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Great Plains Gopher

Great Plains Gopher

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After seven games, we are 27th in the nation in total defense; unfortunately, 93rd in total offense.
 


We are 6th in the nation against the pass, 82nd against the run.
 






George isn't at home, so leave a message at the beep. He must be out or he'd pick up the phone...
 

Took a look at Big Ten only stats to see how we stack up there. Pass defense is #1 in the conference although we have only had 63 passes thrown against us through three games which is a pretty low number. Also very odd to be #1 in pass defense but not have a single INT.

Was really surprised at how bad Purdue has been statistically through their BIG games to date. They are pretty close to us in many categories but in general they are below us in most of them.

One alarming stat that stood out to me was our red zone defense. We have only allowed BIG opponents 6 trips into the Redzone but they have scored every time and 5 of those trips have been TD's. Not a good trend.
 



Annnnnnnnnnnd why would anyone pass against a team with this kind of run defense?
 

MNVCGUY said:
Took a look at Big Ten only stats to see how we stack up there. Pass defense is #1 in the conference although we have only had 63 passes thrown against us through three games which is a pretty low number. Also very odd to be #1 in pass defense but not have a single INT.

Was really surprised at how bad Purdue has been statistically through their BIG games to date. They are pretty close to us in many categories but in general they are below us in most of them.

One alarming stat that stood out to me was our red zone defense. We have only allowed BIG opponents 6 trips into the Redzone but they have scored every time and 5 of those trips have been TD's. Not a good trend.
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Teams are also scoring against us running right through the redone.
 

It also helps that we have DB's that are athletic enough to stay in the vicinity of WR's this year. Run defense will improve as the depth increases in the coming years.
 

Sportsfan24 said:
Annnnnnnnnnnd why would anyone pass against a team with this kind of run defense?
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I'm as optimistic as they come, but I pretty much had the same reaction lol.

BUT, with that, there's still something to be said for improving at least one aspect of our defense. This is feeling, but I'm pretty sure I've seen more pass breakups this year than I can recall seeing in quite a while. When teams are passing, the passes are generally being defended well. Sometimes they're a bit aggressive and draw some penalties, but to me that beats not even being in the play to begin with to cause the penalty in the first place.
 



The run defense is a problem. No one can dispute that. I'm pretty hopeful that the team can continue to get off the field on third down more than once in a blue moon. The past three seasons, opponents were converting on 3rd down 44, 47 and 44 percent of the time. This year it's down to 37%.
 

Sportsfan24 said:
Annnnnnnnnnnd why would anyone pass against a team with this kind of run defense?
Click to expand...

Actually, teams pass more per game against us this year so far compared to last year. In 2011 teams averaged 29.4 passes a game, this year it is 29.9. There's no way around it, our pas defense is much better this year.

2011: 67.7%, 7.4 yards/pass, 10.9 yards/catch, 217 yards/game
2012: 55.5%, 5.2 yards/pass, 9.3 yards/catch, 154 yards/game
 

GophersInIowa said:
Actually, teams pass more per game against us this year so far compared to last year. In 2011 teams averaged 29.4 passes a game, this year it is 29.9. There's no way around it, our pas defense is much better this year.

2011: 67.7%, 7.4 yards/pass, 10.9 yards/catch, 217 yards/game
2012: 55.5%, 5.2 yards/pass, 9.3 yards/catch, 154 yards/game
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That's really interesting, cause it sure don't feel like we're getting passed on as much. But whatever, I'll take improvement wherever I can get it right now lol
 

GophersInIowa said:
Actually, teams pass more per game against us this year so far compared to last year. In 2011 teams averaged 29.4 passes a game, this year it is 29.9. There's no way around it, our pas defense is much better this year.

2011: 67.7%, 7.4 yards/pass, 10.9 yards/catch, 217 yards/game
2012: 55.5%, 5.2 yards/pass, 9.3 yards/catch, 154 yards/game
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Thanks - I always like it when people refute other people who make comments with no basis. Therefore You are the winner of this months Dpodoll trophy for protecting us against lies, damn lies, and other un-scrupulous postings.
 

Killjoy said:
Thanks - I always like it when people refute other people who make comments with no basis. Therefore You are the winner of this months Dpodoll trophy for protecting us against lies, damn lies, and other un-scrupulous postings.
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I will treasure this award for the rest of my life.
 

Monty519 said:
I'm as optimistic as they come, but I pretty much had the same reaction lol.

BUT, with that, there's still something to be said for improving at least one aspect of our defense. This is feeling, but I'm pretty sure I've seen more pass breakups this year than I can recall seeing in quite a while. When teams are passing, the passes are generally being defended well.
Sometimes they're a bit aggressive and draw some penalties, but to me that beats not even being
in the play to begin with to cause the penalty in the first place.
Click to expand...

I'm too lazy to look it up but I would attribute the improvement in pass defense directly to the improvement in the pass RUSH. Last season the gophers went weeks without opposing QB's being sacked; also the secondary played little cover 2 defense (both safeties deep) in an effort to slow the run by bringing the SS in the box. No pass rush and corners playing man defense equals poor
pass defense. Watch the pass defense suffer as the coaches make adjustments to stop the run.
 

Sportsfan24 said:
I'm too lazy to look it up but I would attribute the improvement in pass defense directly to the improvement in the pass RUSH. Last season the gophers went weeks without opposing QB's being sacked; also the secondary played little cover 2 defense (both safeties deep) in an effort to slow the run by bringing the SS in the box. No pass rush and corners playing man defense equals poor
pass defense. Watch the pass defense suffer as the coaches make adjustments to stop the run.
Click to expand...

The pass rush has certainly helped. I think the emergence of Michael Carter has helped as well. It's too bad we couldn't have had him playing at this level for several seasons.
 

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