- led Big 12 in redzone D (including OOC)
- 4th in redzone D in Big 12 play
- 5th in Big 12 in 3rd down defense
- 4th in 3rd down defense in Big 12 play
There was a good article a few years ago where Mack Brown had some individuals study the things all national championship teams did well.
The most important statistic defensively....passing efficiency D, not rushing D. Not that rushing D isn't important but passing efficiency D most important.
Example:
Rush DTexas '05 - 3.7 ypc, 130 ypg (7th in Big 12 and 33rd nationally) - by comparison KSU '05 3.5 ypc and 30th nationally.
Texas '06 - 2.3 ypc, 61.2 ypg (1st in Big 12 and 3rd nationally)
Pass Efficiency DTexas '05 - 96.7 (1st in Big 12 and 4th nationally)
Texas '06 - 131.8 (9th in Big 12 and 75th nationally)
I wonder which UT squad won the national title?
Think of it another way and reverse it...which KSU offense of the Snyder teams seemed to struggle the most? Aside from the past few seasons look at the 2001 offense which had such a good rushing O but was terrifyingly dreadful as a passing team. Average defenses were eventually going to stop that rushing attack on drives...that team was not going to go 60-80 yards on the ground every time. The reason that offense struggled so mightily is because it ranked 112th out of 115 NCAA teams in passing efficiency.
The Kansas game last season. The beaks didn't win that game because of their rushing offense. They won it because they scored 3 TD's directly off turnovers. (fumble in endzone, tipped pass int'd by Webb, and flukey return by DL inside the 5) = 21 of 39 points despite the rushing yardage.
