Jet Sweeps by the Numbers

Hello.

I frequently see jet sweeps singled out as a particularly bad part of our offense. Since it's the offseason and I had a free afternoon I decided I wanted to find out just how bad they were, because criticism by the eye test alone doesn't move the needle for me.

Unfortunately there is no Jet Sweep Attempt statistic, so I had to collect and enter the data myself.

Here is my methodology:

  • Use ESPN's play by play game log to find each non-QB rushing attempt.
  • Find that rushing attempt in the Hokietapes replay to see if it was a jet sweep.
  • Take down the quarter, time, down, yards to gain, yards gained, if there was a TD, player, and alignment.
  • I make no distinction between alignment in the slot vs wide.
  • Plays negated by penalty are not counted.
  • Plays where the runner was aligned in the H-Back position and ran a sweep were counted.

Here are some statistical notes:

  • We attempted 40 jet sweeps in 2019, good for 3.33 per game.
  • We averaged 7.1 ypc on jet sweep attempts.
  • The middle 75% of jet sweep attempts averaged 5.1 ypc.
  • The middle 50% of jet sweep attempts averaged 4.5 ypc.
  • The median attempt went for 4 yards.
  • 45% of jet sweep attempts went for 3 yards or less.
  • 23% of jet sweep attempts went for more than 9 yards.
  • 13% of jet sweep attempts went for negative yardage.
  • More than half of our jet sweep attempts were on 1st down.
  • We attempted 6 jet sweeps on 3rd down. Of those 6 we made the line to gain 3 times, but the 3 times we did not convert were all 3rd and goal.
  • Turner attempted the most jet sweeps at 22 for 223 yards and 10.1 ypc.
  • Robinson attempted 8 for 33 yards and 4.1 ypc.
  • Mitchell attempted 5 for 8 yards, but 4 of these attempts went for short touchdowns.
  • King, Grimsley, and Hazelton combined to chip in 4 attempts for 16 and 4 ypc.

Here is the data:

Game Quarter Time Down Distance Yards TD? Player Alignment
BC 1 14:09 2 10 0 0 King Wide
BC 1 11:54 1 10 7 0 Turner Wide
ODU 2 7:48 1 10 3 0 Robinson Wide
Furman 2 3:30 2 4 12 0 Turner Wide
Furman 3 11:23 1 10 7 0 Turner Wide
Furman 3 10:04 1 G 3 1 Mitchell H-Back
Furman 3 9:50 1 10 9 0 Turner Wide
Furman 4 6:47 2 6 21 0 Robinson Wide
Furman 4 5:12 3 2 29 1 Turner Wide
Furman 4 1:34 2 8 11 0 Turner Wide
Duke 1 14:53 2 10 -1 0 Robinson Wide
Duke 1 12:04 1 10 -4 0 Turner Wide
Duke 1 1:11 3 G 1 0 Mitchell H-Back
Duke 4 12:25 1 10 4 0 Robinson Wide
Miami 1 2:16 1 G 1 1 Mitchell H-Back
URI 1 2:00 2 G -5 0 Robinson Wide
UNC 1 9:14 1 10 -1 0 Robinson Wide
UNC 4 10:09 3 G 3 0 Hazelton Wide
UNC 4 2:20 1 10 7 0 Turner Wide
ND 2 4:30 2 13 -20 0 Turner Wide
ND 4 6:24 2 4 5 0 Turner Wide
Wake 1 14:54 1 10 2 0 Turner H-Back
Wake 1 7:35 3 2 5 0 Turner H-Back
Wake 2 11:54 1 10 9 0 Turner Wide
Wake 3 8:52 1 10 57 0 Turner Wide
Wake 3 6:55 1 10 7 0 Robinson Wide
Wake 4 11:46 1 G 1 1 Mitchell H-Back
GT 2 14:57 2 10 39 0 Turner Wide
GT 3 7:50 1 10 3 0 Grimsley Wide
Pitt 1 13:50 1 10 1 0 Turner Wide
Pitt 1 3:16 1 G 1 1 Mitchell H-Back
Pitt 2 6:11 2 5 5 0 Turner Wide
Pitt 4 12:00 1 10 4 0 Turner Wide
UVA 1 4:06 3 G 2 0 Turner Wide
UVA 3 6:02 2 6 7 0 Turner Wide
UVA 4 13:22 1 10 16 0 Turner Wide
UK 1 13:05 3 3 5 0 Robinson Wide
UK 1 12:05 2 14 1 0 Turner Wide
UK 2 13:34 1 10 14 0 King Wide
UK 3 10:35 1 10 12 0 Turner Wide

Some other notes and omitted plays:

  • There were 4 reverses by WRs that all gained 8 yards or more that were omitted.
  • McClease never attempted a jet sweep which would have saved me a lot of time had I known that going in.
  • The -20 yard attempt by Turner was scored as his fumble and lost yardage, but this occurred on a botched exchange.
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How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Jet Sweep

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Hokies, Local Soccer, AFC Ajax, Ravens

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Warning: this post occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)..

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My wife takes the kids and leaves the house while I watch my Hokie games.........nuff said

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How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Jet Sweep

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We don't love dem Hoos.

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Taylor, looking desperately throws it deep..HAS A MAN OPEN DANNY COALE WITH A CATCH ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE FIVE!!!!....hes still open

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We don't love dem Hoos.

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Plan for the worst and hope for the best, not the other way around.

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If you play it, they will win.

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The Orange and Maroon you see, that's fighting on to victory.

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If you play it, they will win.

"How the ass pocket will be used, I do not know. Alls I know is, the ass pocket will be used." -The BoD

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"That's it guys. Let's get out of here. That cold drink's waitin' on us, let's go." - Mike Young after win no. 300.

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"These people are losing their minds" - Mike Patrick

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If you play it, they will win.

"How the ass pocket will be used, I do not know. Alls I know is, the ass pocket will be used." -The BoD

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"These people are losing their minds" - Mike Patrick

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"These people are losing their minds" - Mike Patrick

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Warning: this post occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)..

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"Why gobble gobble chumps asks such good questions, I will never know." - TheFifthFuller

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"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K

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The Orange and Maroon you see, that's fighting on to victory.

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The Orange and Maroon you see, that's fighting on to victory.

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"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K

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"Why gobble gobble chumps asks such good questions, I will never know." - TheFifthFuller

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