NMSU Game Developments

[JPFisher]

Offense started out by losing its starting QB, but the backup performed well and the offense was able to fire back and eventually outscore the opponent.

Defense started out playing like the JV from a community college intramural team. Ended up limiting the opposition to 7 points in the second half and performing like they had half a brain. Some even think the defense has a glimmer of hope now.

My question is this: does the emergence of Stephen Johnson and even a marginally more competent defense give anyone hope that this season can get turned around?

I think the season is salvageable, but we're going to need to see more defensive improvement than what we saw on Saturday- even if the offense is able to score 40+ every week.

What say you?

 

[anon_7tbtqcx308nxh]

I'd say the defense was only marginally better in the 2nd half. Baity bailed the defense out with a red zone interception, and another drive was stalled out on back-to-back 10 yard penalties. On a third possession the Aggies scored, and on a fourth it was their last possession of the game down multiple scores and they were just trying to make something happen. The defense looked good on two of six possessions against one of the worst offenses in the country.

Offensively, you are right, and it was very impressive the back-ups played so well.

The season can be redeemed if the defense improves from one of the 100-128th worst in the country to something like 65th in the country. That's probably too much to ask as no Stoops defense has been ranked that high at UK.

 

[akaukswoosh]

How much did NMSU losing its outstanding receiver have to do with UK defense improving in the second half?[winking]

 

[docholiday51]

It seems we get more questions than answers with this team each week.

Are they really as bad as they look some of the time?
Can we put pints on the board against a decent team?
Will we see somebody step up on defense?
When Daniels returns will he be able to help?
We seem to learn things about this team in little bits and pieces, like they aren't smart enough to grasp the whole play book,Barker has a chronic back issue or 3-4 or 4-3

We have seen 3 games and do we have very much understanding of what we have seen,a tale of 2 halves vs Sou Miss,Swamp fever at Fla and another tale of 2 halves vs NMSU

This might be the strangest football team ever at UK

 

[Bluetick2100]

We ain't scoring 40ppg

even if the offense is able to score 40+ every week.

 

[KentuckyStout]

Offense started out by losing its starting QB, but the backup performed well and the offense was able to fire back and eventually outscore the opponent.

Defense started out playing like the JV from a community college intramural team. Ended up limiting the opposition to 7 points in the second half and performing like they had half a brain. Some even think the defense has a glimmer of hope now.

My question is this: does the emergence of Stephen Johnson and even a marginally more competent defense give anyone hope that this season can get turned around?

I think the season is salvageable, but we're going to need to see more defensive improvement than what we saw on Saturday- even if the offense is able to score 40+ every week.

What say you?

The ceiling for this team is 4 wins. If that is enough in year 4 of Stoops then we can just shut the program down. It is more likely that we end up with 3 wins and 2 wins is a very real possibility.

 

[tntuk]

I'd say the defense was only marginally better in the 2nd half. Baity bailed the defense out with a red zone interception, and another drive was stalled out on back-to-back 10 yard penalties. On a third possession the Aggies scored, and on a fourth it was their last possession of the game down multiple scores and they were just trying to make something happen. The defense looked good on two of six possessions against one of the worst offenses in the country.

Offensively, you are right, and it was very impressive the back-ups played so well.

The season can be redeemed if the defense improves from one of the 100-128th worst in the country to something like 65th in the country. That's probably too much to ask as no Stoops defense has been ranked that high at UK.

I'm not sticking up for the defense by any stretch, but they gave up 345 yards in the first half to only 155 in the second half. That's a tad better than only "marginal improvement". Again, I know it was also against NMST, but there was objective improvement in the 2nd half, especially as compared to the first half.

I also think our D will look decent this week against a USC offense that isn't as good as NMST's offense.

 

[BMo643]

Something else to consider that UK fans know all to well is that NMSU game planned for Drew Barker and then not only had to face his back up, but a back up that's a completely different type of QB to Barker.

 

[ukalum1988]

How much did NMSU losing its outstanding receiver have to do with UK defense improving in the second half?[winking]

Also, IIRC, their top running back and one of their starting OL missed the game entirely due to injury.

 

[Mr Schwump]

Offense started out by losing its starting QB, but the backup performed well and the offense was able to fire back and eventually outscore the opponent.

Defense started out playing like the JV from a community college intramural team. Ended up limiting the opposition to 7 points in the second half and performing like they had half a brain. Some even think the defense has a glimmer of hope now.

My question is this: does the emergence of Stephen Johnson and even a marginally more competent defense give anyone hope that this season can get turned around?

I think the season is salvageable, but we're going to need to see more defensive improvement than what we saw on Saturday- even if the offense is able to score 40+ every week.

What say you?

Will have to see how SJ plays vs SEC Ds. One huge problem UK has is their piss-poor D puts tremendous pressure on the O to score every time they have the ball and I mean TDs, not FGs. It's a helluva lot to ask from a first year QB. Plus SJ's durability comes into play too. Seems to me his listed weight of 183 is most generous and the inevitable beating coming his way may take its toll. SCAR game will answer some questions but make no mistake, UK's between a rock and a hard place.

 

[gobigblue812_rivals29381]

Also, IIRC, their top running back and one of their starting OL missed the game entirely due to injury.

Did we lose an OL and QB?

 

[Mr Schwump]

Did we lose an OL and QB?

That doesn't count in the bitching game.

 

[catsfanbgky]

Well say what you want about the defense improving in the second half against a bad offense in the NMS game, but if we are going down that road, the defense played pretty damned good against a explosive Southern Miss offense for the first half. SO if you are going to **** on them, then throw out "they did it against a bad offense" as a excuse for playing good for a half, then well, you have to also point out the SM offense they shut down in the first half. Even with the 75 yard bomb, 17 points while scoring 35.

IF USC drops 45 on this defense, I will then pretty much throw in the towel on any chance of turning it around. But what you are going to see is exactly what they did in the 2nd half against NMS, bend, but do not break defense, keep everything in front of them, make them throw the short routes, and hope they can't sustain long drives.

 

[anon_7tbtqcx308nxh]

I'm not sticking up for the defense by any stretch, but they gave up 345 yards in the first half to only 155 in the second half. That's a tad better than only "marginal improvement". Again, I know it was also against NMST, but there was objective improvement in the 2nd half, especially as compared to the first half.

I also think our D will look decent this week against a USC offense that isn't as good as NMST's offense.

A) Total yards are an incredibly misleading stat. They don't take into account factors such as garbage-time stats, or even starting field position relative to opponent. What good does adding 9 yards to your total offense tally if you run a draw for 9 yards on 3rd-and-17 since you are still punting the ball and you can't extend your drive? That's nine empty yards. Total yardage is as useless a stat as time of possession.

B) But it doesn't support your case even assuming it's a good stat. So UK only allowed 155 yards in the second, but NMSt was averaging 300 yards of total offense heading into the UK game. Why is it worth applauding holding one of the worst offenses in FBS to its season average in a half? It's like being happy you double bogeyed a par four rather than triple bogeyed it.

C) You haven't addressed the fact UK's defense only looked solid on two of NMSt.'s six second half possessions. NMSt QB throwing into double coverage in the RZ, and 25 yards in penalties killed two of their drives. Their last possession was meaningless being down double scores and having two minutes to try and catch up when UK knew they were going to throw the ball.

D) We don't disagree on the fact there was improvement, but there was only marginal improvement and it was against a terrible offense.

 

[Cawood86_rivals]

No.
NMSU is a bad team. UK defense is record setting bad. The only good that came out of that game was a W and maybe some players gained some confidence.
SEC teams have better players and coaches. They will exploit the UK defense.

 

[tntuk]

A) Total yards are an incredibly misleading stat. They don't take into account factors such as garbage-time stats, or even starting field position relative to opponent. What good does adding 9 yards to your total offense tally if you run a draw for 9 yards on 3rd-and-17 since you are still punting the ball and you can't extend your drive? That's nine empty yards. Total yardage is as useless a stat as time of possession.

B) But it doesn't support your case even assuming it's a good stat. So UK only allowed 155 yards in the second, but NMSt was averaging 300 yards of total offense heading into the UK game. Why is it worth applauding holding one of the worst offenses in FBS to its season average in a half? It's like being happy you double bogeyed a par four rather than triple bogeyed it.

C) You haven't addressed the fact UK's defense only looked solid on two of NMSt.'s six second half possessions. NMSt QB throwing into double coverage in the RZ, and 25 yards in penalties killed two of their drives. Their last possession was meaningless being down double scores and having two minutes to try and catch up when UK knew they were going to throw the ball.

D) We don't disagree on the fact there was improvement, but there was only marginal improvement and it was against a terrible offense.

Garbage time stats aren't relevant to Saturday's game, which was a close game until mid-way thru the 4th quarter. Plus, NMST was losing so they were certainly doing everything they could to move the ball in the second half. (Completely disagree on ToP as a worthless stat btw - first two games we lost that battle and we lost the game. Against NMST we won the ToP battle and look what happened - we won).

UK forced at least 4 or 5 punts in the 2nd half, one of which was returned for a TD. So they had better than 2 series against them.

As for holding NMST to half their season average, it says that UK defense did what they were supposed to do. But obviously didn't in the first half.

Watch what happens this weekend. I'll gladly eat crow if USC's offense puts up 500 yards of offense this weekend. Don't think it's going to happen though.

 

[anon_7tbtqcx308nxh]

Garbage time stats aren't relevant to Saturday's game, which was a close game until mid-way thru the 4th quarter. Plus, NMST was losing so they were certainly doing everything they could to move the ball in the second half. (Completely disagree on ToP as a worthless stat btw - first two games we lost that battle and we lost the game. Against NMST we won the ToP battle and look what happened - we won).

UK forced at least 4 or 5 punts in the 2nd half, one of which was returned for a TD. So they had better than 2 series against them.

As for holding NMST to half their season average, it says that UK defense did what they were supposed to do. But obviously didn't in the first half.

Watch what happens this weekend. I'll gladly eat crow if USC's offense puts up 500 yards of offense this weekend. Don't think it's going to happen though.

In this game garbage time stats weren't an issue. Correct. The point you seem to miss is the average total yards per game stat you cite comes from other games. It's useless. Another measure that's better is average yards/play. Try that one. It's fun for the whole family!

They forced 4 punts in the 2nd half (1 of which being with two penalties forcing 3rd-and-20, and the other at the end of the game. Hardly proven stops.) Next.

No, it doesn't not at all. Again, NMSt. is one of the worst offenses in the country. If UK had at least an average defense they would have had 200 total yards of offense in the entire game. Next.

I'll be watching too and hoping UK shuts them down, but it won't change the fact of how they played in the second half against NMSt.

 

[Black Diamond Cat]

NMSU plays at Troy this Saturday, they should have their 1,600 yd. rusher from last season back against the Trojans.
This game should tell us a lot, if Troy routs the Aggies, that would be a bad sign, if NMSU plays them close, or pulls the upset, that bodes well for UK.

 

[tntuk]

In this game garbage time stats weren't an issue. Correct. The point you seem to miss is the average total yards per game stat you cite comes from other games. It's useless. Another measure that's better is average yards/play. Try that one. It's fun for the whole family!

They forced 4 punts in the 2nd half (1 of which being with two penalties forcing 3rd-and-20, and the other at the end of the game. Hardly proven stops.) Next.

No, it doesn't not at all. Again, NMSt. is one of the worst offenses in the country. If UK had at least an average defense they would have had 200 total yards of offense in the entire game. Next.

I'll be watching too and hoping UK shuts them down, but it won't change the fact of how they played in the second half against NMSt.

I didn't cite the avg per game of NMST, you did. All I am saying is that there is verifiable/objective evidence that our defense did better in the second half than the first.

Any standard of measure will lead to the same conclusion.

Less points in 2nd half than 1st? Check (35 & 7).

Less yards in the in the 2nd half than 1st? Check (345 vs 155).

Got off the field on 3rd downs in 2nd half? Check. (Forced 4 punts). And btw - drives being stalled by penalties happens and it prevents - in this case NMST - teams from moving the ball. That happens in every game btw.

NMST had two decent drives in the 2nd half. The one they scored on, and the drive where Baity had an interception. The vast majority of their 2nd half yardage came on those two drives. Otherwise, they didnt move the ball very well.

 

[anon_7tbtqcx308nxh]

I didn't cite the avg per game of NMST, you did. All I am saying is that there is verifiable/objective evidence that our defense did better in the second half than the first.

Any standard of measure will lead to the same conclusion.

Less points in 2nd half than 1st? Check (35 & 7).

Less yards in the in the 2nd half than 1st? Check (345 vs 155).

Got off the field on 3rd downs in 2nd half? Check. (Forced 4 punts). And btw - drives being stalled by penalties happens and it prevents - in this case NMST - teams from moving the ball. That happens in every game btw.

NMST had two decent drives in the 2nd half. The one they scored on, and the drive where Baity had an interception. The vast majority of their 2nd half yardage came on those two drives. Otherwise, they didnt move the ball very well.

It's not objective at all. I don't think you know what that word means.

btw, you cited avg per game in your first response. here it is:

but they gave up 345 yards in the first half to only 155 in the second half.

Everything else you quote is surface level numbers. It does not mean UK's defense was more efficient. For example, UK did do better on 3rd down in second half, but beyond the surface, one of those was a 3rd-and-20 and the other was a 3rd-and-10. They should have gotten off the field. Why are you applauding that?

On the other two major drives, one of the worst offenses in the country converted on 3rd-and-Long on two different occasions. They were also regularly picking up 6-15 yards on 2nd down so they didn't even see a third down. Again, all that's below the surface and shows UK isn't being efficient.

I like how you are now citing penalties occurring as something that proves UK is good at defense. Ha! Penalties saving your team isn't typically a good thing. Average defenses don't need penalties.

Six possessions but again, UK was only efficient on two of those possessions. Double bogey is better than a triple bogey but not by much.

 

[docholiday51]

The bottom line here is that we aren't very good on defense and South Carolina hasn't shown themselves to be very good on offense. We really can't tell (after 3 games) which is better(or maybe worse) Yet another reason this game defines the season,it will give us the best indication so far this year where we stand.

If we give up less than 500 yards of offense it will be an "improvement" I think it is reasonably possible to expect that we can do that.On the flip side if we don't then Lord help us the rest of the season.

Tell the truth(put your like/dislike for Stoops aside) do you think it will be a competitive game?

 

[JPFisher]

We ain't scoring 40ppg

"If." I know we're not scoring that every week.