Penalties: Purdue vs Nebraska

It'sNotAFakeID

It'sNotAFakeID

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The lack of discipline on this team is staggering. I thought it'd be interesting to take a look at each of the penalties committed in yesterday's game and assess the damage:

Penalty #1: Personal Foul on Gerald Foster (15 yards): On 2nd & 5, Gerald Foster commits a personal foul that negates a 2 yard run by JD Spielman. Instead of 3rd & 3, Nebraska faces a 2nd & 20. Two incomplete passes later, and Nebraska punts. 

Penalty #2: Defensive Holding on Lamar Jackson (10 yards): On 3rd & 10, Marquel Dismuke intercepts a pass from David Blough and returns it to Purdue's 40 yard line. The defensive holding negates the interception that would've set Nebraska up with good field position. The defense recovers to force a punt, but instead of starting with the ball on Purdue's 40, Nebraska starts with the ball on their own 12. 

Penalty #3: Personal Foul on Marquel Dismuke (15 yards): On 2nd & 10, David Blough completes a pass to Jackson Antrhop for 2 yards. As Antrhop is heading out of bounds, Marquel Dismuke hits him, drawing a 15 yard penalty. Instead of a 3rd & 8, Purdue gets a 1st down. 

Penalty #4: Pass Interference on DiCaprio Bootle (15 yards, same drive as #3): On 3rd & 4, Blough throws a pass up to Jared Sparks. Bootle doesn't get turned around in time and interferes with Sparks, drawing a pass interference penalty. Instead of 4th & 4, Purdue gets another 1st down, and kicks a field goal. 

Penalty #5: Roughing the Passer on Khalil Davis (15 yards): Immediately following Lightborne's "great" punt that started Purdue at their own 49 yard line, Khalil Davis hits David Blough late, drawing a roughing the passer penalty. The penalty moves Purdue to Nebraska's 36 yard line and the Boilermakers would eventually score on that drive. 

Penalty #6: Holding on Gerald Foster (10 yards): In Purdue territory, Gerald Foster holds the defensive linemen on a 1 yard run by Ozigbo. The penalty backs Nebraska back into their own territory, but would go on to score on that drive. 

Penalty #7: Holding on Tyjon Lindsey (10 yards): Martinez completes a pass to Ozigbo, who takes it in for a TD, but the play is called back because Tyjon Lindsey was called for holding on Devine's run to the endzone. Nebraska would score on the next play. 

Penalty #8: Roughing the Passer on Freedom Akinmoladun (15 yards): Facing a 3rd & 20, David Blough throws an incomplete pass. However, Akinmoladun hits Blough on the helmet with his arm (he may have been pushed into him), drawing a roughing the passer penalty. Instead of punting, Purdue now has 1st & 10 at Nebraska's 30 yard line. 

Penalty #9: Facemask on Eric Lee Jr. (15 yards, VERY NEXT PLAY): After gifting Purdue a 1st down, Eric Lee is called for a facemask, gifting Purdue another 15 yards. The Boilermakers would go on to score a few plays later. 

Penalty #10: Holding on Stanley Morgan Jr (10 yards): On a complete pass to JD Spielman, Stanley is called for holding (I thought it was questionable). The holding negates a 6 yard gain from Spielman, but the Huskers would go on to score on the drive. 

Note: these penalties do not include offsetting penalties or penalties that were declined. Penalties 1-4, 8, and 9 drastically affected the outcome of the game. Gerald Foster's 1st penalty made a 3rd and short into a 2nd and long that the offense couldn't recover from. Lamar Jackson's holding call negated an interception that would've given the offense great starting field position. Dismuke's personal foul turned a 3rd and long for Purdue into a 1st and 10. Bootle's pass interference turned a 4th and 4 into a 1st and 10 on a drive where Purdue scored 3 points. Freedom's roughing the passer turned a 4th and 20 into a 1st down, and Lee's facemask added salt to the wound. Nebraska gave Purdue 30 yards in penalties on a drive which ended in a TD. 

In the best of circumstances, that's a 17 point swing. Purdue punts instead of scoring a field goal and a touchdown, and Nebraska scores a touchdown on the drive following Dismuke's interception. 

Someone remind me of the score again. 

 
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I rolled my eyes a bit last night hearing Frost talk about the lack of discipline at his press conference, because (and it's one of the only issues I had with Frost's hiring, but) UCF was one of the most penalized teams in the country the last two years. In 2016, they were 105th with 7.2 penalties per game, and in 2017, they were 127th with 8.4 penalties per game. I don't know if Frost and staff don't emphasize it, or don't know how to emphasize it in the proper ways, but with Nebraska at 129th in the country (out of 130 teams) at 10.5 per game, it's an alarming issue that probably isn't going away anytime soon. 

 
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Cdog923 said:
I rolled my eyes a bit last night hearing Frost talk about the lack of discipline at his press conference, because (and it's one of the only issues I had with Frost's hiring, but) UCF was one of the most penalized teams in the country the last two years. In 2016, they were 105th with 7.2 penalties per game, and in 2017, they were 127th with 8.4 penalties per game. I don't know if Frost and staff don't emphasize it, or don't know how to emphasize it in the proper ways, but with Nebraska at 129th in the country (out of 130 teams) at 10.5 per game, it's an alarming issue that probably isn't going away anytime soon. 
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The number of penalties per game only tells half the story, imo. The other half of the story lies in the # of penalty yards per game. There is a correlation between the two, but it's not a perfect correlation - a team could commit 8 false starts a game and rack up less penalty yardage than a team who commits 3 personal fouls.

That said, in 2016, UCF committed 57.4 yards of penalties per game (82nd); Nebraska was 63rd with 53.5 yards per game. In 2017, UCF gave up 67 yards of penalties per game (113th); Nebraska was 102nd at 60.7 yards per game. What may be interesting is that, in 2017, Nebraska committed on average, 2 fewer penalties than UCF, but only 7 fewer yards of penalties per game. I'd have to review the games, but that difference tells me that the penalties committed by UCF (motion, procedural) were different than the penalties committed by Nebraska (personal foul)

 
Cdog923 said:
I rolled my eyes a bit last night hearing Frost talk about the lack of discipline at his press conference, because (and it's one of the only issues I had with Frost's hiring, but) UCF was one of the most penalized teams in the country the last two years. In 2016, they were 105th with 7.2 penalties per game, and in 2017, they were 127th with 8.4 penalties per game. I don't know if Frost and staff don't emphasize it, or don't know how to emphasize it in the proper ways, but with Nebraska at 129th in the country (out of 130 teams) at 10.5 per game, it's an alarming issue that probably isn't going away anytime soon. 
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I believe Frost sees the penalties as a sign of a lack of discipline.  The lack of discipline is contributing to missed assignments and poor execution which he is more concerned about.  UCF didn't have these problems and penalties aren't a problem if you're winning.

 
It'sNotAFakeID said:
The number of penalties per game only tells half the story, imo. The other half of the story lies in the # of penalty yards per game. There is a correlation between the two, but it's not a perfect correlation - a team could commit 8 false starts a game and rack up less penalty yardage than a team who commits 3 personal fouls.

That said, in 2016, UCF committed 57.4 yards of penalties per game (82nd); Nebraska was 63rd with 53.5 yards per game. In 2017, UCF gave up 67 yards of penalties per game (113th); Nebraska was 102nd at 60.7 yards per game. What may be interesting is that, in 2017, Nebraska committed on average, 2 fewer penalties than UCF, but only 7 fewer yards of penalties per game. I'd have to review the games, but that difference tells me that the penalties committed by UCF (motion, procedural) were different than the penalties committed by Nebraska (personal foul)
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Good post.

Procedure penalties are (to me, anyways), more unforgivable than "effort" penalties. 

4skers89 said:
I believe Frost sees the penalties as a sign of a lack of discipline.  The lack of discipline is contributing to missed assignments and poor execution which he is more concerned about.  UCF didn't have these problems and penalties aren't a problem if you're winning.
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EDIT: reading is hard, mmkay. 

I get what you are saying, but Nebraska is a big ball of Suck right now, and if you cross out maybe 3 of the penalties that Fake ID posted, Nebraska is in a position to win yesterday, even with all the poor execution. It's all worrisome, but the penalties are more easily corrected. 

 
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4skers89 said:
I believe Frost sees the penalties as a sign of a lack of discipline.  The lack of discipline is contributing to missed assignments and poor execution which he is more concerned about.  UCF didn't have these problems and penalties aren't a problem if you're winning.
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This is also probably correct - discipline isn't boiled down to just penalties. Some of Purdue's biggest plays yesterday were the result of a guys missing assignments, having poor eye discipline, etc. 

 
Cdog923 said:
Good post.

Procedure penalties are (to me, anyways), more unforgivable than "effort" penalties. 
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Definitely - what's more unforgivable or less unforgivable is mired in grey. For example, I think Akinmoladun's RtP is more forgivable than Dismuke's personal foul even though both penalties are 15 yards that kept drives alive.

However, from a sheer number perspective the procedural penalties hurt less. Nebraska would've had to have been called for offsides 6 times in a row to equal the number of yards given up by the personal fouls on Akinmoladun and Lee. 

 
Great thread/post INAFID.

Wasn't there a special teams penalty during a return by JD that pushed up back near our goal line?  I thought I saw one bc it changed starting field position.

 
admo said:
Great thread/post INAFID.

Wasn't there a special teams penalty during a return by JD that pushed up back near our goal line?  I thought I saw one bc it changed starting field position.
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Yes, there was. I couldn't find it in the game summary, but I remember penalty. It was a block in the back on #26, the same player who was called for unsportsmanlike conduct later in the game as well. It was a dumb block in the back too because JD had already gotten past that guy. 

 
I remember some of those penalties not actually happening and some against us not being called. I'd call Delaney and ask if he plans to keep sending crooked refs who look to throw a flag on every big play? Lindsey didn't hold. Our DT didn't rough the passer. Morgan Jr was held right in front of the ref. We're bad enough without the refs being crooked too. The fans were right to boo the refs.

 
The holding against Jackson on the Dismuke interception was especially frustrating because I watched it happen and knew it was a penalty immediately but to me it didn't seem like the hold was nesaccary at all. The WR was completely covered up even before Jackson snagged him.

 
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