Yards Per Play Allowed - Smith vs Rossi

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WinLoseOrTy

WinLoseOrTy

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I've always thought Yards Per Play was a good barometer on how good a defense was. Takes out of the equation things like pace of play, field position, etc.

Gopher defense gave up 5.93 yards per play for the season. That ranked 85th in the country. The 5.93 yards per play for the season was the worst Gophers have had since 2011, when they gave up 5.96 YPP. No surprise that the 26.5 points per game allowed was also their worst since 2011.

Was curious how much a difference the coordinator change had in that number.

With Robb Smith (4-5 record, 3 games vs Bowl Teams)

6.33 yards per play allowed
110th in FBS at the time


With Joe Rossi (3-1 record, 4 games vs Bowl Teams)
4.96 yards per play allowed
31st in FBS in the timespan
 

Interesting breakdown. I'd suspect the difference to be even greater if all of Smith's games were against B1G teams like Rossi's.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think our defense could do a 180 like that with a change in coordinator and arguably our best defender injured.
 

bottlebass said:
Interesting breakdown. I'd suspect the difference to be even greater if all of Smith's games were against B1G teams like Rossi's.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think our defense could do a 180 like that with a change in coordinator and arguably our best defender injured.
Click to expand...

Agree with the last sentence 100%. I figured it was a band aide approach if that.
 

WinLoseOrTy said:
I've always thought Yards Per Play was a good barometer on how good a defense was. Takes out of the equation things like pace of play, field position, etc.

Gopher defense gave up 5.93 yards per play for the season. That ranked 85th in the country. The 5.93 yards per play for the season was the worst Gophers have had since 2011, when they gave up 5.96 YPP. No surprise that the 26.5 points per game allowed was also their worst since 2011.

Was curious how much a difference the coordinator change had in that number.

With Robb Smith (4-5 record, 3 games vs Bowl Teams)

6.33 yards per play allowed
110th in FBS at the time


With Joe Rossi (3-1 record, 4 games vs Bowl Teams)
4.96 yards per play allowed
31st in FBS in the timespan
Click to expand...

Good comparison, but nothing beats the points allowed per game differences. Lol


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

I like Joe but I think our sample rate is still a bit low to hand out too many high fives, granted a few are ok.
 


A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
I like Joe but I think our sample rate is still a bit low to hand out too many high fives, granted a few are ok.
Click to expand...

In basketball and Hockey at least (smaller numbers) teams sometimes quit trying hard to get a coach fired they hate or do not believe in at all (UCLA-Steve Alford, MN Wild- Mike Yeo).

In this case we have heard PJF say the schemes are the same, but I have to think that Rossi changed quite a few things.

It is also quite likely there was a lot of negativity surrounding the former DC and the players, going back two years that evaporated the moment Smith was fired.
 


A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
I like Joe but I think our sample rate is still a bit low to hand out too many high fives, granted a few are ok.
Click to expand...

I actually disagree as I think Rossi did an amazing job over the final 4 games of the season and clearly knows how to get the most out of the players at his disposal.

He had to prep for some very different offenses and the defense passed the test with flying colors in all 4 games. I feel very confident in our defense going forward with him at the helm. The players seem to really love playing for him and in college football that goes a long way.
 

Halsey Hall said:
Is that you with a different name, SON?
Click to expand...

I've just seen enough coaching change bounces up that come down in my time.

I'm happy to go forward with Joe as DC, I'm just not betting on 4 games as a trend.
 



ypp.JPG

Per game yards per play allowed. That Illinois game (10.77) is crazy...
 

oak_street1981 said:
In basketball and Hockey at least (smaller numbers) teams sometimes quit trying hard to get a coach fired they hate or do not believe in at all (UCLA-Steve Alford, MN Wild- Mike Yeo).

In this case we have heard PJF say the schemes are the same, but I have to think that Rossi changed quite a few things.

It is also quite likely there was a lot of negativity surrounding the former DC and the players, going back two years that evaporated the moment Smith was fired.
Click to expand...

You could see where players were at the snap that Rossi was doing things different. They were probably formations that were available under Smith, just used less frequently. But with a lot of Smith's defense I could never figure out who was supposed to have outside contain, frankly I'm not sure the players knew either. It was clear they had a plan on how to limit things to the outside under Rossi, you could see it by how they lined up.

But several players played differently between the two. One that jumps out to me is Jacob Huff. Jacob Huff under Smith (especially in that Illinois game) vs. Jacob Huff under Rossi seemed like two different people. I'm not sure if it was responsibility, position, motivation, or what, but in that Illinois game he looked lost. He had his hands on the Illinois player on every long play and never brought him down. Seemed like he was always out of position. It was like they put some schmuck from the street in his jersey and said "good luck". Whereas vs. GT he was a beast. Seemed like he always was in the right spot. Made many tackles. Just awesome.

Rossi also played some guys who weren't seeing much time under Smith, and they seemed to contribute.

In other words, I think the answer to your points is all of the above. I think several players weren't putting out their best and Rossi changed some of the formations they were using and some personnel.

Is Rossi the next Monte Kiffen? Maybe not, but what he did was pretty amazing, considering most of us were ready to call the season a complete loss immediately before Rossi was hired. If the defense isn't a liability (which it was for a few games these last couple years) this team can win some games. If it's better than just "not a liability", watch out.
 

First 9 Games: 27.8 points scored per game and 31.8 points given up per game Differential -4

Last 4 games: 31.5 points scored per game and 14.8 points given up per game Differential +16.7

This is a good start.....best teams in the country have differentials in the high twenties to low thirties
 

I think that Smith failed to adjust from the pro game to college. He gave the players too many things to think about, they didn't have the time to learn them well enough to play fast, Rossi just simplified things which allowed the players to play fast.
 



Interesting stat - thanks for figuring that out. The pts/pg also interesting. It seems we have turned a corner. The first three games next year will tell the tale - all could be challenges.
 

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