Offense or Defense Blame Game

This subject has come up quite a bit, so I was seeking a little more analysis and debate.
Please bring all stats, objective analysis, rankings, outiside sources, pompous subjective opinion, and mindless blabber...whatever...We just want answers.

So, we all know it takes a sound offense combined with sound defense to really be great. You can be good with one great side of the ball and an OK other. Struggle on both sides simultaneously or even in a back and forth manner (inconsistent on both) and you can lose a lot of games quick.
Just for the sake of healthy debate and analysis I want to do a quick, subjective run down of our games and my own personal view and open the subject for debate and facts as it relates to our season.

Louisiana W 38-18 Even contribution from both sides
Arkansas. L 21-40. Offense no showed until game was too far gone and defense let them run all over us
Rice W. 58-0. Even contribution by both
TTU. W. 70-35. Great O, up and down D
TCU. W. 32-27. Even contribution by both
OU. L 48-55 offense started hot, defense started hot, both went cold though defense more to blame with aweful 2nd half - mostly on defense
OSU L. 24-32 defense started hot, offense pretty hot, game changed on terrible offensive play, O went cold, then D had too much pressure and couldn't hold up - mostly on the offense
Baylor. L. 24-31 offense started ok, defense started ok, looked like we had upper hand but offense failed to capitalize multiple times in second quarter and left door open. BU took advantage after halftime as O did little and D couldnt hold up - mostly on the offense. (O blew it in the 2nd)
ISU L. 7-30 defense started great, offense not so great but hey whatever, offense did nothing and continued to do nothing hanging D out to dry, defense couldn't hold up - mostly on the offense
KU. L. 56-57 offense started real slow, defense started real slow, offense picked up, defense never did til right near end.. too late. - mostly on the defense
WVU. L. 23-31 other than first drive defense started OK, offense started absolutely atrocious (no 1st down until 5th possession, 37 total yards in 1st quarter including -2 rushing, just 10pts at half..13 2nd), defense up and down but offense left them on the field too much, on D waay too many open pass looks on crucial downs... - hard to call this one - I say with halfway good O we win with Ds effort...and who knows what they would have done if O hadn't left them out there so long...O had virtually no sustained drives save ONE - I'll go 60% on O and 40% on D

So....tally IMHO is:
3 even contribution Ws
1 even contribution L
1 offensive W
3 Ls mostly on O
2 L mostly on D
1 hard to call but I lean mostly on O

 

My vote is for "off field distractions"

 

Football 101: Can't Win Games if You Can't Stop the Run.

An occasional pass rush would be nice, too.

Defense Wins Championships. Period.

 

Kinesiology101:
Cant stop the run if you cant even sit down to get a drink on the sideline before you go back out

You'll get no argument out of me on the importance of defense in winning.

 

Not sure how discussing the offensive and defensive contributions to our poor season is an off the field distraction, Sabre.
Man, you guys.....
SMH

 

I'm saying that's where I place the blame.

 

So Kansas city chiefs just ran an end around for about 40 yards. It works. There was two pulling linemen to help make it work.
I think we tried something like that once in 11 games. Correct me if i am wrong.
Where is our creative misdirection plays.
Why do i even bother calling this out.

 

Have you watched our offensive line. Only time they can "pull" is to trot off the field. Unless I'm mistaken, the only trap plays I've seen were by the TE lined up in the slot.

 

Can we please put this question to bed? It's not the offense, it's the defense. The only bad game the offense had was against ISU. The defense is horrific and costing us game after game. Whether you believe it or not the offense looks bad but they score a LOT of points. Considering our offensive line is crap, our QB play seems like crap and our receivers have had trouble catching the ball this is impressive on Sark's behalf.

Scoring offense
17th
36.5ppg

Total offense
46th
428.4 ypg

Scoring Defense
105th
32.36 ppg

Total Defense
107th
437.6 ypg

 

About two weeks ago I had the culpability meter at 55% D and 45% O. Perhaps after 11 games I might move it to 65/35 on the D. But certainly it isn’t exclusively one or the other. We have seen extended periods of complete offensive ineptitude, and an explosion of three and outs. We saw that Saturday and certainly at other times including much of the ISU game.

 

Gotcha...
I was about to say man you guys are grumpy.
..maybe it's me lol

 

I was born "grumpy" and have worked to perfect being that way

 

You're only grumpy here.

 

Here are some other stats..
302 total yards and 19.8 points
Those are the offenses avg. vs 5 of our losses below....-->>>

 

I could stop there^^^^^^ in response, but wow, Vol...With all due respect man...you really think "the only bad game the offense had was against isu"?? That is a truly amazing statement, and I think you lose credibility with it. I don't think you will find any knowledgeable fan here that will back that statement...I'd be surprised.
Again, I am not trying to let D off the hook...I just think there should be a more equal or close to equal emphasis on criticism of offense as they have put D in some bad spots in season-defining moments this year. Doesn't take long to see that the O has amassed those very lofty rankings/stats you noted in chunks in specific games (Rice, first half ou, Kansas, TTU, etc) and gone MIA when it mattered most. I dont need stats to know what I saw on the field in the ISU, BU, and OSU games...It was very apparent the D was in it there in those games (especially early) and the O left the game hanging by failing to capitalize (just how long do you expect the D to hang tough when the O keeps failing to stay on the field or get points?)
...But I'm giving you stats anyway if you want 'em....
Here are the #s for three of the games that were at the heart of our slide .all very winnable games (I went ahead and threw in Arky -not winnable lol- even though I personally viewed that game as equal parts O and D...they were both aweful).

Arky 139 rush 118 pass 257 total 1 TO 21 pts
OSU. 130 rush 179 pass. 309 total 2 TO (include. Pick 6.) 24 pts
BU. 102 rush 280 pass. 382 total. 2 TO (both our end of field)(and the whole 2nd quarter offense scenario defined that game) 24pts
ISU 104 rush. 103 pass. 207 total. 2 TO. 7 pts
I'll throw in the recent game..
WVU 204 rush. 152 pass. 356 total 1 TO 23 pts (and I'll add 0 1st downs until 5th possession and 37 total yards by 11:56 second quarter)

As you can see those #s are all well below the averages you cite...if you want to look at this stat-wise...[/QUOTE]

 

It's a mixed bag for sure, and I don't think stats tell the whole story. I would actually argue that the offense has been more at fault than the defense - not because the defense has been great, or that the offense hasn't performed at times.

The offense's problem has been that it's either on fire and rolling or it's in the ditch. A lot of that has to do with the o-line, and I do think it's filtered into the QB play as well. And I think what we've seen is that in the critical games where this streak got cemented into our psychology, you saw games where the offense was playing well and the defense as playing "acceptable." But the spiral always started when the offense disappeared - typically because the opponent discovered that it could pretty easily confuse or overrun the o-line and pressure the QB. They crowded the line, dared us to beat them deep and when we couldn't, the offense fell apart.

In each of those cases, that led to a defense that seemed to either lose confidence and give up, start trying to do too much and start making mental mistakes, or just get worn out. Maybe all three.

Maybe it's expectations, too. This defense was never going to be great. At best it was going to be competent and play well enough to allow the offense to do its thing - and with a couple of exceptions, it did that for extended parts of the game.

Ultimately though, there's plenty of blame to go around and it's all guesswork. All I know is that both sides of the ball had their chances to keep this from going as badly as it has, and they both failed.

 

Both units suck. It's 50-50. Way too many 3 and outs on offense. And way too many 3rd down conversions allowed on defense.

 

We could argue all day about this. We scored 56 against Kansas and lost. We scored 48 against Oklahoma and lost. It's funny you did a very aggy cherry pick of 5 games to do your averages. The season is more than 5 games.

In those games the DEFENSE gave up 33 points per game. When you ask what the problem is offense OR defense then default to offense that's laughable. I know the offense has played some mediocre games, but when I pick which is to blame for 4-7 it's the defense.

Hell, we'd be undefeated if the offense scorred 50 every single game...well, except against OU and Kansas in which we needed more.

 

Lol..Fair enough.
Oh well...
Been that kind of year.

 

The 3rd down conversions allowed this past Saturday were absolute game wreckers....especially that 3rd and 18 from deep in wvus own territory..they proceeded to go score on.
SMH

 

Appears that since this was a top 15 team the first 5 games and regressing since to where we are now. I would say the culture is split, and too few players have a winning desire. They just don’t care. So my vote is culture for the blame as to why we’re 4-7! The defense seems to have less depth than the offense. Especially up front. Hopefully 10+ hit the portal after the season and Sark can begin the rebuild.

 

What Rain said,”it’s been that kind of year”.

 

Sark is 0-22 when trailing at halftime

Offense or defense???
Maybe coaching? Maybe make some adjustments.
Rod B. said it best, you predict the future by looking at the past. Face it, Sarkisian's track record is just not that good.

 

I do not believe our secondary is that bad though I know many will disagree. They get absolutely no help up front and have to play it safe or choose to try to hold coverage too long...and they know LB pass coverage is weak so they have to watch the short passes and dumps, too...and always pick up slack in run support. Its pick your poison for them.
I will say with Coach K seems like we have given up less deep shots...but still getting killed 15k other ways.
They did give up too many intermediate throws against WVU but again...opposing QBs have all day

 

I think they simply lost confidence in the program, coach and themselves. Maybe a little too quickly. But had we won the OU game instead of what happened— this team would probably be 9-2.
The OU demise was on the Defense. I think the D came back in the Okie State game but the O let us down. After that the team lost it.
Blame whoever but that Sark stat after halftime is downright terrible.

 

We could also do a "Players or Coaching" thread. That seems to be the bigger debate around here.

 

Our opponent only have 1 turnover in the last 3 games, that's as much of a problem as the yards and scoring. We only seem to get them when the other team makes a big flub, we don't really "force" them very often.

Offense wasn't very good against Arkansas or West Virginia either.

 

Not sure we have the personnel to run this defensive scheme. It's been pathetically bad at stopping the run and at stopping third and long all year.

 

Scoring is inflated by three games over 50, including a 70-burger against the Flying Tortillas.

Stats can be made to say anything you want if you ignore the complete body of work. I've fallen into that trap betting games where I didn't do proper due diligence. It can become even more of a trap for fanbases that don't utilize multiple levels of analysis on a team in ANY sport...

 

Stat...Just curious....do you think they were good against OSU or Baylor? I don't.