Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Takeout pace and how does the D look?

As I wrote, giving up 42 to Louisville was bad. You will not win many games when that happens. Now some -- including some coaches -- might say that when you score 45 and score many of those points quickly, you are bound to give up more points. Even before this scoring outburst, BC was playing faster i.e. uptempo. And there was the belief that the new pace would impact the D. The faster pace was part of the reason for resting players.

But just because BC is playing at a faster pace, doesn't mean that we can't make fair comparisons between different BC defenses. Instead of total D and points allowed -- which are impacted by pace, we can look at yards per play allowed. In this measure, it is about how good you are down to down. Here are the stats of BC's yards allowed per play under Addazio:

-- 2017 yards per play allowed: 74th -- 5.7 per play
-- 2016 yards per play allowed: 26th -- 5.0 per play
-- 2015 yards per play allowed: 5th -- 4.3 per play
-- 2014 yards per play allowed: 33rd -- 5.0 per play
-- 2013 yards per play allowed: 86th -- 5.8 per play

As you can see, the team was most stingy in 2015, when it was near the top of all defensive statistics. Now, I know that you could still claim that pace impacts yards allowed per play. If D has to face more plays, they might still wear down and allow more big plays that skew the numbers. But I think what this does speak to is that the current D is not as good as last year and clearly not even in the same ballpark as the 2015 D.

The remainder of the schedule is not filled with offensive juggernauts, so the stats do have a chance to improve. But by the time we shoot down this argument, we will just be hit with more excuses about injuries.

17 comments:

modest34b said...

BC is among the worst in the ACC at giving up big plays. It is partly due to tired athletes, but more about the style of D. Since Brown, BC takes lots of calculated risks on D. Many times they get burned. The Spaz 10 yard cushion guarded against such plays but had its own problems.

Geezer eagle said...

I know I'm talking offense here, but BC's number one priority should be recruiting a quality (preferably a pro-style pocket passer) QB. The defense is tired because they are always on the field.

John said...

We have 2 freshmen who fit that style, I believe. East Coast - West Coast. 🙂

John said...

EJ Perry and Matt McDonald.

The defense is scaring me to death. I think there will be more pressure on the UVA quarterback, and hopefully that will help

Knucklehead said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Knucklehead said...

Section D,
Another stupid post that says nothing in a self important way.

Moron.

Unknown said...

Let Knucklehead post. He has a right, and he cares about BC, I guess. But no need to respond to him or in any way acknowledge his outbursts. Engaging him detracts from this otherwise useful and interesting blog.

modest34b said...

Unknown. Are you a gag poster?

Knucklehead has no right whatsoever to make repeated personally abusive remarks.

So shut the fuck up

John said...

Pray for Gordon Heywood of the Celtics who suffered a gruesome ankle injury tonight in Cleveland. I guess it is absolutely horrifying.

It's a reminder that our players risk serious injury every practice and every game for scholarships and we need to support them for that reason among others.

amdg1540 said...

Knuckle, why you hate on Section D so much? Sure, he's a bit too cheery an optimistic -- especially vis-a-vis you -- but why not dispute his arguments rather than going for the nasty ad hominem attack every single time?

BC 86 said...

Gruesome is right bjk, might be career ending injury, our players give there all and I respect that , GO BC .

knucklehead said...

He was harassing me with foul language and attacks because he didn't like something I said about wanting the VT QB to get injured - throw away line.

I am not going to be berated by a hypocrite moron.

knucklehead said...

His(assuming) posts are useless and moronic. There is nothing in them to dispute. They can only be characterized. I characterized them as I see them.

knucklehead said...

See how he bitches about abusive language and then says shut the fuck up.

Hypocrite.

Unknown said...

Holy Cross did WHAT ????????????

Big Jack Krack said...

BTW - the T.O.P was about the same for Louisville and BC.

I don't particularly favor slowing our pace down to control the clock and keep our D off the field.

We need to score, score, score - and we showed that we are capable if many things go right.

I think this is a big game for Addazio, as are the rest of the games this season.

Listening to the college football talk shows, they are really down on Petrino and especially for allowing 45 points on their home field to lowly Boston College - "which has had an inept offense for years - it usually takes them 3 games to get 45 points".

So, having lost the fan base and having overseen the apathy that has set in around the program, Addazio finally gave us a sniff of happiness this past Saturday. Whether he allowed Loeffler to call his own plays exclusively while he himself stepped aside is unknown.

But one thing is for sure in Year 5. One ACC win (impressive on the road) is not enough. If Addazio turtles up again, it will not be tolerated and he's gone.

Let's go, coaches - give our players a plan to win the game. They'll do it, if you give them the chance. It has been mind-boggling that you have tied one arm behind their backs, so to speak, with the RRPP approach - that's run up the middle to a stacked box, run up the middle to a stacked box, and pass short of the first down marker, punt. Mind-boggling.

Go BC - shock UVA in Charlottesville. Bring back our fans and bring back our pride in Boston College.

Goldenslot said...

Thank you very much

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