints: 35199

UMfan21

November 22nd, 2013 at 1:20 PM ^

1997 is obviously a top request, but things I'd be interested for example:

1. How ridiculously would Woodson grade out

2. What were our staple plays and constraint plays and how did they fit together

3. What were our RPS numbers like back then

4. What kind of Henne charts did Griese put up

 

I could go on...

Joined: 09/28/2009

MGoPoints: 51217

Benoit Balls

November 22nd, 2013 at 1:29 PM ^

I remember from 1997 was one of those "levels" plays. Griese would roll out to the right side of the line, Howard or Floyd would run an out to the flat, Tuman would run up the seam and Mr. Woodson (or Tai Streets) would run a deep crossing route.  Seemed like it worked every time

(NOTE: 1997 was 16 years ago, and I have lost a great many brain cells in the interim due to alcohol consumption and parenthood.  if I'm not remembering things hyper-specifically, please forgive me)

Joined: 11/27/2010

MGoPoints: 5168

Benoit Balls

November 22nd, 2013 at 2:01 PM ^

those of us who were actually there have had our brains pickled by alcohol and our memories blurred by children, which accelerate the aging process. And those of us whose minds are still sharp enough to remember something that long ago, probably were not there to begin with, therefore, they'll believe anything.

It's a no lose situation, you guys

Joined: 11/27/2010

MGoPoints: 5168

Humen

November 22nd, 2013 at 2:12 PM ^

I think that UFRs are easily the strongest content on the blog. They are the thing, even after losses, that I look forward to most. They are the posts that I save for a good glass of wine, so to speak. I agree with the OP. In fact, I think this exercise is necessarily to contextualize the performance of current players (by comparing them to past players). 

Joined: 10/04/2010

MGoPoints: 11731

LSAClassOf2000

November 22nd, 2013 at 2:14 PM ^

I like this idea as well. Although it would be an interesting study, it would be nearly impossible to take it to the extreme and do entire seasons from the past unless there were an army of us working at it, but that would provide some fascinating insight into the tendencies of past coordinators, how we utilized talent, yards per play / formation type and some other things that would be neat to know. Even if it were limited to, say, 12-15 "key games" in the last 15-20 years or so, it would be neat to see the differences. 

Joined: 01/07/2011

MGoPoints: 130561

tylawyer

November 22nd, 2013 at 4:21 PM ^

I think this is an absolutely fantastic idea, though I wonder how Woodson's '97 UFR numbers would look since teams mostly tried to stay the hell away from him (and with good reason).  I also think you might mean "retrospective".  

Joined: 02/10/2010

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