Numbers speak Louder than words

[GreenBat]

4 games NT has scored a TOTAL of 47 points.

NT's defense surrendered 56 points in the first game of the season.

Will NT score 56 points in five games? Six games? This season?

The Mean Green's offense just plain sucks and the numbers show that the defense isn't much better.

Well its MUTS week, this is a victory we can count on. (That's a wink, you know sarcasm)

[chrisfisher]

4 games NT has scored a TOTAL of 47 points.

NT's defense surrendered 56 points in the first game of the season.

Will NT score 56 points in five games? Six games? This season?

The Mean Green's offense just plain sucks and the numbers show that the defense isn't much better.

Well its MUTS week, this is a victory we can count on. (That's a wink, you know sarcasm)

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Yes, but we have rotated 3 QBs and still haven't had a single game that the starter finished. Moreover, it was only THIS WEEK that DD had Woody take a majority of the snaps in practice. What would you expect? It appears that Woody is our man now. I think we are going to see our offense improve exponentially over the course of this season... LA Tech will be an upcoming OOC measuring stick. Remember, this is Woody's first time to ever take snaps in D1A ball... we basically have a freshman QB. I believe he will turn into a big time QB for us, if he can stay healthy.

[shaft]

I'm sure it had nothing to due with Defenses we faced.

Looking at the numbers means taking a few other stats into account; like the other teams points allowed column.

[0footballfan0]

4 games NT has scored a TOTAL of 47 points.

NT's defense surrendered 56 points in the first game of the season.

Will NT score 56 points in five games? Six games? This season?

The Mean Green's offense just plain sucks and the numbers show that the defense isn't much better.

Well its MUTS week, this is a victory we can count on. (That's a wink, you know sarcasm)

←

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you on the defense "not being much better." Yes the numbers might not show it, but I have watched or listened to every game, and the defense is so much better than last year it is unbelievable. Keep in mind that the Offense is not giving them much of a break thus warping the numbers a little.

Yes the offense has not looked good, but things looked up....way up yesterday. Dickey kept a QB in all game, and also Thomas got his yards against one of the better run defenses.

175 yards total rushing for UNT

76 Yards for Penn State

81 for NC State

We went from 89 yards of total offense to 287 total yards (while holding Akron to 278). Also Arkansas St. (one of the Sunbelt front runners) was beat by SMU 55-9. I like our chances.

[chrisfisher]

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you on the defense "not being much better." Yes the numbers might not show it, but I have watched or listened to every game, and the defense is so much better than last year it is unbelievable. Keep in mind that the Offense is not giving them much of a break thus warping the numbers a little.

Yes the offense has not looked good, but things looked up....way up yesterday. Dickey kept a QB in all game, and also Thomas got his yards against one of the better run defenses.

175 yards total rushing for UNT

76 Yards for Penn State

81 for NC State

We went from 89 yards of total offense to 287 total yards (while holding Akron to 278). Also Arkansas St. (one of the Sunbelt front runners) was beat by SMU 55-9. I like our chances.

←

Thanks for a more eloquent explanation of why I am hopeful from what I saw against Akron in terms of offense. And yes, our defense is so much better. They held Arkon to zero (I think) points in the 2nd half. We just let punt returns get the best of us. Our defensive was constantly on the field against Tulsa, and played their hearts out. One correction, Meager did play against Akron, at the end, but he did play.

[chrisfisher]

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you on the defense "not being much better." Yes the numbers might not show it, but I have watched or listened to every game, and the defense is so much better than last year it is unbelievable. Keep in mind that the Offense is not giving them much of a break thus warping the numbers a little.

Yes the offense has not looked good, but things looked up....way up yesterday. Dickey kept a QB in all game, and also Thomas got his yards against one of the better run defenses.

175 yards total rushing for UNT

76 Yards for Penn State

81 for NC State

We went from 89 yards of total offense to 287 total yards (while holding Akron to 278). Also Arkansas St. (one of the Sunbelt front runners) was beat by SMU 55-9. I like our chances.

←

Thanks for a more eloquent explanation of why I am hopeful from what I saw against Akron in terms of offense. And yes, our defense is so much better. They held Arkon to zero (I think) points in the 2nd half. We just let punt returns get the best of us. Our defensive was constantly on the field against Tulsa, and they played their hearts out. One correction, Meager did play against Akron, at the end, but he did play.

[GreenBat]

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you on the defense "not being much better." Yes the numbers might not show it, but I have watched or listened to every game, and the defense is so much better than last year it is unbelievable. Keep in mind that the Offense is not giving them much of a break thus warping the numbers a little.

Yes the offense has not looked good, but things looked up....way up yesterday. Dickey kept a QB in all game, and also Thomas got his yards against one of the better run defenses.

175 yards total rushing for UNT

76 Yards for Penn State

81 for NC State

We went from 89 yards of total offense to 287 total yards (while holding Akron to 278). Also Arkansas St. (one of the Sunbelt front runners) was beat by SMU 55-9. I like our chances.

←

RESULTS?

We're 1-3 and have given up an average of 5.5 yards per play run. THAT SUCKS!

The defense is ranked 77 out of 119 teams. The 119 ranked defense, Stanford, gives up 6.35 yards per play.

A good defense, Georgia Tech, which is ranked 18th, is 3-1 while surrendering 3.79 yards per play.

They lost to Notre Dame, beat Samford (1-AA), Troy and Virginia. I believe their schedule has been as tough as ours.

Our defense is NOT GOOD against the run (gives up 4.04 per rush—74th) or the pass, 11.18 per pass, also ranked 74th. That’s a first down every time an opponent attempts a pass and a first down every third time they attempt to run the ball.

How is that LOOKING UP?

Numbers speak louder than words.

[chrisfisher]

RESULTS?

We're 1-3 and have given up an average of 5.5 yards per play run. THAT SUCKS!

The defense is ranked 77 out of 119 teams. The 119 ranked defense, Stanford, gives up 6.35 yards per play.

A good defense, Georgia Tech, which is ranked 18th, is 3-1 while surrendering 3.79 yards per play.

They lost to Notre Dame, beat Samford (1-AA), Troy and Virginia. I believe their schedule has been as tough as ours.

Our defense is NOT GOOD against the run (gives up 4.04 per rush—74th) or the pass, 11.18 per pass, also ranked 74th. That’s a first down every time an opponent attempts a pass and a first down every third time they attempt to run the ball.

How is that LOOKING UP?

Numbers speak louder than words.

←

I hear you. I am not beating the "things are great" drum. But I think our defense is much better than the stats reflect for one main reason: our offense has struggled (1, 2, 3, punt; 1, 2, 3, punt) so badly that our defense stays on the field an inordinate amount of time. I don't have the factual times to back this up and maybe I'm wrong. But, in the big losses (which skews the results quite a bit) against Tulsa and UT, 3 & out were the norm. I don't include Akron, b/c that was a plus for our defense (NOT special teams) b/c Akron only generated 150 yards offensive (if you subtract out special teams yards) and were completely shut out the second half. I see a young defense that is going to get better and better over this season. Maybe I don't know what the hell I'm talking about either. These are just casual observations.

[untgirl04]

RESULTS?

We're 1-3 and have given up an average of 5.5 yards per play run. THAT SUCKS!

The defense is ranked 77 out of 119 teams. The 119 ranked defense, Stanford, gives up 6.35 yards per play.

A good defense, Georgia Tech, which is ranked 18th, is 3-1 while surrendering 3.79 yards per play.

They lost to Notre Dame, beat Samford (1-AA), Troy and Virginia. I believe their schedule has been as tough as ours.

Our defense is NOT GOOD against the run (gives up 4.04 per rush—74th) or the pass, 11.18 per pass, also ranked 74th. That’s a first down every time an opponent attempts a pass and a first down every third time they attempt to run the ball.

How is that LOOKING UP?

Numbers speak louder than words.

←

Keep in mind that we are also moving to a new defense this year. I'd think it might take a bit to get everyone in sync. That being said, I think our defense is definitely on the way up. Last year, our defense was horrible. This year, while our numbers are still not great, we're getting steadily better in each game. One thing I noticed from the Akron game was halftime adjustments. In the first half, we just couldn't stop Akron and we hadn't forced a 3 and out at all. Then, the boys came out in the second half and made a complete 180. Akron didn't score a single point, and we were able to force 3 and outs almost every single possession. That's definitely something to be happy about.

[pollock]

How is that LOOKING UP?

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Compared to last year, the defense IS looking up.

Edited September 25, 2006 by pollock

[Green Jackal]

I agree both sides of the ball are improving. The problem is so are some of the other teams in the rest of the conference. I think Troy and FIU are going to be our biggest threats in conference. All of FIU's losses so far were by less than 6 points. They could of easily been 4-0 right now with a little better execution:

FIU 10, Maryland 14

FIU 28, Bolwing Green 33

FIU 20, South Florida 21

FIU 6, Middle Tennessee 7

[DeepGreen]

FIU 10, Maryland 14 

FIU 28, Bowling Green 33

FIU 20, South Florida 21

FIU 6, Middle Tennessee 7

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North Texas 7, Texas 56

North Texas 24, SMU 6

North Texas 3, Tulsa 28

North Texas 13, Akron 33

FIU has been playing 1A ball for what, 2-3 years now? Is there something wrong with this picture?

[untbowler]

North Texas 7, Texas 56

North Texas 24, SMU 6

North Texas 3, Tulsa 28

North Texas 13, Akron 33

FIU has been playing 1A ball for what, 2-3 years now?  Is there something wrong with this picture?

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How about USF, they are now BCS and beat a Top 15 Louisville team last year and they have been around I believe 6 years.

[mad dog]

Well, Mark Twain also said something about statistics.

The trouble I've found with using the numbers from my Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis classes in Grad School is that they explain only one thing: themselves. Nothing can be drawn from numbers alone unless you consider the context, which lends itself to looking at the circumstances rather than just from the numbers alone. Given a particular slant you want to take on said numbers, it is entirely possible to spin just about anything. For instance, there is the classical argument that logically proved that Caligula's Horse was the best senator in Roman history: he never made a mistake. While this was obviously a weird take considering the horse was incapable of voting, it shows that, technically, one can be right looking at the numbers (in this case zero), and wrong in terms of the overall picture.

You can counter numbers with numbers, as footballfan did with greenbat, and greenbat did in turn to footballfan. But the problem is it always will come down to a subjective opinion, because it is that opinion which colors how we view the facts. If you think the team sucks and the coaches suck, you'll see the offensive and defensive rankings. If you think the team and the coaches aren't doing too bad, you'll see improvement from previous years against texas and tulsa, a big win over SMU, and a team that refused to quit against Akron.

There's a reason the homers on the board don't buy the negativity, and the disallusioned don't buy the positivity. No matter what stats or numbers, opinions or impressions are provided, those of us who have made up our minds will not be swayed. So battle lines are drawn, insults are hurled, and those on the sidelines just shake their heads and can't understand any of it.

My take, for the record, has a lot to do with a quote I heard from a High School coach one time. He said that "offense is 50% Quarterback, 40% Offensive Line, and 10% everything else." While I'm not sure how much hyperbole is in there, the point is well made. We have a fair quarterback who will one day soon be good, and an offensive line that has only flashed being good. That's your reason for the season, as it were.

[chrisfisher]

Well, Mark Twain also said something about statistics.

The trouble I've found with using the numbers from my Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis classes in Grad School is that they explain only one thing: themselves.  Nothing can be drawn from numbers alone unless you consider the context, which lends itself to looking at the circumstances rather than just from the numbers alone.  Given a particular slant you want to take on said numbers, it is entirely possible to spin just about anything.  For instance, there is the classical argument that logically proved that Caligula's Horse was the best senator in Roman history: he never made a mistake.  While this was obviously a weird take considering the horse was incapable of voting, it shows that, technically, one can be right looking at the numbers (in this case zero), and wrong in terms of the overall picture.

You can counter numbers with numbers, as footballfan did with greenbat, and greenbat did in turn to footballfan.  But the problem is it always will come down to a subjective opinion, because it is that opinion which colors how we view the facts.  If you think the team sucks and the coaches suck, you'll see the offensive and defensive rankings.  If you think the team and the coaches aren't doing too bad, you'll see improvement from previous years against texas and tulsa, a big win over SMU, and a team that refused to quit against Akron.

There's a reason the homers on the board don't buy the negativity, and the disallusioned don't buy the positivity.  No matter what stats or numbers, opinions or impressions are provided, those of us who have made up our minds will not be swayed.  So battle lines are drawn, insults are hurled, and those on the sidelines just shake their heads and can't understand any of it.

My take, for the record, has a lot to do with a quote I heard from a High School coach one time.  He said that "offense is 50% Quarterback, 40% Offensive Line, and 10% everything else."  While I'm not sure how much hyperbole is in there, the point is well made.  We have a fair quarterback who will one day soon be good, and an offensive line that has only flashed being good.  That's your reason for the season, as it were.

←

Great analysis. Some may have wondered why I was so critical after Tulsa and middle of the road (positive and negative) after Akron. I think those that can't find both good and bad in our play aren't being honest with themselves. Yes, I saw some terrible stuff against Akron, but I also saw some significant improvements after only 1 game. This is not loser talk, but I think a fair analysis of the Akron game. Overall, we are really hurting, but I did see some bright spots in Akron. Next week against MTSU.. who knows... we have been so inconsistent I feel like we are a different team game to game (SMU-Tulsa), or hell, even half-to-half (Tulsa 1rst half to 2nd half or Akron 1rst half to 2nd half).

Edited September 25, 2006 by chrisfisher