FanPost

2010 Defense: Strengths and Weaknesses

Earlier this week we looked at the comprehensive offensive play-by-play and drive metrics similar to those comprising the F/+ college football ranking system, but applied only to ACC conference games.  Here we turn our attention to the defenses.  The Seminoles made huge strides in the right direction under first year coordinator, Mark Stoops, improving their overall ranking from 107th to 41st.  Being just outside the top third of all FBS defenses means you had some weaknesses.  Being in the bottom third the previous year means you just didn't have time to fix everything.

 

We can get a good idea how the Noles compared to the other ACC defenses by looking at a summary of the individual metric rankings.  This average ranking should not be mistaken for a true ranking, as some metrics are more significant than others.  The complete data table can be viewed at the link below.

2010 ACC Defense.

Accdefenseranks_large

Watching last year's defense it was difficult, at times, to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses. Outstanding play from certain individuals can be misleading from the big picture, but I believe we can pick through the categories and make some general conclusions. I'll highlight a few of my observations and welcome you to challenge my assessment that the pass defense was quite a bit ahead of the run defense.

 

Run Defense

 

  • #7 ypc on all running plays
  • #5 success rate on all running plays
  • #8 explosive runs given up
  • #8 in total "stuffs" © ricobert1
  • Last in 3rd down runs success rate (all plays)
  • Last in 3rd down SD runs success rate
  • Bottom half in 75% of run specific metrics
  • Of the 30 top three rankings, two were run specific metrics
  • Of the 11 bottom three rankings five were run specific metrics

Pass Defense

 

  • #4 ypa on all passing plays
  • #3 success rate on all passing plays
  • #5 explosive passes given up
  • #1 in negative passing plays
  • Top half in every pass specific category
  • Of the 30 top three rankings, 12 were pass specific metrics
  • Of the 11 bottom three, one was pass specific

 

Other Observations

 

The bend-don't-break philosophy seems pretty clearly verifiable in that FSU ranked in the top three in all redzone categories and the bottom three in plays per drive.  The youth and lack of depth likely contributed to the bottom three ranking in explosive 4th quarter plays.

What stands out to you?

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