25 Questions that are Buck'n

What is their body of work?

Everybody made fun, but PJ Fleck has turned the program around fast.  They had a loss I am sure they regret to Georgia Southern, They have won their last 5, including their last 4 by 196-62, including a 54-7 thumping of what everyone felt was a pretty decent Ball State team.  On the other hand, Miami and EMU were in that four as well.  They played a 41-39 game with CMU.

How many seniors and juniors on the two-deep?

26, which is pretty normal.  A lot of FR and SO, from those big recruiting classes.

Who are their statistical leaders?

FBS Ranks

2nd - Daniel Braverman, receptions per game
6th - Zach Terrell, passing efficiency
6th - Daniel Braverman, receiving yards per game
7th - Zach Terrell, completion percentage.
7th - Daniel Braverman, receiving TDs
10th - Zach Terrell, passing TDs
10th - Darius Phillips, Passes defended
14th - Jamauri Bogan, rushing yards per carry
15th - Ronald Zamort, Passes defended
15th- Darius Phillips, combined kick returns
15th - Corey Davis, receiving TDs

What is their turnover ratio?

In MAC play, they are +7, trailing only Bowling Green.

Offense:  (Unless noted all stats are MAC games only)

 How is their QB play?

It's great.  Zach Terrell is outstanding and this will feature probably the two best QBs in the MAC.  This is the best QB has faced since Paxton Lynch.

What is their scoring and yards per play?

They are 2nd in the MAC in scoring per game (to BG) and first in yards per play (7.9)

Can they run the ball?

They are the #1 rushing offense in the MAC, with 285 yards per game and 6.4 yards per carry.  That yards per carry is a half-yard better than the next team.

Do they pass the ball?

They are 2nd in the MAC in pass efficiency.  They complete 74% of their passes with 14 TDs over 0 (not a typo) INTs.  They have the lowest number of attempts in the conference, but average 14.6 yards per completion, which is slightly higher than BG (14.5).

How was their run/pass balance?

This is a running team.  They run on 64% of their plays.

Do they convert on 3rd Down?

Second in the MAC, right behind BG.

Do they score in the red zone?

They are very good, scoring 5.4 points per red zone trip.

Do they protect the quarterback?

They have given up 7 sacks which given their low number of passes is average protection.

Defense:

Topline: Scoring and yards per play.

They are 2nd in the MAC in scoring defense (right behind BG).  They are, however, 9th in yards per play allowed.  Part of that is 9 turnovers and we will see if something else shows up to explain the discrepancy.

Do they defend the run effectively?

They are tied for 8th in yards per carry allowed.  They have the fewest number of rushing attempts against in the MAC.

Can they be passed on?

They are 6th in pass efficiency defense.  They allow 57% completions with 9 TDs and 4 INTs.  They allow 12.8 yards per completion.

Do they get off the field on 3rd down?

Here is the second reason for the points/yards discrepancy.  They lead the MAC in 3rd down defense, allowing only 27% conversion, which is less than half what the BG offense gets (58%).

Do they defend in the red zone?

They are not great here, allowing 5.1 points per trip.

Do they pressure the QB?

Not really.  They have only 8 sacks so far.

Special Teams:

Punting?

Bronco Nagurski

They are 2nd in net punting...right behind BG.  They have allowed 0 return yards.

Punt Return?

They have 6 PRs for 58 yards and no TDs.

Placekicking?

He's all right.  10 of 14, missed 2 inside 40 but 3 of 5 beyond 40.  Long of 42, 1 blocked.  (all games)

Kickoff?

They start on the 24, with no TDs.  In 63 KOs there have been 27 TBs. (all games)

Kickoff Return?

They start on the 28 which is typical.  (All games)  They have a big returner in Darius Phillips and BG needs to be careful they don't get burned as they did earlier in the year with players like him.

Miscellaneous: Overall atmospherics and intangibles.

A few things.

This is the best team BG has played since Memphis left town.  These guys are really good.  They can run and pass and play pretty good defense.  They don't turn the ball over...this is just a very solid football team.

It comes on a week where BG had a game where Coach Babers felt like the defense backslid a little bit.  That's going to need to be corrected against these guys.

If you want a model, I would see this one looking like the Memphis game.  Both teams in the 40s, coming to a late finish.

One thing that wasn't mentioned above is time of possession.  WMU leads the MAC in this stat and has two great RBs and the best rushing offense in the MAC.  Fleck said that a big part of their plan is to hold onto the ball to keep Matt Johnson sitting in a "chair."  BG's defense is going to have to get off the field.

And the offense is going to have to make the best of all its opportunities.

Here is the other intangible.  So, last season BG started November in a similar place.  BG had all but wrapped the East up and proceeded to lose its next four against the MAC West and be 1 minute from losing every game for the rest of the season.  That was a difficult time and can't have been any fun.  The same thing is possible here and it has to be in people's minds.  Now, BG struggled against the East last year and really didn't this year.  Still, over the next 7 days BG will play WMU and UT, possibly the two best teams in the MAC.  We'll see if we can bury last year's finish with some success this year, but they are our two biggest challenges in quite a while.