25 Rivalry Questions

  

What is their body of work?

I doubt if anyone reading this is not intimately familiar with this.  They regularly lead the MAC in recruiting and have the highest-paid head coach in the conference, yet they are 21-19 over the last 4 seasons.  Since 2005, they have won the MAC once.  CMU, BG, NIU and Miami have won more over that time.  Their relative lack of success has caused problems in Toledo, as the Blade details internal division over the "retirement" of UT's athletic director.

Yet, UT has entered an unprecedented period of dominance over BG, winning 10 of the last 11, interrupted only by the shocking 2019 upset.  The Rockets are 9-point favorites.

How many seniors and juniors on the two-deep?

They have 21.  This is not a lot but possibly a number that will become normal.

Who are their statistical leaders? (Top 20 Nationally)

Bryce Mitchell is #13 in KO returns, though he is injured.

Samuel Womack is #15 in passes defended.

Dequan Finn is #16 in passing yards per completion

Maxen Hook and Jacquez Stuart are #4 in punt return TDs

What is their turnover ratio? 

They are +6.  I doubt if they are too many teams with losing records at +6.

Offense

How is their QB play?

Well, this has been interesting.  Up until the NIU game UT was using a two QB system with Finn and Bradley.  Since then, Finn has been the lone QB and he has been effective.  In the EMU loss, the was 30 of 45 for 461, 3 TD and 1 INT.  For the year, he is #8 in passing efficiency (behind McDonald) and is also the team's #2 rusher.

What is their scoring and yards per play (MAC Games only from here on in)

They are #8 in scoring and #3 in yards per play, which is unusual given the turnover advantage.

Can they run the ball?

Unusually for a Rocket team, they are #6 in the MAC in rushing offense.  Koback is the lead back, averages 6.6 per carry, 4th in MAC.

Do they pass the ball?

They are 10th in passing efficiency.  The TD-INT ratio is good, as is yards per completion, but they have only 53% completions.

How is their run/pass balance?

They run on 55% of their overall plays, obviously a run-heavy mix.

Do they convert on 3rd Down?

No.  They are DFL in the MAC in 3rd down conversions.

Do they score in the red zone?

They are last at 4.4 points per red zone trip.

Do they protect the quarterback?

No.  Sacks on 11% of passing attempts.

Defense:

Topline: Scoring and yards per play

They brought Vince Kehres in to help with the defense and possible take Candle's place eventually.  Also, every answer can be found at Mount Union.  Anyway, they are better.  They are 3rd in scoring defense and #1 in yards per play allowed.

Do they defend the run effectively?

They are #5 in the MAC, allowing 3.9 yards per carry, which is still pretty good.

Can they be passed on?

Not much.  They are #2 in pass efficiency defense.  They allow 60% completions but 11.2 per completion.

Do they get off the field on 3rd down?

OK...they are 5th.

Do they defend in the red zone?

They are pretty good at 4.1 points per trip.  

Do they pressure the QB?

Not too bad.  They get sacks on 7% of opponent passing attempts.

Special Teams:

Punting?

They are 10th in net punting.  (BG is 11th).  They have been blocked twice and allowed a TD return in all games.

Punt Return?

They are 3rd in the MAC in punt returns.  No TDs in MAC games but they have scored in all games.

Placekicking? 

He's 13 out of 21 with a long of 50, all games.  9-11 under 40.

Kickoff? 

Opponents start on the 25.  No TDs.

Kickoff Return?

They start on the 27.  1 TD.

Intangible Miscellany

So this is as close as a BG-UT game has been predicted in a long time.  It is very hard to tell which UT team will come out for any game.  Will they rally to the rivalry?  Or are they playing out the string.  Will BG rally to the rivalry, as they did in 2019 and build on their performance in Buffalo plus additional rest?  What will the crowd be like, #Maction-wise?  Who knows, right.  I think this game could be competitive.  BG will need to move the ball against a good UT defense, and contain a mobile QB, which has not been a strong point.  So, tough....but would be SO AWESOME.