Special Teams were really freaking good

[TheCusian]

I'm doing my normal playing with stats to pass the week and came across this.

Our offense rated very good. Our defense rated pretty poor. Our special teams were through the roof per some of the way nerds measure this stuff. (Keep in mind that week 1 data means there's not a lot to go on. Some factor in preseason or previous years production - but whatever - it's week 2 and it's all we got. They do take some sort of stab at strength of opponent, so it's not just comparing what we did with what Louisville did or didn't do vs Bama)

S&P+
Overall: 67
Offense: 14
Defense: 114
Special Teams: 2!

ESPN Efficiency Ranking
Overall: 15
Offense: 11
Defense: 84
Special Teams: 9

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Stat nerds, man.

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

Not really directly related (besides Cole Murphy hitting a few bombs in the rain against them last year), but Miami’s opponents have hit 57 straight field goals against them. That’s an absurd stat for an NFL team, let alone a college team.

 

[UnknownOrange]

Average starting field position for us was our 43.38 yard line. Great stuff

 

[Crusty]

I'll take it!!!

 

[SUfanNC]

I'll be honest. I have no idea what any of that means but if you say it is good then for s@its sake let's keep it going

 

[PhatOrange]

Kicker consistently hit the end zone and the coverage was as good as I’ve ever seen it. Makes a difference when you can have those middle tier big bodied athletes like Tyrell Richards and Lakiem Williams running down on coverage.

 

[SoBristol]

Not sure this shows up in the stats, but the offense and defense were both bad in the 3rd quarter.

The defense allowed four TD "drives" consisting of 2 or 3 plays per drive. In short -- burned by a handful of chunk plays that skewed the stats. Need to fix those problems, and also need a larger sample size.

 

[TheCusian]

Not sure this shows up in the stats, but the offense and defense were both bad in the 3rd quarter.

The defense allowed four TD "drives" consisting of 2 or 3 plays per drive. In short -- burned by a handful of chunk plays that skewed the stats. Need to fix those problems, and also need a larger sample size.

The sample size issue is a big issue. There are no trends in 1 game. That’s the big asterisk this early, for sure.

But both sources use per play and per drive info to decide the ranking. They also strip out garbage time stats for both teams (games already decided). So the 3rd Q *is* factored in. That’s good news for an offense that everyone is bummed about being too limited to Eric’s running. If he’d played the 3rd? Whew. We could also realize what the score might be had the other Qs gone like the 3rd defensively.

In short, we can quibble about how exactly accurate these formulas are - but top 15 O is a good number and 114 on D is god awful. Both of those might move more to the average.

 

[elimunelson]

Special Teams for a team with limited talent is a huge thing we can expose in our favor. It can win us 1-2 games w consistent kicking, containment on kickoffs/punts, etc.

This is a huge development and will pay dividends more than anything not named Dungey. There's a reason Belichick emphasizes it and rosters these guys more than other teams. It wins games in the long run.

 

[Jake]

They were coach Mac quality on Friday. Need that to continue.

 

[TexanMark]

They were coach Mac quality on Friday. Need that to continue.

Yes, Sir!

We had "big boy" kicks deep into the end zone, great coverage, FG/XP kicks were consistently good and up backs not afraid to pick up the ball and rumble 20 yards.

Still TBD: Punt Block and onsides kick execution

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

Lustig has been a special teams guy since at least 2011. Hopefully the growth of the unit continues.

 

[Scooch]

Great special teams was one of the most underappreciated aspects of our run of success in the 90s. It makes a yuuuuge difference for a program like ours. Hope it continues as the competition level increases.

 

[Jake]

Not to discredit anything Lustig has done, but the talent jump is noticeable as well.

 

[Orangepace]

Yes, Sir!

We had "big boy" kicks deep into the end zone, great coverage, FG/XP kicks were consistently good and up backs not afraid to pick up the ball and rumble 20 yards.

Still TBD: Punt Block and onsides kick execution

Just wanted to comment and re-emphasize this.. Ruff and Elmore catching those squib kicks and rumbling forward was awesome! Love the instincts and it really hurt Western Michigan's SPT strategy.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Not to discredit anything Lustig has done, but the talent jump is noticeable as well.

You mean you weren't a fan of the Pat Shadle and Max Meisel era?

 

[JEF44]

We have 2 kick returners in the top 50!

Shy comes in at 45!

Ruff comes in at 49!

 

[BVille44]

Lustig Bio: Lustig’s most notable achievements came at Ball State where he was the special teams coordinator and running backs coach from 2011-15. He added the title of assistant head coach prior to the 2015 campaign.

Lustig's special teams and return specialists were among the finest in Division I each year. In 2015, the Cardinals ranked among the top four in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) in every special teams category. His kickoff return unit ranked 12th in the FBS at 25.5 yards per return and his kickoff coverage team was 13th (18.03 ypr).

 

[CuseLegacy]

 

[SUFan44]

Again, not to diminish anything he has done but to echo Jake’s statement above - the athletes on the field have improved by leaps and bounds. The younger kids who are filling out these units are bigger, stronger & faster than what was there previously.

Hopefully one day they will all pick up the defense and start making that unit a positive contributing factor to games as well.

 

[CuseLegacy]

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

And our average starting position on offense was an average of 17 yards better than FSU.

 

[GoSU96]

Even when you go fast, field position matters.

Now if the offense ever gets to the point where 85 yd sub 2 minute drives are routine, that might not be the case, but they aren't there yet.

Complimentary football is still a highly successful formula.

 

[Timonen]

We’re stellar from all angles. Pressure on kicks. Coverage. Safe but solid punt returns and the fantastic intangibles like the squid returns against wmu and Strick’s onsides return against FSU. This has been incredible to see.