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More and more I don't buy this "very important stat!"

WVU had the ball for 9:33 in the 1st half against UNLV. WVU 35 - UNLV 0!

* I guess the defense got so tired the Eers had to get players in the game I didn't even know were on the roster!

Depends on the type of team. Alabama is a possession team, Oregon isn't. Most coaches, though, prefer to have their offense on the field as long as possible.

Yeah I get that.

I have been telling Stew to have the horses go out of bonds after 40 yards!

(There are just many teams who don't need the time...WVU, Ark, Boise St., Oregon, Florida St.)

I think you should score if it is there for you. Time of possession does matter, scoring often matters more.

Spence wrote:I think you should score if it is there for you. Time of possession does matter, scoring often matters more.

Yeah, that is the part they put up on the board.

The goal of the game is to put points on the board. Nothing inside the realm of the game matters more. You cross that line as often as your talent will allow and hope your defense can get it into your hand quickly.

Scoring quickly really has nothing to do with time of possession. The defenses ability to get themselves off the field is the issue. Usually if the time of possession numbers favor the other team, your defense had some problems, but may have (1) forced turnovers or (2) played lots of bend don't break. (cover 2) I hate cover 2.

Spence wrote:The goal of the game is to put points on the board. Nothing inside the realm of the game matters more. You cross that line as often as your talent will allow and hope your defense can get it into your hand quickly.

Scoring quickly really has nothing to do with time of possession. The defenses ability to get themselves off the field is the issue. Usually if the time of possession numbers favor the other team, your defense had some problems, but may have (1) forced turnovers or (2) played lots of bend don't break. (cover 2) I hate cover 2.

It can have something to do with it. UNLV had 1 TO in the first half today. WVU scored so fast, just 4 or 5 plays (and running out of bounds a lot). Even good D, giving up 1 first down or maybe 2 and not even letting the opponent cross midfield or even the 45, I consider the D to be doing a bang up job. But UNLV used twice as much time...to accomplish nearly nothing...exactly nothing on the score board. Special teams matter too, how much field each team is working with.

Usually, though, when the other team is stuffed in between the 30's ,that team doesn't hold the ball all that long.

Spence wrote:Usually, though, when the other team is stuffed in between the 30's ,that team doesn't hold the ball all that long.

That is true. And the more you stuff them on 1st, the more they throw on 2nd. The teams that leave the field often don't throw well, and they also stop the clock.

WVU, I have finally figured out, has gotten better athletes on D as they have progressed and they are leveraging that 3-3-5 with the speed they have. They seem to play a 3 to 4 first down Defense. They will cheat jst enough to a strength (and down habit) of the opponent. If they are wrong the give a few more yards than they might here and there, but have the speed to recover. Then they get you, and it is 2nd and 12. The opponent is probably not getting their next 1st down, and this depends on how much they want to bait them into the INT on 3rd down. (One pretty slick side effect, you don't give up 7 and 8 minute scoring drives....even if you score it is 3 to 4 minutes to go 80 yards.) A team like Oregon and Boise St. could benefit from a scheme like this, but it takes a few years to get it down!

Choosea, welcome. From your signature, sounds like you fit right in. Nice to have someone from the West.