2010 Football Numbers

'10 Football Stat of the Day18

Thanks to choppack1 for putting this together for us. (Click here for link)

All stats are national – out of 120 Division 1A teams:

Penalties – 4th

Total Red Zone trips – 6th

Opponent 3rd Down Conversion – 8th (92nd in 2009)

TO margin – 26th (2009 114th)

Scoring Defense – 30th (2009 – 99th)

Rushing D – 14th

Time of Possession – 16th

Scoring Offense – 33rd

Total Offense – 40th

Things We Did Badly

Overall Red Zone effectiveness – 99th

Red zone TD % – 96th

Opp Red Zone TD % – 60th

Opp TD returns – only 4 schools allowed more.

Passing D – 72nd

Looking at the 2010 stats (which include our bowl game) it’s obvious we were a good team.
If you want to know the difference between a good season and a great one, look at our red zone effectiveness on offense. If you want to know the difference between a good season and a disappointing one, look at our 3rd down D from last year.
Perhaps the best news for State fans is that TOB’s actions, at least for 2010, shored up our most serious shortcoming.

It’s also worth noting that TOB is starting to prove his value as a disciplinarian – w/ us doing very well in penalties and TO margin – 2 stats that, IMHO, are a pretty good indicator of how well teams are doing when it comes to unforced errors.

Just as encouraging, NC State went 9-4 vs. a very respectable schedule. We showed a pretty amazing consistency this year – which indicates that the team was well-prepared and executed well – with one major exception – the ECU game. (I think we were well prepared and the effort was there, I just think that our players didn’t make plays, and our staff was too conservative on D in the first quarter.)

We played 10 bowl eligible teams, going 6-4 vs. them

We played at least 3 teams that will likely finish in the Top 25 going 2-1.

We played all 6 of our road games vs. bowl eligible teams, going 3-3.

We led all 12 games at some point this year.

We led 12 of 13 games in the 4th quarter.

We trailed by more than one score in 5 games this year, and we went 2-3 in these games. One of those losses occurred in OT, in 3 of those 5, we came back and took the lead.

In 7 of our 13 games, we either led or were trailing by 7 points or less with at least 5 minutes left. In all of our losses, we were w/in a TD w/ at in some point in the last 2 minutes.

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In the last week or so we’ve featured the following football entries that would also fit this entry.

TOB Crushed his magic number

#3 Ranked High School Kicker Picks the Pack

Tag for 2010 NC State Football threads on our message boards. Lots of good stuff there!

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'10 Football Stat of the Day

18 Responses to 2010 Football Numbers

  1. VaWolf82 01/07/2011 at 10:05 AM #

    State clearly had the toughest schedule in the Atlantic, playing 3 of the top 4 teams in the Coastal….and the only one in contention for the Atlantic to play VT.

    It appears that the NCAA has changed their stats…and the change was not an improvement. But at least they didn’t remove the old pages…just made them nearly impossible to find.

  2. bradleyb123 01/07/2011 at 10:27 AM #

    I’m not sure what to make of the defensive improvement (in terms of Tenuta and Archer). Can we thank Tenuta for it? Or do we owe Archer an apology for the things many of us said about him in 2009? Or is it a case of both guys working together to improve the defense?

    What I’m getting at is did we improve on defense DESPITE still having Mike Archer? And if so, how can we complain about him when our defense is so improved? I’m afraid Archer still needs to go, but we did just enough to make it hard to complain about him (reminds me of a certain Wolfpack basketball coach that wasn’t great, but found a way to get us to five consecutive NCAA tournaments, making it hard for us to justify wanting him gone…)

    I’m afraid Tenuta might decide to find greener pastures at some point, and we’ll be stuck with the same BAD Mike Archer. And without Tenuta’s influence on our defense, it might go in the tank once again.

  3. VaWolf82 01/07/2011 at 10:32 AM #

    This is not the first year of coaching for either Archer or Tenuta. The only people who are confused about the effect each had are those that haven’t bothered to look up the records.

  4. bradleyb123 01/07/2011 at 10:54 AM #

    Yes, and the record this year was 9-4 with much defensive improvement. Can you definitively say Archer gets no credit for any of that? Are you saying it was all or mostly Tenuta? That’s what it sounds like, and I tend to agree. And therein lies the problem. The defense improved. TOB didn’t fire Archer after 2009, so it can only be next to impossible to fire him after so much defensive improvement in 2010.

  5. VaWolf82 01/07/2011 at 11:08 AM #

    Every defensive coach and every defensive player gets credit for the improvements seen. However, the fact remains that some players and some coaches had more to do with the improvement than others.

  6. zwolf 01/07/2011 at 11:12 AM #

    Next to impossible? Better stats might make him a more attractive target to be hired away by other schools.

  7. NCSUPackfan 01/07/2011 at 11:40 AM #

    I think there are so many factors. What factor did Nate playing 13 games have? TOB said it was the first time he played a full season. What about having a healthy secondary plus a year older. Having a completely healthy Manning. I do think Tenuta brought a different mentality that helped Nate, Manning, and Cole plus his blitzing schemes. Would anyone really complain if Tenuta is happy and can handle working beside Archer for the rest of the time, if we continue to get the same results from thsis year.

    Yes you can look at Archer at Kentucky but what teams was he playing. Florida, Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Tennessee. If he was at Florida with the recruits they get and he had his stats then you can say things.

    I think by having a healthy team this year we were able to build some much needed depth.

  8. Gowolves 01/07/2011 at 12:20 PM #

    Excellent Summary. I think was a good season to build on. I have always thought the third down conversion rate on offense and defense as one of the more important stats. You have to keep the chains moving and at the same time get the opposistion off the field on offense.

  9. tjfoose1 01/07/2011 at 12:59 PM #

    2010 was a success with much improvment… A big step in the right direction, but just a step, NOT a destination.

    Per Archer vs Tenuta – they both deserve credit.

    Tenuta is one the best LB coaches in the country, his addition added knowledge, teaching skills, and tactics to the coaching staff. He added new tools to the toolbox. Also, from all accounts I’ve read and heard, he was a valuable asset when in came to team chemistry and unity. That’s a point that is often overlooked.

    Archer, to his credit, accepted Tenuta’s input and effectively integrated those new tools and tactics into his overArching strategy. That’s something that many talented coaches could not have, or would not have, done.

    Forgive the pun.

  10. Master 01/07/2011 at 4:29 PM #

    I completely agree with tjfoose1. Give them both credit for meshing and producing as a coaching team, while giving kudos to a healthy and maturing group of D’backs.

    It worked and it’s getting better. Next year will have it’s own challenges.

  11. choppack1 01/07/2011 at 7:03 PM #

    I think Archer and Tenuta get along pretty well – and it sounds like Tenuta is just what we need, though I’m concerned about recruiting. Like I said – short term – we addressed a shortcoming about as well as it can be addressed, but like my golf game, when one glaring shortcoming is “fixed” – another facet that had been very effective (red zone offense in this case) – goes down the toilet.

    The good news is that our offense was pretty damn effective at getting into the red zone, and our poor red zone performance didn’t hurt us as much as it would an average offensive team.

  12. Wulfpack 01/07/2011 at 8:52 PM #

    You have to give credit where credit is due. Ultimately, it goes to TOB for making some changes and building the program to what it was this season. As for the whole Archer/Tenuta debate, it’s Archer’s defense, and it improved greatly. As it has been stated, there are a variety of reasons for this. But you can’t take it away from the guy — it did improve and by a large margin. So I salute him and hope it continues.

  13. wolfonthehill 01/07/2011 at 9:06 PM #

    And unless my memory fails me, we were 0-3 when ranked. 9-1 when not.

    Head cases? Pressure? A fluke?

  14. wolfonthehill 01/07/2011 at 9:08 PM #

    And we lose a couple BIG guys next year… RW (likely), Nate, and our WR’s. Except for that, we remain basically intact… I don’t honestly see a big dropoff next year, regardless of Russell’s decision. Glennon is ready…

  15. rtpack24 01/07/2011 at 11:02 PM #

    I believe Russell Wilson has indicated this week he would like to come back. Details to be worked out.

  16. Daily Update 01/08/2011 at 8:02 AM #

    You have to give the entire coaching staff credit for the improved defense. It was one of the most dramatic year to year turnarounds I can remember associated with an NC State team. 2009’s D was horrific…probably the worst I have ever seen.

    However, it wasn’t all because TOB hired Tenute, Tenuta improved the LB play and added things to our scheme, and then Archer implemented changes and called games well…our kids got better. The defensive line was very effective. It was our best group of linebackers in a long time. Nate Irving is the best LB I have seen play at NC State(MOC era+). His impact alone was enormous.

    Statistically, our secondary wasn’t great. However, Wolf and Bishop both tackle well and are showing some play making abilities in coverage(Bishop’s pick against WVA was amazing). The corners were leaps and bounds better at both coverage and tackling. CJ Wilson was still only a sophomore and Amerson looked like a future all-ACC CB as a true freshman.

    Behind the starters in the secondary, we had two big, tall athletic safeties and return Jarvis Byrd and hopefully Rashad Smith next year. The secondary could be the strength of the defense next year(depending on N. Irving;s replacement).

    I like the way TOB seems to address our weaknesses. Struggle on D, he brought in Tenuta. We lose lots of DL this year and Nate, he brings in JUCOs(the one from Snow College), transfers(the LB from Cuse), and/or other guys who might be immediate help(Carlos Gray who enrolled this semester).

    It will be interesting to see if TOB can somehow address what appears to be our biggest weakness right now – recruiting. 9-4 should certainly help.

  17. albunde6 01/08/2011 at 8:20 AM #

    Thanks for stats. Defense was improved. Reason for defensive inprovement would be Nate. Field coverage, pass russ, run stop. I agree with previous he may be the best in my lifetime at state. I would give credit to defensive changes, putting Nate on weakside for pass russ pressure had to have impact on 3rd down conversions. Coaches get credit for that.

  18. Wolfy__79 01/08/2011 at 12:15 PM #

    so you all think tenuta is ours for the long run?

    WOW, i’d like to hear more about RW returning 🙂

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