How explosive is your team's offense?
- Oklahoma State -- 92
- Baylor -- 86
- West Virginia -- 70
- Texas Tech -- 68
- TCU -- 60
- Kansas State -- 59
- Texas -- 59
- Oklahoma -- 54
- Iowa State -- 44
- Kansas -- 40
Lots to chew on here. A few thoughts:
- Nobody was surprised when Oklahoma State led the league in this stat in 2011. Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon were two of the Big 12's biggest talents, and cleared the way for Joseph Randle to do a whole lot of damage, too. But this year? OSU ranked fifth nationally in total offense, and you have to also consider the number of plays they ran (we'll get to that later), but this is a "Wow!" stat. Josh Stewart proved to be a big talent, but with all the quarterback injuries this season, this is one more reason to be encouraged at the program's future. It is also another clear reason why OSU is holding on with white knuckles to this system, despite having their second offensive coordinator in three years to run what Dana Holgorsen installed.
- Speaking of Holgorsen, it's a little surprising to see WVU that far behind Baylor on the list. The Mountaineers had the most dangerous players in the league, and I thought I'd chalk it up to Baylor's ability to run the ball versus West Virginia's weakness in that area, but Baylor had just 24 running plays longer than 20 yards, compared to 18 from WVU. Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey are more adept at getting open underneath defenses, though both can stretch the field. Baylor is better than anybody with the long ball.
- More evidence of that? Terrance Williams led the league with 32 plays longer than 20 yards, ahead of Bailey (24) and Austin (23) at the Nos. 2 and 3 spot.
- It felt like KU's offense made some strides in this area this year with Tony Pierson, but the grinding style with James Sims showed up. KU had just 36 plays longer than 20 yards in the 2-10 season under Turner Gill. Putting up 40 this year isn't much of a difference, and it's obvious how far behind the rest of the league the Jayhawks are.
- On that note, you can see where Iowa State's inconsistency at quarterback showed up here. Tough to get a ton of big plays consistently if you don't have a quarterback who can deliver it. All four of the top teams have that.
- Another team who does have that, but didn't have a ton of big plays this year? That's a little shaky for Oklahoma. The running game occasionally broke free with Damien Williams, but you can chalk this one up to a running game without explosiveness. Oklahoma's 10 runs longer than 20 yards were fewer than every team in the Big 12. For the folks wondering why the Sooners' offensive line coach James Patton was headed out the door in favor of WVU's Bill Bedenbaugh, that number likely has something to do with it.
- Props to TCU, who lacked an experienced quarterback and a high-tempo offense but still found a way to log 60 plays on this list. I've got no idea how they did that, and I'm as shocked as you are to see that up there, but it's impressive regardless. It's worth noting that 23 of those came in the first month of the season, but the 37 over the rest of the year isn't a huge difference. Impressive.
The biggest flaw in the raw numbers is not everybody in the Big 12 runs the same number of plays because the pace varies so much. Here's how the numbers break down in percentages. This is the percentage of each team's plays that went for longer than 20 yards. I'd say this is your definitive number on just how explosive your team's offense is:
- Oklahoma State: 9.1 percent
- Baylor: 8.02 percent
- Kansas State: 7.02 percent
- West Virginia: 6.99 percent
- Texas Tech: 6.85 percent
- Texas: 6.62 percent
- TCU: 6.56 percent
- Oklahoma: 5.37 percent
- Iowa State: 4.77 percent
- Kansas: 4.59 percent
David Ubben | email
College Football- ESPN.com Big 12 blogger
- Joined ESPN.com in 2010
- Wrote for The Oklahoman
TEAM RESOURCES
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Richard Durrett
Richard Durrett joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. He writes about colleges, the Dallas Stars and the Texas Rangers. Richard spent nine years at The Dallas Morning News covering the Rangers, Stars, colleges, motorsports and high schools.
Tim MacMahon
Tim MacMahon joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. Tim covers the Cowboys and Mavericks. He has covered the local sports scene from high schools to colleges to pros during his six-year tenure at The Dallas Morning News. MacMahon is a graduate of UNT.
103.3 FM ESPN PODCASTS
Play Podcast Kirk Herbstreit joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss Bob Stoops' recent comments about the SEC and the pending college football playoff, what appears to be an unpredictable Big 12 in 2013, how the Aggies will handle expectations and more.
Play Podcast Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin talks about the improvements being made to Kyle Field, what those improvements will to for the program, the success of last year, Johnny Manziel's offseason and the expectations for the Aggies in 2013.
Play Podcast Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo talk about Texas A&M's decision to expand its stadium and say although the Aggies had a fantastic year, the school must also be careful not to overextend its resources based on a single hot stretch.
Play Podcast Baylor head coach Art Briles joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss what kind of player the Cowboys are getting in Terrance Williams.
Play Podcast Arlington and Texas A&M product Luke Joeckel, the potential No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft, joins Ian Fitzsimmons and Richard Durrett to discuss the draft, coaches and advice from his dad.
Play Podcast Florida Gulf Coast athletic director Ken Kavanagh joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss his school's Cinderella story and playing in the Sweet 16 at Cowboys Stadium.
Play Podcast Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby joins Fizsimmons & Durrett to discuss Cowboys Stadium as a venue, the state of Big 12 basketball, the new 2014 college football format, why there's no hurry to have a Big 12 football championship and much more.
Play Podcast Jay Bilas joins Fitzsimmons and Durrett to discuss the remaining 16 teams in the NCAA tournament, the intrigue surrounding the Northwest Region and the excitement over FGCU, even though a similar story happens every year.
You must be signed in to post a comment