International Centre for Special Teams Research

Well, the third report from the International Centre for Special Teams research is in, this time looking at the BG-Marshall game.

If you recall, this is a system I have been cooking up for some time. It awards points for positive plays and negative plays made on special teams, and gives no points to plays which are expected or in an ordinary range. You can read the explanation here if you like.

Against Troy, BG had -2 points and Troy 5.

Against Missouri, BG had five points and Missouri 0.

So, now we turn to the Marshall game. This was by far our worst outing, special teams wise. We had -4 points, and Marshall had +4, which is a little less than Troy but still pretty solid.

Here's how those numbers were arrived at:

BG positives

BG punt, 45 yard net, inside 20 (+2)

BG negatives

BG misses 31 yard FG. (-1)

BG 16 yard net punt (-1)

BG Kickoff return at own 20 (-1)

BG missed 35 yd FG (-1)

BG Kickoff return to 19 (-1)

Marshall returns kickoff to own 46 (-1)

BG neutral

Marshall returns kickoff to their own 27

BG punts, 27 yard net

BG Punt, 35 yard net

BG extra point

Marshall returns kickoff to their own 31

BG kickoff return to own 30

BG makes 30 yd FG

The story here is pretty clear. We really only had one positive play (a punt), and we had six negative plays. Furthermore, several had a material impact on the game. Two missed FGs were huge, and the kickoff return in the fourth quarter was a field position killer. The 16 yard punt also led to a scoring drive. Clearly, in this game, our special teams were below expectations, with one good play and several less than productive plays.

Now, let's review Marshall.

Marshall Positives

BG Kickoff return to 19 (+1)

Marshall returns kickoff to own 46 (+1)

Marshall punt to BG 12 (+1)

Marshall 10 yd Punt return to negate 35 yard net (+1)

Marshall 50 yard net punt (+1)

Marshall punt to BG 12 (+1)

Marshall punt to BG 16 (+1)

Marshall negative

Marshall misses 23 yd FG (-1)

Marshall 21 yard punt (-1)

Marshall 15 yard net punt (-1)

Marshall neutral

Marshall returns kickoff to their own 27

Marshall returns kickoff to their own 31

BG kickoff return to own 30

Marshall extra point

Marshall extra point

Marshall 31 yd FG

What do we have here? Well, in a game with no huge play, Marshall contributed a number of positive plays. Note, in particular, three punts inside the 20 and a 50 yard net punt by the Herd, balanced against a couple of poor punts.

In general, I think if you look at this game, you see the idea that individual plays can be magnified in football. Several of the BG negative plays had a material impact on the game.