Now that the season has ended, aside from a minor bowl game, what the heck happened to the "best" ASU team at ASU so far, under Graham and his staff...
When you look at the PAC stats for this year and compare them to last season, when we won 10 games for the second straight year, it is pretty easy to find out what went wrong...
For starters, our pass D this year was last in the PAC, while last season it was 6th, so it dropped six full places this year...
Just as significantly, our TOM was 8th in the PAC this season at -0- while last season we were second in the PAC at +14, so we dropped 6 places...
Additionally, our Red Zone offense was 2nd in the PAC last season, while this year it was #7, having scored 9 less TDs than in 2014...
Finally, this year, Berco was only 8th in the PAC in passing efficiency at 134.8, while TK was 5th at 145.7 last year...Adams, Hogan, Kessler, Goff, Falk, Solomon and Browning all had better efficiency ratings than Berco...
I would add that our OL didn't show any real improvement from the year before and was 11th in Sacks Allowed compared to 10th last season...it's hard to complete passes when you are under duress a good portion of the time and it's hard to score TDs, from inside the 10 yard line, when you don't have the horses up front to move piles of defenders for RBs...
It turns out that these things hurt us a lot IMHO...
1) having a pro set QB trying to run a read option offense
2) having safeties that were not as good as Randall last year to begin with and with no real depth behind them
3) having a receiving corps that did not have a go to guy like J Strong the year before as Strong was 6'4" 220, while Foster is 6" 190 or thereabouts this year
4) having an OL that just wasn't that good and is still the result of some recruiting mistakes years ago
5) not having a good TE grouping which has been a persistent problem the past couple of years
So, from my point of view, most of the problems this season stemmed from player issues related to talent deficits at certain positions and not having nearly enough quality depth at certain positions, as opposed to having schematic and/or coaching issues...
Berco is a good, solid QB but is not an ideal QB for this offensive scheme and he did not have a particularly effective OL to protect him and did not have a go to receiver or great TE to help out as well...
Norvell made some play calling mistakes as well but it's hard to make champagne out of grapes that don't have the right recipe for success to begin with...
Defensively, we did not have any safeties to rival Randall and, once Perry was lost, there wasn't much behind him to fill the gap effectively and were very porous as a result...
Next year, we will have a QB that can better run the offensive scheme, although we'll be lacking experience, so don't know what that will mean exactly but I think ultimately we'll be better...
Additionally, our OL will be inexperienced but may end up being better with the addition of some of the youngsters...
We should also have a better TE situation, as Epps got better as the season progressed and Kohl will return, and there are some new guys like Hudson and, perhaps, JJ Wilson that are bigger and stronger...
Defensively, you have to like our front seven a lot and they should be a strength but the secondary may still be short some players, that can make a difference back there, although it looks like K Orr is a star in the making but safeties are still going to be a concern and where some strong recruiting there is needed...
I would also add that our special teams seemed to be better this season and both our punter and kicker return for their senior seasons which should be a plus...
Am I missing anything and/or is there anything else you think should be added..??
Do we have schematic and/or some coaching issues that need to be addressed..??
I also think that the loss of Bo Graham was big and wonder about how Graham sees his replacement..is he an interim guy or not..??
Championships or Bust...Go Devils!!!
When you look at the PAC stats for this year and compare them to last season, when we won 10 games for the second straight year, it is pretty easy to find out what went wrong...
For starters, our pass D this year was last in the PAC, while last season it was 6th, so it dropped six full places this year...
Just as significantly, our TOM was 8th in the PAC this season at -0- while last season we were second in the PAC at +14, so we dropped 6 places...
Additionally, our Red Zone offense was 2nd in the PAC last season, while this year it was #7, having scored 9 less TDs than in 2014...
Finally, this year, Berco was only 8th in the PAC in passing efficiency at 134.8, while TK was 5th at 145.7 last year...Adams, Hogan, Kessler, Goff, Falk, Solomon and Browning all had better efficiency ratings than Berco...
I would add that our OL didn't show any real improvement from the year before and was 11th in Sacks Allowed compared to 10th last season...it's hard to complete passes when you are under duress a good portion of the time and it's hard to score TDs, from inside the 10 yard line, when you don't have the horses up front to move piles of defenders for RBs...
It turns out that these things hurt us a lot IMHO...
1) having a pro set QB trying to run a read option offense
2) having safeties that were not as good as Randall last year to begin with and with no real depth behind them
3) having a receiving corps that did not have a go to guy like J Strong the year before as Strong was 6'4" 220, while Foster is 6" 190 or thereabouts this year
4) having an OL that just wasn't that good and is still the result of some recruiting mistakes years ago
5) not having a good TE grouping which has been a persistent problem the past couple of years
So, from my point of view, most of the problems this season stemmed from player issues related to talent deficits at certain positions and not having nearly enough quality depth at certain positions, as opposed to having schematic and/or coaching issues...
Berco is a good, solid QB but is not an ideal QB for this offensive scheme and he did not have a particularly effective OL to protect him and did not have a go to receiver or great TE to help out as well...
Norvell made some play calling mistakes as well but it's hard to make champagne out of grapes that don't have the right recipe for success to begin with...
Defensively, we did not have any safeties to rival Randall and, once Perry was lost, there wasn't much behind him to fill the gap effectively and were very porous as a result...
Next year, we will have a QB that can better run the offensive scheme, although we'll be lacking experience, so don't know what that will mean exactly but I think ultimately we'll be better...
Additionally, our OL will be inexperienced but may end up being better with the addition of some of the youngsters...
We should also have a better TE situation, as Epps got better as the season progressed and Kohl will return, and there are some new guys like Hudson and, perhaps, JJ Wilson that are bigger and stronger...
Defensively, you have to like our front seven a lot and they should be a strength but the secondary may still be short some players, that can make a difference back there, although it looks like K Orr is a star in the making but safeties are still going to be a concern and where some strong recruiting there is needed...
I would also add that our special teams seemed to be better this season and both our punter and kicker return for their senior seasons which should be a plus...
Am I missing anything and/or is there anything else you think should be added..??
Do we have schematic and/or some coaching issues that need to be addressed..??
I also think that the loss of Bo Graham was big and wonder about how Graham sees his replacement..is he an interim guy or not..??
Championships or Bust...Go Devils!!!
