I figured we could use a new thread for bowl and offseason discussion.
I don’t have access to my BC game replay this week, so no game writeup this week. I may pull something together this weekend at post it in this thread. I’m interested in looking more closely at a number of things, including how BC generated so much pass pressure and whether BC should have been flagged for more PI penalties.
In the meantime, I’m starting to take a deep dive into a few questions that I’m interested in. Here’s the one that I was most curious about…
Q. WAS WAKE’S OFFENSE BETTER OR WORSE THAN 2015?
A. Slightly worse.
Wake produced 320 fewer yards and 3 fewer touchdowns than 2015. The difference in yards is mainly due to a change in the run/pass mix. In both 2015 and 2016, Wake averaged more yards per play when throwing the ball. In 2015, Wake was balanced (the run/pass mix was exactly 50/50). But the 2016 team was decidedly more run-focused (60/40) and that caused the drop. Even though the run game was improved from 2015.
I’ve heard Clawson say recently that a primary goal for this season was to reduce INTs and sacks. They accomplished that, but that was in part a result of simply passing less. The sack rate actually got worse (sacked every 9 pass attempts versus every 10 pass attempts in 2015). However the INT rate did improve (from once every 23 pass attempts to once every 29 pass attempts).
Setting aside the volume of pass attempts, the passing game got worse. Completion percentage and yards per catch both went down, but that was almost entirely attributable to a drop off in production from the S-WR position that went from KJ Brent to Alex Bachman/Steven Claude (primarily Bachman). If you focus solely on pass attempts targeting Cortez Lewis, Cam Serigne, Tabari Hines and Chuck Wade then the completion percentage actually improved from 59% to 61% (Hines and Lewis had the biggest jumps in their catch rates) with a flat yards per completion. However, the S-WRs dropped from a 55% completion rate in 2015 (Brent) to a 40% completion rate in 2016 and yards per completion dropped from 14 to 10.5. The decline in efficiency at that position caused all of the passing efficiency stats to drop.
The change in the run/pass mix hurt the counting stats for most of our receivers. Overall, Wake targeted their outside receivers 22% fewer times, but Cam Serigne (down 43%) and Chuck Wade (down 31%) saw even bigger declines. Tabari Hines stayed roughly flat in terms of pass targets.
The run game improved by every measure. Even though the RBs were asked to carry the ball 26% more times in 2016, they still hammered out a higher per carry average (4.0 in 2016 versus 3.5 in 2015) and reduced the amount of negative yards. Despite missing Kendall Hinton for most of the season, Wake still managed to get more positive rushing yards from the QB position (856 vs 777).
I don’t have access to my BC game replay this week, so no game writeup this week. I may pull something together this weekend at post it in this thread. I’m interested in looking more closely at a number of things, including how BC generated so much pass pressure and whether BC should have been flagged for more PI penalties.
In the meantime, I’m starting to take a deep dive into a few questions that I’m interested in. Here’s the one that I was most curious about…
Q. WAS WAKE’S OFFENSE BETTER OR WORSE THAN 2015?
A. Slightly worse.
Wake produced 320 fewer yards and 3 fewer touchdowns than 2015. The difference in yards is mainly due to a change in the run/pass mix. In both 2015 and 2016, Wake averaged more yards per play when throwing the ball. In 2015, Wake was balanced (the run/pass mix was exactly 50/50). But the 2016 team was decidedly more run-focused (60/40) and that caused the drop. Even though the run game was improved from 2015.
I’ve heard Clawson say recently that a primary goal for this season was to reduce INTs and sacks. They accomplished that, but that was in part a result of simply passing less. The sack rate actually got worse (sacked every 9 pass attempts versus every 10 pass attempts in 2015). However the INT rate did improve (from once every 23 pass attempts to once every 29 pass attempts).
Setting aside the volume of pass attempts, the passing game got worse. Completion percentage and yards per catch both went down, but that was almost entirely attributable to a drop off in production from the S-WR position that went from KJ Brent to Alex Bachman/Steven Claude (primarily Bachman). If you focus solely on pass attempts targeting Cortez Lewis, Cam Serigne, Tabari Hines and Chuck Wade then the completion percentage actually improved from 59% to 61% (Hines and Lewis had the biggest jumps in their catch rates) with a flat yards per completion. However, the S-WRs dropped from a 55% completion rate in 2015 (Brent) to a 40% completion rate in 2016 and yards per completion dropped from 14 to 10.5. The decline in efficiency at that position caused all of the passing efficiency stats to drop.
The change in the run/pass mix hurt the counting stats for most of our receivers. Overall, Wake targeted their outside receivers 22% fewer times, but Cam Serigne (down 43%) and Chuck Wade (down 31%) saw even bigger declines. Tabari Hines stayed roughly flat in terms of pass targets.
The run game improved by every measure. Even though the RBs were asked to carry the ball 26% more times in 2016, they still hammered out a higher per carry average (4.0 in 2016 versus 3.5 in 2015) and reduced the amount of negative yards. Despite missing Kendall Hinton for most of the season, Wake still managed to get more positive rushing yards from the QB position (856 vs 777).
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