Some of Michigan's 2014 Offensive and Defensive Team Stats

Submitted by WichitanWolverine on

It's a slow day and I hadn't seen a recap posted, so I thought I'd throw up some 2014 team stats for Michigan, courtesy of ESPN.

Before looking through these stats, I thought the defense was mediocre-to-good and the offense was pitiful. Now I think the defense was better than I gave them credit for.

These numbers aren't final, with the bowl games going on, but I doubt they'll shift much. There are 128 teams in FBS, and here we go:

OFFENSE

-Yards per game: Michigan was 114th with 333. Baylor led with 581.

-Points per game: Michigan was 111th with 20.9. Baylor led with 48.8.

-Passing yards per game: Michigan was 112th with 170.2. Washington State led with 478.

-Rush yards per game: Michigan was 66th with 162.8. Georgia Southern led with 381.

-Total interceptions: Michigan was 117th (7th-worst) with 18. Army and Oregon led with 2.

-Total fumbles lost: Michigan had 8. I don't know how this ranks because I had to pull it off of MGoBlue.com, but our opponents only had 5.

DEFENSE

-Yards per game: Michigan was 10th with 311. Clemson led with 260.

-Points per game: Michigan was 28th with 22.4. Ole Miss led with 13.8.

-Passing yards per game: Michigan was 21st with 193.7. San Jose St. led with 117.8.

-Rush yards per game: Michigan was 15th with 117.7. Penn State led with 84.6.

-Total interceptions: Michigan was 121st with 5. Louisville led with 25.

-Total fumbles recovered: Michigan was 107th with 5. Temple led with 19.

 

What I took away from this:

-Our offense was abysmal, especially the passing game (duh). No chance of success with offensive performances like we saw, especially with the interceptions. The run game was mediocre.

-Our defense was well-rounded and stout. I think our offensive turnovers put our defense in a bad spot too frequently and thus inflated our defensive PPG. I was shocked to see we had a top-ten defense in terms of YPG.

-Turnovers were obviously a problem, on both sides of the ball. Our defense only gaining 10 turnovers all year is pretty disappointing.

Thoughts?

MGoBoard
Football

SteelBrad

December 26th, 2014 at 11:50 AM ^

"Our defense was well-rounded and stout. I think our offensive turnovers put our defense in a bad spot too frequently and thus inflated our defensive PPG. I was shocked to see we had a top-ten defense in terms of YPG."

100% agree



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morepete

December 26th, 2014 at 11:50 AM ^

The most bewildering thing about this team all year -- not the most disappointing, which was pretty much every skill position on the offense, but the most flat-out surprising -- is that the defense could not generate turnovers, despite being full of veterans who had done pretty well at that in years past.

Anyone have access to the advanced metrics on this? I have a feeling we look worse on both O and D when adjusted for opponents.



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Marley Nowell

December 26th, 2014 at 11:53 AM ^

Did not realize how defense played that well. I knew the offense mostly killed them but there were also games like Rutgers where we gave up a ton of yards. Anyone know if the FEI rankings are out yet? Those would give the best indicator of how our defense actually performed.

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beenplumb

December 26th, 2014 at 11:56 AM ^

These stats don't take into account SOS. We played bad teams. The great spread offenses we went up against consistently shredded our defense, and the reality of the past four years is not as rosey as those defensive numbers imply.



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mbee1

December 26th, 2014 at 12:03 PM ^

Need to look at advanced metrics that take into account pace of game and opponents. Norte Dame, Utah, and Minnesota played conservatively in the 2nd half.
While some people blame the offense for putting the defense in bad spots, the defense rarely put the offense into a good spot

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alum96

December 26th, 2014 at 12:22 PM ^

Agreed.  All Big 10 defenses are inflated by how wretched the offenses are in this league, especially pass offenses.  I looked with about 3 weeks left in the season and the Pac 12 had like 8 of the counry's top 25 passing offenses.  The Big 10 had none.  OSU might have moved into the top 25 by the end of the year.

If you go by NCAA type metrics Wisconsin had the #1 defense in the country before the CCG.  Excluding OSU's QB stable and Cook at MSU the next best QB in the league statistically was Gary friggin Nova. There was a huge drop off from Nova.

As for the guy just above you based on FEI/S&P+ UM's defense was 5th to 7th most of the year.  I didnt look post OSU but after back to back offensive juggernauts from Northwestern and Maryland they had moved up to 5th in the conference (combined with Wisconsin's depanting of Nebraska's D) - that was around 35th in the country which is a more reasonable assessment of the UM defense.  Not stout, but decent.  Horrid at the end of every first half.  And unable to create turrnovers.  I believe it was 4 fumbles created and 6 INT all year or vice versa.  And Lewis was the only DB with an INT with 2. 

For comparison Wisconsin and PSU's defense was generally ranked 10-12 all year on FEI/S&P+ and those were the top 2 rated defenses.  I can accept that as reasonable.  Take ANY defensive stats that do not account for SOS out of the Big 10 with a huge grain of salt.

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allintime23

December 26th, 2014 at 11:59 AM ^

So do you think we retain NUSS? That was the strange question that made me want to throw my playstation 4 out of a thirty third floor window. Florida, he's all yours.

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WolverineHistorian

December 26th, 2014 at 12:01 PM ^

66th in the nation in rushing yards is better than I thought. Mainly because before Drake Johnson, all I remember is no run blocking by the O Line. I assumed we led the nation in one yard runs because of that. Defensive stats being that good was, I think, a combination of improvement from 2013 and the fact that we played few explosive offensive teams. Although making Rutgers look like Baylor was no picnic. The secondary being 21st is also kind of a surprise since they had a habit of playing 10 yards off the receiver too many times.

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ghostofhoke

December 26th, 2014 at 12:21 PM ^

How the hell does this post have anything to do with whether or not Harbaugh is coming to Michigan? Haven't you been paying attention to this site. Nobody cares about 2014 anymore



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alum96

December 26th, 2014 at 12:30 PM ^

Looks like the OSU hurt the advanced stats (no surprise there) - fell from #5 to #9 in the conference in that week alone.

UM finished 44th in FEI after being mid 30s the prior week.   This put it behind PSU, OSU, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa and MSU in the conf on FEI.  That is 9th in the conference which is dismal for a unit that had tons of veteran players on it everywhere but S and DT and had no excuses of coaching turnover, and played in the Big 10.  The only above average QBs this D played were in games vs OSU, MSU, and ND.  And I guess Gary Nova (who just prior to playing UM had thrown 5 picks to the stout PSU defense).

S&P+ which has less focus on SOS had UM at 39th. 

Most people in their preseason predictions had UM's defense finishing 2nd in the conference.

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Bo Schemheckler

December 26th, 2014 at 12:30 PM ^

While our offense was poor last year, after a new coaching change we can expect all numbers to rise from the 100's to Harbaugh and even though our defense was good we should be able to slightly increase our top 10 numbers up to Harbaugh

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Vote_Crisler_1937

December 26th, 2014 at 12:35 PM ^

At the risk of sounding anti-moneyball, these defensive numbers don't pass the eyeball test. When Ohio St. needed points they took them from our D. Even middling teams like ND, MN, and Rutgers could shred us consistently enough. Perhaps SOS, being behind a lot in the 2nd half, and our own offensive pace made these numbers look more elite.



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CoverZero

December 26th, 2014 at 2:26 PM ^

This confirms that Brandon canning Al and hiring Nuss was a complete debacle.  Debacle #1 which lead to a horrible, terrible season filled with debacles.

On a positive note:  It may have lead to Harbaugh. !! :)

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