2020 B10 Ranks In Team Stats - 2021 Outlook

BIG ERN

BIG ERN

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B10 Ranks

Average Yards Per Play Offense (6th)

Average Yards Per Play Defense (6th)

Average Yards Per Carry Offense (T-2nd)

Average Yards Per Carry Defense (6th)

Average Yards Per Pass Offense (9th) ranked ahead of NW and Iowa who went #1/#2 in the West 

Average Yards Per Pass Defense (7th)

First Downs Per Game Offense (5th)

First Downs Per Game Defense (7th)

Red Zone TD% (51%) need to get this to at least 60% and we would see a large improvement 

Third Down Conversion Offense (10th)

Third Down Conversion Defense (9th)

Fourth Down Conversion Offense (4th)

Fourth Down Conversion Defense (12th)

Sacks Given Up (16)

Sacks By (13)

Interceptions Thrown (9)

Interception Takeaways (5)

Penalties (11th)

Punts Inside 20 (12th)

Net Kickoffs (14th) 

Areas to improve on most for 2021

1. Improve Red Zone TD%

It was nice having a kicker who made FG, but still doesn't help only kicking FG inside the 20. Have to get a little less cute in the red zone and pound the ball to Stepp and for sure have AM find our big target TE and WR. Allen, Voke, Fidone, Samori and Betts are all capable here. 

2. Special Teams needs to improve on kickoffs and punts 

Hopefully a new ST assistant can help improve these units. A big factor for punting will be if a healthy Cerni can be what he was talked about coming in with his Rugby background. 

3. Need more chunk plays downfield 

Frost needs to change up his play calling for the upcoming season to match what we will have on the field. Stepp and Scott will be the two power backs as of now and need some more spark with Sevion or Thompkins if healthy. Samori and Betts will help the vertical pass game quite a bit with their length. Have some big targets at TE and adding in an athletic Fidone. 

4. Defense needs to force more turnovers 

I felt our defense held up much better than it did a year ago, especially down in the red zone -- we still struggle some on 3rd and long. Defense has been hitting the weights, but we need to see some more turnovers. Ranked 113th which some of this is due to the less attacking approach and ability to get to the QB. Getting basically the whole defense back we should see improvement here. 

5. Improve turnover margin (123rd)

Not only are we not getting turnovers, we are giving them away too much at crucial times. Offense ranked 119th in giveaway in 2020. We will see a lot of new faces on offense once again, but 4th year starter Martinez needs to be the glue to fix this issue the most. That includes not putting the ball on the turf when running. 

 
Really the main improvements needed are in the deep passing game, redzone scoring touchdowns, special teams, and penalties. All of those are fixable with the 2021 roster. It's a matter of getting it done. 

 
I believe our defensive ranking would have been even higher if they didn't have to defend so many short fields during the season.  I also think we get more turnovers if we are playing with the lead and teams have to press to catch up.  Not too often teams take risks when they have the lead against a team with an anemic offense.  That makes it pretty hard to get takeaways.   

On offense I believe so much is fixed with a decent running game.  The downfield passes, the red zone conversion rates, and the turnovers all start to fall in line if we can average 150 yards per game on the ground with our running backs.

Special teams are a mystery to me... and apparently Scott.  I'm not usually critical of him but the ST play has to improve.  I'm still in the camp of we need a full time ST coach- not a press box assistant.  Hopefully they prove me wrong.    

 
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