I had comparisons of these defenses a couple of weeks ago, misplaced it, and gathered my statistics on the defense's performance last night.
I used as my source the NCAA College Football Statistics (Team Statistics) for 2014 and 2019.
Of noteworthy is that the NCAA's statistics for Tech's 2019 season are based on 13 games versus 12 games in 2014. (Apparently, the NCAA did not reflect the CUSA conference championship game and the bowl game in their 2014 statistics. Tech's record was 9-5 in 2014.)
Defensive TDs:
2019 Ranking: #3 (with 5 TDs); led CUSA
Note: At #1 were App State & Mizzou with 6 TDs; Utah & Illinois tied Tech
2014: Not included in the NCAA's database
Fumbles Recovered:
2019 Ranking: #37 (with 9)
CUSA schools ahead of Tech - UAB at #3 (with 13), FAU at #11 (with 11), UTSA at #15 (with 11), and UNT, MTSU, and ODU tied with Tech
2014 Ranking: #73 (with 8)
Passes Intercepted:
2019 Ranking: #5 (with 17); FAU #1 in country with 22; Tech tied with LSU & Baylor at #5
2014 Ranking: #13 (with 18)
Red Zone Defense:
2019 Ranking: #2 (with a %age of opposition scoring .647); Florida #1 at .645; Tech led CUSA
2014 Ranking: #52 (with %age of .822)
Rushing Defense:
2019 Ranking: #39 (137.2 yds/gm)
CUSA schools ahead of Tech - USM at #14 (111.8), UAB at #23 (118.2), and FAU #36 (135.5)
2014 Ranking: #91 (194.8 yds/gm)
Scoring Defense:
2019 Ranking: #31 (21.80 pts/gm)
CUSA schools ahead of Tech - WKU at #23 (20.10) and UAB at #27 (21.60)
2014 Ranking: #61 (26.3 pts/gm)
Team Sacks:
2019 Ranking: #83 (1.85/gm,)
CUSA schools ahead of Tech - 8 teams ranging from UAB at #12 (3.14) to WKU at #70 (2.08)
In order were UAB, USM, Charlotte, Marshall, UNT, FAU, UTSA, and WKU.
2014 Ranking: #71 (1.92/gm)
Team Tackles for Loss:
2019 Ranking: #59 (6.1/gm)
CUSA schools ahead of Tech - 7 teams ranging from UTSA at #8 (8.0) to UNT at #53 (6.2)
In order were UTSA, UAB, Charlotte, USM, ODU, FAU, and UNT.
Total Defense:
2019 Ranking: #52 (377.7 yds/gm)
CUSA schools ahead of Tech - UAB at #10 (301.9), WKU at #28 (337.8), USM at $36 (350.3), ODU at #46 (371.1), and FAU at #49 (374.2)
2014 Ranking: #69 (408.3)
Turnovers Gained:
2019 Ranking: #7 (26 turnovers - 17 interceptions & 9 fumbles recovered); FAU #1/ in country with 33 turnovers - 22 ints and 11 recoveries)
2014 Ranking: #26 (26 turnovers - 18 ints and 8 recoveries)
In looking back to the 2014 defense, I personally thought Tech had one heckuva defense with pressure from the defensive linemen and linebackers which capitalized on turnovers and shortened the field for the offense. With the 2019 defense, I would hear mention of Tech's red zone defense, but I wasn't aware of the "overall" perspective.
What's interesting between the two styles of defense is that both teams ranked #26 in the country with both having 26 turnovers gained (2019 - 17 interceptions and 9 fumble recoveries in 13 games per NCAA; and in
2014 - 18 interceptions and 8 fumble recoveries in 12 games per NCAA, even though there were 14 games)
Moving forward to 2020 and thereafter, it would be nice lure those defensive linemen who can apply pressure to the QB and RB, resulting in sacks and tackles for losses. In 2014, I recall linebackers blitzing pressuring the QBs, and thus throwing errant passes, thus resulting in interceptions. Does the Diaco-style defense utilize blitzing by the linebackers, or is the overall scheme different versus the style by Diaz?
I used as my source the NCAA College Football Statistics (Team Statistics) for 2014 and 2019.
Of noteworthy is that the NCAA's statistics for Tech's 2019 season are based on 13 games versus 12 games in 2014. (Apparently, the NCAA did not reflect the CUSA conference championship game and the bowl game in their 2014 statistics. Tech's record was 9-5 in 2014.)
Defensive TDs:
2019 Ranking: #3 (with 5 TDs); led CUSA
Note: At #1 were App State & Mizzou with 6 TDs; Utah & Illinois tied Tech
2014: Not included in the NCAA's database
Fumbles Recovered:
2019 Ranking: #37 (with 9)
CUSA schools ahead of Tech - UAB at #3 (with 13), FAU at #11 (with 11), UTSA at #15 (with 11), and UNT, MTSU, and ODU tied with Tech
2014 Ranking: #73 (with 8)
Passes Intercepted:
2019 Ranking: #5 (with 17); FAU #1 in country with 22; Tech tied with LSU & Baylor at #5
2014 Ranking: #13 (with 18)
Red Zone Defense:
2019 Ranking: #2 (with a %age of opposition scoring .647); Florida #1 at .645; Tech led CUSA
2014 Ranking: #52 (with %age of .822)
Rushing Defense:
2019 Ranking: #39 (137.2 yds/gm)
CUSA schools ahead of Tech - USM at #14 (111.8), UAB at #23 (118.2), and FAU #36 (135.5)
2014 Ranking: #91 (194.8 yds/gm)
Scoring Defense:
2019 Ranking: #31 (21.80 pts/gm)
CUSA schools ahead of Tech - WKU at #23 (20.10) and UAB at #27 (21.60)
2014 Ranking: #61 (26.3 pts/gm)
Team Sacks:
2019 Ranking: #83 (1.85/gm,)
CUSA schools ahead of Tech - 8 teams ranging from UAB at #12 (3.14) to WKU at #70 (2.08)
In order were UAB, USM, Charlotte, Marshall, UNT, FAU, UTSA, and WKU.
2014 Ranking: #71 (1.92/gm)
Team Tackles for Loss:
2019 Ranking: #59 (6.1/gm)
CUSA schools ahead of Tech - 7 teams ranging from UTSA at #8 (8.0) to UNT at #53 (6.2)
In order were UTSA, UAB, Charlotte, USM, ODU, FAU, and UNT.
Total Defense:
2019 Ranking: #52 (377.7 yds/gm)
CUSA schools ahead of Tech - UAB at #10 (301.9), WKU at #28 (337.8), USM at $36 (350.3), ODU at #46 (371.1), and FAU at #49 (374.2)
2014 Ranking: #69 (408.3)
Turnovers Gained:
2019 Ranking: #7 (26 turnovers - 17 interceptions & 9 fumbles recovered); FAU #1/ in country with 33 turnovers - 22 ints and 11 recoveries)
2014 Ranking: #26 (26 turnovers - 18 ints and 8 recoveries)
In looking back to the 2014 defense, I personally thought Tech had one heckuva defense with pressure from the defensive linemen and linebackers which capitalized on turnovers and shortened the field for the offense. With the 2019 defense, I would hear mention of Tech's red zone defense, but I wasn't aware of the "overall" perspective.
What's interesting between the two styles of defense is that both teams ranked #26 in the country with both having 26 turnovers gained (2019 - 17 interceptions and 9 fumble recoveries in 13 games per NCAA; and in
2014 - 18 interceptions and 8 fumble recoveries in 12 games per NCAA, even though there were 14 games)
Moving forward to 2020 and thereafter, it would be nice lure those defensive linemen who can apply pressure to the QB and RB, resulting in sacks and tackles for losses. In 2014, I recall linebackers blitzing pressuring the QBs, and thus throwing errant passes, thus resulting in interceptions. Does the Diaco-style defense utilize blitzing by the linebackers, or is the overall scheme different versus the style by Diaz?
