SB Nation User Blog: marmotman

Scheduling Quirks

marmotman — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:19:27 -0000

Just thought these were interesting:

Clemson will play Alabama and Auburn in consecutive games, both in Atlanta, no less.

I know everyone is eagerly awaiting Ohio State's showdown with the men of Troy. That's right, Troy University, on Sept 20, one week after traveling to play USC.

Hawai'i has the privelege of playing Georgia and Florida in consecutive games. Doesn't seem that quirky until you realize that these three state names are alphabetical neighbors. Eerie isn't it?

Interesting Numbers from 2007

marmotman — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:18:48 -0000

------------------------------------------------UT------OPP

SCORING....................... 455 382

Points Per Game............. 32.5 27.3

3RD-DOWN CONVERSIONS.......... 81/202 86/213

3rd-Down Pct................ 40% 40%

TIME OF POSSESSION/GAME....... 28:25 31:35

RUSHING YARDAGE............... 1946 2305

Yards gained rushing........ 2128 2622

Rushing Attempts............ 459 545

Average Per Rush............ 4.2 4.2

Average Per Game............ 139.0 164.6

TDs Rushing................. 19 15

So what does this tell us? Well for one, our average per rush was identical to our opponents', so why not try it more? We lost in the time of possession, even though we did outscore our opponents by 5 points per game. Those extra six carries per game could have kept our D off the field. Interestingly, we scored more touchdowns on the ground.

I think Cutcliffe carried the Ole Miss frame of mind back to UT and didn't show our O-line enough confidence. The UCLA game should tell us a lot about Clawson's opinion of the hogs.

Just trying to beat a dead horse.

How should playing time split between Foster, Hardesty, Creer?

marmotman — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:07:20 -0000

Personally I think it will start about 60-25-15, but by the end of the year should be about 45-30-25. If the spread Clawfense does what it's supposed to do, then you'd have to think Clawson would want his homerun threat (Creer) on the field a lot. It would be good to get Poole some carries too, as he'll need to see significant minutes next year. Just one more thing, where is the next Jamal Lewis and why haven't we signed him yet?