Now that two games are in the books lets look at how the long plays look:
| Run | 10+ | 20+ | 30+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| NC State | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Duke | 6 | 3 | 1 |
| UNC | 16 | 4 | 1 |
| BC | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Wake | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| Pass | 10+ | 20+ | 30+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| NC State | 9 | 3 | 2 |
| Duke | 12 | 5 | 4 |
| UNC | 11 | 1 | 0 |
| BC | 12 | 4 | 3 |
| Wake | 4 | 1 | 1 |
And on a per game basis (Updated to be cumlative after every game to see historical trends:
| Cumlative | VT Defense 2020 Per Game | 10+ | 20+ | 30+ | Rank (10+ yards) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NC State | Run | 6 | 0 | 0 | 23rd |
| Pass | 9 | 3 | 2 | 11th | |
| Duke | Run | 6 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 35th |
| Pass | 10.5 | 4 | 3 | 21st | |
| UNC | Run | 9.33 | 2.33 | 0.67 | 68th |
| Pass | 10.67 | 3 | 2 | 37th | |
| BC | Run | 8 | 1.75 | 0.5 | 66th |
| Pass | 11 | 3.25 | 2.25 | 55th | |
| Wake | Run | 7.4 | 2 | 0.6 | 88th |
| Pass | 9.6 | 2.8 | 2 | 66th |
And to compare to 2019:
| VT Defense 2019 Per Game | 10+ | 20+ | 30+ | Rank (10+ yards) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Run | 4.25 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 25th |
| Pass | 9.5 | 4 | 2.1 | 11th |
So with out a secondary VT is playing pretty close to their 2019 selves. One would hope when starts come back that these numbers will improve.
Now this isn't adjusted for the teams we are playing. Duke is 0-4 and NC State isn't a world beater, especially with the QB that started the first two games. So lets look at the top ten offenses for longest plays from scrimmage against power 5 teams:
| Name | G | 10+ Yards | 20+ Yards | 30+Yards | 40+ Yards | 50+ Yards | 60+ Yards | 70+ Yards | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duke | 4 | 59 | 20 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | North Carolina State | 3 | 51 | 20 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Pittsburgh | 3 | 44 | 16 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Clemson | 2 | 40 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Mississippi | 2 | 39 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Mississippi State | 2 | 38 | 16 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | Oklahoma | 2 | 38 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | North Carolina | 2 | 37 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Miami (Florida) | 2 | 36 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 9 | Oklahoma State | 2 | 36 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 9 | Virginia Tech | 2 | 36 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
Now this doesn't account for a per game basis, and Duke has played 4 games, but on a per game basis NC State is 11th and Duke is 22nd. Pitt drops down to 25th. However, in both games we have kept NC State and Duke below their averages this season. They have produced on a decent level, so there is some evidence that VT might have a pretty good defence under Justin Hamilton when we can get our DC and DBs to the game.
UPDATE: Our rush defense sucked, our pass defence was best all season. Huh? The changes from last week are in parathesis. I did not update the leaders of the longest play as largey it is the same teams. Duke and NC State are still the top 2 teams. UNC moved up to 3rd (tied), but numbers wise it wasn't a large jump. It helped that Pitt shit the bed. Speaking of shitting the bed, Miami dropped big.
Comments
This is cool. Thank you for putting it together
I don't know what the numbers bear out, but it feels like we are getting a better pass rush.
We are number 1 in sacks per game. UNC and MSU are both 1.5 sacks behind us. Pittsburgh is just behind them.
#2 in sacks overall, pitt has played 1 more game than us.
cool...I wonder how many of those can be attributed to 4 man pressure...we've always gotten sacks bringing extra guys. In the past and like most dominant defenses, if the front four can get there on their own, it frees up a lot in coverage...which right now the secondary needs all the help it can get!!!
Final sack of the game was a three man pressure. One of Barno's sacks was a four man. That is just off the top of my head.
A bunch of the NC State sacks were four man rushes.
Love that we are getting pressure with the 3 and 4 man rush.
A capable pass rush can mask coverage issues much easier than vice versa
Seems like we have had to send 5 or 6 guys the past couple years to get any type of pressure. Secondary will definitely need as many people back in coverage against UNC.
Me thinks that pressure will result in some turnovers against the Mack attack!
French I know you were not big on Barno in limited clips of him in the Fall, but have you seen signs of progress?
I can't remember which DL it was, I think Reed, but one of them pulled off the nastiest spin move I've seen in a while to get a sack. Could even tach Blackshear a thing about spin moves with how beautiful it was.
You mean this great gif from Joe, courtesy of the Giftory thread. That's Amare Barno.
Edit: Just noticed that poor o lineman hurt himself falling over his teammate after getting embarrassed by Barno.
haha, I was going to point that out but you got it..nice
We're actually ranked higher on defense (24th) right now than offense (31st) per SP+. I'd wager that has a lot to do with the havoc plays we've created on defense (leading nation in sacks per game), and the fact that our passing game hasn't been great so far.
Preseason projections are also factoring into rankings since we're just two games in. Pretty sure Bill was projecting a stronger defense than offense entering the season.
i'm a little confused why both of our Linebackers are split with no-one right in the middle of the field. I'm seeing them literally right by the D-End on either side. Wouldn't this be vulnerable to the Run up the middle? QB runs?
Any issues with the pass defense is understandable at this time due to the Absence of a large part of the secondary.
Overall, I'm very happy to see how well our D-Line is playing and I like the D-Ends going up the field instead of trying to go Around the OT.
Updated numbers for UNC. Sorry it took so long.
It took so long because you had to add up 50+ plays over 10 yards for UNC. Maybe the defense will help you out this weekend and keep the total long plays to less than 10
50+ is definitely hard math since you run out of fingers and toes at 40 give or take a few...
Exactly
Updated for BC stats. The run game looked a lot better against a team that wants to through it 50+ times a game.
Well good news and bad news. The good news is the Wake game showed a huge improvement on the pass defense numbers while maintaining a good run defense. The bad news can be read in other threads ...
Note: The update for Wake showed a huge drop in rankings. That is due to the 25 teams that played for the first time yesterday. As the rankings are on the number of 10+ yard plays total, not the average per game. I know it's not clear as it should be.