SB Nation - Terrence McCoy

SB Nation 2009 Big 12 Preview: Texas A&M

Beergut — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:31:32 -0000

SB Nation Big 12 Preview: In conjunction with The Ralphie Report, all Big 12 blogs are previewing their teams. The conference preview will run over at The Ralphie Report tomorrow, but A&M's preview is running today.

Texas A&M Offense: A&M returns 8 starters on offense, with virtually all of their skill position talent returning. QB Jerrod Johnson will be leading the offense for his second season, and WRs Jeff Fuller, Ryan Tannehill, Terrence McCoy will lead our passing attack. Tight end Jamie McCoy also returns, as does offensive linemen Evan Eike, Kevin Matthews, and Lee Grimes. Top backup RB Cyrus Gray will be the starter in the offensive backfield next to Johnson, although he may share playing time with Christine Michael. The offense averaged 5.3 yds per play last season, and a poor 340.9 yds per game total offense. If A&M is to have a winning season and go to a bowl, those numbers have to improve.

The Running Game: A&M averaged a pathetic 2.9 yds per carry on the season, while averaging 88.5 yds rushing per game, good for last place in the Big 12 in rushing offense. On the season, A&M rushed for a total of 1062 yds; to put that in perspective, Oklahoma had two running backs (Chris Brown and Demarco Murray) who gained more yds rushing than that individually. The return of three starters on the offensive line would seem to be an advantage for our rushing attack in 2009, but when it was some of the same players who manned a poor line last season, you have to question how much of an advantage that returning experience is. Right now, the starting offensive line in Fall Camp is Lucas Patterson and Lee Grimes at tackle, Mike Shumard and Matt Allen at guard, and Kevin Matthews at center. There has been some movement of Patterson from let tackle to right tackle on different days in camp, so it is unknown yet exactly who will start where. With the return of Gray and redshirt sophomore Bradley Stephens, and the addition of true freshman Christine Michael, A&M has the talent at running back to have an effective rushing attack. The question is whether or not we will have the blocking up front to get the job done on the ground.

The Passing Game: A&M returns record-setting starting QB Jerrod Johnson, who currently holds the records for most TD passes in a season (21), and most passing yards in a game for an A&M QB (419 yards vs. Kansas State). A&M also returns two record-setting wide receivers in freshman Jeff Fuller (most TD receptions for an A&M WR, with 9) and Ryan Tannehill (freshman record for receptions in a season, with 55). With John Mackey Award candidate Jamie McCoy returning at TE (43 receptions, 500 yds, 5 TDs), and senior Howard Morrow, freshmen Kenric McNeal, and Uzome "EZ" Nwachukwu providing quality depth at WR, A&M's passing game looks to continue to excel in 2009. The Aggies averaged 252.4 yds passing per game last season, a number that should rise with the return of so much skill position talent, and the implementation of a no-huddle spread attack this season.

Texas A&M Defense: Texas A&M was horrific on defense last season, no other way to put it. If the Aggies can improve to just being an average defensive team this season, i.e. giving up an average of 250 yds per game passing and 150 yds per game rushing, so giving up right at 400 yds per game in total offense, we will win enough games to be in a bowl game. The defense returns only 5 starters, but that may not be a bad thing, considering we gave up an average of 462 yds and 37 points per game last season.

Defensive Line: The Aggies lost both defensive ends as Michael Bennett and Cyril Obiozor used up their eligibility. They will be replaced by junior college transfer Matt Moss on the strongside, and hybrid Jack linebacker Von Miller on the weakside. Walk-on defensive end Spencer Nealy may also see significant time this season. On the interior line, A&M returns two players who saw extenisve action in 2008, with Eddie Brown returning at defensive tackle, where he started two games, and Tony Jerod-Eddie returning at nose tackle, where he started seven games last season. Redshirt freshman Rod Davis will provide key depth inside. As I have noted before, the key to improvement on our defense starts up front.

Linebackers: Von Miller is expected to be the Aggies' biggest playmaker this season, coming from his Jack linebacker position. Former MLB Matt Featherston will back up Miller at the Jack position. The middle of our linebacking corps will be manned by freshman Kyle Mangan, nicknamed "Ice Cream" by his teammates. Garrick Williams and Ricky Cavanaugh are battling for the other outside linebacker position. Linebacker is one area where an infusion of young talent and speed can really help us.

Secondary: A&M returns safety Trent Hunter and cornerback Jordan Pugh in the secondary, although Pugh has now been moved to safety. Backup Justin McQueen is currently running first team at one cornerback, and Jordan Peterson has moved from free safety, where he started last season, to compete for the spot with McQueen. True sophomore Terrence Frederick is the starter at the other CB spot and has had a very strong camp. I would argue that we were actually okay in the secondary last season, because Trent Hunter is a difference-maker at safety. Considering the fact that our cornerbacks and safeties had to stop the run AND cover the opposing receivers all the time, they didn't do too badly last year. With the improvement in the front seven of our defense this season, there is reason for hope for a solid season from our secondary. I don't look for us to be world-beaters, but we should be okay, and Trent Hunter should receive serious consideration for some post-season awards.

Overall prediction for A&M: I think we'll finish 4th or 5th in the Big 12 South, going 6-6 or 7-5. Is that overly optimistic? Maybe. I am a fan, after all. I think wins over Iowa State, Colorado, Kansas State, and Baylor can be expected in conference. Swing games that will define our season are aganst Arkansas in Arlington, Texas Tech in Lubbock, and texas in College Station.

And So It Begins.....

Beergut — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 10:21:18 -0000

Today is the first official day of Fall Camp for the 2009 Aggie football team. After reporting Sunday and moving into their rooms, getting their paperwork taken care of, meeting the coaches, hanging at Mike Sherman's house, etc, the team will hit the field for the first practice of the beginning of the 2009 season tonight at 6 p.m. It's been a long time coming.

Key questions to be answered during two-a-days:

Who is the backup quarterback to Jerrod Johnson? We can talk about Ryan Tannehill and Tommy Dorman competing for the starting spot, but the starting position in Johnson's to lose. I think Tannehill and Dorman are sparring off for #2.
Where does Christine Michael fit into our offense? We already have Cyrus Gray ready to start at tailback; will Michael take over his spot? Will they split reps? Will we move Bradley Stephens out to slot to get him the ball more, or go to a running-back-by-committee?
Will we have a viable offensive line this season? The failure of our offensive line was our biggest disappointment last season, even moreso than our defense. Our inability to run the ball especially hurt us all season long. Our line was decimated by injuries, and our lack of depth meant we had no one could step up, meaning we played games with injured players starting. With players like Joe Villavisencio burning their redshirt season, we do have some young experience returning on the line, but I am hopeful Sherman's recruiting and a redshirt program mean we'll have some young talented depth ready to step up if needed.
Who will our starting wide receivers be? With Tannehill concentrating on QB, we will need another WR to fill in since we'll be looking at running more 10 and 0 personnel this season. Assuming Jeff Fuller, Jamie McCoy, and Terrence McCoy are the most likely to start, who gets the fourth wide receiver position? Howard Morrow? Will we see freshman Ryan Swope moved into the slot?
Can Rod Davis keep his weight under control enough to contribute on the interior defensive line? Tony Jerod-Eddie and Eddie Brown will be counted on to be the leaders on our defensive interior, but I expect Rod Davis to play often, assuming he can keep his weight under control. Redshirt freshman Adren Dorsey is also expected to contribute.

Our season begins on September 5 at 6 p.m. at Kyle Field, when we play New Mexico. Let's hope we have the answers to some of these questions when that time arrives.

Adding A "Pistol" Series To The Offense Could Have Some Advantages

Beergut — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 08:33:35 -0000

In looking at ways that the Mike Sherman can adopt the offense to utilize the talent we have while still keeping some of the concepts he wants to eventually incorporate into his preferred scheme (the West Coast Offense), I began thinking about the "Pistol offense" Chris Ault runs at Nevada. The Pistol features the QB in a modified shotgun (hence, the pistol nickname) about 4 yds back from the center, with the TB at a more traditional I-formation depth of roughly 7 yds, right behind the center. This gives the QB the advantage of already having some depth to get into his dropback for the passing game, while also giving the TB the depth to begin running downhill similar to a normal I-formation attack. The Pistol thrives when you have a skilled dual-threat at QB like Nevada currently has in Colin Kaepernick, the WAC's reigning offensive player of the year. A&M has a similar dual-threat QB in Jerrod Johnson., a player who can be equally as dangerous running or passing the ball. The Pistol also excels when you have stellar wide receivers to take advantage of its elements of the spread passing game, and we have those receivers in Jeff Fuller, Ryan Tannehill, and Terrence McCoy.

The biggest advantage of running the Pistol is what it does for your running game. You can use the staples of power football from the I-formation while also utilizing the option game. With Jerrod Johnson at QB and a stable of backs including Cyrus Gray, Bradley Stephens, and Christine Michael, A&M has the players to make the option game work. A dangerous play in the option arsenal of the Pistol is the midline option. The video below shows Nevada running the midline option:

Nevada running the Pistol midline option.

The title of the video calls the play a veer, but the veer to me means an element of the the triple option, a true two-read play, and this is just a simple midline read. The midline option is a very simple play: Basically, the offensive lines leaves one defensive lineman unblocked, and then blocks down playside. The unblocked defender is often a dangerous defensive tackle or defensive end who the line is having trouble blocking. Midline gives you the option of forcing that defender to make a decision to choose playing the QB or the TB on the play, and then based on the defenders decision, the QB makes his read and either gives to the TB who will follow his blocking playside, or he will keep the ball and go outside as the defenders crashes down on the TB. You can see how #94 in the video attempts to read the play, then crashes down to stop the TB as Kaepernick goes untouched to the outside. The Pistol midline option would be a particularly useful play to have in our arsenal when we face Oklahoma, with their two stud defensive tackle in DeMarcus Granger and Gerald McCoy. If we have both offensive guards and the center triple-teaming one, we can leave the other unblocked for the read, while the other offensive tackle kicks out the end. I could see us running this play with either Christine Michael or Cyrus Gray in the backfield with Johnson.

The Pistol also gives you the ability to use the speed option and the play-action passing game off of the option game. More importantly, the power concepts from the running game are in line with what Coach Sherman wants to eventually do with a West Coast Offense scheme. The advantage of the option game of the Pistol for us would be that we have a young offensive line, and it would give us a schematic way to deal with stellar defensive lines if we can't yet match them in the personnel department. The blocking scheme for the offensive line in the Pistol can use the same zone principles we use in our normal running game from the spread, while adding a few new rules for the option game. We already have the basic structure in place in our offense to run this series, we just need to add some new tweaks along with this formation to make it work.

Currently, no one runs the Pistol in the Big 12 Conference, so installing a Pistol series into our offense would allow us to force the opposition to learn to defend something they don't see the rest of the season. Being contrarian on offense has other advantages, too, in that we're able to utilize our personnel better, and I think it would be really entertaining for the fans.

We don't need anything complicated in the series, just a basic off-tackle play, the midline option, possibly a triple-option play where we have Gray or Stephens motioning from the slot to the pitchman position (assuming Christine Michael would be a diveback), a counter, and then the play-action passing game using Jamie McCoy at TE and Fuller, Terrence McCoy, and Tannehill at WR.

The only disadvantage I can see to installing a Pistol series in our offense is that it takes practice time to get the option game down efficiently, but I think the advantages of having this series completely outweigh disadvantages.

Rebuilding A Program: Changing The Scheme

Beergut — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:54:34 -0000

Recently I talked about the two different timetables coaches can use when rebuilding a program; today I want to look at different ways of using schemes to rebuild the program. When Bob Stoops took over at Oklahoma in 1999, he inherited a team that had been recruiting players to run an option offense and Rex Ryan's 46 defense. Former coach John Blake had promised to bring back the Wishbone offense, but had run more of an I-veer option attack, similar to what Nebraska ran at the time (but without the devastating line play and defense to go with it). Stoops then inherited an offensive line built big for run-blocking, and a bunch of athletes recruited to play RB and WR. Stoops decided to bring in Mike Leach from Kentucky to install his Air Raid spread passing scheme, in part to take pressure off his offensive line. Stoops took the athletes he had at RB and DB, converted them to WR, and they had to players to make their offense go. The fact that the Big 12 had never seen anything like the Air Raid helped contribute to Oklahoma's success in 1999, but Stoops' decision to implement a scheme that would best take advantage of the personnel he had was the biggest key to their success.

Stoops' background was as a defensive coach, so it is worth noting that he didn't resort to an exotic defensive scheme to try to turn around OU. He implemented his own defensive scheme, a 4-2-5 scheme, which he let his brother Mike Stoops and co-coordinator Brent Venables run.

However, some programs use a change in both offensive and defensive scheme to rebuild the team quickly. When Steve Kragthorpe took over as the head coach at Tulsa University in 2003, he hired Todd Graham away from West Virginia to be his defensive coordinator. Graham implemented the 3-5-3 defense he had coordinated at West Virginia. Using the 33 Stack scheme on defense and a spread scheme on offense, Tulsa improved from a 1-11 record in 2002 to 8-5 in 2003, with an appearance in the Humanitarian Bowl. By implementing a defense scheme that no one else in Conference USA runs, Tulsa was able to give themselves a schematic advantage, in that teams only had one week to prepare to face their defense, so they essentially had three days to on the field to get ready for something they had never seen before. Tulsa was able to hold explosive, wide-open offenses at Hawai'i and Louisiana Tech to under twenty points each because of their defensive scheme. Using Kragthorpe's spread offense, Tulsa was able to average 31 points per game, a dramatic improvement over the 2002 team, which averaged 19 points per game.

It is worth noting that after winning the national title in 2000, and the uptick in recruiting and surge in talent after that win, Stoops moved to a more traditional pro-style offense. Oklahoma went away from their spread roots altogether when they brought in Adrian Peterson, a player more comfortable from the I-formation. To accomodate Peterson and his own wish for a shotgun run-game, offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson moved Peterson back 7 yds from the LOS, putting him the equidistant to an I-back in the I-formation, and giving him more time to read blocks as he made his way to the line of scrimmage.

Last season, with Sam Bradford, DeMarco Murray, Jermaine Gresham, Ryan Broyles, et al, OU incorporated more of a no-huddle spread attack, hoping to take advantage of personnel mismatches by splitting Gresham, Murray, and Chris Brown out at wide receiver. OU still used some traditional pro-set plays in their running game, but they liked to use the spread to give Bradford more options on the field.

At A&M, Joe Kines tried to implement a multiple odd-front scheme on defense last season, first starting with a 33 Stack scheme, then moving to an even-front 4-2-5. A&M's problem was a lack of speed in their linebacker corps, and an underachieving defensive line, so neither scheme was very successful. When the players in the secondary are always the ones making the plays, especially in the running game, your defense is going to have issues. Kines is attempting to adddress this issue through recruiting, by bringing in speed, speed, and more speed in the 2009 recruiting class. The ability of these freshmen to learn the system and get on the field will dictate how successful we'll be on defense this season and the ensuing years to come.

On offense, Mike Sherman wants to run a pro-set, West Coast Offense scheme. However, with the issues we have had with attrition and injuries on the offensive line, a move to a more wide-open spread attack will be more beneficial. With the talent we have at WR (Ryan Tannehill, Jeff Fuller, Terrence McCoy) , at RB (Cyrus Gray, Bradley Stephens, Christine Michael), and at QB (Jerrod Johnson), such a move makes sense. Sherman's adaptability and willingness to adapt our schemes to the talent at hand will hopefully allow him to rebuild the Aggie football team quickly. As I have said before, though, our fanbase needs to be patient as we undergo this rebuilding process.

The Fog of '09 - South Offenses

Bill C. — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:00:07 -0000

Quarterbacks

Oklahoma (Sam Bradford--for now; if not...?)
Texas (Colt McCoy--for now; if not...John Chiles?)
Oklahoma State (Zac Robinson)
Baylor (Hot Tub Griffin III)
Texas Tech (Taylor Potts)
Texas A&M (Jerrod Johnson)

Obviously, there's a lot of "if" here. If Bradford's gone, OU falls to #6 because they don't have another QB who's taken a single snap. If McCoy's gone, you figure Chiles gets the first shot at the job, and while he's decent, UT still falls to #5 on this list.

Running Backs

Oklahoma State (Kendall Hunter, Keith Toston)
Oklahoma (DeMarco Murray, Chris Brown)
Texas (Fozzy Whitaker, Vondrell McGee)
Texas Tech (Baron Batch, Aaron Crawford)
Baylor (Jay Finley, Jeremy Sanders)
Texas A&M (Mike Goodson--for now; if not...Bradley Stephens?)

I firmly expect Goodson to go pro if he's healthy enough for the combine. Even with him, though, it appears that every other South team has better depth at RB than ATM.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Oklahoma State (Dez Bryant, Damian Davis, DeMarcus Connor)
Texas (Malcolm Williams, Dan Buckner, Brandon Collins)
Texas Tech (Detron Lewis, Edward Britton, Tramain Swindall)
Texas A&M (Jeff Fuller, Ryan Tannehill, Terrence McCoy)
Oklahoma (Ryan Broyles, Brandon Caleb, Jameel Owens)
Baylor (David Gettis, Ernest Smith, Kendall Wright)

I am 99.999% sure Michael Crabtree is going pro, so we're not even going to pretend with an "If he's still at Tech" scenario. He's gone. As are a lot of the other proven WRs in the South. OSU ends up on top here, though Texas almost looks to have a better WR corps next year despite losing Cosby and Shipley. OU's unit could be solid, and you know they have plenty of good recruits to plug in the holes, but losing Iglesias and Manny Johnson will hurt them. Broyles could be a major stud, though.

Offensive Lines

Texas (OT Adam Ulatoski, C Chris Hall, OT Kyle Hix)
Oklahoma State (OT Russell Okung, OT Brady Bond, OG Andrew Lewis)
Texas A&M (OT Michael Shumard, OG Evan Eike, C Kevin Matthews)
Texas Tech (OT Marlon Winn, OG Brandon Carter, ...?)
Oklahoma (OT Trent Williams, ...?)
Baylor (OG James Barnard, C JD Walton, OG Chris Griesenbeck)

It might behoove Sam Bradford to seriously think about entering the NFL draft this coming year...as his stock could fall in the '10 draft after running for his life all season long in '09. You know OU's O-line will still be reasonably competent, but this appears to be a 2005-esque rebuilding year for OU in the trenches.

South Offenses, 2009

Oklahoma State (21)
Texas (20)
Oklahoma (15)
Texas Tech (12)
Texas A&M (9)
Baylor (7)

You know Tech and OU (if Bradford comes back) will have competent offenses in 2009--they just will. But continuity at OSU and UT appear to give them edges here.

If Colt McCoy goes pro

Oklahoma State (22)
Texas (17)
Oklahoma (15)
Texas Tech (13)
Texas A&M (9)
Baylor (8)

If Sam Bradford goes pro

Oklahoma State (22)
Texas (21)
Texas Tech (13)
Oklahoma (10)
Texas A&M (10)
Baylor (8)

If McCoy AND Bradford go pro

Oklahoma State (23)
Texas (18)
Texas Tech (14)
Oklahoma (10)
Texas A&M (10)
Baylor (9)

This does show the strength of the South--Baylor's got their most exciting QB, possibly ever, and ATM has a nice, young QB with some nice, young WRs...and they're still bringing up the rear in just about every scenario.

One thing's for certain: Mike Gundy better start googling "How to handle the hype" right now, because I see no way OSU isn't a preseason Top 6-8 team next year.

Big 12 'BTBS' Box Scores

Bill C. — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 01:29:34 -0000

That's right, boys and girls (mostly boys)...it's that time of week again. It's time for BTBS Box Scores!

Colorado (0)		Mizzou (58)
	% Close = 19.0%
31.1%	Field Position %	68.9%
58.0%	Leverage %	79.5%

	TOTAL
69	Plays	73
8.65	EqPts	40.05
27.5%	Success Rate	57.5%
0.13	Points Per Play (PPP)	0.55
0.401	S&P (Success + PPP)	1.124

	CLOSE GAME ONLY
7	Plays	20
-0.66	EqPts	12.25
14.3%	Success Rate	70.0%
-0.09	PPP	0.61
0.049	S&P	1.313

	RUSHING
2.94	EqPts	14.20
25.8%	Success Rate	46.9%
0.10	PPP	0.44
0.353	S&P	0.913
1.18	Line Yards/carry	2.88

	PASSING
5.71	EqPts	25.85
29.0%	Success Rate	65.9%
0.15	PPP	0.63
0.440	S&P	1.289

	NON-PASSING DOWNS
30.0%	Success Rate	62.1%
0.13	PPP	0.54
0.434	S&P	1.157

	PASSING DOWNS
24.1%	Success Rate	40.0%
0.11	PPP	0.60
0.355	S&P	0.998

	TURNOVERS
1	Number	1
2.41	Points Lost	1.76
2.10	Points Given	2.41
4.51	Total T/O Pts	4.17
-0.34	Turnover Pts Margin	+0.34

0.244	Q1 S&P	1.310
0.249	Q2 S&P	1.006
0.417	Q3 S&P	1.135
0.548	Q4 S&P	1.062

0.332	1st Down S&P	1.158
0.488	2nd Down S&P	0.992
0.377	3rd Down S&P	1.268

I'll save most of my thoughts for tomorrow, but...holy crap, those are just universally atrocious numbers from Colorado. Their best down (2nd) was not even half as good as Mizzou's best down (2nd). Their success rates on Non-Passing Downs (30.0%) were 10% worse than Mizzou's success rates on Passing Downs (40.0%). Missouri's close-game S&P was 2680% that of Colorado's. I don't mean to pile on, really (I like the folks at Ralphie Report), but...SEMO's offense looked about twice as good as Colorado's on Faurot Field. Coach Nick Nolte's got some work to do.

Other Big 12 games after the jump.

We'll start with last week's marquee game...

Okla St (24)		Texas (28)
	% Close = 100.0%
51.4%	Field Position %	48.6%
68.8%	Leverage %	74.0%

	TOTAL
64	Plays	77
24.01	EqPts	31.48
53.1%	Success Rate	54.6%
0.38	Points Per Play (PPP)	0.41
0.906	S&P (Success + PPP)	0.954

	CLOSE GAME ONLY
same	Plays	same
same	EqPts	same
same	Success Rate	same
same	PPP	same
same	S&P	same

	RUSHING
13.42	EqPts	9.66
62.5%	Success Rate	45.2%
0.42	PPP	0.31
1.044	S&P	0.763
4.12	Line Yards/carry	2.72

	PASSING
10.59	EqPts	21.83
43.8%	Success Rate	60.9%
0.33	PPP	0.47
0.768	S&P	1.083

	NON-PASSING DOWNS
59.1%	Success Rate	52.6%
0.35	PPP	0.38
0.941	S&P	0.905

	PASSING DOWNS
40.0%	Success Rate	60.0%
0.43	PPP	0.49
0.829	S&P	1.095

	TURNOVERS
1	Number	2
3.57	Points Lost	5.98
0.90	Points Given	2.70
4.47	Total T/O Pts	8.68
+2.21	Turnover Pts Margin	-2.21

0.697	Q1 S&P	0.871
1.126	Q2 S&P	1.292
1.036	Q3 S&P	1.139
0.631	Q4 S&P	0.595

0.952	1st Down S&P	0.909
0.850	2nd Down S&P	0.890
0.914	3rd Down S&P	1.261

Simply hellacious rushing numbers put up by Kendall Hunter and OSU. Wouldn't have thought that was possible against Texas. Honestly, he should have probably gotten more than 18 carries. However, despite the re-emergence of Brandon Pettigrew (just in time for him to win All-Big 12 over Chase Coffman, I'm sure), OSU's passing game was simply too ineffective to keep up. UT's secondary has slowly become a strength as the year has progressed, and their ability to prevent the big play has improved.
Meanwhile, if Colt McCoy wins the Heisman this year, you can thank the constantly successful tightrope act of thriving on Passing Downs. Yet again, UT was better on Passing Downs than Non-Passing Downs, and while you have to worry that the magic could suddenly, violently disappear (it did for Chase Daniel for about 6 quarters, long enough to kill his Heisman chances and his team's title chances), it might not.

Tex Tech (63)		Kansas (21)
	% Close = 44.9%
67.1%	Field Position %	32.9%
75.3%	Leverage %	72.9%

	TOTAL
77	Plays	59
47.33	EqPts	19.73
58.4%	Success Rate	50.9%
0.61	Points Per Play (PPP)	0.33
1.199	S&P (Success + PPP)	0.843

	CLOSE GAME ONLY
34	Plays	27
26.31	EqPts	11.98
67.7%	Success Rate	63.0%
0.77	PPP	0.44
1.450	S&P	1.073

	RUSHING
12.89	EqPts	9.16
55.6%	Success Rate	54.8%
0.48	PPP	0.30
1.033	S&P	0.844
3.36	Line Yards/carry	4.02

	PASSING
34.44	EqPts	10.57
60.0%	Success Rate	46.4%
0.69	PPP	0.38
1.289	S&P	0.842

	NON-PASSING DOWNS
65.5%	Success Rate	60.5%
0.57	PPP	0.38
1.224	S&P	0.986

	PASSING DOWNS
36.8%	Success Rate	25.0%
0.76	PPP	0.21
1.125	S&P	0.460

	TURNOVERS
1	Number	5
4.85	Points Lost	11.39
0.87	Points Given	15.18
5.72	Total T/O Pts	26.57
+20.85	Turnover Pts Margin	-20.85

1.528	Q1 S&P	1.282
1.267	Q2 S&P	0.480
1.149	Q3 S&P	0.000
1.317	Q4 S&P	0.607

1.205	1st Down S&P	0.936
1.034	2nd Down S&P	0.681
1.461	3rd Down S&P	0.964

Speaking of preventing the big play, Tech figured out the perfect defensive recipe for stopping KU. They prevented the big play, they contained Dez Briscoe, and they got into Todd Reesing's head. KU ran the ball well again, which is encouraging for them...but that's where the encouraging news ended. You're reading that right: they had a 0.00 S&P in Q3. They barely touched the ball, and they didn't have a single successful play. Of course, that's what happens when you throw 3 INTs in 4 passes, leading to...
A TWENTY-ONE POINT ADVANTAGE FOR TECH IN THE TURNOVER DEPARTMENT. Holy jeez, Mr. Reesing.
Meanwhile, the Tech offense continues to roll. Their ridiculous success on 3rd downs shows two things: 1) KU showed nothing on defense, and 2) Tech was doing a phenomenal job of leveraging into makeable 3rd downs (as proven by their 75% leverage rate). Graham Harrell wasn't pulling rabbits out of his hat on 3rd downs--he didn't have to.

Oklahoma (58)		K-State (35)
	% Close = 46.0%
55.0%	Field Position %	45.0%
0.662	Leverage %	0.631

	TOTAL
77	Plays	84
41.28	EqPts	38.17
44.2%	Success Rate	39.3%
0.54	Points Per Play (PPP)	0.45
0.978	S&P (Success + PPP)	0.847

	CLOSE GAME ONLY
40	Plays	34
33.87	EqPts	19.42
55.0%	Success Rate	50.0%
0.85	PPP	0.57
1.397	S&P	1.071

	RUSHING
22.81	EqPts	6.05
48.9%	Success Rate	33.3%
0.51	PPP	0.20
0.996	S&P	0.545
3.73	Line Yards/carry	2.05

	PASSING
18.47	EqPts	32.13
37.5%	Success Rate	42.6%
0.58	PPP	0.59
0.952	S&P	1.021

	NON-PASSING DOWNS
51.0%	Success Rate	41.5%
0.59	PPP	0.49
1.102	S&P	0.907

	PASSING DOWNS
30.8%	Success Rate	35.5%
0.43	PPP	0.39
0.734	S&P	0.745

	TURNOVERS
1	Number	5
3.09	Points Lost	11.28
1.51	Points Given	15.13
4.60	Total T/O Pts	26.41
+21.81	Turnover Pts Margin	-21.81

1.769	Q1 S&P	1.008
0.993	Q2 S&P	1.271
0.634	Q3 S&P	0.576
0.378	Q4 S&P	0.579

1.252	1st Down S&P	0.691
0.811	2nd Down S&P	1.076
0.563	3rd Down S&P	0.825

I know it's weird saying this, considering they've scored 100+ points in the last two games (and they didn't even try in the second half against KSU), but I'm a little concerned about OU's offense. They're great at the big play, and that's fine (as long as they continue to pull off the long play), but...they're relying on it a bit too much. Their 38% passing success rate is too low, as is their 3rd Down S&P--against a better defense (like OSU's, for instance), they probably won't manage as many big plays, and they might be in trouble if they have to generate long drives.
That said, MAN OH MAN are they explosive...and they played K-State without their most explosive player, Manny Johnson (okay, Ryan Broyles might be their most explosive, but Johnson is more consistent).
I really enjoy picking at Ron Prince (particuarly his play-calling), as I really do not respect his abilities or coaching style...but instead of actually saying anything negative about him this time around (or how the play-calling still seems to have been suspect despite the fact that they scored 35 points against OU), I'll just link to a more knowledgeable source doing just that (to a degree). Moving on...
Josh Freeman (32.13 Passing EqPts and an INSANELY gorgeous bomb to Ernie Pierce) was the reason KSU kept up with OU for a while, and Josh Freeman (responsible for 4 of KSU's 5 turnovers, which completely made the difference in the game) was the reason KSU lost.

Baylor (20)		Nebraska (32)
	% Close = 100.0%
23.5%	Field Position %	76.5%
77.4%	Leverage %	72.3%

	TOTAL
53	Plays	83
22.78	EqPts	32.18
35.9%	Success Rate	47.0%
0.43	Points Per Play (PPP)	0.39
0.788	S&P (Success + PPP)	0.858

	CLOSE GAME ONLY
same	Plays	same
same	EqPts	same
same	Success Rate	same
same	PPP	same
same	S&P	same

	RUSHING
15.81	EqPts	10.01
43.3%	Success Rate	42.9%
0.53	PPP	0.29
0.960	S&P	0.715
3.33	Line Yards/carry	3.47

	PASSING
6.96	EqPts	22.17
26.1%	Success Rate	50.0%
0.30	PPP	0.46
0.564	S&P	0.962

	NON-PASSING DOWNS
41.5%	Success Rate	45.0%
0.48	PPP	0.36
0.899	S&P	0.814

	PASSING DOWNS
16.7%	Success Rate	52.2%
0.24	PPP	0.45
0.409	S&P	0.970

	TURNOVERS
0	Number	1
0.00	Points Lost	5.39
0.00	Points Given	0.80
0.00	Total T/O Pts	6.19
+6.19	Turnover Pts Margin	-6.19

1.271	Q1 S&P	0.890
0.927	Q2 S&P	0.839
0.680	Q3 S&P	0.778
0.336	Q4 S&P	0.921

1.032	1st Down S&P	0.779
0.663	2nd Down S&P	0.757
-0.049	3rd Down S&P	1.247

Chalk this one up to "Baylor's still learning how to win". Hot Tub Griffin's Bears were the better team on Non-Passing Downs, they led at halftime, they were still in the game heading into Q4...
...and they went 0-for-10 on 3rd Downs, put up a negative 3rd Down S&P, and put up a Colorado-esque Q4 S&P. Third downs and fourth quarters: the last step in learning how to win.
And power to NU for pulling through and establishing themselves as possibly the second-best team in the North (at least until they lose to KU soon...if they do indeed lose). They dominated the field position battle, and they made plays when it counted.

Tex A&M (49)		Iowa St (35)
	% Close = 90.6%
41.3%	Field Position %	58.8%
73.0%	Leverage %	65.9%

	TOTAL
74	Plays	85
39.73	EqPts	34.89
55.4%	Success Rate	52.9%
0.54	Points Per Play (PPP)	0.41
1.091	S&P (Success + PPP)	0.940

	CLOSE GAME ONLY
same	Plays	70
same	EqPts	25.70
same	Success Rate	50.0%
same	PPP	0.37
same	S&P	0.867

	RUSHING
12.49	EqPts	16.18
44.1%	Success Rate	51.4%
0.37	PPP	0.46
0.809	S&P	0.977
2.89	Line Yards/carry	3.50

	PASSING
27.24	EqPts	18.71
65.0%	Success Rate	54.0%
0.68	PPP	0.37
1.331	S&P	0.914

	NON-PASSING DOWNS
53.7%	Success Rate	60.7%
0.53	PPP	0.41
1.063	S&P	1.020

	PASSING DOWNS
60.0%	Success Rate	37.9%
0.57	PPP	0.41
1.168	S&P	0.785

	TURNOVERS
1	Number	2
3.57	Points Lost	2.48
1.76	Points Given	5.58
5.33	Total T/O Pts	8.06
+2.73	Turnover Pts Margin	-2.73

0.957	Q1 S&P	1.050
1.300	Q2 S&P	0.969
0.978	Q3 S&P	0.868
1.062	Q4 S&P	0.887

0.913	1st Down S&P	0.883
1.057	2nd Down S&P	0.880
1.582	3rd Down S&P	1.158

Power to ATM for winning despite once again getting gashed on the defensive line (3.50 line yards per carry) and losing the field position battle. Jerrod Johnson pulled his best Houdini act in coming up big on 3rd Downs (11-for-14) and Passing Downs. He completed six or more passes to four different targets--Jeff Fuller, Ryan Tannehill, and the McCoy brothers (Jamie and Terrence...who I'm disappointed to learn, actually are related...it's a lot more fun to call those sharing a last name "brothers" when they're quite obviously not brothers, a la Matt and Keon Lawrence), and the ATM offense was downright solid despite the injury to Mike Goodson.
Really, that's what the game came down to--ATM stayed out of Passing Downs better than ISU, and they converted Passing Downs MUCH better.
I'm going to assume the only reason ISU's RBs had only 22 carries instead of 32 or 42 is because the 'Clones were trailing by double digits by mid-Q2. Otherwise it makes no sense.

SB Nation - Terrence McCoy

SB Nation 2009 Big 12 Preview: Texas A&M

And So It Begins.....

Adding A "Pistol" Series To The Offense Could Have Some Advantages

Rebuilding A Program: Changing The Scheme

The Fog of '09 - South Offenses

Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Offensive Lines

South Offenses, 2009

Big 12 'BTBS' Box Scores

Colorado (0)

Mizzou (58)

Okla St (24)

Texas (28)

Tex Tech (63)

Kansas (21)

Oklahoma (58)

K-State (35)

Baylor (20)

Nebraska (32)

Tex A&M (49)

Iowa St (35)