258 + 341 = 599

[George S. Patton]

The first number represents the number of rushing attempts for the season -- 43%

The second number represents the number of passing attempts for the season -- 57%

Considering the premise of this offense, that's pretty balanced. But the X-factor for tipping this way is McNeal and his talent. If we don't have him, it's fair to surmise these percentages would be tipped heavily toward passing.

Gotta make opponents respect your ability and your commitment to run the football to make your passing game that much more effective. Heck we had 34 rushing attempts and 24 passing attempts against Rice.

You get that out of your running game every week and your offense becomes much more problematic to deal with.

Passing is sexy. Rushing wins football games.

Just FYI.

[Alaric]

ummm...and a lack of trust in our qb's to not throw int's. what were these ratios through the first 3-4 games (which was when the coaching staff was still willing to risk 4 int's/game)? much more pass heavy then

[PonySoprano]

Don't sacks count as rushing attempts in college football? That could impact these percentages.

[Alaric]

Through the first game, we passed 65% of the time with 187 passes and 101 runs. We were 2-2 and could easily have been 3-1. Of course, cutting down on the int's helped but I don't think this really proves your argument that you need to have a balanced offense to win (Navy & GaTech win with the run, Tech and Hawaii (in the old days) won with a predominate passing attack).

[George S. Patton]

ummm...and a lack of trust in our qb's to not throw int's. what were these ratios through the first 3-4 games (which was when the coaching staff was still willing to risk 4 int's/game)? much more pass heavy then

What does it matter? I'm taking the entire season. If you want to break the season into thirds, then set up your own thread on that.

Also you missed the point I had on the Padron Report thread. Yeah, I kinda know there is a difference the Carroll spread and the SMU Run and Shoot. The premise is that he is coming from an offense where there are a lot of responsibilities and he has to understand where all of his reads are, how to deal with the pressure and move in the pocket. And that's the point.

That's why the guy has shown the ability to run it because he had so much training as opposed to Mitchell who has not. I'll put it to you this way, I talked to an insider who knows Padron from Carroll and that offense inside and out and watched the Tulsa game on TV. He could automatically tell that on a couple of throws Kyle was on his second and third read. That's a fact. And I don't write what is not accurate when it comes to stuff like this.

[Mexmustang]

There is no way to do so, but including screens passes and shuttle passes as running plays, the running back gets into a great number of plays that brings that number up even higher. It would seen like a great opportunity for a great back to really put some numbers up--in both receiving and rushing. I wonder how McNeil's statistics compare to the top UT back?

I'm not suggesting that UT worries about SMU in terms of recruiting (my belief is that they will again...someday), but that other schools try to "trash" June's offensive system when recruiting these young backs and it really isn't true for our feature back.

[Wuba]

ummm...and a lack of trust in our qb's to not throw int's. what were these ratios through the first 3-4 games (which was when the coaching staff was still willing to risk 4 int's/game)? much more pass heavy then

What does it matter? I'm taking the entire season. If you want to break the season into thirds, then set up your own thread on that.

Also you missed the point I had on the Padron Report thread. Yeah, I kinda know there is a difference the Carroll spread and the SMU Run and Shoot. The premise is that he is coming from an offense where there are a lot of responsibilities and he has to understand where all of his reads are, how to deal with the pressure and move in the pocket. And that's the point.

That's why the guy has shown the ability to run it because he had so much training as opposed to Mitchell who has not. I'll put it to you this way, I talked to an insider who knows Padron from Carroll and that offense inside and out and watched the Tulsa game on TV. He could automatically tell that on a couple of throws Kyle was on his second and third read. That's a fact. And I don't write what is not accurate when it comes to stuff like this.

So you are saying that when it comes to stuff that is not like this, you do write things that are not accurate? Good to know.

[George S. Patton]

Through the first game, we passed 65% of the time with 187 passes and 101 runs. We were 2-2 and could easily have been 3-1. Of course, cutting down on the int's helped but I don't think this really proves your argument that you need to have a balanced offense to win (Navy & GaTech win with the run, Tech and Hawaii (in the old days) won with a predominate passing attack).

It's a truism that if you don't turn the ball over, you have a great chance to win. Heck we had two turnovers and Rice got 14 points off of them.

But since you want to break everything down, let's go with the last two games against Tulsa and Rice:

75 rushing attempts
54 passing attempts

We won both games. Hmmm. Isn't that interesting.

[Alaric]

Through the first game, we passed 65% of the time with 187 passes and 101 runs. We were 2-2 and could easily have been 3-1. Of course, cutting down on the int's helped but I don't think this really proves your argument that you need to have a balanced offense to win (Navy & GaTech win with the run, Tech and Hawaii (in the old days) won with a predominate passing attack).

It's a truism that if you don't turn the ball over, you have a great chance to win. Heck we had two turnovers and Rice got 14 points off of them.

But since you want to break everything down, let's go with the last two games against Tulsa and Rice:

75 rushing attempts
54 passing attempts

We won both games. Hmmm. Isn't that interesting.

So, you're saying we won both games simply because we ran the ball more? Why did we lose against Houston? We passed 30 times and ran 34 times. Listen, you make some decent points but to boil wins down to run/pass frequency is ignoring a lot of other factors.

[George S. Patton]

Yeah, I recognize that but the point of this whole thing is that if a team commits to running the football, they are going to have a better chance of winning than losing the game.

In the Houston game, what did we do turn it over the first two times we touched the ball and spotted them a 14-0 lead?

Talent notwithstanding, if you commit to the run, you will win a heck of a lot more than you lose. You have to agree that McNeal is making a big deal with this offense whether he's running it or catching it out of the backfield.

[Wuba]

Yeah, I recognize that but the point of this whole thing is that if a team commits to running the football, they are going to have a better chance of winning than losing the game.

In the Houston game, what did we do turn it over the first two times we touched the ball and spotted them a 14-0 lead?

Talent notwithstanding, if you commit to the run, you will win a heck of a lot more than you lose. You have to agree that McNeal is making a big deal with this offense whether he's running it or catching it out of the backfield.

What if both teams commit to running the football? Do they both have a greater than 50% chance of winning the game?

[davidpaul123]

interesting break down of the numbers. good post GSP.

[George S. Patton]

More proof that McNeal is such the difference maker in this offense -- He is second to Emmanuel Sanders in all-purpose yardage with 961. Please send thank you letters to the NCAA for clearing him to play this year.

[Garret]

1. When JJ has a productive RB, he always runs the ball more. Check out 2006 for Hawaii. When he has inexperienced RBs or an unproductive running game, his offense throws a lot more (2007 Hawaii, 2008 SMU). I knew that SMU would run a lot more when McNeal was cleared...the point about running more helps the team win would *not* be true if McNeal was not playing this season. If SMU gets a good RB or two to take over when McNeal leaves after next season, SMU will continue to have a balanced offense.

2. It is *not* a coincidence that SMU had a heavy reliance on the running game in the two games this season that a true freshman started. That helped take the pressure off Padron and gave him time to grow in the offense.

3. SMU had to throw a lot more last season because they were behind in so many games and were trying to make a comeback. This season SMU has leads or the score is fair even, so the team can run more. So, rushing attempts will always rise with wins when they might not be the reason for some of the wins.

4. JJ had a long talk with Hawaii's offensive coordinator (who was his WR coach when he was at Hawaii) on 11/1 where they talked about SMU's running game this season. In the next game Hawaii played, they had 360 yards rushing...JJ's advice probably was a help in the win. Hawaii ran the same three running plays they used when JJ was there and they worked very well.

[Garret]

In 2006, RB Nate Ilaoa had 990 yards rushing and 837 yards receiving for a total of 1827 yards of offense. He was drafted after the season, as was Hawaii's backup RB.