Some perspective on the defensive side of the ball to consider. I know most people feel the defense has taken a giant step backwards from last season, and clearly they have a propensity to give up big plays more often than is to anyone's liking. But when it come to scoring D, there hasn't really that much drop off. In terms of average points allowed:

2015: 20.8
2016: 22.9

And that's including the 55 given up to BYU. Take that out of the equation, and the 2016 average points allowed is less than 20.

More so, on average teams are scoring 4.2 points per game less against UT than against their other opponents. Only 3 teams have scored more against the Rockets than in their other games. One obviously was BYU who scored 30 more than their average. So, again that one bad game skews how well the D has performed in the other games.

The offense on the other hand is scoring 10 more points per game than their opponents are allowing in the rest of their games. Only 2 teams have held the Rockets to less points than they normally allow.

(11-14-2016 04:58 PM)DetroitRocket Wrote:  WHERE IS TREYVON HESTER???????

Game notes for the BSU game are out and Hester is not listed on the depth chart. He was in the notes for the NIU game, so I guess this is not a good sign.

(11-14-2016 05:24 PM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  

(11-14-2016 04:58 PM)DetroitRocket Wrote:  WHERE IS TREYVON HESTER???????

$65,000 Dollar Question. Anyone going to the Coach's show?

Listened on the radio. Coach K was on. Antunez has a broken hand.

(11-14-2016 06:48 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  Some perspective on the defensive side of the ball to consider. I know most people feel the defense has taken a giant step backwards from last season, and clearly they have a propensity to give up big plays more often than is to anyone's liking. But when it come to scoring D, there hasn't really that much drop off. In terms of average points allowed:

2015: 20.8
2016: 22.9

And that's including the 55 given up to BYU. Take that out of the equation, and the 2016 average points allowed is less than 20.

More so, on average teams are scoring 4.2 points per game less against UT than against their other opponents. Only 3 teams have scored more against the Rockets than in their other games. One obviously was BYU who scored 30 more than their average. So, again that one bad game skews how well the D has performed in the other games.

The offense on the other hand is scoring 10 more points per game than their opponents are allowing in the rest of their games. Only 2 teams have held the Rockets to less points than they normally allow.

One problem the defense is having is the lack of productivity by the offense in the 1st halves of recent games. A few scores or a couple more 1st downs on each drive by the O would do wonders for the D......

(11-14-2016 07:53 PM)DetroitRocket Wrote:  

(11-14-2016 05:24 PM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  

(11-14-2016 04:58 PM)DetroitRocket Wrote:  WHERE IS TREYVON HESTER???????

$65,000 Dollar Question. Anyone going to the Coach's show?

Listened on the radio. Coach K was on. Antunez has a broken hand.

That hurts--no pun intended. We really needed someone to step in at PG this season & I really liked how he looked in the minutes he played in the exhibition game. Maybe Dzierzawski can begin to fill that void bit by bit in the meantime.

(11-14-2016 04:58 PM)DetroitRocket Wrote:  WHERE IS TREYVON HESTER???????

I don't think we'll be seeing him the rest of the way.


So, how confident are we moving on without him? He's our second 300+ lb. beast on the Dline we've lost for the season.

RT Elijah Nkansah is also out for the season

(11-14-2016 06:48 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  Some perspective on the defensive side of the ball to consider. I know most people feel the defense has taken a giant step backwards from last season, and clearly they have a propensity to give up big plays more often than is to anyone's liking. But when it come to scoring D, there hasn't really that much drop off. In terms of average points allowed:

2015: 20.8
2016: 22.9

And that's including the 55 given up to BYU. Take that out of the equation, and the 2016 average points allowed is less than 20.

More so, on average teams are scoring 4.2 points per game less against UT than against their other opponents. Only 3 teams have scored more against the Rockets than in their other games. One obviously was BYU who scored 30 more than their average. So, again that one bad game skews how well the D has performed in the other games.

The offense on the other hand is scoring 10 more points per game than their opponents are allowing in the rest of their games. Only 2 teams have held the Rockets to less points than they normally allow.

I think statistics can be very misleading in the MAC. IMO, BYU was the last and only other opponent this season, that had a legitimate offense prior to the NIU game. I do not believe that defensive stats against Arkansas ST, Maine, Fresno, Eastern, BGSU, Akron, etc. really mean that much. These teams are terrible when playing decent competition. NIU was just down enough offensively this year for Toledo to outscore. It is not a knock on Toledo, that is just where things are at. Toledo should beat Ball State, even with a thin defense, but WMU will prove to be too much offensively for Toledo to handle. WMU will carve up Toledo's thin D like a Turkey on Thanksgiving. I'm seeing a 56-28 final score on black Friday.

(11-15-2016 12:15 AM)falconplucker Wrote:  

(11-14-2016 06:48 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  Some perspective on the defensive side of the ball to consider. I know most people feel the defense has taken a giant step backwards from last season, and clearly they have a propensity to give up big plays more often than is to anyone's liking. But when it come to scoring D, there hasn't really that much drop off. In terms of average points allowed:

2015: 20.8
2016: 22.9

And that's including the 55 given up to BYU. Take that out of the equation, and the 2016 average points allowed is less than 20.

More so, on average teams are scoring 4.2 points per game less against UT than against their other opponents. Only 3 teams have scored more against the Rockets than in their other games. One obviously was BYU who scored 30 more than their average. So, again that one bad game skews how well the D has performed in the other games.

The offense on the other hand is scoring 10 more points per game than their opponents are allowing in the rest of their games. Only 2 teams have held the Rockets to less points than they normally allow.

I think statistics can be very misleading in the MAC. IMO, BYU was the last and only other opponent this season, that had a legitimate offense prior to the NIU game. I do not believe that defensive stats against Arkansas ST, Maine, Fresno, Eastern, BGSU, Akron, etc. really mean that much. These teams are terrible when playing decent competition. NIU was just down enough offensively this year for Toledo to outscore. It is not a knock on Toledo, that is just where things are at. Toledo should beat Ball State, even with a thin defense, but WMU will prove to be too much offensively for Toledo to handle. WMU will carve up Toledo's thin D like a Turkey on Thanksgiving. I'm seeing a 56-28 final score on black Friday.

Are you sure? WMU beat NIU, and EMU by essentially the same amount of points that we did. They also struggled with Kent (who has a good D). They beat CMU and Akron a little worse than we did but that's a pretty moot point. WMU looks beatable IMO. Their D seems better than ours (especially at causing turnovers), and their O never turns it over. If we stay efficient... I see us keeping up with them. Ball State had like 500 yards on them. If we score in the redzone we can beat WMU. They will also have a huge undefeated monkey on their back. We should be loose.

All assuming we don't give up 40 to Ball State and lose Wednesday...

(11-14-2016 04:58 PM)DetroitRocket Wrote:  WHERE IS TREYVON HESTER???????

I recently heard from a reliable source that Hester has a torn labrum and is out for the year. If this is true, where is the investigative reporting? I can't believe no one in the media ever asks the coach where his best defender is.

(11-15-2016 08:31 AM)Sean Pennywitt Wrote:  

(11-14-2016 04:58 PM)DetroitRocket Wrote:  WHERE IS TREYVON HESTER???????

I recently heard from a reliable source that Hester has a torn labrum and is out for the year. If this is true, where is the investigative reporting? I can't believe no one in the media ever asks the coach where his best defender is.

I've been underwhelmed by the new blade beat writer this year. Dude doesn't dig into anything.

(11-15-2016 08:57 AM)adunifon Wrote:  

(11-15-2016 08:31 AM)Sean Pennywitt Wrote:  

(11-14-2016 04:58 PM)DetroitRocket Wrote:  WHERE IS TREYVON HESTER???????

I recently heard from a reliable source that Hester has a torn labrum and is out for the year. If this is true, where is the investigative reporting? I can't believe no one in the media ever asks the coach where his best defender is.

I've been underwhelmed by the new blade beat writer this year. Dude doesn't dig into anything.

Agree, although HIPPA had an impact on injury reporting. Used to be you got all the details. Of course it has no impact on finding out if he's going to play the rest of the season.

Hester OUT ugh.....We better find a couple of O lineman to play because the guys filling in are not making enough plays. Sometimes all you want from a def lineman is to not go backwards and clogs lanes. Too often I see these backups getting blown away and it has a ripple effect on line backers. Stay square and build a wall up front.