Comparing the Noles Offensive/Defensive Performance in 2009, Part 1

This is a simple presentation of statistics which support the claim that our offensive coaches are out-performing their defensive counterparts.

(I've broken this up into two parts in order to fix the formatting problems.)

I start with the assumption that the talent level on the Noles offense and defense is similar.  If this is grossly incorrect, then my argument never gets started.  If the talent levels are similar, but the Noles offense is out-performing their defensive counterparts, then this difference in performance must be due to either coaching or competition.  I argue that the difference is not due to competition, that is, we are not facing prolific offenses and so-so defenses.  Thus, there must be a difference in the quality of coaching.  Now, I'm not an X's and O's guy, so I can't evaluate the coaching directly.  But if I eliminate the other variables, then it's the only thing left.

So, the first thing I need to establish is that the Seminoles offense is performing at a much higher level than the defense.  I'll start with a look at the offense.

The Noles' Offense

First, consider national ranking of total offense per game:  Noles are #25

 Against opponents with winning records, the Seminole offense ranks #11:

 
Notice how many ranked opponents we have had vs. how many the top ten have had!  That makes our position even more impressive.

When we consider only ranked opponents, here are the top 10 in total offense per game:

Again note that we have done this against more ranked opponents than those ahead of us.

Noles fare well in passing offense per game: (#14)

 What about passing offense per game against ranked opponents?

Now check this out -- we are #2 nationally in passer rating (for all Seminole QBs combined) vs. ranked teams:

Navy comes in ahead of us only because they have attempted so few passes.  In reality, among teams with a significant passing attack, we are #1 in this category.  But as amazing as that number is, wait until you see the passer rating of our ranked opponents so far (in defensive section below).

In first downs per game against ranked opponents, we fall ahead of Florida at #9:

And don't forget that no one else above us in the list has had 4 ranked opponents.

Finally, consider how Ponder ranks with other QBs in terms of passing yards per game:

If we again limit this to ranked opponents, Ponder moves from #10 up to #7:

 I won't paste in all the rankings that Ponder sits near the top of, but here's an idea:

• QB Rating against ranked opponents: #2 (#1 is Mike Marscovetra of BC, who has only 10 completions vs. 1 ranked team. Ponder has almost 100 completions against ranked opponents)
• Yards per attempt vs. ranked: #6 (8.0 YPA)
• Completion % against ranked: #6 (68.6%)
• Total offense per game: #8 (317.5 YPG)
• Total offense per game vs. ranked: #7 (302.5)
• Yards per play vs. ranked: #6 (7.0 YPP)
• Total yards vs. ranked: #1 (1210) -- He wins this in part due to our schedule. 

In part 2, you'll see what kind of year our defensive coaches have put together so far, in terms of national rankings.