Good short article on how uptempo offense

[WoadBlue]

makes it much tougher on the D.

The direct comparison of our D last year to GT's D is almost shocking, because GT beat 2 Top 10 SEC teams. The GT D seemed good - not great, or dominating, but good.

And perhaps that is the good news. Improve fundamentals on our D and even with the uptempo offense, it should be at least as good as last year's GT D.

 

[Raising Heel]

Good article. However, pinning the issue on tempo only tells part of the story. The other half of the story is efficiency.

UNC converted 42.4% of its 3rd downs last season, good for 43rd nationally. Georgia Tech converted a whopping 57.9% of its 3rd downs, best in the nation. So when you look at stats like time of possession, they don't always hinge on tempo alone. You have to move the chains on offense. Georgia Tech did that better than anyone, so comparisons to them are bound to look unfavorable. It's not that UNC was bad -- the FBS national average was 40.6% and the ACC average was 41.2% -- but the poor running game last season often put us behind the chains.

 

[scoutsupreme]

Good thread.....to add to RH....GT moves the chains with the run game so you know Top is gonna be steller.....throw in 57% on 3rd down and wow. Would love to get around 48% on 3rd down next season

 

[JimmyinVA]

Good article. However, pinning the issue on tempo only tells part of the story. The other half of the story is efficiency.

efficiency is a lot more than half, in fact one could argue it's pretty much everything. efficiency means moving the chains. if you're not moving the chains what are you doing? you can have an efficient offense that is not uptempo, in fact most winning teams do. but a hurry up offense without efficiency simply means hurry up and give the ball back to the opponent. efficiency -- moving the chains -- is the whole point

 

[Roady]

The GT offense does support their defense....in their game with FSU, the offense held the ball 10 minutes of game time longer then the Noles. If the FSU offense had not been a little more efficient on third downs than GT, the Jackets would have won that game.

In Duke's win over GT...the stats look slightly better for GT...except that GT turned the ball over 3 times to zero for Duke....game changer.

 

[Raising Heel]

Oregon is arguably the gold standard of fast-paced teams. So for grins, I plugged them into my stats log (nerd alert!) to see how UNC's defense stacked up against the Ducks last season (also threw in the offensive chart for good measure).

Notice that Oregon's defense isn't especially good: 87th nationally, giving up 430 yards per game. And here's what really crazy. Although it's not pictured in the chart, Oregon's defense actually faced more plays per game than UNC (77.9 versus 76.2). But the Ducks made up for it by being better in nearly every defensive efficiency metric -- yards per play, pass efficiency, 3rd down defense, red zone defense, sacks, and turnovers.

So while improved offense performance next season could certainly take some pressure off the defense, ultimately it's up to the defense to take care of business themselves.