SMU ran 973 total plays on offense in 2017, for an average of 81 offensive snaps per game.
487 - passes
486 - rushes
Fascinating.
Looks like balance!
Anyone know Arkansas averages for the same plays in 2017?
I’m hoping This is the right coach to make Arkansas a house hold name again
Keep in mind that they did that with a QB who was not much of a threat to run and a poor defense that had them playing from behind fairly often.
I think we are going to be closer to 60/40 run, simply because we’ve got more backs that can make plays, the offense should create more ability for the backs to make good yardage on any given play, and we will need to have a volume play/ball control offense-especially in SEC play.
Interesting indeed. Coach has said that his offense is a rushing offense. I think that is probably true, but the pass is extremely important to the success of those runs. Remember, he takes a lot from Gus.
bottom line is in the SEC (really, any football), you must be able to run the ball and to stop the run. Lot of different ways to do that, but those 2 things are a must.
Skewed somewhat by all the times AA and CK had to eat the ball on pass plays, but in 2017:
462 runs (including 35 sacks and who knows how many scrambles)
309 passes
Hammer Down should reduce the number of sacks by getting the ball out before the rush can get there. SMU gave up 23 sacks last year in a lot more pass plays.
I intuit Coach used balance to find the right matchup to exploit
You know SMU doesn’t have an abundance of talent
This will serve Coach Morris well at Arkansas this year
I guess Arkansas great weakness is speed and size
Looking forward to seeing what He can do
One thing to remember in this is the Run/Pass Option. There may have been a pass called but was checked into a running play and a run called that was checked into a pass. No real way to know what the original call was.
I like those stats bur keep in mind you can only create balance if you’re successful at both…we have had trouble running the ball against the elite SEC teams so its almost impossoble to keep balance when you ave about 1 yd a carry… which forces you into many more passing attempts.
The OL this yr is not near as strong as what we have had in the past but one thing in their favor is we will be running into a 6-7 man box instead 8-9 man box.There will an opportunity to create more running lanes but still we must be able to put a hat on a hat and maintain at least a stalemate at the point of attack .
This! I’m thinking the same
What I do like is this coach seems to be able to find ways to use the weapons he has
I just hope he is off to a fast start
That Colorado St game is huge imho - it’s a should win for a average SEC team
Now with transition and early in the season and with Colorado St at home - it looks dangerous to me
But if Arkansas blows them out I’ll be ecstatic
If Arkansas loses - I’ll drink some bourbon leave the HI from that week in the mailing envelope (I only open winners - there are some years I had a stack of unopened ones
Looking forward to opening them all