25 Questions that put a hat in the gap

What is their body of work?

Hard to argue with it.  They have only lost once, on the road to Arizona in their opener.  Since then, they have beaten MSU in Lansing, have a couple blow out wins and beat arch-rival WMU in Kalamazoo.  They also delivered a savage beat down to EMU in repayment for the Eagle's classless game last year, led by the vile Jeff Genyk.

They are leading the MAC in scoring and scoring defense.  To date, they have been dominant.

What is their best result?

Winning at MSU, without doubt.  Scoring twice in the last minute, just a classic victory.


What is their worst result?

Well, obviously they were underwhelming at Arizona, which is a fair to middlin' BCS team, but that was their first game.

 

What was the turnover margin?

CMU's games have been largely turnover free on both sides of the ball.  They have 7 turnovers (same as BG) and have forced 6.

Offense:

How is their QB play?



Well, there isn't much to say here.  Dan LeFevour is the best QB in the MAC and probably the best player.  He is the leader in pass efficiency and the 8th leading rusher in the conference.  He completes 70% of his passes with a 7.5 yd average per attempt and 14 TDs over 4 INTs.



What was their yard per play?

6.0 yards per play is second in the MAC.

Can they run the ball?

They are effective here as well.  They are second in the MAC in yards per game and in yards per carry (4.7). 

Do they pass the ball?


See above....they lead the MAC in pass efficiency.


How is their run/pass balance.

If you believe, as I do, that true balance means that you can run or pass as needed (as opposed to simple play mix) than they are clearly balanced, as can be seen above.  They have run the ball 252 times and passed it 212, but they have also played with some pretty big leads. 

Do they convert on 3rd Down.


They lead the MAC here, with 47.6% conversion.

Do they score in the red zone?

Not to gush here, but their red zone play is just deadly.  First, they have created 33 scoring opportunities which is tied with BG and WMU for most in the conference.  They have scored on 30 of those opportunities, and we are talking about field goals.  26 TDs in 33 red zone attempts is 9 more than WMU has in the same number of trips and 11 more than BG.  5.1 points per trip is just ridiculous and is the best I have seen since the Urban Meyer teams at BG.

Do they protect the quarterback

They have only given up 7 sacks, which is second in the MAC, but given their passing attempts, that's a very strong number.


Defense:

Topline: Scoring and yards per play.


As mentioned, they lead the MAC in scoring defense and are second in yards per play (4.8)

Do they defend the run effectively?

Yes.  They allow 3.6 yards per carry, which is second only to Temple, who is borderline impossible to run against.

Could they be passed on?

They are second in the MAC to OU in pass defense efficiency, and we know the struggles BG had passing on OU.  They allow only 57% completions with an average per attempt just over 6.


Did they get off the field on 3rd down?


As you would expect given those underlying number, CMU is third in the MAC in 3rd conversion allowed with 34.6%.

Do they defend in the red zone?


They have allowed 23 red zone chances, which is somewhere in the upper half of the conference.  Teams have scored 18 times in the red zone, but eight of those have been FGs.  3.65 points per red zone trip is very solid.

Do they pressure the QB?


They have 14 sacks, which is third in the MAC.


Special Teams:

Punting?


They are third in the MAC in net punting.

Punt Return?

They are especially deadly here, and are second in the NCAA with 21 yards per punt return.  They have brought 2 back for TDs.

Placekicking?

This is probably the weakest part of their game.  Aguilar is 7 of 11 this year, not including the one he missed at MSU that was cancelled by a penalty.  One of those was over 50, which shouldn't really count against him.  His long is 49.


Kickoff?


They are in the middle of the pack here, with teams starting on the 30 yard line, typically.

Kickoff Return?


They are right in the middle of the pack on kickoff returns.

Miscellaneous: Overall atmospherics and intangibles.


On paper, BG has no business beating CMU.  I can't make it any simpler than that.

Every week, teams beat teams they have no business beating.  That's pretty simple too.

There are a couple dynamics which might fit here.

First of all, BG's offense struggled against an OU defense and then did very well against BSU and KSU, admittedly among the weaker teams in the MAC.  Maybe BG's offense has hit its stride, which will absolutely be needed.

Second, CMU has a big statement game next week @BC.  Maybe their minds are slightly focused on that.

Finally, in past year's CMU has not been upset proof (as for example, Boise is).

Anyway, we should pause and give our respect to CMU.  They have a great program that is consistently good even with a coaching change, and they are a good model for what BG would like to be.  This is a very good football team.