Offensive/Defensive Stat Comparison (2018 Illinois v. 2019 Illinois)

#1      

mhuml32

Cincinnati, OH
Some Illinois offensive and defensive stats for you (compared to the 2018 version):

Offensive Comparison
Team YPG
2018: 412.2 (54th)
2019: 326.4 (111th)

Team YPP (yards per play)
2018: 5.9 (40th)
2019: 4.7 (105th)

Team PPG (plays per game)
2018: 70.3 (79th)
2019: 69.4 (79th)

Team Rushing YPG
2018: 244.0 (12th)
2019: 158.2 (71st)

Team Passing YPG
2018: 168.2 (111th)
2019: 168.1 (114th)

Defensive Comparison

Opponents YPG
2018: 521.8 (128th)
2019: 414.5 (75th)

Opponents YPP (yards per play)
2018: 7.0 (124th)
2019: 5.4 (59th)

Opponents PPG (plays per game)
2018: 74.5 (87th)
2019: 76.1 (104th)

Opponents Rushing YPG
2018: 261.6 (124th)
2019: 190.1 (90th)

Opponents Passing YPG
2018: 260.2 (105th)
2019: 224.4 (61st)
 
#3      

Illwinsagain

Cary, IL
Some Illinois offensive and defensive stats for you (compared to the 2018 version):

Offensive Comparison
Team YPG
2018: 412.2 (54th)
2019: 326.4 (111th)

Team YPP (yards per play)
2018: 5.9 (40th)
2019: 4.7 (105th)

Team PPG (plays per game)
2018: 70.3 (79th)
2019: 69.4 (79th)

Team Rushing YPG
2018: 244.0 (12th)
2019: 158.2 (71st)

Team Passing YPG
2018: 168.2 (111th)
2019: 168.1 (114th)

Defensive Comparison

Opponents YPG
2018: 521.8 (128th)
2019: 414.5 (75th)

Opponents YPP (yards per play)
2018: 7.0 (124th)
2019: 5.4 (59th)

Opponents PPG (plays per game)
2018: 74.5 (87th)
2019: 76.1 (104th)

Opponents Rushing YPG
2018: 261.6 (124th)
2019: 190.1 (90th)

Opponents Passing YPG
2018: 260.2 (105th)
2019: 224.4 (61st)
So, we give up more yards (both running, passing and per play) than we gain, more plays and we are 4-4.
 
#6      

BananaShampoo

Captain 'Paign
Phoenix, AZ
So, we give up more yards (both running, passing and per play) than we gain, more plays and we are 4-4.
That's LovieBall for you. Those stats don't tell the story of turnovers and field position. We are exceedingly good in both categories for the most part because of excellent special teams (especially punter) and a knack for creating turnovers (and I don't buy that's it's just luck...Lovie teams have a track record of this).
 
#7      

mhuml32

Cincinnati, OH
Could really use a 550-yard offensive performance against Rutgers, because the Michigan State and Northwestern games are going to be a rockfight.
 
#8      

BZuppke

Plainfield
I also wonder what our stats are if we exclude the pre-Michigan results. We did give up nearly 700 yards of offense to Nebraska.

I would also say even though our offensive statistics are down from 2018, we seem more efficient in this second half of the season. Peters only completed 6 passes at Purdue, but he didn't really need to do much more.

In the infamous words of Ditka: "Statistics are for losers".
 
#9      
At this point I would say our AD is looking pretty good. Have to say both football and basketball looking much improved.
 
#11      

reopseed60

Naples, Florida
Continue to be impressed with Mr. Millans reporting of the games he has covered for Illinois, Wisconsin and Rutgers. Very fair evaluations of player and team performance . No homer, just solid football discriptions. Very refreshing...
 
#13      

Deleted member 649710

D
Guest
At this point I would say our AD is looking pretty good. Have to say both football and basketball looking much improved.
Way to early to declare success. We were looking at a coaching search four weeks ago. Bowl this year, better bowl next, don’t fall off cliff in 2021 — that would be success.
 
#15      
Assuming Lovie is back, will he bring in a DC? Will be interesting

almost don’t want him to at this point? Seems like a lot of work to be head coach and dc but something good has happened lately and id hate to give that up with the number of starters returning
 
#16      
Assuming Lovie is back, will he bring in a DC? Will be interesting

I think it will come down to how the team finishes defensively (right now they're on a good roll), how stubborn Lovie is, and what Whitman tells him to do/lets him get away with.
 
#17      
what Whitman tells him to do/lets him get away with.

?

If Josh didn’t force him to make adjustments to his staff/roles last year when the arrow pointed down, he’s definitely not going to do it this year when the arrow is pointing up.

If Lovie wants a DC, he’ll hire one. If he doesn’t, he won’t. Pretty much where this story ends.
 
#18      
Some Illinois offensive and defensive stats for you (compared to the 2018 version):

Offensive Comparison
Team YPG
2018: 412.2 (54th)
2019: 326.4 (111th)

Team YPP (yards per play)
2018: 5.9 (40th)
2019: 4.7 (105th)

Team PPG (plays per game)
2018: 70.3 (79th)
2019: 69.4 (79th)

Team Rushing YPG
2018: 244.0 (12th)
2019: 158.2 (71st)

Team Passing YPG
2018: 168.2 (111th)
2019: 168.1 (114th)

Defensive Comparison

Opponents YPG
2018: 521.8 (128th)
2019: 414.5 (75th)

Opponents YPP (yards per play)
2018: 7.0 (124th)
2019: 5.4 (59th)

Opponents PPG (plays per game)
2018: 74.5 (87th)
2019: 76.1 (104th)

Opponents Rushing YPG
2018: 261.6 (124th)
2019: 190.1 (90th)

Opponents Passing YPG
2018: 260.2 (105th)
2019: 224.4 (61st)
So we're passing about the same, but the running game is really down. The question is "why?". I've got some theories:

1) Big dropoff in OL performance despite a bigger, stronger more experienced unit, and better prepared depth. We're just not getting the holes for Corbin we did last year. I think a big part of this was Allegretti's leadership. He called blocking schemes, recognized the opponents fronts and as a result we had far fewer missed assignments. I'm not seeing anyone step up to his leadership role. He also was a great motivator when he saw there wasn't the intensity he and Butkus expected.

2) Fundamentals like footwork, especially for the tackles in pass blocking. They weren't great last year, but at least they kept some part of the pocket protected. Our 300# tackles are getting bull rushed by smaller DEs, and that shouldn't be happening that much. This is a coaching issue. I'd feel a lot better if we had an OL coach who at least had SOME previous P5 coaching experience....

3) It seems like the RBs aren't running as "smart" as they did under Ward. I know with less control of the LOS than last year it's tougher to pick the right gap, but it seems Corbin was much better at this last year. It also seems that Corbin is going down much easier than last year. Could this be due to his early season injury? It seems that quite a few times he gets past the LOS but stumbles after minimum contact when if he kept his feet he'd be scoring 6.

4) AJ Bush was a tremendous asset to the running game both in planned and broken plays. Many times he escaped when blocking broke down for big gains. You can't really count on that as a reliable part of your offense, though...

5) Downfield blocking seems to be down a bit this year. That results in fewer long gains, which was Corbin's forte.

6) Corbin was never the kind of runner that would reliably get 5-7 yards each carry. He'd be stopped a couple of times than periodically break a big run. If you only give him 10-15 touches, that's not enough carries for him to break a couple for big gains. His YPC are way down this year, and I think that's part of the reason...

Any other thoughts on this regarding the drop off in the running game??
 
#19      
?

If Josh didn’t force him to make adjustments to his staff/roles last year when the arrow pointed down, he’s definitely not going to do it this year when the arrow is pointing up.

If Lovie wants a DC, he’ll hire one. If he doesn’t, he won’t. Pretty much where this story ends.

Things will shift, probably not next year, but once the dust settles. We have the next coach on staff.

But have we all lauded the job miles has done as lb coach? Dele and jake and milo have been crushing it. 😂😂
 
#20      
So we're passing about the same, but the running game is really down. The question is "why?". I've got some theories:



Any other thoughts on this regarding the drop off in the running game??

The obvious change would be the switch in OL coach.
 
#21      
Things will shift, probably not next year, but once the dust settles. We have the next coach on staff.

But have we all lauded the job miles has done as lb coach? Dele and jake and milo have been crushing it. 😂😂

More than fine but when it does, it’ll be on Lovie’s terms. Josh Whitman can’t force him to do anything.

When take out the turnovers and the box score out of the equation and actually watch the games you still see some shaky play from that core. Very shaky. As in, if we played a real offense things would get ugly. That said, Miles never has been and still is not my concern. The optics of that hire looked predictably negative but the play from the LBs, even in the rough stretch, was never our primary issue. If he can recruit a few more kids, he’s ok by me. Not the best hire we could make but still ok.
 
#22      
So we're passing about the same, but the running game is really down. The question is "why?". I've got some theories:

1) Big dropoff in OL performance despite a bigger, stronger more experienced unit, and better prepared depth. We're just not getting the holes for Corbin we did last year. I think a big part of this was Allegretti's leadership. He called blocking schemes, recognized the opponents fronts and as a result we had far fewer missed assignments. I'm not seeing anyone step up to his leadership role. He also was a great motivator when he saw there wasn't the intensity he and Butkus expected.

2) Fundamentals like footwork, especially for the tackles in pass blocking. They weren't great last year, but at least they kept some part of the pocket protected. Our 300# tackles are getting bull rushed by smaller DEs, and that shouldn't be happening that much. This is a coaching issue. I'd feel a lot better if we had an OL coach who at least had SOME previous P5 coaching experience....

3) It seems like the RBs aren't running as "smart" as they did under Ward. I know with less control of the LOS than last year it's tougher to pick the right gap, but it seems Corbin was much better at this last year. It also seems that Corbin is going down much easier than last year. Could this be due to his early season injury? It seems that quite a few times he gets past the LOS but stumbles after minimum contact when if he kept his feet he'd be scoring 6.

4) AJ Bush was a tremendous asset to the running game both in planned and broken plays. Many times he escaped when blocking broke down for big gains. You can't really count on that as a reliable part of your offense, though...

5) Downfield blocking seems to be down a bit this year. That results in fewer long gains, which was Corbin's forte.

6) Corbin was never the kind of runner that would reliably get 5-7 yards each carry. He'd be stopped a couple of times than periodically break a big run. If you only give him 10-15 touches, that's not enough carries for him to break a couple for big gains. His YPC are way down this year, and I think that's part of the reason...

Any other thoughts on this regarding the drop off in the running game??

All good points. I think it’s a combination of all six bullet points with one adder: Brandon Peters.

If you can’t throw the football to a reasonable degree of success, teams will bite down at which point it’s a simple numbers game. A numbers game you will lose more often than not, regardless of who you have up front. 5 will never consistently block 8.

Until Brandon starts earning the respect of opposing defensive coordinators, our run game is gonna have a tough time.
 
#23      

Deleted member 654622

D
Guest
So we're passing about the same, but the running game is really down. The question is "why?". I've got some theories:

1) Big dropoff in OL performance despite a bigger, stronger more experienced unit, and better prepared depth. We're just not getting the holes for Corbin we did last year. I think a big part of this was Allegretti's leadership. He called blocking schemes, recognized the opponents fronts and as a result we had far fewer missed assignments. I'm not seeing anyone step up to his leadership role. He also was a great motivator when he saw there wasn't the intensity he and Butkus expected.

2) Fundamentals like footwork, especially for the tackles in pass blocking. They weren't great last year, but at least they kept some part of the pocket protected. Our 300# tackles are getting bull rushed by smaller DEs, and that shouldn't be happening that much. This is a coaching issue. I'd feel a lot better if we had an OL coach who at least had SOME previous P5 coaching experience....

3) It seems like the RBs aren't running as "smart" as they did under Ward. I know with less control of the LOS than last year it's tougher to pick the right gap, but it seems Corbin was much better at this last year. It also seems that Corbin is going down much easier than last year. Could this be due to his early season injury? It seems that quite a few times he gets past the LOS but stumbles after minimum contact when if he kept his feet he'd be scoring 6.

4) AJ Bush was a tremendous asset to the running game both in planned and broken plays. Many times he escaped when blocking broke down for big gains. You can't really count on that as a reliable part of your offense, though...

5) Downfield blocking seems to be down a bit this year. That results in fewer long gains, which was Corbin's forte.

6) Corbin was never the kind of runner that would reliably get 5-7 yards each carry. He'd be stopped a couple of times than periodically break a big run. If you only give him 10-15 touches, that's not enough carries for him to break a couple for big gains. His YPC are way down this year, and I think that's part of the reason...

Any other thoughts on this regarding the drop off in the running game??
I believe number 1 is having a Bush at QB over a Peters is the main reason. AJ had around 800 yards rushing himself and that was with missing a few games. Second is replacing your best OL with the worst starter within your group.
The passing numbers were up from last year until Brandon got hurt. Then he comes back for the rain game and Rutgers. By the end of the year the passing numbers will be better than last years.
 
#24      
Things will shift, probably not next year, but once the dust settles. We have the next coach on staff.

But have we all lauded the job miles has done as lb coach? Dele and jake and milo have been crushing it. 😂😂

Respectfully, I don't think we have any idea what kind of job Miles is doing. Yes, the LBs seem to be getting better and better, but is that because of Dele, Milo and Jake's efforts, Lovie coaching them up as DC and covering for his son, or Miles doing a great job? I haven't heard anything specifically about Miles from the staff or players (insiders), etc. but it's possible I could have missed that being attributed to Miles' excellent work.
 
#25      

mhuml32

Cincinnati, OH
?

If Josh didn’t force him to make adjustments to his staff/roles last year when the arrow pointed down, he’s definitely not going to do it this year when the arrow is pointing up.

If Lovie wants a DC, he’ll hire one. If he doesn’t, he won’t. Pretty much where this story ends.

Agreed. Whitman had his moment if he wanted to force Lovie to make changes. That ship has sailed.