Stats that will make you scratch your head...

I think it means what it still means - we can't win close games because we aren't disciplined enough to win close games.  Frost talks about culture change - but this is a big culture change that hasn't happened - Disciplined football.  It takes serious minded players paying attention to detail  to make that happen. 
If there is one thing that is most telling in my mind about Frost’s coaching ability, is his apparent lack of details. And it incorporates everything, from communicating plays effectively from the sidelines, to having a plan coming out of a half or change of possession (not calling timeouts), to being able to snap the ball with reliability. Saban is a detail guy. Tom was a detail guy. Emotion can only get you so far. Playing with no fear is fine and dandy as long as you don’t have to think about basic techniques. 
 

And it’s the lack of fundamental details which make me think that all the penalties we think go against us are probably deserved. Details=discipline. 

 
I know I have posted this in other threads and have been tracking this most of the season.  Here are some key team stats over the past decade that spans Pelini, Riley and Frost.  I realize there are unique aspects to every single season including strength of schedule, key injuries, etc.., but as an aggregate, the last 4 seasons have stunk, with the 2017 and 2020 teams leading the way in terms of negative point differential.  





Year


Points Scored


Points Allowed


Differential


Wins


Losses


Win Percentage




2010


30.9


17.4


13.5


10


4


0.714




2011


29.2


23.4


5.8


9


4


0.692




2012


34.8


27.6


7.2


10


4


0.714




2013


31.9


24.8


7.1


9


4


0.692




2014


37.8


26.4


11.4


9


3


0.750




2015


32.8


27.8


5


5


7


0.417




2016


26.5


23.9


2.6


9


4


0.692




2017


25.8


36.4


-10.6


4


8


0.333




2018


30


31.2


-1.2


4


8


0.333




2019


28


27.8


0.2


5


7


0.417




2020


23.1


29.4


-6.3


3


5


0.375




 
And our roster is huge.  At least in my mind.
 

 Has the expanded roster led to better special teams play? I think it has not. Is it possible that less coaching time per player could increase the likelihood hood that players enter the portal? Like they don’t get enough attention and never fully connect to the program?   
 

Reduce the roster to increase the amount of coaching eyes per player. Focus on your best athletes.  Practice time is highly regulated by the NCAA. Don’t waste it. 

 
If there is one thing that is most telling in my mind about Frost’s coaching ability, is his apparent lack of details. And it incorporates everything, from communicating plays effectively from the sidelines, to having a plan coming out of a half or change of possession (not calling timeouts), to being able to snap the ball with reliability. Saban is a detail guy. Tom was a detail guy. Emotion can only get you so far. Playing with no fear is fine and dandy as long as you don’t have to think about basic techniques. 
 

And it’s the lack of fundamental details which make me think that all the penalties we think go against us are probably deserved. Details=discipline. 
Well stated. I agree.  A well disciplined team is a well coached team.  What does that say about the coaching thus far??

 
The way I see it, the defense is trending in the right direction, now its time for the offense to hold up its end of the deal. If the defense is able to hold the opposing team below 30 points (which the did in all but the Ohio St. and Illinois game this year, in spite of the offense doing everything it could to f* the defense over), then the offense should be able to get us the win by scoring more than 30, that's basically one touchdown per quarter, plus a field goal thrown in somewhere. Chinander's and the defensive staff earned their cash this year as far as I'm concerned, our offensive staff might have some splainin to do. 

 
I heard on the radio someone claim that we were second in FBS for one score losses. I don't know if that was just this year or all of the Frost years.

That sounds positive because it would seem that small corrections would make a big difference very quickly.


Not to drag this too far off topic, but something I was just reading that I thought was kinda interesting: Zac Taylor's Bengals are in pretty much the same close losses hell. "Cincinnati has played in 15 games decided by eight points or fewer. The Bengals have lost 13 of them -- by far the most in the NFL during that span, according to ESPN Stats and Information." The Curse of Ex-Husker QBs as Head Coaches? (Cinci did just score a major upset of the Steelers last night.)

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Well stated. I agree.  A well disciplined team is a well coached team.  What does that say about the coaching thus far??
that the perfect season at UCF was an aberration.  One thing Frost can do is emotionally stimulate people to act.  In the short-term anyway.  He doesn't have a long enough track record as a head coach to predicte how his teams compete when the talking stops and the work begins.  We will see

 
I know I have posted this in other threads and have been tracking this most of the season.  Here are some key team stats over the past decade that spans Pelini, Riley and Frost.  I realize there are unique aspects to every single season including strength of schedule, key injuries, etc.., but as an aggregate, the last 4 seasons have stunk, with the 2017 and 2020 teams leading the way in terms of negative point differential.  





Year


Points Scored


Points Allowed


Differential


Wins


Losses


Win Percentage




2010


30.9


17.4


13.5


10


4


0.714




2011


29.2


23.4


5.8


9


4


0.692




2012


34.8


27.6


7.2


10


4


0.714




2013


31.9


24.8


7.1


9


4


0.692




2014


37.8


26.4


11.4


9


3


0.750




2015


32.8


27.8


5


5


7


0.417




2016


26.5


23.9


2.6


9


4


0.692




2017


25.8


36.4


-10.6


4


8


0.333




2018


30


31.2


-1.2


4


8


0.333




2019


28


27.8


0.2


5


7


0.417




2020


23.1


29.4


-6.3


3


5


0.375
So to summarize this is the worst scoring offense we have had in the last 10 years. 

Also this is the 3rd worst scoring defense we have had in the last 10 years. The 2 defenses even worse were Chinander 2018 and Diaco 2017. 

Some of you are right. Things are trending up.

 
Wouldn't that be ironic - Craig Bohl coming back to coach at NU. 


Just icing on the cake.  All jokes aside, Bohl is getting a bit long in the tooth for the rebuild here (62).  Plus, he has a losing record at Wyoming whereas the Bobfather won 75% of his games there.  We've dinked around long enough playing musical chairs with coaches.  It's high time we stick with one.  As we go into the future, it appears there will be more and more money involved in college football.  The teams that have stability will be the ones that are successful.        

 
So to summarize this is the worst scoring offense we have had in the last 10 years. 

Also this is the 3rd worst scoring defense we have had in the last 10 years. The 2 defenses even worse were Chinander 2018 and Diaco 2017. 

Some of you are right. Things are trending up.


Let's just completely ignore the fact that all those other years had non-conference pushover games to pad the stats while this year doesn't, amirite?

 
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So to summarize this is the worst scoring offense we have had in the last 10 years. 

Also this is the 3rd worst scoring defense we have had in the last 10 years. The 2 defenses even worse were Chinander 2018 and Diaco 2017. 

Some of you are right. Things are trending up.


Let's just completely ignore the fact that all those other years had non-conference pushover games to pad the stats while this year doesn't, amirite?


Also, in a given season I'm with you that points/wins are what counts. But when we're looking ahead, there's more to it than that. Most of the advanced stats would tell you Riley's 9 win team was actually worse than his 6 win team the year before. That didn't stop me from enjoying the 9 wins, but it worried a lot of fans for the future - it turns out rightfully so. Similarly, I'm not happy with 3-5 here. But the underlying numbers are trending up, so I see no reason to panic for the future. It still sucks losing games, but there are more things than the coaches and kool-aid drinkers indicating we're on the right track. 

 
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