Much has been said about QB play over the past 2+ seasons about inconsistency, inability to sustain drives, etc. So, I charted every drive since Cumbie arrived to try to quantify this discussion. I looked at 4 drive-based statistics for the 5 QBs who have played significant time in the past 2+ years. These stats are FBS opponents only.
| Avg Drive Length | %8+ plays/ drive | Scoring drives | 3&out drives | Downing | 6.1 | 20% | 20.0% | 35% | McNeil | 5.4 | 21% | 40.9% | 44% | Lyddy | 6.4 | 30% | 32.4% | 35% | Bachmeier | 6.6 | 37% | 36.8% | 21% | Turner | 6.0 | 21% | 32.8% | 30% |
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Through 23 FBS games under Cumbie, we have had 267 drives. 32% have been 3 and out and 35% have resulted in some points. We have only had 23 11+ play drives out of 267 total drives. Bachmeier and Lyddy combined for 15 of them. Turner only has 3 through his 67 drives led. None of those have been this year.
All this to say, we don’t do a good job sustaining drives. The 32% of 3 and outs takes a toll on our defense.