Statistical Analysis of Defense vs. BCC

[Consigliere]

Before 2004, would any self-respecting fan breakdown this game with some FCS analysis?

Sad state of affairs that Al's Army is waiting around all day for soft-hitting breakdowns of a game against a horrific FCS team, so they can pound the "thank god for some real football talk" drum.

This sort of manipulation of statistics in week 1 against a HS level team is nothing more than a poorly veiled attempt to convince people that things are different.

Didn't we thrash FAMU last year and hold them to 100 yards and then lose 7 games? Put that extra 10 minutes of game time on this game, and Bethune likely matches that output. ****, we actually beat up on a couple decent offenses last year and still lost 7 games.

It was fcking Bethune! Stop already!

Yup

 

[rok]

OP should be banned for even thinking about doing this. Ban you OP.

 

[CaptJackSparrow]

Before 2004, would any self-respecting fan breakdown this game with some FCS analysis?

Sad state of affairs that Al's Army is waiting around all day for soft-hitting breakdowns of a game against a horrific FCS team, so they can pound the "thank god for some real football talk" drum.

This sort of manipulation of statistics in week 1 against a HS level team is nothing more than a poorly veiled attempt to convince people that things are different.

Didn't we thrash FAMU last year and hold them to 100 yards and then lose 7 games? Put that extra 10 minutes of game time on this game, and Bethune likely matches that output. ****, we actually beat up on a couple decent offenses last year and still lost 7 games.

It was fcking Bethune! Stop already!

Then leave this football board and go to your PMS board, where you fit in better. The OP posted actual discussion/analysis of FOOTBALL. You don't seem to even know anything about football, since you never talk about it, all you do is whine.

He is talking football and made an excellent correlation that we statically dominated FCS teams in the past and still had horrible seasons. So at the end of the day it really means nothing.

Last year we dominated FAMU (41-7) 6-7
2011 we dominated Bethune (45-14) we finished 6-6
2006 FAMU (51-10) finsished 7-6

These are our 3 worst teams (going by losses) in the last decade all lost 6 all dominated a FCS opponent in week one or two

NOTE in 2007 we finished 5-7 but did not play a FCS team

 

[lauderdaleballer]

Before 2004, would any self-respecting fan breakdown this game with some FCS analysis?

We didn't start doing this until 2013.

 

[OzarCaneSaw]

I think we are all aware of the fact that the game was shortened, and I also think we are all aware that a Miami program should always pound a team like BCC.

With that in mind, I wanted to take a look and see how we compared on a per-play basis against BCC in comparison to other FBS schools playing FBS teams. It might surprise some (our coaches perhaps?) that there is a far greater correlation to points allowed between yards-per-play than there is for simply looking at total yards allowed. Additionally, the correlation is strengthened quite a bit more by regressing the average starting position to account for where the opposing team actually starts their possession with the ball, but given the fact we are talking about FCS vs. FBS games, that sort of analysis should not be necessary, as you would hope not many teams would be having several turnovers and big mistakes such as that.

There were 48 games between FCS and FBS teams in week one, so the data set is actually fairly large (nearly half the teams that played, played FCS programs).

It was interesting to me in the sense that Miami truly and thoroughly dominated a team that was fairly decent offensively last year, and returned many of those same players on offense.

On a per rush basis, Miami ranked 10th of all teams against their FCS opponent. 5th out of the 23 BCS teams who played an FCS team. (1.51 YPC). Rutgers was first at -0.13 YPC. This was in the 78th percentile of all teams against the run.

On a yards per pass basis, Miami ranked 2nd of all teams against their FCS opponent. They were also 2nd among BCS teams who played an FCS team. (2.36 YPA) West Virginia was 1st at 2.23 YPA, but played a triple option team. This was in the 96th percentile of all teams against the pass.

On a total yards per play basis, Miami ranked 3rd of all teams. They were 2nd among BCS teams who played an FCS team. (1.72 YPP). New Mexico was 1st and destroyed a very, very bad FCS team at 1.32 YPP. Syracuse was the top BCS team with an impressive 1.60 YPP. Miami ranked in the 94th percentile on yards per play run.

There is a long way to go, and I won't be fooled again is a song that keeps playing in my head, but for one week at least, Miami's defense truly was dominant. You hear quite a bit about D'Onofrio- and rightly so- but the real worry is the offense. Playing against an undermanned defense replacing nine starters, Miami was mediocre in all facets offensively on a per-play basis. If we want to actually be a good team this year, we need to make massive strides offensively and become a lot more efficient with our plays on offense. I mentioned earlier that yards-per-play correlates well with scoring points, well that counts for the offensive side of our team as well, and right now we are not even close to where we need to be and Coley has to take some of that blame.

How would you take into account each coach's decision to play certain 2nd, 3rd, 4th stringers at various points of the game? How much time did our 1st and 2nd string get versus our 3rd and 4th? If we played the starters more, you better believe the results should be better than if another team played their starters in 1st quarter and played 2nd/3rd/4th the rest of the way.

And that's just one thought.

 

[Consigliere]

Before 2004, would any self-respecting fan breakdown this game with some FCS analysis?

We didn't start doing this until 2013.

Doing what?

 

[Klamalama]

Before 2004, would any self-respecting fan breakdown this game with some FCS analysis?

Sad state of affairs that Al's Army is waiting around all day for soft-hitting breakdowns of a game against a horrific FCS team, so they can pound the "thank god for some real football talk" drum.

This sort of manipulation of statistics in week 1 against a HS level team is nothing more than a poorly veiled attempt to convince people that things are different.

Didn't we thrash FAMU last year and hold them to 100 yards and then lose 7 games? Put that extra 10 minutes of game time on this game, and Bethune likely matches that output. ****, we actually beat up on a couple decent offenses last year and still lost 7 games.

It was fcking Bethune! Stop already!

It's called SLURPER INTOXICATION. Usually caused by a lack of oxygen.

 

[HurricaneVision]

I think we are all aware of the fact that the game was shortened, and I also think we are all aware that a Miami program should always pound a team like BCC.

With that in mind, I wanted to take a look and see how we compared on a per-play basis against BCC in comparison to other FBS schools playing FBS teams. It might surprise some (our coaches perhaps?) that there is a far greater correlation to points allowed between yards-per-play than there is for simply looking at total yards allowed. Additionally, the correlation is strengthened quite a bit more by regressing the average starting position to account for where the opposing team actually starts their possession with the ball, but given the fact we are talking about FCS vs. FBS games, that sort of analysis should not be necessary, as you would hope not many teams would be having several turnovers and big mistakes such as that.

There were 48 games between FCS and FBS teams in week one, so the data set is actually fairly large (nearly half the teams that played, played FCS programs).

It was interesting to me in the sense that Miami truly and thoroughly dominated a team that was fairly decent offensively last year, and returned many of those same players on offense.

On a per rush basis, Miami ranked 10th of all teams against their FCS opponent. 5th out of the 23 BCS teams who played an FCS team. (1.51 YPC). Rutgers was first at -0.13 YPC. This was in the 78th percentile of all teams against the run.

On a yards per pass basis, Miami ranked 2nd of all teams against their FCS opponent. They were also 2nd among BCS teams who played an FCS team. (2.36 YPA) West Virginia was 1st at 2.23 YPA, but played a triple option team. This was in the 96th percentile of all teams against the pass.

On a total yards per play basis, Miami ranked 3rd of all teams. They were 2nd among BCS teams who played an FCS team. (1.72 YPP). New Mexico was 1st and destroyed a very, very bad FCS team at 1.32 YPP. Syracuse was the top BCS team with an impressive 1.60 YPP. Miami ranked in the 94th percentile on yards per play run.

There is a long way to go, and I won't be fooled again is a song that keeps playing in my head, but for one week at least, Miami's defense truly was dominant. You hear quite a bit about D'Onofrio- and rightly so- but the real worry is the offense. Playing against an undermanned defense replacing nine starters, Miami was mediocre in all facets offensively on a per-play basis. If we want to actually be a good team this year, we need to make massive strides offensively and become a lot more efficient with our plays on offense. I mentioned earlier that yards-per-play correlates well with scoring points, well that counts for the offensive side of our team as well, and right now we are not even close to where we need to be and Coley has to take some of that blame.

How would you take into account each coach's decision to play certain 2nd, 3rd, 4th stringers at various points of the game? How much time did our 1st and 2nd string get versus our 3rd and 4th? If we played the starters more, you better believe the results should be better than if another team played their starters in 1st quarter and played 2nd/3rd/4th the rest of the way.

And that's just one thought.

Absolutely your thoughts are valid, as any number of bias comes into play when talking about a game and statistics. Several of the FCS teams actually won the game, or came extremely close, so those games would be 1's vs. 1's all the way. There were also several games that were blowouts such as ours (many worse as well).

When you're referring to a sample size of 40+, you're actually looking at a decent sample size. Over 30 is considered a "large" sample size in the world of statistics (for the purpose of data analysis anyway).

There are varying degrees of talent on FCS teams- just like the teams playing them- and I didn't draw any conclusions from the data. What I'm trying to do is present information based on peer-to-peer data and see what trends develop from there. Just like anything else, what our fanbase chooses to do with it from there is personal choice.

The offense was a much bigger issue than the defense in this game.

 

[CaptJackSparrow]

I think we are all aware of the fact that the game was shortened, and I also think we are all aware that a Miami program should always pound a team like BCC.

With that in mind, I wanted to take a look and see how we compared on a per-play basis against BCC in comparison to other FBS schools playing FBS teams. It might surprise some (our coaches perhaps?) that there is a far greater correlation to points allowed between yards-per-play than there is for simply looking at total yards allowed. Additionally, the correlation is strengthened quite a bit more by regressing the average starting position to account for where the opposing team actually starts their possession with the ball, but given the fact we are talking about FCS vs. FBS games, that sort of analysis should not be necessary, as you would hope not many teams would be having several turnovers and big mistakes such as that.

There were 48 games between FCS and FBS teams in week one, so the data set is actually fairly large (nearly half the teams that played, played FCS programs).

It was interesting to me in the sense that Miami truly and thoroughly dominated a team that was fairly decent offensively last year, and returned many of those same players on offense.

On a per rush basis, Miami ranked 10th of all teams against their FCS opponent. 5th out of the 23 BCS teams who played an FCS team. (1.51 YPC). Rutgers was first at -0.13 YPC. This was in the 78th percentile of all teams against the run.

On a yards per pass basis, Miami ranked 2nd of all teams against their FCS opponent. They were also 2nd among BCS teams who played an FCS team. (2.36 YPA) West Virginia was 1st at 2.23 YPA, but played a triple option team. This was in the 96th percentile of all teams against the pass.

On a total yards per play basis, Miami ranked 3rd of all teams. They were 2nd among BCS teams who played an FCS team. (1.72 YPP). New Mexico was 1st and destroyed a very, very bad FCS team at 1.32 YPP. Syracuse was the top BCS team with an impressive 1.60 YPP. Miami ranked in the 94th percentile on yards per play run.

There is a long way to go, and I won't be fooled again is a song that keeps playing in my head, but for one week at least, Miami's defense truly was dominant. You hear quite a bit about D'Onofrio- and rightly so- but the real worry is the offense. Playing against an undermanned defense replacing nine starters, Miami was mediocre in all facets offensively on a per-play basis. If we want to actually be a good team this year, we need to make massive strides offensively and become a lot more efficient with our plays on offense. I mentioned earlier that yards-per-play correlates well with scoring points, well that counts for the offensive side of our team as well, and right now we are not even close to where we need to be and Coley has to take some of that blame.

How would you take into account each coach's decision to play certain 2nd, 3rd, 4th stringers at various points of the game? How much time did our 1st and 2nd string get versus our 3rd and 4th? If we played the starters more, you better believe the results should be better than if another team played their starters in 1st quarter and played 2nd/3rd/4th the rest of the way.

And that's just one thought.

can we get a statiscial break down of the MPH on the wind during each of Kaaya's 27 pass attempts to see if its correclates with certain results?

 

[lauderdaleballer]

Before 2004, would any self-respecting fan breakdown this game with some FCS analysis?

We didn't start doing this until 2013.

Doing what?

Breaking down and lauding the team efforts against fcs opponents. I still remember posts referencing our performance against Savannah Stste. That being said, I agree with your comment. We're expected to win that's why in the past no one cared to breakdown wins like this.

 

[OzarCaneSaw]

I think we are all aware of the fact that the game was shortened, and I also think we are all aware that a Miami program should always pound a team like BCC.

With that in mind, I wanted to take a look and see how we compared on a per-play basis against BCC in comparison to other FBS schools playing FBS teams. It might surprise some (our coaches perhaps?) that there is a far greater correlation to points allowed between yards-per-play than there is for simply looking at total yards allowed. Additionally, the correlation is strengthened quite a bit more by regressing the average starting position to account for where the opposing team actually starts their possession with the ball, but given the fact we are talking about FCS vs. FBS games, that sort of analysis should not be necessary, as you would hope not many teams would be having several turnovers and big mistakes such as that.

There were 48 games between FCS and FBS teams in week one, so the data set is actually fairly large (nearly half the teams that played, played FCS programs).

It was interesting to me in the sense that Miami truly and thoroughly dominated a team that was fairly decent offensively last year, and returned many of those same players on offense.

On a per rush basis, Miami ranked 10th of all teams against their FCS opponent. 5th out of the 23 BCS teams who played an FCS team. (1.51 YPC). Rutgers was first at -0.13 YPC. This was in the 78th percentile of all teams against the run.

On a yards per pass basis, Miami ranked 2nd of all teams against their FCS opponent. They were also 2nd among BCS teams who played an FCS team. (2.36 YPA) West Virginia was 1st at 2.23 YPA, but played a triple option team. This was in the 96th percentile of all teams against the pass.

On a total yards per play basis, Miami ranked 3rd of all teams. They were 2nd among BCS teams who played an FCS team. (1.72 YPP). New Mexico was 1st and destroyed a very, very bad FCS team at 1.32 YPP. Syracuse was the top BCS team with an impressive 1.60 YPP. Miami ranked in the 94th percentile on yards per play run.

There is a long way to go, and I won't be fooled again is a song that keeps playing in my head, but for one week at least, Miami's defense truly was dominant. You hear quite a bit about D'Onofrio- and rightly so- but the real worry is the offense. Playing against an undermanned defense replacing nine starters, Miami was mediocre in all facets offensively on a per-play basis. If we want to actually be a good team this year, we need to make massive strides offensively and become a lot more efficient with our plays on offense. I mentioned earlier that yards-per-play correlates well with scoring points, well that counts for the offensive side of our team as well, and right now we are not even close to where we need to be and Coley has to take some of that blame.

How would you take into account each coach's decision to play certain 2nd, 3rd, 4th stringers at various points of the game? How much time did our 1st and 2nd string get versus our 3rd and 4th? If we played the starters more, you better believe the results should be better than if another team played their starters in 1st quarter and played 2nd/3rd/4th the rest of the way.

And that's just one thought.

Absolutely your thoughts are valid, as any number of bias comes into play when talking about a game and statistics. Several of the FCS teams actually won the game, or came extremely close, so those games would be 1's vs. 1's all the way. There were also several games that were blowouts such as ours (many worse as well).

When you're referring to a sample size of 40+, you're actually looking at a decent sample size. Over 30 is considered a "large" sample size in the world of statistics (for the purpose of data analysis anyway).

There are varying degrees of talent on FCS teams- just like the teams playing them- and I didn't draw any conclusions from the data. What I'm trying to do is present information based on peer-to-peer data and see what trends develop from there. Just like anything else, what our fanbase chooses to do with it from there is personal choice.

The offense was a much bigger issue than the defense in this game.

In no way shape or form can you come to any conclusions based upon the data you're using. You just can't. You don't have a constant. I'm sorry man, but you did a lot of work for nothing.

 

[TreOFive]

Before 2004, would any self-respecting fan breakdown this game with some FCS analysis?

Sad state of affairs that Al's Army is waiting around all day for soft-hitting breakdowns of a game against a horrific FCS team, so they can pound the "thank god for some real football talk" drum.

This sort of manipulation of statistics in week 1 against a HS level team is nothing more than a poorly veiled attempt to convince people that things are different.

Didn't we thrash FAMU last year and hold them to 100 yards and then lose 7 games? Put that extra 10 minutes of game time on this game, and Bethune likely matches that output. ****, we actually beat up on a couple decent offenses last year and still lost 7 games.

It was fcking Bethune! Stop already!

and not suprising the "**** man" is the only one thus far to down vote. DK will not allow his source of income and protein to be slandered

 

[TreOFive]

Before 2004, would any self-respecting fan breakdown this game with some FCS analysis?

Sad state of affairs that Al's Army is waiting around all day for soft-hitting breakdowns of a game against a horrific FCS team, so they can pound the "thank god for some real football talk" drum.

This sort of manipulation of statistics in week 1 against a HS level team is nothing more than a poorly veiled attempt to convince people that things are different.

Didn't we thrash FAMU last year and hold them to 100 yards and then lose 7 games? Put that extra 10 minutes of game time on this game, and Bethune likely matches that output. ****, we actually beat up on a couple decent offenses last year and still lost 7 games.

It was fcking Bethune! Stop already!

Then leave this football board and go to your PMS board, where you fit in better. The OP posted actual discussion/analysis of FOOTBALL. You don't seem to even know anything about football, since you never talk about it, all you do is whine.

Listen to the wise words of a true fan....the "**** man" has spoken

 

[TreOFive]

Before 2004, would any self-respecting fan breakdown this game with some FCS analysis?

Sad state of affairs that Al's Army is waiting around all day for soft-hitting breakdowns of a game against a horrific FCS team, so they can pound the "thank god for some real football talk" drum.

This sort of manipulation of statistics in week 1 against a HS level team is nothing more than a poorly veiled attempt to convince people that things are different.

Didn't we thrash FAMU last year and hold them to 100 yards and then lose 7 games? Put that extra 10 minutes of game time on this game, and Bethune likely matches that output. ****, we actually beat up on a couple decent offenses last year and still lost 7 games.

It was fcking Bethune! Stop already!

It's called SLURPER INTOXICATION. Usually caused by a lack of oxygen.

or in Dk's world...an over abundance of **** in his trachea

 

[jerzeycane]

I've thought the defense would be good since March. Nothing I saw on Saturday swayed me from that. The question is whether or not they will get the X type performances from the dudes on the D-Line and I think there's more than enough talent to suggest that one of these dudes becomes a game changer. Grace and Owens in the LB core, to go along with Elder, Bush, and Burns in the secondary will all be big time players should they stay healthy.

This defense has the talent to eat.

Alright now guys...have at it

 

[prinmemo]

I think we are all aware of the fact that the game was shortened, and I also think we are all aware that a Miami program should always pound a team like BCC.

With that in mind, I wanted to take a look and see how we compared on a per-play basis against BCC in comparison to other FBS schools playing FBS teams. It might surprise some (our coaches perhaps?) that there is a far greater correlation to points allowed between yards-per-play than there is for simply looking at total yards allowed. Additionally, the correlation is strengthened quite a bit more by regressing the average starting position to account for where the opposing team actually starts their possession with the ball, but given the fact we are talking about FCS vs. FBS games, that sort of analysis should not be necessary, as you would hope not many teams would be having several turnovers and big mistakes such as that.

There were 48 games between FCS and FBS teams in week one, so the data set is actually fairly large (nearly half the teams that played, played FCS programs).

It was interesting to me in the sense that Miami truly and thoroughly dominated a team that was fairly decent offensively last year, and returned many of those same players on offense.

On a per rush basis, Miami ranked 10th of all teams against their FCS opponent. 5th out of the 23 BCS teams who played an FCS team. (1.51 YPC). Rutgers was first at -0.13 YPC. This was in the 78th percentile of all teams against the run.

On a yards per pass basis, Miami ranked 2nd of all teams against their FCS opponent. They were also 2nd among BCS teams who played an FCS team. (2.36 YPA) West Virginia was 1st at 2.23 YPA, but played a triple option team. This was in the 96th percentile of all teams against the pass.

On a total yards per play basis, Miami ranked 3rd of all teams. They were 2nd among BCS teams who played an FCS team. (1.72 YPP). New Mexico was 1st and destroyed a very, very bad FCS team at 1.32 YPP. Syracuse was the top BCS team with an impressive 1.60 YPP. Miami ranked in the 94th percentile on yards per play run.

There is a long way to go, and I won't be fooled again is a song that keeps playing in my head, but for one week at least, Miami's defense truly was dominant. You hear quite a bit about D'Onofrio- and rightly so- but the real worry is the offense. Playing against an undermanned defense replacing nine starters, Miami was mediocre in all facets offensively on a per-play basis. If we want to actually be a good team this year, we need to make massive strides offensively and become a lot more efficient with our plays on offense. I mentioned earlier that yards-per-play correlates well with scoring points, well that counts for the offensive side of our team as well, and right now we are not even close to where we need to be and Coley has to take some of that blame.

How would you take into account each coach's decision to play certain 2nd, 3rd, 4th stringers at various points of the game? How much time did our 1st and 2nd string get versus our 3rd and 4th? If we played the starters more, you better believe the results should be better than if another team played their starters in 1st quarter and played 2nd/3rd/4th the rest of the way.

And that's just one thought.

Absolutely your thoughts are valid, as any number of bias comes into play when talking about a game and statistics. Several of the FCS teams actually won the game, or came extremely close, so those games would be 1's vs. 1's all the way. There were also several games that were blowouts such as ours (many worse as well).

When you're referring to a sample size of 40+, you're actually looking at a decent sample size. Over 30 is considered a "large" sample size in the world of statistics (for the purpose of data analysis anyway).

There are varying degrees of talent on FCS teams- just like the teams playing them- and I didn't draw any conclusions from the data. What I'm trying to do is present information based on peer-to-peer data and see what trends develop from there. Just like anything else, what our fanbase chooses to do with it from there is personal choice.

The offense was a much bigger issue than the defense in this game.

In no way shape or form can you come to any conclusions based upon the data you're using. You just can't. You don't have a constant. I'm sorry man, but you did a lot of work for nothing.

This is correlation. You don't need a constant.

At the end of the day, I believe these kinds of results are meaningless in terms of predicting season win / loss records.

 

[Blitzed53]

it's BETHUNE COOKMAN GOLDEN ZOMBIES

 

[Bigtip]

Bethune is so horrible that you cant take anything away from it. its like a grown man playing a toddler. the gap is so wide that nothing can be gleaned.

having said that I did notice a subtle jab at the coaching staff in the OP regarding average yards per attempt that our coaches like to downplay (cus their ***** *** defense is horrible).

 

[dk72]

Before 2004, would any self-respecting fan breakdown this game with some FCS analysis?

Sad state of affairs that Al's Army is waiting around all day for soft-hitting breakdowns of a game against a horrific FCS team, so they can pound the "thank god for some real football talk" drum.

This sort of manipulation of statistics in week 1 against a HS level team is nothing more than a poorly veiled attempt to convince people that things are different.

Didn't we thrash FAMU last year and hold them to 100 yards and then lose 7 games? Put that extra 10 minutes of game time on this game, and Bethune likely matches that output. ****, we actually beat up on a couple decent offenses last year and still lost 7 games.

It was fcking Bethune! Stop already!

Then leave this football board and go to your PMS board, where you fit in better. The OP posted actual discussion/analysis of FOOTBALL. You don't seem to even know anything about football, since you never talk about it, all you do is whine.

He is talking football and made an excellent correlation that we statically dominated FCS teams in the past and still had horrible seasons. So at the end of the day it really means nothing.

Last year we dominated FAMU (41-7) 6-7
2011 we dominated Bethune (45-14) we finished 6-6
2006 FAMU (51-10) finsished 7-6

These are our 3 worst teams (going by losses) in the last decade all lost 6 all dominated a FCS opponent in week one or two

NOTE in 2007 we finished 5-7 but did not play a FCS team

The OP never claimed that his analysis meant we were a top team. What he did do, was present a valid analysis of how we fared against an FCS team vs. how others have. All Franchise did is whine that someone dare actually do an analysis at all...how dare they actually present football discussion vs. whine, *****, and moan.

 

[HurricaneVision]

I think we are all aware of the fact that the game was shortened, and I also think we are all aware that a Miami program should always pound a team like BCC.

With that in mind, I wanted to take a look and see how we compared on a per-play basis against BCC in comparison to other FBS schools playing FBS teams. It might surprise some (our coaches perhaps?) that there is a far greater correlation to points allowed between yards-per-play than there is for simply looking at total yards allowed. Additionally, the correlation is strengthened quite a bit more by regressing the average starting position to account for where the opposing team actually starts their possession with the ball, but given the fact we are talking about FCS vs. FBS games, that sort of analysis should not be necessary, as you would hope not many teams would be having several turnovers and big mistakes such as that.

There were 48 games between FCS and FBS teams in week one, so the data set is actually fairly large (nearly half the teams that played, played FCS programs).

It was interesting to me in the sense that Miami truly and thoroughly dominated a team that was fairly decent offensively last year, and returned many of those same players on offense.

On a per rush basis, Miami ranked 10th of all teams against their FCS opponent. 5th out of the 23 BCS teams who played an FCS team. (1.51 YPC). Rutgers was first at -0.13 YPC. This was in the 78th percentile of all teams against the run.

On a yards per pass basis, Miami ranked 2nd of all teams against their FCS opponent. They were also 2nd among BCS teams who played an FCS team. (2.36 YPA) West Virginia was 1st at 2.23 YPA, but played a triple option team. This was in the 96th percentile of all teams against the pass.

On a total yards per play basis, Miami ranked 3rd of all teams. They were 2nd among BCS teams who played an FCS team. (1.72 YPP). New Mexico was 1st and destroyed a very, very bad FCS team at 1.32 YPP. Syracuse was the top BCS team with an impressive 1.60 YPP. Miami ranked in the 94th percentile on yards per play run.

There is a long way to go, and I won't be fooled again is a song that keeps playing in my head, but for one week at least, Miami's defense truly was dominant. You hear quite a bit about D'Onofrio- and rightly so- but the real worry is the offense. Playing against an undermanned defense replacing nine starters, Miami was mediocre in all facets offensively on a per-play basis. If we want to actually be a good team this year, we need to make massive strides offensively and become a lot more efficient with our plays on offense. I mentioned earlier that yards-per-play correlates well with scoring points, well that counts for the offensive side of our team as well, and right now we are not even close to where we need to be and Coley has to take some of that blame.

How would you take into account each coach's decision to play certain 2nd, 3rd, 4th stringers at various points of the game? How much time did our 1st and 2nd string get versus our 3rd and 4th? If we played the starters more, you better believe the results should be better than if another team played their starters in 1st quarter and played 2nd/3rd/4th the rest of the way.

And that's just one thought.

Absolutely your thoughts are valid, as any number of bias comes into play when talking about a game and statistics. Several of the FCS teams actually won the game, or came extremely close, so those games would be 1's vs. 1's all the way. There were also several games that were blowouts such as ours (many worse as well).

When you're referring to a sample size of 40+, you're actually looking at a decent sample size. Over 30 is considered a "large" sample size in the world of statistics (for the purpose of data analysis anyway).

There are varying degrees of talent on FCS teams- just like the teams playing them- and I didn't draw any conclusions from the data. What I'm trying to do is present information based on peer-to-peer data and see what trends develop from there. Just like anything else, what our fanbase chooses to do with it from there is personal choice.

The offense was a much bigger issue than the defense in this game.

In no way shape or form can you come to any conclusions based upon the data you're using. You just can't. You don't have a constant. I'm sorry man, but you did a lot of work for nothing.

This is correlation. You don't need a constant.

At the end of the day, I believe these kinds of results are meaningless in terms of predicting season win / loss records.

This man is correct, you do not need a constant. Though I didn't calculate the correlation for our team to future wins, I simply calculated the percent rank excluding 0 & 1 (otherwise the top team is 100% and the bottom team is 0%).

It was simply meant to be fun. A way to look around the football landscape and see how we stood up to other programs playing FCS teams from a dominance perspective.

I know we are all beaten down by our program and the current state it's in. I know we all can't stand Golden, his scheme, his schtick, or his existence, but sometimes just focusing on football is a nice distraction from the decommits, the in-fighting, and the hating of life.

It would take several years' worth of data to draw a meaningful conclusion, but to me, being on the far right tail of 46 teams in both YPA and YPP is impressive, which is all I'm trying to say.