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Oct 28, 2009 2:25 pm US/Eastern
Stats Show UF's Dominance On Defense
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
After a weekend full of upsets and games coming down to the final play, the college football season is definitely in full swing. The University of Miami, University of Florida, and Florida State University have put up both impressive and puzzling numbers through the first half of the season.
The Florida Gators have had to have some questionable calls go their ways the last two weeks to hang on to a number one ranking, an undefeated record, and a shot at the SEC Championship. Most notably among the puzzling statistics coming from the Gators is the decline in numbers by Tim Tebow and the once vaunted Gators offense.
Tebow ranks 86th in the country in passing offense and has thrown as many interceptions through the first half of the season as he threw during the entire 2008 season. But, Tebow actually has statistically played better against winning teams than he has against teams with a losing record. Against teams with a winning record, Tebow has thrown 6 touchdown passes to just 1 interception. On the other side, Tebow has thrown 3 interceptions versus just 2 touchdown passes against teams with a losing record.
The Gators offense overall has declined after losing both Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy to the NFL. The Gators are still averaging 30 points a game, which is good enough to be ranked ninth in the country for scoring. The passing offense for the Gators currently ranks 80th in the country behind teams like Tulane and Syracuse. But, the Gators rushing offense is ranked 6th in the country and is giving defenses headaches across the SEC.
The strength of the Gators team continues to be a defense that is not allowing any offense to enjoy success. The Gators rank 2nd nationally in scoring defense, only allowing 10 points per game and the passing defense is ranked 2nd in the country, allowing 135 yards passing per game. Still, if not for a couple of horrible calls against Arkansas, the Gators might not have an unblemished record despite the statistical dominance on defense.
In Miami, the stats are very reflective of a team still learning how to be a good team. The Hurricanes vaunted offense is ranked 30th in the country, which is an improvement of almost 20 spots from the 2008 offense. The running game for the Hurricanes has struggled so far this season, despite having both Javarris James and Graig Cooper in the backfield.
However, the Canes running game hasn't been needed as much with the rapid development of star quarterback Jacory Harris. The quarterback from Miami Northwestern is averaging over 250 yards per game through the air and seems to never break a sweat no matter how much of a pass rush is coming. Harris was mentioned in the Heisman race earlier in the season, but two losses have pushed his candidacy to the backburner. However, Harris will likely contend for the Heisman in 2010, when the Canes could be very tough for every opponent.
Defensively speaking, the Canes have a rich tradition, but they have struggled a bit during 2009. The Canes defense ranks 59th in the country in scoring defense, allowing 23.6 points per game. The Canes rank behind Army, Kansas, and Temple in scoring defense. It's a far cry from the glory days of Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, Brandon Merriweather, and Sean Taylor.
Up in Tallahassee, there's a night and day difference between the offensive and defensive rankings. Offensively, the Seminoles have shown significant improvement over the past few years after bottoming out under Jeff Bowden. New offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher has helped shape a superstar quarterback of his own, Christian Ponder.
The second-year starter has already graduated from FSU and is currently working on his Master's degree. Statistically, he's putting up numbers like FSU quarterbacks of old. Ponder is throwing for more than 311 yards per game and has 12 touchdowns to just 1 interception. Ponder's passing has led the Noles passing game to being ranked 8th in the country ahead of Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Texas.
But much like many of the football teams using a spread offense the past few years, that is the lone bright spot for the Seminoles offense.
It's hard to imagine that just a few years ago players like Greg Jones and Leon Washington were dominating other ACC teams running the football. For the 2009 season, the Seminoles are ranked 97th in the country in rushing. This is behind teams like Colorado State, Eastern Michigan, and the University of Central Florida.
Defensively, it's fairly safe to say the wheels came off of legendary coordinator Mickey Andrews' defense several weeks ago. Florida State's defense is allowing 28 points per game through the season, which ranks 88th in the country. Some of the schools with statistically better defenses than FSU this season include Duke, Baylor, Wyoming, Western Michigan, Buffalo.
FSU's defense is allowing over 180 yards per game rushing on 38 attempts per game. The porous run defense has been exposed by several teams including Georgia Tech. But as was pointed out several times during the recent North Carolina game, the main problem is the poor angles linebackers and safeties take that wind up with them getting caught inside the offensive tackles on a running play to the outside.
The Seminoles pass defense has slowly improved through the season after getting torched by Miami and South Florida. The Noles passing defense is allowing 230 yards per game through the air and is ranked 77th nationally in pass defense. The Noles are still missing a consistent pass rush, which was a staple of their defenses during their dominating run in the 1990's.
Needless to say, the Gators sport a dominating defense, Miami is pretty much in the middle of the road offensively and defensively, and Florida State can really throw the football. But, based upon the numbers so far this season, if there is a Florida quarterback who should be mentioned in the Heisman Trophy race, it's not Tim Tebow or Jacory Harris, its Christian Ponder.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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