Todd4State
11-05-2023, 04:12 PM
I know a lot has been said about the defense and how we shouldn't have expected it to be as good as last year because we lost Forbes and Wheat.
However...
2022- PPG all games 23.1 PPG SEC games 28.6 Total defense all games: 344.5 YPG Total defense SEC games: 398.8 YPP (Yards per play) all games: 5.15 YPP SEC games: 5.65
2023- PPG all games 25.7 PPG SEC games 28.7 Total defense all games: 362 YPG Total defense SEC games: 367.7 YPP all games 5.56 YPP SEC games: 5.76
What this shows is while yes there is some regression- it has been very slight compared to last year. In SEC play we have actually improved overall in yards allowed while basically having the same points allowed per game and having a slight increase in yards per play. So this statistically basically about the same defense as we had last year in terms of overall team production despite the personnel losses. Also these stats include pick 6's that went against the defense thanks to Mike Wright so if you take that out our PPG is actually improved. Also of note of our six SEC opponents we have held four of them to below their PPG total on the season so far with the exceptions being Alabama and South Carolina.
Now I don't intend for this to be a keep Matt Brock/Arnett thread as I want them gone. What this does show IMO is just how much the offense has absolutely killed us this season. I think it also debunks the "we weren't left with any talent" argument as we had a defense that performed similarly win 9 games last year. Our players deserve much much better than that false narrative especially after everything that they have been through this year and last offseason.
However...
2022- PPG all games 23.1 PPG SEC games 28.6 Total defense all games: 344.5 YPG Total defense SEC games: 398.8 YPP (Yards per play) all games: 5.15 YPP SEC games: 5.65
2023- PPG all games 25.7 PPG SEC games 28.7 Total defense all games: 362 YPG Total defense SEC games: 367.7 YPP all games 5.56 YPP SEC games: 5.76
What this shows is while yes there is some regression- it has been very slight compared to last year. In SEC play we have actually improved overall in yards allowed while basically having the same points allowed per game and having a slight increase in yards per play. So this statistically basically about the same defense as we had last year in terms of overall team production despite the personnel losses. Also these stats include pick 6's that went against the defense thanks to Mike Wright so if you take that out our PPG is actually improved. Also of note of our six SEC opponents we have held four of them to below their PPG total on the season so far with the exceptions being Alabama and South Carolina.
Now I don't intend for this to be a keep Matt Brock/Arnett thread as I want them gone. What this does show IMO is just how much the offense has absolutely killed us this season. I think it also debunks the "we weren't left with any talent" argument as we had a defense that performed similarly win 9 games last year. Our players deserve much much better than that false narrative especially after everything that they have been through this year and last offseason.