Sunday, November 13, 2016

25 Questions without a single Flash joke


Nick "Sky: Saban at Doyt
 What is their body of work?

Look, it is tough. Since 2001 they have had exactly two winning seasons....in 2001, and the dream 2012 season.  Beyond that, it has been a huge amount of futility.

They are 3-7 this year.  They have beaten Monmouth, Buffalo and CMU.  Loses to Penn State, Alabama, North Carolina A&T, Akron, Miami, Ohio,  and WMU.  Obviously, the North Carolina A&T isn't anything worth bragging about, though they are the #9 ranked FCS team.  KSU only lost to Miami and OU by 4.

How many seniors and juniors on the two-deep?

They have 22...which is a young team.  They are especially young on offense.  They have 6 FR and SO starters on offense.

Who are their statistical leaders?

Shyne Hyne is #19 in field goals per game, and #1 in y's.
Najee Murray is #8 in passes defended.
The suspended Nate Holley is #1 in tackles.

What is their turnover ratio?

(Most of the stats below are conference only).  They are tied for MAC lead at +8, which is amazing for a team that is 2-4.

Offense:

 How is their QB play?

Nick Holley was a RB when the year started.  (He went to Whitmer).  Kent was struggling at QB and they moved Holley to QB.  He had one big game against Akron, but has struggled by and large.  They haven't asked him to pass too much.  He's thrown 21 or fewer passes in four of the last five games.  His QB rating is 102, which is not very good.  He has 50% completions, 11.6 yards per completion and 3 TD over 3 INT.  He is their leading rusher, with 5 yards per rush.

What is their scoring and yards per play?

They are #9 in scoring offense and #12 in yards per play.

Can they run the ball?

They are #4 in rushing....both in yards per carry and yards per game.  For context, UT is right behind them.
Lambert

Do they pass the ball?

They are last in pass efficiency.

How is their run/pass balance?

Understandably, they run on 66% of their plays.  This is a very high number in today's game.

Do they convert on 3rd Down?

They are 8th at the MAC average at 39%.

Do they score in the red zone?

They are OK at 4.75 per trip.  In 20 red zone trips, they have 11 TDs and 6 FGs.

Do they protect the quarterback?

They give up sacks on 8.3% of their pass attempts, which is pretty high.

Defense:
The Great Don James

Topline: Scoring and yards per play.

This is a defensively-focused program.  They are #4 in scoring and #3 in yards per play allowed.  They lead the MAC in forcing turnovers.

Do they defend the run effectively?

Yes.  They are #4 in the MAC allowing 4.1 yards per attempt, which is 1.6 per carry less than Akron.  BG will probably have to be a little more balanced to get it done in this game.

Can they be passed on?

They are #2 here as well.  They allow only 48% completions with 7 TDs and 6 INT.  However, they have allowed 14.3 yards per completions, which is really high.

Do they get off the field on 3rd down?


Pretty good, they are 4th in the MAC.

Do they defend in the red zone?

They are below average at 5.2 points per trip.  Have allowed 19 red zone trips, only 3 zeros.

Do they pressure the QB?

No,  they have 9 sacks which is 5% of attempts.

Special Teams:
Spent a long afternnoon watching BG not tackle this guy

Punting?

Poor.  They are 10h in net punting.  They have been blocked twice, allowed one TD and give up 10 yards per return.

Punt Return?

No blocks and 7 yards per return, which is not great.

Placekicking?

All games, he's 15-20 with a 43 long.  He's 9 of 12 inside 40 and 6 of 8 outside 40.  Two blocks.

Kickoff?

Teams start on the 26, #11 in MAC.  No TDs.

Kickoff Return?

They start on the 27, all games.  No TDs.

This is Grog, the Kent Mascot until 1974.
Miscellaneous: Overall atmospherics and intangibles.

Coach Clawson used to say that this is a game to see who loves football.  On paper, neither team has anything to play for.  No one is going anywhere...no bowl game, just this game and one more.

So, who loves football more?  We will see.

This is a much different assignment than the Akron game, where BG was able to run right over them.  That will be more difficult against these defense.  However, Kent is one-dimensional offensively.

This is a winnable game for BG but far from an easy win.  Kent views us exactly like we view them.  You have a shot to finish 4-8, and while that's not what we wanted, it would be something to build on.  As mentioned, like it or not, the program is re-booting.

2 comments :

NWLB said...

Pads as big and wide as those aren't even legal in hockey anymore. Those players look like the male equivalent of the Flying Nun.

All that said, from the description you provide, it makes Kent sound like a team that isn't deep on talent (or at least experience) but appears well coached. They get beat but show some backbone. It wouldn't hurt the MAC if they did finally play well. The entertainment value of the games against them would increase.

Of course how much that matters with the damned mid-week games I've no idea.

Orange said...

It especially wouldn't hurt the MAC East to get some depth to it.