Improved Offense Stats Last 3 games

Dick Harmon noted the difference in efficiency between the first four games and the last three games. Some interesting figures to compare:



Avg. Points/Game

18.5 - 31.5



Rushing Offense Ranking

116 - 70



Rushing Yards (first 3 games vs last 4 games)

145 - 833



Total Offense Ranking

111 - 82



Third Down Conversion Percent (first 4 vs last 3 games)

39 - 76



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

Possible Reasons for this:



1. Simplified blocking schemes

2. Adding Riley as a ball carrier

3. Emergence of Alisa at RB

4. Invigorated play of OL and RBs



Riley plays like a LB and has the mindset of the D. This play style motivates the O to step up and follow his fearless and gritty leadership.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

Red zone percentage is now up to 88.88 and time of possession is around 31:12 minutes/game.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

byucougar1 wrote:
Possible Reasons for this:



1. Simplified blocking schemes

2. Adding Riley as a ball carrier

3. Emergence of Alisa at RB

4. Invigorated play of OL and RBs



Riley plays like a LB and has the mindset of the D. This play style motivates the O to step up and follow his fearless and gritty leadership.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

5. Doman has 7 games under his belt as a play caller.

Hate to say it, but a factor as relevant as any other is he quality of our opponents. I enjoy watching our offense move the ball and score more effectively, but I cannot ignore the fact that we have only been able to do it against terrible teams thus far.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

DarthMagnus wrote:
Hate to say it, but a factor as relevant as any other is he quality of our opponents. I enjoy watching our offense move the ball and score more effectively, but I cannot ignore the fact that we have only been able to do it against terrible teams thus far.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

This is true. But it also true that we are moving the ball more and more efficiently than our opponents are currently averaging. Whereas previously we were below what our opponents were averaging.

Two words. "Competition Level!"

Two words: Riley Nelson.



Our improvement on offense is not solely due to the competition level. I bet if we played any of our first four opponents on Saturday we would see offensive production much closer to the last 2 1/2 games than the first time we played those teams.

Awful competition, but the USU game showed that Nelson has made us a much better team. Plus, cohesion is something that is not affected by the quality of the teams you face. It's either there or it isn't (even in a losing effort). This team now has it and will likely get 10 wins.

Well, not to put all of you smart guys to intellectual shame, but I did some reading in the Salt Lake Tribune today. I found out that the improved offense has a lot to do with BYU hiring a bunch of hookers. That is according to Gordon Monson.



By the way, what is the scoop on that guy? Is he related to President Monson? Why do the neurons in his head fire abnormally? Was he kicked out of the church, or did he have a standards violation at BYU? Is he just an idiot because he is trying to compensate for the fact that he has a good name? Is his name too much to live up to? I've been wondering for a couple of years. Are he and Kragthorpe mad because they can't get married?

DarthMagnus wrote:
Hate to say it, but a factor as relevant as any other is he quality of our opponents. I enjoy watching our offense move the ball and score more effectively, but I cannot ignore the fact that we have only been able to do it against terrible teams thus far.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

It is nonetheless progress becasue we couldn't even do it against terrible teams before.



You go look it up - Oregon State is every bit as good as Ole Miss. USU was every bit as good in the second half as they werein the first half - we were just beter in the 2nd half than we were in the first half.



But don't lose any sleep over the strength of schedule nonsense.



GO lok at 1984 - the only time we ever went undefeated - and you tell me what is stronger about that schedle than thisone. I will give yo uIdaho State - but there are some that go the other way. And does it really matter whether the cupcakes you play have extra frosting on them. BYU did not beat any team in 1984 that was any better than the teams we are playing this year. And yes, Texas and Utah at the time we played them were better for 1/2 than these other teams have ben. But Texas absolutley sucked until late in the first half. And Utah, inspite of getting three quick turnovers was trailing us until late in the first half.



Tell me that UCF in Provo is really a tougher win than SJSU was or OSU in Oregon.



We have not played any great teams this year. That is a myth.

Dwight wrote:
Well, not to put all of you smart guys to intellectual shame, but I did some reading in the Salt Lake Tribune today. I found out that the improved offense has a lot to do with BYU hiring a bunch of hookers. That is according to Gordon Monson.



By the way, what is the scoop on that guy? Is he related to President Monson? Why do the neurons in his head fire abnormally? Was he kicked out of the church, or did he have a standards violation at BYU? Is he just an idiot because he is trying to compensate for the fact that he has a good name? Is his name too much to live up to? I've been wondering for a couple of years. Are he and Kragthorpe mad because they can't get married?

It's the other way around. He can't get married because he's mad. When it's part of your personality and profession to find fault with everything, report on it with gross hyperbole to stir the pot, and just be a douche in general, it should be no surprise that most women want no part of that, and that he finds too many faults with those that do to marry them.



Sadly, I think he might have some success dating at BYU. My experiences there showed me that most of the I considered date-able went for his type rather than someone like me who was nice, courteous, well-kept, could cook, got good grades, had a real major, had a real job, and would go on to have a real career. As Gordo lacks most/all of these qualities (can't speak for his cooking, thankfully), the only logical conclusion I can make is that he'd be beating them off with a stick.

More to the point, though, nobody is paying attention to what Spiff is saying, which is a shame, because he's right on. If you control for bad opponents (which is what he is doing by comparing our offensive output against a given opponent to that opponent's allowed averages), it shows that we used to be performing below the opponent's allowed average - making them look good - and now are performing above the opponent's allowed average - making them look bad.



You can try to explain it away all you want, but the offense is getting better, and barring injury it's probably going to keep getting better. We have a running QB who is a true dual threat. We have multiple receivers, TEs, and backs that can catch out of the backfield. We have multiple backs that can run it with power and speed. And we have an offensive line that is currently fired up, getting a lot of YPC, and not allowing a lot of sacks. We're figuring out how to use all of that during a game. Obviously a crappy opponent is not going to be able to defend that, but how do you defend it even if you're good? Just asking... I think we'll actually have a game on our hands this year against TCU.

redneckjedi wrote:
If you control for bad opponents (which is what he is doing by comparing our offensive output against a given opponent to that opponent's allowed averages), it shows that we used to be performing below the opponent's allowed average - making them look good - and now are performing above the opponent's allowed average - making them look bad.

It bothers me that this point is empirically provable, yet hardly anyone mentions it.