A Comparison - First Three Games From 2007 and 2008

by Seth C on Sep 15, 2008 12:00 PM CDT in Football Comment 3 comments

I thought this might be a good opportunity to take a snapshot of the first 3 non-conference games for Texas Tech from last year and this year. We've talked quite a bit about how this team is performing on the field and I thought that it might be interesting to see how this year's squad compares to last year's team.

I should go ahead and throw out the disclaimer that I think it's pointless to try and argue the relative worth of any 6 of these teams, but we should more or less just agree that these are all teams that Texas Tech should have handled relatively easily.

2007

Team	Passing Yards	Rushing Yards	Total Yards	Turnovers	Points
SMU	155	115	270	3	9
UTEP	216	215	431	1	31
Rice	212	99	311	3	24
Averages	194.33	143.00	337.33	2.33	21.33

Of course we should all remember that after the Rice game, this defense gave up all kinds of yards and points against Oklahoma State, giving credence to the idea that most of the time, non-conference games don't mean a thing, or at least the statistics don't. Anyway, here are the numbers from this year.

2008

Team	Passing Yards	Rushing Yards	Total Yards	Turnovers	Points
Eastern Washington	341	23	364	3	24
Nevada	264	224	488	2	19
SMU	213	61	274	5	7
Averages	272.67	102.67	375.33	4.11	16.67

So the real difference is that the 2008 version is giving up 78.33 yards a game more than their 2007 counter-part, while, giving allowing 40.33 yards less per game on the ground. Thus, the 2008 version is giving up 38.00 yards more per game, but is allowing 4.67 points less than in 2007.

If it's me, I'd rather have the more stingy team defensively in terms of points, but as mentioned above, in 2007 these numbers didn't mean much when facing Oklahoma State or any other formidable Big 12 opponent and as much hand-ringing that goes on almost every college team blog, message board or water-cooler, non-conference statistics are not necessarily a predictor to what you should expect from a team.

I should say that if a team is dominant on one side of the ball (i.e., Texas Tech's offense or Auburn's defense), then that will probably play out over the course of a season, but to say that marginal success against non-conference opponents will play out over the course of a year probably isn't true.

I do take some solace in the turnover numbers and put more faith in those than yards given up and as a team, the Red Raiders average almost 2 (actually it's 1.78) more turnovers per game.

Thoughts and comments appreciated.

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Comments

Easy There Pilgrim

I have been as hard on this team as anybody this year. Something still is not right with Harrell. Too many balls just hanging up there. But damn, lets all step back and enjoy the journey. Its fun folks…….FUN. Sure we are supposed to be 3-0 and lets all enjoy saying….hey, we are 3-0.

And some goof ball posted that he was at the alumni pavilion last weekend and there were some “influential alumni” taking stock in candidates for leach’s job. Shut the hell up! The grass ain’t always greener and who has done a better job? And most of the “influential alumni” wouldn’t know a forward pass from a horses ass.Sit in your suites…drink your whiskey……and shut the hell up. Gerald knows what hes doing so lets enjoy what we have right here right now. Please don’t be spreading that kind of crap rumor around. It only makes you look ignorant.

by eddyc555 on Sep 15, 2008 12:17 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

First and foremost, please don’t call people names. All I ask is to not be mean to one another and calling people names isn’t constructive or necessary.

Second, I guess I’m not sure where you’re going with this. I wasn’t critical in this post in the very least. All I did was compare defensive stats from this year to last year. The point being is that you can’t predict future success based on 3 non-conference games that you should win.

If anyone is enjoying the ride it’s me, I’m pretty sure of that, so I’m not sure who you are asking to take it easy or who is not appreciating the 3-0 mark. Besides, you were the one that was hyper-critical of the team last week and now you’re not. It’s fine that you’re changing tune, I’m not sure where you stand.

Go Raiders . . .

by Seth C on Sep 15, 2008 7:12 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Goofball

That would be me…it’s not a “crap rumor” as much as you want it to be. You have to keep in mind who REALLY runs an athletic department. It is NOT the athletic director. It’s the people who pay for all those great suites, buildings and buses. Alumni and donors. They get antsy, the AD is forced to get antsy. It’s the way it works.

The people I spoke to are not on staff. They pay the staff. They are older. They don’t mind the occassional mess up on the field. They don’t at all like Leach the person. He doesn’t fit in with what they want. Leach earns less than $200K from Tech. The rest of his salary comes from…donors and TV.

Dude, it is what it is. You can believe it or not. I don’t really care one way or the other…just sharing what I heard.

I am happy we’re 3-0 and hope we go 12-0 (but I’m not stupid either). Love Tech with all my heart but I have pretty good understanding of how college athletic departments are run and who makes decisions. That doesn’t make me smarter than anyone, it just means I happen to have been in position to meet and talk with various influential people. It happens, bro.

by Tech92 on Sep 15, 2008 10:01 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs